On June 6, Austin city leaders officially approved Project Connect, the city’s estimated $4.5 to $4.8 billion project. Project Connect would create nearly 10 miles of light rail network and serve an estimated 28,500 riders per day. The Austin City Council, Austin Transit Partnership and Capital Metro Board voted to adopt phase one of the project. History of Project Connect In 2020, Austin...
Last Thursday, the Austin City Council announced a working plan to cooperate with local universities to examine possible solutions to the lack of affordable student housing near campuses, like UT’s West Campus. Proposed by District 5 Council Member Ryan Alter, the study aims to build a guide for future student housing development that is part of Austin’s Strategic Housing Blueprint. The blueprint...
An updated plan calls for The Drag to lose all vehicle traffic as a part of Project Connect, the city’s multibillion-dollar transit initiative. The plan is part of Project Connect’s Orange Line and will allow for only pedestrians, bikes, city buses and a light rail system on Guadalupe Street between 22nd and 29th streets, according to a town hall meeting Tuesday. Austin Transit Partnership, which...
The UT President’s office gave out four $25,000 grants this semester to faculty members studying affordable housing in the Austin community. The University awarded the Faculty Innovation Grants to staff members Jake Wegmann, Elizabeth “Becky” Pettit, Ming Zhang and Elizabeth Mueller. Each grant recipient is partnering with organizations outside of UT to study a specific aspect of affordable...
As the pandemic obscures how classes will operate in the next school year, students may be conflicted on when the best time to sign apartment leases is, not knowing whether their classes will be primarily in-person or online. Almost half of the undergraduates at UT are attending classes fully online this semester, according to a UT news release from Aug. 11. UT President Jay Hartzell said the spring...
The Austin City Council tentatively approved Thursday the redevelopment of student apartment complexes in Riverside. In a 9-2 vote, the council gave initial approval to the so-called “4700 Riverside” project, which will convert 97 acres of housing into a mixed-used development and replace 1,300 apartment units in five student apartment complexes: Ballpark North, Town Lake, and the Quad East,...
Students moving out can leave their unwanted furniture and houseware at donation stations across West Campus with the help of an organization working toward zero waste. MoveOutATX is implementing donation stations across West Campus for the second year to limit the number of items left on curbs or near dumpsters when students move out. The organization is a collaboration between many local groups,...
New housing units in West Campus could soon rival the UT Tower and the State Capitol in terms of height, as long as developers add more affordable housing. Allie Runas, electrical and computer engineering senior, is a member of the The Central Austin Neighborhood Planning Advisory Committee. The Central Austin Neighborhood Planning Advisory Committee unanimously approved a plan to nearly double the...
The University of Texas students Maya Patel and Zach Price are taking a hands-on approach this legislative session to increase the number of polling locations on college campuses in Texas. Patel and Price wrote House Bill 375, which would require universities with more than 10,000 students to have a polling location on campus. House Rep. Gina Hinojosa, D-Austin, filed the bill. Together, the trio is...
Once again Austin was ranked the best city to live in by the U.S. News & World Report annual evaluation. Mayor Steve Adler said, “It’s an honor to be named number one, the best city to live.” He has ideas for improvement, however. Miriam Weiner, a product manager at U.S. News, helped research and rank the 100 cities on the list. In 2017 Austin received a 7.8 out of 10 overall and a 7.3 out of...