Housing: Challenges/Solutions

Two forms of housing dominate Austin: Single-family houses and large apartment buildings. This lack of housing variety does not reflect Austin’s diversity and contributes to growing affordability issues.
Housing supply has fallen well short of demand, due in part to cumbersome regulations. Much of the new housing that has been built caters only to specific market segments.
The current mix of affordable housing incentive programs have provided some needed affordable housing units, but each program was individually crafted and none are keeping up with the changing market.
The existing code is based on an old model of large-scale office and industrial development, and limits the ability of small business owners to live and thrive in Austin.
New development occurs in pods of single-family or multi-family uses with few access points, which weakens walkability, creates traffic bottlenecks, and isolates housing options from important services.

The new code allows more diversity in housing types, such as duplex, multiplex, cottage courts, courtyard buildings, rowhouses, and accessory dwelling units.
By allowing more units and incentivizing a range of unit sizes in appropriate areas, the new code makes it easier to develop more housing to suit a range of space and economic needs while ensuring it is built in a context-sensitive manner to work within the character of the neighborhood.
A new citywide incentive framework, the Affordable Housing Bonus Program, has been incorporated into many zones to help stimulate the production of affordable homes in a carefully-calibrated manner.
A greater range of building types and new uses that are compatible with neighborhoods, main streets, and light industrial areas can allow for the development of more housing and job choices.
Strengthening existing regulations for subdivisions, including street, sidewalk, and trail connectivity, and encouraging a diverse mix of housing types creates development that connects with surrounding communities and improves walkability.

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