Austin's affordability reaching critical mass

Urban sprawl ... thanks in part to big government

If we ever needed more reasons to be concerned about Austin's growing affordability problem, news coverage this week provided plenty.

According to the Austin American-Statesman, the city is considering ways to cut down on the number of APD squad cars in surrounding suburb driveways -- an admission that the city is becoming less affordable for necessary public servants such as law enforcement officers. In other words, the backbone of the city is headed to the 'burbs.

Austin officials are in the early stages of developing an array of monetary incentives to get hundreds of police officers living in suburban communities to become city residents ... that could include a one-time moving expense payment, monthly stipends for owning a home in the city or a month of free rent for apartment dwellers.

More: http://www.statesman.com/news/news/local-govt-politics/city-looking-at-incentives-to-get-more-officers-to/npRSX

Artists have been feeling the crunch, too, as an East Austin tour of studios turned into an impromptu discussion on the pricing-out of creative-types.

... Conversations during this year’s tour ... have focused on one topic: the diminishing affordability of East Austin for artists.

More: http://www.mystatesman.com/news/news/local/at-studio-tour-talk-turns-from-art-to-affordabilit/npR3t/

A relatively new Austin publication, The Austinite, puts together a few other important items worth consideration in the overall matrix of residential affordability.

Various reports cite between 110 to 157 people are moving to Austin each day, and even if you take that with a grain of salt and keep in mind that some of those people—married couples, families, etc.—will be cohabitating, all the condo construction in the world can’t keep up with that kind of growth. And due to supply and demand (thanks, intro to economics!), that is set to affect cost. Evidence? KVUE reported at the beginning of this year that rent is expected to increase 4.5 percent in 2015. 

More: https://theaustinitemag.wordpress.com/2015/11/20/raising-the-price-of-your-roof

A plan to increase the amount of affordable housing -- via a set of new rules designed to lessen restrictions on "granny flats" and garage apartments -- only affects certain types of dwellings toward the center of town and not where the majority of homeowners live. According to Community Impact News:

The ordinance applies citywide, with the exception of areas zoned single-family standard lot, or SF-2, and single-family large lot, or SF-1.

More: http://communityimpact.com/2015/11/19/city-council-lessens-restrictions-on-accessory-dwelling-units

And as we noted earlier this week, efforts to build affordable housing projects in the city of Austin are paltry compared to the taxpayer-funded destruction of affordable neighborhoods.

We share these items not to raise alarm, but to justify recent votes to not raise taxes in Travis County!

Admittedly, taxes aren't the only reason Austin is becoming expensive. Simple economics is a major contributor to this, as demand increases for space, property becomes a rarer and more expensive commodity. And as Austin rises in prominence as a hip locale with a mixture of urban sophistication and rugged Texas Hill Country, the price can be expected to increase even more.

It's ironic, then, that the city and the county can justify projects designed to stimulate growth in an area already booming (e.g. the UT medical school downtown, tax abatements for developments such as The Domain, ad nauseum).

We suppose that Austin's surrounding suburbs aren't complaining, as they're experiencing record growth due to the exodus of those squeezed out by the relatively high cost of living. However, some cities in the Austin Metro are finding it difficult to keep up with the unnatural pace of their population growth -- transportation planning and high municipal utility bills among their woes.

In a freer market, the increased demand for homes and rental properties would be offset by creative solutions that would increase both density at the urban core and development in parts of town that could use some rejuvenation. But when it takes the royal nod of up to 24 separate entities just to build a house in Austin, creative growth is inhibited. (And that includes the tiny house movement, as well.) Perhaps this is a reason why we see fewer custom-built homes in new neighborhood areas and instead rows of cookie-cutter "McHouses" built by large homebuilding companies that have the resources and staff to cut through the red tape.

Regardless of the reasons for Austin's burgeoning exorbitance, we would like to thank our loyal readers for doing your small part to keep Austin livable by saying "no" to government excess.