The problem is the City Council has backed the whole damn city into a corner by not getting started on this, say, about 10 years ago. Seriously, who didn’t see this coming? Now they have done 10 years work in a week. No surprise it sucks.

I understand the urban density issue, but most of these homes being built can only be afforded by the upper class and are not targeted for middle income, single parent families. I can not afford any of these new homes and if they continue, I will not be able to afford to live in the area any longer and I have worked hard to stay here so I can raise my kids here.

You are right–central Austin is not affordable to most middle or lower income families. Until last fall, I was a single mom of two kids. I lived on the east side in a rental near the old airport where a lot of mixed use development is currently underway. Included in the plan to revitalize that area were both single- and multiple-family homes that were intended to be affordable and spacious enough for people like you and me. Unfortunately, even these homes are affected by the moratorium.
When I accused the City Council of “class-based reactionism,” I wasn’t referring to discrimination against the upper-classes. I was, in fact, stating the opposite. The people on the City Council were so blinded by the desires of people in wealthier neighborhoods that they did not discuss (and most likely did not consider) that the moratorium might negatively affect families that live in East Austin or the northeast or southeast corridors, or families that live in already increasingly expensive central Austin neighborhoods, by preventing affordable family homes from being built. This Thursday, the Council will vote on whether to apply their rules to duplexes and townhomes. If they vote as blindly as they did last week, then we can be assured that “affordable” housing probably won’t be big enough for a family of four.

I think I’m about a year and a half late to this discussion, but I’m an former longtime Austinite thinking of eventually repatriating. I’m just trying to get in the swing of real-estate world down there (when I moved there originally in 1989 a 2 bedroom home in Crestview was about $30k, when I left probably $70, so it’s been a while!).

I find it pretty astonishing what’s been going on in Austin for the last 10 years. I try hard not to be a total reactionary, but some of the building, especially what I’ve noticed in Crestview is really, really out of hand. Many of these same problems exist in Chicago, where I am currently and very little is done about it (scrape offs, zero lot line building, total disregard for neighborhood character, etc.). It seems like you guys went to some pains to keep with the spirit of Crestview (I used to live on Pasadena), so I was sort of surprised at your reaction to this proposed ordinance. The temporary parameters seemed pretty reasonable to me. I know it’s a sticky situation, but it’s also a problem that is permanently and irrevocably changing the character of Austin (in some ways good, but in many ways pretty bad).

One question that doesn’t seem to get discussed much around this issue is how big does a house really have to be for a modest family? In the U.S., I think our first answer is always “as big as I want it and can afford!” which would just be considered ridiculous in many other places (and puhleeze no one tell me to “go there then” or something!). The idea of what is acceptable square footage for a family house has gone through the roof in the last 20 years or so. With so much green building awareness and enthusiasm around Austin, one simple green solution that isn’t discussed much is just not having to heat and cool 2500 to 3000 sq’ for 4-odd people. I’m not trying to judge, I’m sure I would grapple with many of the same issues, but how is it that 40 years ago, many of the same houses being demolished in Crestview to make a 3 story, 2800 sq’ mod box for 4 people probably were used to raise families of 6 or more?

I’ll have to see how this all turned out (the ordinance), but I just felt the need to comment. I like the blog and your place turned out really nicely.

1 McMansion is no denser than 1 cottage.
Both are only one unit.