This Thursday, April 11th, the Austin City Council will consider the city manager’s important memo asking for policy direction on the rewrite of our Land Development Code. Please attend the hearing or contact your council member and tell him or her you want an inclusive public process, with robust community input—not a predetermined outcome written ...
Last year, a group of community activists from East Austin marked Martin Luther King, Jr. Day by releasing The People’s Plan, a six-point initiative for fighting gentrification and displacement in our city. The plan was endorsed by Austin’s Anti-Displacement Task Force last April, and the city council directed the city manager to review it. Last ...
Remember the Zucker Report? If you work in the land development industry or follow Austin politics, then the answer is a resounding (but tragic) yes. City officials appear to have learned little from it, unfortunately. The Zucker Report is a 700-page summary of findings released in 2015 by Zucker Systems, a premier consulting firm that ...
Earlier this month, we highlighted the need for community consensus as City Hall’s process for updating our land development code begins to come together. Austin’s public officials failed to involve the community in a meaningful way with CodeNEXT—the previous attempt to rewrite our land code—and the results were catastrophic. Fortunately, Mayor Steve Adler now appears ...
Consensus. Merriam-Webster defines it as “the judgment arrived at by most of those concerned” and “group solidarity in sentiment and belief.” Unfortunately, Austin City Councilmember Sabino “Pio” Renteria seems to be opposed to consensus when it comes to updating our land development code, which is one of City Hall’s priorities this year. “The push for ...