Members of the Tourism Commission are pushing City Council to move forward with an agreement with short-term rental platforms that could make it possible for the city to more easily regulate the thousands of unlicensed homes operating as…
Efforts to redevelop a former ranch and summer camp in Northwest Austin have hit another snag with the city’s Historic Landmark Commission, which has voted for a second time to postpone the convoluted case. The house at 7304 Knox Lane…
Travis County commissioners plan to add about 1,500 acres to the county’s wilderness parklands, protecting the pristine land from development and setting it up as a future destination for hikers and bicyclists. The $90 million deal to…
As a result of complaints citizens made about problems they had connecting with the city’s 911 service during emergencies, City Council members Alison Alter and Vanessa Fuentes requested that the Office of the City Auditor look into how…
Seeking to bring more foot traffic to an area with an increasing number of vacant storefronts, the Downtown Austin Alliance is working to partner local artists and musicians with property owners interested in exposing their spaces to new…
After adopting ordinances that promise to provide more housing on smaller pieces of land and changing compatibility requirements to allow taller buildings to be built closer to single-family housing, City Council quickly adopted changes to…
After pausing to rethink its approach, Austin Energy is revisiting its update to the 2030 Resource, Generation and Climate Protection Plan with a series of workshops set to begin next month. The first of four workshops, scheduled for June…
More homes, less lawn. This was the pitch made by Austin City Council members Friday when, for the first time in 80 years, they voted to lower the amount of land needed to build one house. The change allows property…
The May 16 City Council meeting promised to be a long one, with four controversial changes to the city’s development rules and one much less controversial but important proposal creating rules for placement of electric vehicle charging…
In delivering its annual State of Downtown report that showed some slowdown in development efforts in the central business district, the Downtown Austin Alliance announced two new efforts intended to improve quality of life and bring more…
Despite its recent history, the Planning Commission unanimously endorsed historic landmark status for East Austin’s Fashionette Beauty Shop as a step toward more equitable historic preservation this week. The Fashionette Beauty Shop and…
This explainer was originally published April 10. It has been updated ahead of City Council’s vote. How do you retrofit a city that never planned for a population of nearly 1 million or for an extensive public transit system? Should…
Local musicians and qualifying independent music venues will be able to apply for $4.5 million in grants available in the second cohort of the Live Music Fund. The program, which was approved by City Council in 2019 using Hotel Occupancy…
Although lawyers for the city of Austin and the Austin Transit Partnership were looking for a way to validate bonds needed to build Project Connect, the city’s proposed rail system, they have run into opposition from the Texas attorney…
The 2023 “State of Our Environment” report from the Austin Watershed Protection Department presents a mix of positive and negative findings, but optimistically underscores the city’s proactive efforts in addressing the impacts of urban…
At Tuesday’s work session, City Council discussed proposed amendments to the Land Development Code labeled HOME 2, as well as Equitable Transit-Oriented Development, citywide compatibility standards and rules for electric vehicle charging…
At their most recent meeting, members of the Animal Advisory Commission questioned whether the city’s new strategy for finding homes for difficult-to-place dogs is working as intended. The shelter’s urgent placement list, which was…
Leaders of the Red River Cultural District are pushing City Council members and staff to carry out a February resolution that was intended to secure annual funding to help planning and marketing efforts for the downtown cluster of live…
An attempt to freeze funding for the Interstate 35 expansion through Central Austin until the project’s impact on air quality can be more fully assessed was easily defeated Monday in a vote by the Capital Area Metropolitan Planning…
The 2023 edition of the Austin City Limits Music Festival generated nearly half a billion dollars in economic impact for the area, according to results of an analysis released Monday. The fest’s $499.9 million in financial activity…
Stewards of the Balcones Canyonlands Preserve checked in on the status of its most vulnerable residents at their last meeting. Debra Scott, who is the environmental project manager for Travis County, filled in members of the Balcones…
At last week’s meeting of City Council’s Audit and Finance Committee, chair Alison Alter thanked city staff for their work over the past several years to ensure a sound pension system for all three sets of city retirees – police,…
The University of Texas is making a $13.5 million down payment to cover Interstate 35 from 15th Street to Dean Keeton, a feat that will be made possible by a state project to widen and lower the highway through Central Austin.…
A former special education facility for mentally disabled girls may soon be slated for demolition and redevelopment after the plans earned the Historic Landmark Commission’s seal of approval last Monday. The seven-building campus that was…
With the Austin Economic Development Corporation still lacking control over substantial revenue-producing city assets, the organization has issued a request for proposals for consultants to advise on how to start putting its bonding…
A massive shortfall in the city’s Corridor Program has caused work to be paused or cut back in some areas of the city. At their most recent meeting, Urban Transportation commissioners questioned the lack of public engagement on the changes…
The city may soon explore assistance for the nonprofit Texas Music Museum in East Austin, including finding a new location for the facility that is in danger of losing its East 11th Street home. On Monday, the Music Commission heard…
After hearing about two hours of arguments on Thursday, Travis County District Judge Amy Clark Meachum told attorneys for Travis County’s health care district and the three taxpayers who are suing Central Health, over its use of $35…
Plans to bulldoze the historic Steve Hicks School of Social Work building on the University of Texas campus may soon be derailed, with an alumni-led campaign to secure landmark protections winning over the state’s Antiquities Advisory…
The Urban Transportation Commission wants the city to rework some of its recent regulations of e-scooters and other micromobility devices but stopped short of spelling out what changes should be made. At its meeting this week, the…