City of Austin Mayor Kirk Watson's Newsletter: "Housing in the Middle of it All."

 

When we moved to Austin, we were in our early 20’s and just getting started, barely out of school. Before moving here, we lived in a tiny one-bedroom apartment with a space that was generously called a kitchen. It was part of pretty good-sized apartment complex near Baylor Law School. That way, we could have one car because I could walk to class. Our first Austin home was a triplex that was part of a group of triplexes located in a single-family neighborhood. We weren’t making a ton of dough, but could afford to live in Austin, which played a role in our falling in love with this town and staying here for almost 45 years now. My first home in Austin.

What’s Missing? “Affordability First” was my mantra while running for mayor. It’s been my agenda since taking office in 2023. Over the past three years, we’ve aggressively worked to add more housing stock through historic land use reforms, cutting regulatory red tape and simplifying our permitting process. Last week, the Council approved a resolution to develop new zoning tools that allow more types of what’s called “Missing Middle” housing. (I’ll just say something that needs to be said: housing experts, housing advocates, and housing nerds have more strange names for things than you see in many other policy areas. There. I feel better getting that off of my chest.) Since I’ve been trying and failing to come up with a better term, “Missing Middle” housing refers to options that are between single family homes on one end of the spectrum and large apartment complexes on the other. It’s housing in the “middle” of the two poles. And, it’s “missing” middle because we don’t have enough of these developments. We tend to have more of the two poles. Types of missing middle housing developments. Missing middle developments are usually within the range of 3-16 units and fit better in established neighborhoods because they are lower density than an apartment complex. We have a development down the street from my house that would be described as missing middle.  Our first Austin home was also missing middle. Our current land development code was passed in 1984. The code made it harder to create this type of housing. The result we see today is a huge gap and limited options for people who are looking to live in something other than a single-family home or a large apartment complex. This latest initiative allows us to be more responsive and intentional with how we grow in Austin. We’re filling in gaps and building upon the work we’ve done in the past three years to increase housing stock, and we’re doing it in a way that adds to our existing neighborhoods. More Housing Lingo & Needed Changes This sort of responsiveness and adaptability has helped Austin become a national leader in creating more housing. To be successful and get optimal results, we need to be willing to evaluate and reevaluate our work and see if it's doing what we want or causing problems. We can’t be rigid and stuck in our ways—especially if we can see things aren’t working the way we thought they would. I’ve spoken out about my unhappiness with our density bonus program known as DB90. (See what I mean about a strange name? DB90 ought to be the name of C3PO’s brother in Star Wars). DB90 is the only tool the city has available to incentivize affordable housing in all parts of Austin. It gives a developer more height for building a housing structure that provides more affordable housing. In some ways, it’s achieved the intended purpose. But DB90 has also created unintended consequences because it’s a rigid tool that can’t be adapted to different situations and neighborhoods. Having just one tool for every job doesn’t make a lot of sense. I wouldn’t use a butcher knife to spread butter on a piece of bread. (Actually, I'm dieting and very hungry. I might do this, but it would be because of irrational and primal instinct. I'd love some bread and butter, and I might use an axe to spread it.) The point is still good: We shouldn’t just use one citywide density bonus program to address our affordable housing hunger in such a large and diverse city. Last June, I initiated amendments to DB90 as well as our other density bonus programs. Council directed city staff to revisit DB90 and to bring back density bonus tiers that consider items such as the affordability requirements, height allowances, redevelopment requirements, and commercial standards. While developers can still request 90 feet in height, neighbors can help the council decide if the height should be more or less. We can also adjust the density, decide whether ground-floor commercial makes sense, make other adjustments so the development is tailored to the neighborhood. This is a far more intentional approach to development and creates the opportunity for robust conversations between neighbors and developers. My hope is that these tiers will replace DB90 and move in a more thoughtful way for increased density. Austin needs to continue work toward being a city that more people can afford, especially young people looking to stay here and plan their futures. The good news is we’re having success and our efforts have been recognized across this country. We’re now a national leader when it comes to housing reforms. We’re building more and making it easier to do so. We’re trying to provide more variety when it comes to the types of homes that are being built. We're paying attention to the results of our efforts and being willing to do some calibration to make things work better. View email in browser Mayor of Austin · 301 W 2nd St · Austin, TX 78701-4652 · USA update your preferences or unsubscribe