The Uphill Battle to Build Housing in Austin

A Texas Monthly piece by Megan Kimble explains the uphill battle faced by housing advocates in Austin, where rents rose by 40 percent between March 2020 and June of this year and families struggle to find affordable housing.

“Since the pandemic began, home prices have increased faster in the capital than almost anywhere else in the country.” Yet the city’s development code, which dictates where different types of housing can be built, was last updated in 1984, meaning the city still guides development based on a time when the population was half as large. Today, building housing is a case-by-case, neighborhood by neighborhood process that leads to drawn-out fights and a prolonged housing shortage.

Kimble argues that the NIMBYism exhibited by many Texas communities has prevented many housing developments from going forward, exacerbating the state’s persistent housing shortage. The article details some specific cases and goes on to explain how zoning can prevent small, vocal groups from gaining outsized influence and blocking beneficial affordable housing projects.