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Helping hands: Endangered rental assistance program helps tenants avoid evictions

City-funded I Belong In Austin helps renters in danger of eviction stay in their homes, but the effort faces funding concerns ...
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Roadblock: Judge rules Hays County can’t bypass open government for road bonds

Hays County swimming hole Jacobs Well has been shuttered due to low water levels. Image credit: Hays County. Getting your Trinity Audio player ready... Update: Democratic Hays County Judge Ruben ...
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Collateral Damage: Texas anti-diversity and Austin HOME laws both harm Blacks and Latinos

A former editor of the Austin American-Statesman years ago schooled me up on progressive versus conservative politics by drawing a line across a page. He then marked the center of the line, noting ...
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Moo-ving forward: Parties settle lawsuit over rezoning East Austin’s Borden Dairy tract

A 21-acre, mixed-use development will replace the old Borden Dairy plant in East Austin. Image credit: Borden Dairy. Getting your Trinity Audio player ready... Endeavor Real Estate Group and community ...
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Sidelined: Key HOME reforms bypass lower-income Austinites

In a precursor to Austin’s HOME housing deregulation reforms, the Austin City Council passed a 2021 resolution directing city staff to study loans, grants, and tax breaks to help lower-income people ...
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Housing blueprint: New scorecard reveals deep affordability gap in Austin

Austin has fallen far short of producing affordable housing for the poorest Austinites most vulnerable to homelessness and displacement, even as it’s been lauded for producing units at middle-class ...
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Elevated Train: Federal data say Project Connect costs $1.1 billion more; local officials say cost hasn’t changed

ATP CFO Bryan Rivera (left) testifies at the Texas House on April 21 alongside Project Connect critic Rick Fine. Image credit: Texas Legislature. Getting your Trinity Audio player ready... Update: In ...
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Elusive affordability: Austin’s soaring median income creates winners and losers

Getting your Trinity Audio player ready... Families of four in the Austin metropolitan area make a median income of around $134,000, according to new U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development ...
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On the waterfront: Judge rules against SOS, upholding City of Austin plan for South Congress high rises

State District Judge Jan Soifer ruled in favor of the City of Austin and developers last week in the latest legal battle over how to develop the former Austin American-Statesman property on Lady Bird ...
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Missing middle: AISD, neighbors seek compromise on Rosedale School redevelopment

Update: The Austin City Council on Thursday approved the zoning needed for the project. Specifically, the council approved a change from single-family to a multifamily designation, with Council Member ...
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Competing visions: Expanding cultural arts and parks vs. building a new convention center

Almost a year after the Austin City Council voted to demolish the downtown convention center and sink $1.6 billion into a larger replacement, the future of that new downtown convention center might be ...
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Legislating intolerance: Anti-LGBTQ legislation tied to “massive rise” in hate incidents

Murder, assault, bomb threats, and verbal threats were some of the worst anti-LGBTQ+ hate incidents occurring in the greater Austin area over the last three years, according to data that the LGBTQ+ ...