high density

This is an important week for the future of downtown development. Over the last few years, the City has advocated dense downtown development as an alternative to suburban sprawl, traffic, and high infrastructure costs.

On December 17, the Austin City Council is scheduled to vote on proposals to require developers to provide community benefits such as affordable housing, child care services, or cultural spaces.

Is downtown density a good thing?

That's the big question this month as the Austin City Council reviews proposals that would dramatically change the rules for downtown development.

Hot spots...find the address with the most crime reports in a zip.

Typically, these addresses coincide with high density (apartment) or high activity (shopping area).

But in some cases, residences show up on the list that may have problems.
HINT: click on address for Google Streetview or click count to view a list of all reports

Hot spots nearby (based on address/zip)

A movement is developing in Austin to link downtown zoning variances to "voluntary" contributions to community programs.

While a density bonus sounds like a special gift to developers who meet the city's stated goal of a dense vertical downtown, in reality, it is the opposite.

Density bonuses essentially charge developers for variances -- if they want to build taller, they need to pay for the privilege.

Here is a summary from the Austin Chronicle:

Population density, the number of people per square mile, is an indicator of suburban sprawl. A large city with a low population density will be spread across a broader geographic area than an equally sized city with a higher level of density.

The lower the density, the more land it takes to fit all of a city's residents. The more land, the longer people must drive for work or to get groceries, the more lawn there is too water, the more the natural environment is reclaimed for malls and yards and roads.