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Here's a condensed round-up of recent news related to homelessness in Austin, touching on sanctioned encampments, the Save Austin Now petition, and the #atxcouncil votes yesterday to approve one motel purchase and delay another. https://www.austinchronicle.com/news/2021-01-29/city-hall-looks-at-retracing-its-steps-on-homelessness/
But, a companion piece: The city recently released the first two scorecards used to measure progress Austin has made on producing affordable housing. The report cards will be annual.
The results were mostly bad, especially for the lowest income categories https://www.austinchronicle.com/news/2021-01-29/city-falls-behind-on-housing-goals/
The results were mostly bad, especially for the lowest income categories https://www.austinchronicle.com/news/2021-01-29/city-falls-behind-on-housing-goals/
Permanent Supportive Housing units are not included in that chart, but production of that kind of housing was also bad in 2018 and 2019.
As I alluded here, housing is a continuum. If you're worried about housing people experiencing homelessness in PSH, you need to also worry act producing 30-50% MFI housing for people exiting PSH, & more lower subsidy housing for those people to advance to https://twitter.com/daustinsanders/status/1352372944429862915
Council set the goal of producing 1,000 units of PSH by 2028. Even with insufficient progress isn 2018/19, that goal is within reach.
Council could have voted yesterday to approve 148 units of PSH, meeting the 2020 goal AND closing ~50% of the gap from 2018/19.
Council could have voted yesterday to approve 148 units of PSH, meeting the 2020 goal AND closing ~50% of the gap from 2018/19.
Some positives from the report, per @Awais_CRP:
- Affordable housing has mostly been built near transit.
- Goals for housing at/near market rate were also met or almost met in 2018/19.
But the failures certainly outweighed the positives. Especially w/r/t housing dispersion.
- Affordable housing has mostly been built near transit.
- Goals for housing at/near market rate were also met or almost met in 2018/19.
But the failures certainly outweighed the positives. Especially w/r/t housing dispersion.
Housing dispersion refers to affordable housing built in each Council District annually. In 2018, West Austin's D10, hit effectively 0% of it's AH goal. Only TWO units were produced. In 2019, D10 hit 3% of its goal.
Totals in the other W. Austin districts were similarly poor.
Totals in the other W. Austin districts were similarly poor.
Failure to hit these goals can be tied directly to Council's inability to revise the Land Development Code.
Building AH in High Opportunity areas (areas mostly west of Mopac) is mostly infeasible under current regulation. Austin likely won't hit those goals w/o a new LDC.
Building AH in High Opportunity areas (areas mostly west of Mopac) is mostly infeasible under current regulation. Austin likely won't hit those goals w/o a new LDC.
But the most frightening thing Azhar said was City Council may need to revisit the Imagine Austin comprehensive plan adopted in 2012 to identify more westside Imagine Austin centers.
Please, Council, just revise the dang LDC so I don't have to cover that AND a comp plan revision
Please, Council, just revise the dang LDC so I don't have to cover that AND a comp plan revision
