Austin’s Surge of New Housing Construction Drove Down Rents After decades of explosive growth, Austin, Texas, in the 2010s was a victim of its own success. Lured by high-tech jobs and the city’s hip reputation, too many people were competing for too few homes....

oh look at that www.pew.org/en/research-...

On that note, results of left-turn calming pilot at 16 locations across the Austin—46% decline in pedestrians hit & 32% decline in vulnerable rd usrs (ped + bike + scooter) hit

Each intersection cost about $5.4k, each saved up to $182k in annual crash costs

www.austintexas.gov/sites/defaul...

There's a medium-sized message here on the safety of buildings based on the size of their floorplates and number of stairwells.

There's an enormous message here on how important it is for our safety rules to be evidence-based.

Austin early vote totals show strong opposition to Prop Q The city is asking voters to approve a property tax increase that it says would help fund homeless services and other city projects.

Austin voters sending a strong message they want the city to grow the tax base, not the tax rate. The only way we can do this is to make it easier and cheaper to build within city limits.

Holy cow. This is an amazing plan.

Affordable housing ✅
Transit oriented development ✅
Community benefits ✅

What a bold and refreshing plan by the YMCA. Much respect to them.

The survey to get your opinions on overhauling Sixth Street ends 👉THIS Sunday 10/19.👈

Take the City's survey now and support Protected Bike Lanes on Sixth!

Survey link: publicinput.com/v13338

Forget EVs. Cycling is revolutionising transport Pedal power is booming, spinning up a new culture war

“In London cyclists now outnumber cars in the City by 2 to 1. Paris, where they now outnumber motorists across the whole city, is catching up with Europe’s traditional bike capitals, Amsterdam & Copenhagen…In Copenhagen, bikes account for almost half of commuter trips to work/school.” @economist.com

The children are touching grass 🥲

Struggling Downtowns Are Looking to Lure New Crowds Traditional business districts in cities like Chicago and Portland are still waiting for office workers to return. Can younger residents and families fill the gap?

“We’ve been designing downtowns to virtually repel children, & then saying, ‘See, families don’t want to live downtown,’” @brenttoderian.bsky.social says. “We’ve been creating the perfect self-fulfilling prophecy.”

I’m interviewed in this.

Design urban places for kids & families. You’ll get them.

Joe Rogan Doesn't Understand Graphs YouTube video by Climate Town

A graph Joe Rogan has brought up on SIX separate episodes of his podcast to disprove climate change explicitly says the opposite of what he claims.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=r1bM...

TxDOT is working on its *first ever* statewide walk/bike plan.

This is huge. Support the Statewide Active Transportation Plan now:

🚶🏼‍♀️Take the short survey (deadline: 7/13)
🚲 Attend the in-person meeting @ Fiesta Gardens (7/8, 4:30pm)

Survey/event info: burnsmcd.mysocialpinpoint.com/txdot-statew...

Could this city be the model for how to tackle the housing crisis and climate change? Vienna has a way to make affordable housing and combat climate change all at the same time. Now U.S. cities want in, and they're building their own green housing.

Vienna has a way to make affordable housing and combat climate change all at the same time. Now U.S. cities want in, and they're building their own green housing.

Headline: Austin apartment permits plummet

Chart: Austin apartment permits still higher than anywhere else charted.

A perfectly distilled example of how a downtown with tall “scary” skyscrapers can still feel perfectly human scale. As with many problems, street trees are a wonderful solution!

In Austin, 3rd St. is a great example. The trees planted 10-15 years ago have transformed the streetscape.

Photo of streetscape in downtown Vancouver.

How tall is this Downtown Vancouver building?

The answer isn’t nearly as important as how well it’s designed. Street-lining shops and restaurants with outdoor seating, wide sidewalks, & a double row of street trees creating a “kissing canopy” overhead.

And that height above just means more homes.

Photo of sawed and broken tree stump.

Revenue per acre 3d map/chart of a metro area.

Yes tree stump, I know downtown subsidizes the suburbs.

Austin light rail plan

Three Texas House bills are trying to kill Austin’s light rail, Dallas DART, and defund bike lanes across the state!

Please help us by calling these representatives ASAP and tell them you oppose anti-transit bills HB 3879, HB 3187, and HB 4348.

A 5-story single-stair apartment building tucked nicely into a residential neighborhood with greenery, trees, and sidewalks

Austin City Council votes 10-1 to legalize 5-story single-stair apartments, making Austin the largest US city outside of NYC to legalize single-stair! 🎉🎉🎉

Many thanks to all the supporters and to CM Chito Vela for leading this exciting reform! We did it y'all! 🙌

Everything You Thought You Knew About Roads Is A Lie YouTube video by Global Cycling Network

Great to see another example of ideas crossing across circles for the good of our communities and planet! The "cyclist" vs. "bicycle rider" debate has a long history so it's nice of GCN (and their large audience) to jump in with a great take. @thewaroncars.bsky.social youtu.be/CVq7XOXkg1U?...

What Would ‘Transportation Abundance’ Look Like? Fans of the abundance movement say that adding supply solves big problems in housing and health care. But when it comes to getting around, things get complicated.

For “abundance” to improve transportation, supporters must consider the kinds of infrastructure that gets built – not just the quantity.

Without addressing externalities (esp from cars), a supply-side spigot of new construction would be a disaster.

Me, in Bloomberg CityLab 🧵

A once-banned type of building is back in favor – and the Planning Commission approves - Austin Monitor The Planning Commission approved several proposed amendments to an amendment of the city’s Technical Building Code during a meeting March 25, all of which address a peculiar kind of development called...

Austin's Planning Commission just approved six-story single-stair! Hats off to @cityjane.bsky.social and @chris-gannon.bsky.social for their housing advocacy and code reform efforts

www.austinmonitor.com/stories/2025...

RE: Abundance Discourse

Some regulations are bad and should be reformed. Markets sometimes serve poor and working people's interests. We should judge policies by their outcomes, not their proponents' stated intentions. Good things are good. Bad things are bad.

The Trump tax plan only works by cutting public services.

This incredible visualization combines the potential tax cuts (which mostly go to the rich) and loss of services (mostly borne by the poor).

It is a giant wealth transfer from the poorest to the richest. budgetlab.yale.edu/news/250319/...

It's a little circular I suppose, but one of the reasons young people (and others!) like Austin is because of all the young people doing things!

The more housing we have, the more cult movies, the more music festivals, the more weird art installations and CNC stonecutting start-ups

The only one that I know is the JJ Pickle Federal Building downtown at 8th and San Jacinto. An awesome Midcentury building. If I was in need of an 11 story office building, this would be it.

Are the others just down at the big IRS campus at 71 and 35? After a cursory search, it seems they might be.

Pretty cool to see Austin getting some more national media attention highlighting that more housing production does, in fact, bring down rents! In todays Morning Brew.

www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2025/...

Austin just made it illegal to park in bike lanes Thursday's unanimous vote means violators will be ticketed and fined. Fees could range from $50 to $300.

At last, parking in Austin bike lanes is illegal!

As CM Vela points out, the long-term solution is better protected bike infrastructure, but this is still a good step in the right direction.

Special thanks to CM Ellis for leading on this change!

How Oil Propaganda Sneaks Into TV Shows | Climate Town YouTube video by Climate Town

God this is such a good video. I cannot believe we still have to put up with the absolute dumbest people spreading fossil fuel misinformation in media in 2025

Axios Austin

YIMBY works, y'all.

"A household with a median Austin income spent, on average, 19.6% of its money on rent in December — far below the 29.3% of income median households pay nationally, and the lowest in the country."