Question in regards to Austin’s affordablility “crisis” (Howe: apartment complex, limousine)

[Antny12]

Before I take a dive into this and before I get ripped on for my opinion let me just first make a few things crystal clear.

1) I’ve started from the bottom. I know what it’s like to not be able to afford my bills, to wonder what I’m going to eat for the next week, and so forth. When I was young I was even evicted from an apartment for missed payments.

But even with that being said i have managed to climb my way back out of that situation, without a college degree, to be able to become a homeowner who hasn’t missed any payment for any bill since. I understand that everyone’s situation is going to be different. However for me, I had to move 18 hours away from family and friends to give myself the opportunity to make it happen. Moving this far was not easy.. and understandably so not everyone can make that happen. But why is it the cities or any cities job to prodvide people witb “affordable housing? I mean, I wouldn’t mind a beach house on the coast of California in Laguna beach.. I wouldn’t of been opposed to living in the nice suburbs of Chicago if the financial situation would of made it work. But the fact is, it didn’t. I couldn’t afford those places. So I made a choice to better my financial situation by seeking out somewhere that I could make it happen. Places develop and become more expensive over time... this happen EVERyWHERE unless the area is dying or in a completely devolped city/area.

I could understand the fact that a lot of the people who need affordable housing are the ones who usually work in the service industry- and without these people filling these jobs would be difficult. However, that seems like the companies problem to deal with. I believe a lot of those jobs are really meant to be introduction jobs for teenagers but it seems thats not always the case. I don’t think minimum wage should be raised but maybe these companies should offer some better benefits and they might attract a wider range of candidates.

Again, I understand some of these people lived there before the House or area values exploded. But like stated above, it’s basics economics. The more desirable an area is, the more the value of that area will increase. So with that being said it’s apart of life for people all across America, not just austin. Everyone gets upset at the taxes going up every year but not about their home value going up every year when they’re cashing out for double what they bought the home for.

Thoughts? Am I missing something?

[Trainwreck20]

No, don't really disagree, for the most part. The unfortunate part is that the lower-income service workers end up trading the expensive cost of living for a somewhat expensive (gas, wear on their car) commute and loss of time (commute time). These incremental costs are harder to quantify, so people accept them more easily than high rental/ownership cost and then live in the far-reaches of the area.

At the end of the day, I think it works better to let the market 'fix' itself. Trying to leverage the cost of living down for a few people just torques the market in all sorts of weird ways and drives cost up elsewhere. If you can't afford to live (or work) in Austin, then don't. The cost will come down or wages will go up. I can't tell you how many 'minimum wage' jobs are offering $11, $12, and $13 an hour, I see the signs up all the time.

There are always going to be winners and losers in the 'game', and trying to make everyone a winner is a fool's errand.

[rangergrit]

So, you think our mayor and most of the Council are fools?

[Antny12]

Not sure where I said that. However, seeing as how they have handled the growth in the area...

[Bp25]

There are services that a city needs but can't pay a high salary without increasing taxes. Teachers, police, firefighters come to mind. The people who work there are not usually the types who chase the highest paying jobs but they need a way to stay in the city. If you tell them that if Austin is too expensive for you then move to a different city, you will end up with a dysfunctional city soon. You need some kind of affordable housing solution for them.
Whether you want to include service industry workers in that group is up to you.

To me, the problem is not necessarily that Austin is expensive. The problem is that there is no way for people to live outside the city in low cost area and then commute to different parts of city that they need to be in any reasonable manner. Then again, it's the lack of commute options and infrastructure that made the city core so expensive because everyone wants to live in or near the city. That I blame on city leadership.

[rangergrit]

The 'lack of commute options and infrastructure' is really due to Sierra Club and SOS. Putting the value of a salamander and a warbler above people. Those groups are also largely wealthy, and don't have to move to stay here.

[Antny12]

When I think of affordable housing In Austin the first thing that comes to mind is that huge not exactly the nicest looking apartment complex just north of 45 as far as Austin goes north of course- doing absolutely nothing to help those who work downtown. I wonder if they put affordable housing up as far west as Austin city limits will allow? Needless to say, the lack of public transportation is also an issue in this region. It’s pretty bizarre that the only real public transportation system is a bus line... which is fine for a college town but a city of Austin’s size. Metro rail seems like a great start but it needs for more stops so people are actually motivated to take it. It seems now if you take it you have to still drive to the station.. get off at a stop that’s somewhat close to where you need to go but still have to walk quite a bit.

Anyways it was just on my mind so wanted to see if there was something I was missing. Instead of putting hundreds on millions of dollars into “affordable” housing- why not increase the wages of those teachers, police and fire fighters if that’s truly who’s struggling to find housing? Then invest in more viable public transportation systems then busses. Which by the way for a city that wants to be so green and different bus lines isn’t exactly the best thing for the environment..neither is a bunch of cars sitting in a parking lot on 35. just saying.

[El Senor]

Originally Posted by Antny12

When I think of affordable housing In Austin the first thing that comes to mind is that huge not exactly the nicest looking apartment complex just north of 45 as far as Austin goes north of course- doing absolutely nothing to help those who work downtown. I wonder if they put affordable housing up as far west as Austin city limits will allow? Needless to say, the lack of public transportation is also an issue in this region. It’s pretty bizarre that the only real public transportation system is a bus line... which is fine for a college town but a city of Austin’s size. Metro rail seems like a great start but it needs for more stops so people are actually motivated to take it. It seems now if you take it you have to still drive to the station.. get off at a stop that’s somewhat close to where you need to go but still have to walk quite a bit.

Anyways it was just on my mind so wanted to see if there was something I was missing. Instead of putting hundreds on millions of dollars into “affordable” housing- why not increase the wages of those teachers, police and fire fighters if that’s truly who’s struggling to find housing? Then invest in more viable public transportation systems then busses. Which by the way for a city that wants to be so green and different bus lines isn’t exactly the best thing for the environment..neither is a bunch of cars sitting in a parking lot on 35. just saying.

You need to learn how the "affordable housing" deal works. In many cases, like Mueller for example, it the developers that have to take the hit to limit their revenue in order to get the whole project approved.

Now. If you actually paid any taxes toward the city of Austin, you'd have the right to question or complain about a single thing. Instead, you expect to pay another entity, then criticize the city that supplies your living - this is just one more example. Do you pay a dime of Austin tax that would fun those civic services that protect you at work? No. But you're fast as hell to spend that dime.

You exburban-dwelling, high-horse-riding, limousine liberals crack me up.

[cBach]

In many cases like around Steiner, there are many service positions to be filled but an utter lack of affordable housing and a nonexistent bus system. If there was a better bus system in the suburbs then people could at least commute more effectively.

[ashbeeigh]

How do you plan on increasing the pay of these workers? The school system is a mess snd AUSD sends the state a bugger chunk of money thsnbit keeps and the police union isn’t working under a contract right now.