Austin Seeks To Stem Gentrification Tide With 'Strategic Housing Blueprint'

AUSTIN, TX — "I am not ready to admit defeat to gentrification," Mayor Steve Adler said during Thursday's Austin City Council meeting, setting the stage and mood for the unveiling of an ambitious municipal plan to bolster housing in light of a shortage.

Council members approved their "Strategic Housing Blueprint" offering 50 recommendations to deal with the housing crunch, particularly aimed at increasing the affordable housing stock in Austin. The hot market has made it ripe for real estate speculators, many of which swoop in to capitalize on increasingly choice real estate for corporate buildings or luxury housing.

But the net effect of this trend is displacement of residents, many of whom are low-income no longer to afford soaring property rates resulting from new development or outright evicted to make room for corporate relocation on acquired land occupied by residents.

In December 2015, a dramatic illustration of this trend was seen when Oracle Corp., the world's second-largest software developer, acquired land to build a new corporate campus—evicting dozens of residents without so much as an explanation or, let alone, financial assistance to displaced families having to suddenly scramble for alternative housing and new schools for their children to attend in the middle of a school year.

See also:

Oracle Corp. Expansion Plans Prompted Mass Evictions

Pressure Mounts For Oracle Corp. To Pay Displaced Tenants

Displaced Austin Tenants Formerly At Lakeview Apartments Sue Landlord After Mass Evictions

The city's newly unveiled housing blueprint aims to mitigate these corrosive effects of gentrification, although some critics point out such action should've been done ten years or so ago, when the tide of gentrification first began. But, in the spirit of "better late than never," the municipal move is designed to stem the tide.

City officials hope to see 13,000 new housing units added each year, 135,000 units over the next decade.

The 38-page plan outlines ideas to revamp the permitting process toward some measure of control, along with purchasing unused land (what's left of it in Austin, anyway) and earmark the acreage for affordable housing.

The blueprint comes at a time of brisk growth throughout Travis County of which Austin is the seat. Some half-a-million more residents are expected to be added to the county population by 2050, a growth to 1.6 million residents from the 1.1 million-plus living here today.

The first part of the plan dealing with the housing shortage was widely embraced, but District 8 Councilwoman Ellen Troxclair, a conservative member of the dais, didn't like the second part of the plan calling for Legislature approval to let the city implement rent control safeguards to protect low-income residents.

A full 75 percent of new housing would be concentrated along or in close proximity to major transportation corridors or in concentrated parts of the city, such as the central business district, the land for which to be sold to private developers or nonprofit organizations.

A handy formula predicated on district-by-district allotment for affordable housing was included in targeting beneficiaries of the plan. The rough math: Ten percent of all apartments in each council district would be reserved toward affordable housing for families making 30 percent of Austin's media income, which is $24,300 annually for a typical family of four.

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