Category Archives: Planning and Neighborhoods

Planning and Neighborhoods refers to the City’s comprehensive plan, the land development code, development processes, neighborhood planning, noise, zoning, annexations, eminent domain, landmark review, design, mobility as it concerns land use, and related matters.

Exploring the Spirit of East Austin

On September 12 we, your Mayor and City Manager, made a promise at the Spirit of East Austin Summit to work in partnership with each other, you, the community, and the City Council to co-create equitable, sustainable and transformative development in East Austin. We proclaimed that because we are an interdependent community the future of all of Austin– not just East Austin — rises in the East, just like the sun. We aim to fundamentally change the conditions in the eastern portion of our region, where due to historic intentional policies and practices, as well as benign neglect, inequity had become status quo.

The September community meeting was called to kick off The Spirit of East Austin– this fresh approach to development in East Austin; an approach that will result not only in holistic communities east of IH35, but also in a better Austin.

Mindful of previous missteps, at that September meeting, we promised to listen with our hearts and our minds. We promised to learn from our collective stories and experiences. And – most importantly – we promised to take all of that and report back to you with a plan for thoughtful, meaningful and effective action. That’s what we’re doing in this Op-Ed, but read closely because whether you were present on September 12 or nor, you have a vital role in this ongoing narrative and work too.

Learn more about the Spirit of East Austin.

Results from Spirit of East Austin Community Forum

Feedback from the Spirit of East Austin Community Forum has been overwhelmingly positive due in part to the dialogue focused on ways to create equitable economic and community development in East Austin. After September 12, a qualitative analysis team assembled and collected 1,990 Post-it notes to help determine next steps.

As part of our next steps, we will be scheduling community meetings to present the initial results and receive feedback to ensure they honestly reflect the community’s needs. The intention is to continue receiving ongoing input from the community while inviting stakeholders to volunteer for working teams to develop a set of community-based recommendations (i.e., projects, policies, and/or programs).

These working teams would be located in critical areas needing attention including, but not limited to, the following neighborhoods: Montopolis, Dove Springs, Colony Park, Rundberg, and Central East Austin among others. The working teams would not replace current neighborhood organizations or efforts. Instead, they would form parallel to and in collaboration with these groups to gather information and make recommendations. We want to move quickly to form our recommendations and want all input. We expect to have city staff, community members, and other experts to participate in these working teams. Satisfying a set of community-based attributes, each community team would be responsible for developing a set of recommendations that would fall into one of the following categories:

Shovel-ready (up to 1 year): Some recommendations would focus on quick, “shovel-ready” projects that may have already received attention, for example, creating sidewalks to increase walkability.
Fertile Ground (1 to 3 years): Additional work would focus on projects that require relatively minimal effort, but they have high impact on the community.
Strategic (3 to 5+ years): Long–term investments that offer greater community impact and would be strategically focused on dynamic economic development.

Helpful links:

Spirit of East Austin Community Forum analysis (online, interactive presentation)

Spirit of East Austin Online Community Forum (You must log in to access, contribute)

SPEECH: “The future of Austin rises in the East”

“It’s time to take stock of what is good and to build from that foundation of good a better, stronger and more equitable East Austin. To press forward faster, to taking our best assets and leverage them to bring unprecedented focus, energy, investment and opportunity to East Austin.

“As we Face East, we do not excuse or dismiss the parts of our past that are, at best, ugly and unjust. Rather, we can use this history as fuel for the kind of determination to shape a more equitable and prosperous future in our City’s East Austin. The community has gathered before to participate in studies and help create plans. Just by way of example, The African American, Hispanic and Asian Quality of Life reports; Colony Park master plan; the 1984 master plan; neighborhood Master Plans. We thank you for this important work. From those gatherings, some progress has been made. Yet, we all know that what has happened in the past is not nearly enough and not nearly as great as our potential. And, I hope in knowing that, it makes us all the more determined. I am determined.

“This is our shared dilemma: Many of our highest achievements in job creation, higher education, health and technology, happen in other zip codes. This imbalance has threatened the idea of Austin as a just and equitable community for decades. This imbalance does not come as a surprise. This imbalance comes as the outcome of design – the direct result of where this city has focused. It is time to turn that same level of focus to Face East.”

Continue reading →

Progress on Affordability

When you helped elect me six months ago, I made Austin’s affordability crisis a focus of my campaign for Mayor. Thanks to your support and help, we are taking action. I promised to work toward a 20% homestead exemption phased in over four years, and our council has taken the first step. Please take a few moments to read the Statesman editorial. Under my plan, replacing the .01% exemption passed by council last year, the 6% exemption will save a median homeowner more than $50 a year. This exemption will help every single homeowner in the City of Austin – more than 200,000 families. Have questions about the homestead? Please read this FAQ. There’s no denying that families are hurting all over the city trying to keep up with the rising cost of living in our city, including the burden of property taxes. We need to examine and use all options possible to tackle this crisis. This is just the beginning. Our council has many other affordability measures on the table and coming before us. Also on Thursday, council took action on Homestead Preservation Districts and community land trusts in East Austin. Soon, we’ll address inequitable drainage fees, provide more funds to rental assistance programs, and continue our property tax appraisal challenge to make the system fairer. As we move in to the budget process in the coming months, there will be many opportunities for you to weigh in on council’s priorities, and I hope you will do so. We’ll be looking hard at the budget to find ways to save money without cutting vital city services and programs providing equity to keep the tax rate as low as possible.

Speech: State of Our City

We’re going to talk about “change” tonight, because Austin is ready for change. We’ve voted for change. But if you want to see change — look around. 1,200 of us in an accessible, free, community-gathering place. This is what change in government feels like!

Thank you Christopher Michael for poetry that challenges us to build bridges. Thank you Max Frost for starting this evening with live music, after all we’re in Austin, Texas. Thank you, Valentina Tovar, for a beautiful speech. Your generation’s passion is a powerful example to mine. Finally, thank you Dr. Cruz for joining other central Texas superintendents and school boards in educating our children, perhaps the single most important thing we do to insure economic opportunity and preserve our quality of life. And thank you for letting us borrow such a fabulous facility.