Austin Metric

This week, the Project Connect staff and consultants are starting to put the finishing touches on their mode and alignment recommendation to the Mayor’s Central Corridor Advisory Group (CCAG).   CCAG will then stamp some version of that recommendation with its approval (the final vote will likely be on Friday …

Courtesy of UPKNYC

The Austin City Council is considering spending an unexpected $14 million surplus in a so-called 'midyear budget adjustment'. This is similar to their allocation of $10 million for affordable housing last year.  This time, if we are going to spend it, it should be invested in creating …

[This post is intended to serve as background reading for my portion of the upcoming transportation session of the 2014 Leadership Austin Engage Series. For best results, please review "Austin Transportation in 20 Slides" before diving into this post. And remember, these are my views, not those of the fine …

One of the more exasperating aspects of debating Austin's housing supply is the confused economic assumptions of Austin NIMBYnomics. Specifically, there is a troubling blindspot about the economic reasoning that guides the humans that build and refurbish housing.

Often, developers are described as ‘greedy’ (which is a way of saying …

This Thursday, the Austin City Council will be voting on lowering occupancy limits across the city from six unrelated individuals per house to four. If the measure succeeds, it should serve as a concise example of the basic confusion about economics, innumeracy, and hypocrisy about affordability that mark current Austin …