2,000 rooftops coming to community south of Austin (Kyle, West: leases, mortgages)

[Novacek]

Originally Posted by hound 109

Heck, CofA is building "affordable housing" ON currently gridlocked roads (with no plan on improving the roads). My (& your) tax dollars subsidizing further gridlock.

The nice thing about affordable housing is that its residents would be more likely to take transit. If the alternative is the same amount of non-affordable housing on that same gridlocked road, it's a (small) improvement.

Originally Posted by hound 109

Maybe Travis county (or CofA) ran out of money after providing "affordable housing" out in the suburbs & buying out all those homes in the one million year flood plain.

I'm going to need a reference on that.

You do realize they just updated the flood plain maps and some land moved from previously being Out of the flood plain to In?

[hound 109]

Originally Posted by Novacek

The nice thing about affordable housing is that its residents would be more likely to take transit. If the alternative is the same amount of non-affordable housing on that same gridlocked road, it's a (small) improvement.

I'm going to need a reference on that.

You do realize they just updated the flood plain maps and some land moved from previously being Out of the flood plain to In?

I lived in New Braunfels for 9 years. Those maps were updated as well when homes in the 500 year plain got flooded twice in 5 years.

The number of people taking transit from the "affordable housing" apartment being built on 620 will be minimal. It's a taxpayer subsidized perk for the apt. lotto winners. I suspect the same would be the case of the unit being built next to Circle C.

I was joking about the million year flood plain. But I'm not joking about if more development occurs up stream, the flood plain areas (downstream) will continue to expand.

[Novacek]

Originally Posted by hound 109

The number of people taking transit from the "affordable housing" apartment being built on 620 will be minimal. It's a taxpayer subsidized perk for the apt. lotto winners. I suspect the same would be the case of the unit being built next to Circle C.

And if you want to criticize it on the lottery aspect, fine. I just don't see criticizing it on the traffic aspect. The choice isn't between developing "affordable housing" and leaving the land undeveloped. It's between two different types of development. Something was going to be developed (and add traffic) on that plot regardless.

Originally Posted by hound 109

I was joking about the million year flood plain. But I'm not joking about if more development occurs up stream, the flood plain areas (downstream) will continue to expand.

Agreed. Unfortunately, there's nothing CoA can do. Even the minimal development controls it tried to exercise in Hays county were shot down by the legislature (which is why Austin's ETJ basically stops at the county line).
For Onion creek, it's even worse. The whole watershed is something like 400 square miles. Even if Austin had it's full ETJ it wouldn't be able to influence even a fraction of that.

[hound 109]

Originally Posted by Novacek

And if you want to criticize it on the lottery aspect, fine. I just don't see criticizing it on the traffic aspect. The choice isn't between developing "affordable housing" and leaving the land undeveloped. It's between two different types of development. Something was going to be developed (and add traffic) on that plot regardless.

I'm criticizing it on the aspect that my tax dollars are subsidizing it.... instead of those dollars being used for the #1 item that everyone wants to see....improved (or new) roads. (like the gridlocked road that it's being built on)

Agreed. Unfortunately, there's nothing CoA can do. Even the minimal development controls it tried to exercise in Hays county were shot down by the legislature (which is why Austin's ETJ basically stops at the county line).
For Onion creek, it's even worse. The whole watershed is something like 400 square miles. Even if Austin had it's full ETJ it wouldn't be able to influence even a fraction of that.

Understood. I get that it's a political football with multiple jurisdictions.

But some smart politician must realize cause & effect (state agencies? the Gov?). If development occurs upstream (& nothing is done to contain or compensate) then damage will occur downstream. (not a question of "if", but of when). Then the question is.....who gets to pay for the damage?

[riaelise]

Originally Posted by hound 109

The bigger issue is the Onion Creek drainage & rooftops being built upstream.

Regarding Travis Co spending in Wilco, yep...it's dumb. Regarding Wilco roads, Wilco builds them. Some are Toll and some aren't. Once the very fine Wilco road enters Travis Co. (though) it's gridlock (with fewer lanes). Travis & CofA doesn't build enough roads or improve the ones they have (in their OWN backyard).

Heck, CofA is building "affordable housing" ON currently gridlocked roads (with no plan on improving the roads). My (& your) tax dollars subsidizing further gridlock. Maybe Travis county (or CofA) ran out of money after providing "affordable housing" out in the suburbs & buying out all those homes in the one million year flood plain.

Seriously (BOT)....is no govt. entity going to talk about the impact that 2000 rooftops (with more to come) will have on Onion Creek down stream? (especially after the Halloween flood fiasco & subsequent sugar daddy buyout a couple of years back).

Having lived in Travis County (not Austin) and now Wilco, I'd go as far to say that as soon as the roads enter Austin here comes the gridlock and traffic. Even Hwy 79 isn't as bad as many of the Austin roads, though 620 and 1431 appear to be monsters.

[IC_deLight]

Originally Posted by hound 109

- I oppose spending Travis County (or CofA) funds to improve roads for people who live in Hays Co (& Kyle/Buda). Let them pay for it....and/or enjoy the 70 min. commute.

Travis County and City of Austin don't spend funds to improve roads for people who live in Hays County (with the exception of those roads in Hays County that are in the city of Austin). Travis County and Austin spends money on their own roads regardless of the origin, ethnicity, age, gender, etc. of the people traveling on them. Neither of them really spends enough money on the roads. A small minority of folks living there believe seem to have a sense of entitlement to economic center without realizing there is a cost to maintaining such a position.

Originally Posted by hound 109

I'm sitting high up on a hill in NW Austin (fat, dumb & happy) & my opinion is that: I don't want to pay for retainage ponds in Kyle... or flooded out houses near Onion Creek CC in 2 years.....or freeways that allow Hays Co to access Downtown easily......or monster expansion projects on South Mopac (yeah....I know, I HAVE to pay my fair share for Mopac, since it's actually IN Austin....but I don't have to like it ).

Just consider yourself to be paying for freeways that allow people to leave Austin and you'll feel better.

[Nitwhit]

I am crossing my fingers that this mess goes bankrupt. We are due for a nice economic failure and I hope we have one. I have no debt to worry about and no investments that would be impacted by one. I am tired of all the people moving here and one way to stop this mess is an economic collapse. Because our government surely does not care about preservation.

[DPatel304]

Originally Posted by robertsacamano

Yes, they do. As much as many hate to hear it, Austin needs to expand in every direction. Putting all the jobs downtown, while desirable for Austin's tax base, is not sustainable without more capacity or a true mass transit system, neither of which are possible. If I was an enterprise-level business (Fortune 500), I would be thinking of ways to get the people living in South Austin and West Austin to commute to Buda or Kyle. Then I'd put some offices right here:

https://www.google.com/maps/place/13...97.8114089,17z

As a Dallasite who is moving to Austin starting this weekend, it's funny to see how opposite our problems are. Seems the urban core in Austin is so strong that many of you encourage sprawl, while, in Dallas, our suburbs are so strong that we celebrate any big investments in our core.

[WildChicken]

Don't expect any home appreciation in Buda/Kyle for years.

[sojourner77]

Originally Posted by WildChicken

Don't expect any home appreciation in Buda/Kyle for years.

Wildchicken - weren't you the one looking for a nice house, with decent schools, less than 15 miles from downtown, for under 400K?

Well, you have your answer above.