Austin’s rising population and stagnant housing supply have resulted in increased housing prices. Even though there are a lot of condos under construction, few have hit the market. Our pal Wells Dunbar over at the Chronicle has a nice article discussing the complicated answers to the problem of affordable housing. One undiscussed simple answer would be to get people to stop moving to Austin. Despite our commenters efforts, that plan isn't working [ed: isn't... more ›

In the north part of Austin's so-called Urban Core lies the intersection of Metric Boulevard, US-183, and MoPac. Now known collectively as the North Burnet/Gateway Planning Area, the roughly 2,300-acre section of land has grown considerably in the past few decades, from its origins as an industrial district and home of the UT Balcones Research Center (now J.J. Pickle Research Campus), built on a WWII-era magnesium plant, to the construction of various collosal highways... more ›

SustainLane's annual rankings of America's Most Sustainable Cities came out yesterday. Austin, which was ranked #6 in 2005 in SustainLane's similar "US City Rankings," plummeted to #14 this year. Other Texas cities among the fifty fared worse, including Dallas (24), El Paso (31), Houston (39), and Fort Worth (46). As far as SustainLane.com -- an "online community site for healthy and sustainable living" -- is concerned, most of our -ist brethren cities (SF, Seattle, Philly,... more ›

In a new book entitled Nature-Friendly Communities: Habitat Protection and Land Use Planning, authors Chris Duerksen and Cara Snyder cite Austin as one of nineteen cities in the U.S. that lead the nation in preserving the local eco-systems and natural resources. According to the authors, our crunchy granola practices not only improve our quality of life, but actually cause our local economy to thrive. "These communities are learning that protecting nature makes not just good sense but good dollars and cents” says Duersken (who is clearly a very punny guy). “And a growing number of communities are joining the ranks in taking bold steps to invest in their natural assets." more ›

Austinist has heard some fuss lately about "infill" in South Austin, so we decided to do a little research and find out what the hell it means why everyone seems so upset about it. more ›