3 ms·

Out of curiosity, how is the city mismanaged?

caseysoftware 5y ago
The single biggest example: homelessness. The City removed the camping ban in July 2019 allowing homeless people to camp everywhere - even at elementary schools - except in front of City Hall. Later that year, they started buying hotels to house people, paying 3x market rate (even during the pandemic), and as of last month had housed ~200 people in the year+ since purchasing the hotels. When citizens finally voted to restore the ban in May, the City is choosing to not enforce it so they can "come up with a plan." Various budget sleuths estimate the City has spent ~$250M on the problem in the last five years but the City has fought audits to determine the actual number.
lazypenguin 5y ago
It’s not mismanaged if you are the right demographic. Austin experienced a radical change in culture when the city council discovered it was quite profitable to cater to non-residents. This started with building a large convention center and promoting Austin as a destination for corporate events. Followed by pumping money into large scale socials such as ACL and SXSW. This in effect turned Austin into a “tourist” destination which brought large volumes of well-capitalized people through the city on a regular basis. Businesses adapted to the new clientele and many liked the Austin culture enough to move here. Finally, the city has implemented many policies to attract businesses here with nearly every FANG having a significant presence. This has attracted even more people to move here as there are jobs available and no state income tax. Where this has all gone wrong is that the city has neglected the existing residents while focusing on attracting new ones. The result is that most long-term residents can no longer afford to live here and the racial and socioeconomic diversity has tragically declined as a result. If you are young with no kids or generally fit in the “yuppie” category then Austin will serve you well. Austin’s “starving musicians and artists” of yore are now gone since not many can afford to live in Austin anymore. Perhaps one could say the city has mismanaged its culture but otherwise the city is doing very well and is prosperous.

The single biggest example: homelessness. The City removed the camping ban in July 2019 allowing homeless people to camp everywhere - even at elementary schools - except in front of City Hall. Later that year, they started buying hotels to house people, paying 3x market rate (even during the pandemic), and as of last month had housed ~200 people in the year+ since purchasing the hotels. When citizens finally voted to restore the ban in May, the City is choosing to not enforce it so they can "come up with a plan." Various budget sleuths estimate the City has spent ~$250M on the problem in the last five years but the City has fought audits to determine the actual number.

lazypenguin 5y ago

It’s not mismanaged if you are the right demographic. Austin experienced a radical change in culture when the city council discovered it was quite profitable to cater to non-residents. This started with building a large convention center and promoting Austin as a destination for corporate events. Followed by pumping money into large scale socials such as ACL and SXSW. This in effect turned Austin into a “tourist” destination which brought large volumes of well-capitalized people through the city on a regular basis. Businesses adapted to the new clientele and many liked the Austin culture enough to move here. Finally, the city has implemented many policies to attract businesses here with nearly every FANG having a significant presence. This has attracted even more people to move here as there are jobs available and no state income tax. Where this has all gone wrong is that the city has neglected the existing residents while focusing on attracting new ones. The result is that most long-term residents can no longer afford to live here and the racial and socioeconomic diversity has tragically declined as a result. If you are young with no kids or generally fit in the “yuppie” category then Austin will serve you well. Austin’s “starving musicians and artists” of yore are now gone since not many can afford to live in Austin anymore. Perhaps one could say the city has mismanaged its culture but otherwise the city is doing very well and is prosperous.