| There is also in some cases a requirement that developers include 10% affordable housing in their projects or pay a fee in lieu of it. So we're looking at a requirement to make 10% of new housing affordable to 50% of our population. That's not going to get the job done.
Common sense tells me that we should build some of the affordable housing we need on land we already own. This is the direct approach. It produces tangible results in the short term- facts on the ground. It does not require complicated accounting and fund management into the distant future. And it is less subject to the vagaries of future economic and political shifts.
This property where Shoal Creek flows into the Colorado, at the meeting of two of our great trails, presents us with the opportunity to create a great downtown diverse neighborhood.
This site overlooks the confluence where the boiling floods from our urbanization roar into the river. This is the site where our water was purified for drinking for generations. This is the site where the water from Barton Springs was taken into the city's drinking water supply. This is the site of one of the first Mexican-Texan neighborhoods in Austin. This is land laid down in a period when the globe was warmer and a shallow sea covered most of Texas.
Let this site be the foundation of a new period for Austin. In this new period, we will change how the city functions. In this new period, we will provide housing for our working people in the district where they work.
Let's say to the teacher at Pease Elementary, and the receptionist at the front desk of the law office, and the cook at the restaurant, and the musician on 6th Street: come home. Come home to downtown Austin. We appreciate everything you do for us. We respect what you do. We're making room for you. We're getting your apartment under construction. We're making a neighborhood for you.
I envision a neighborhood of high-rise and midrise apartment and condo buildings here, with ground floor retail, with daycare and playscapes and gardens stretching down to the creekbank. This would be a neighborhood of mixed price levels, with units affordable to tenants earning anywhere from 30% to 120% of median family income, and units up to market rate. But the mix would reflect the population, with half the units at or below median family income prices, and half the units at or above.
The housing should remain affordable for at least 40 years. One way to achieve this would be for the land and buildings to belong to the city. Furthermore, we could make it a demonstration of sustainable design and building.
If this were a city-owned project on city property, it would not generate property taxes (except for possible condo units), and it would not generate fees in lieu of affordable housing. It would generate on-site all the benefits that these fees would be expected to fund. And more. Design and construction could be funded through sale of bonds. To manage the housing and other facilities, the city could partner with the Austin Housing Authority or with one or more non-profits that can show a proven track record of good management.
Of course, we will also be looking for opportunities to create reasonably priced housing in the neighborhoods near downtown, but I will not write off downtown as a place where working people live. We must have homes for working people in all parts of the city, if we are to transform the way the city functions. Our goal should be a city where people walk or bike to work, not one where they get on the highway for an hour or two every day. We should create a city where working people have time for their kids, not one where our inner-city schools are threatened by under-enrollment.
The property at Green gives us the chance to make a new start toward a greener city, a more affordable city, and a walkable city.
(crossposted at www.robincravey.com) |
