Austin Metro

Illustration of student in room with air conditioner blowing

City requires all homes to install air conditioning

The Austin City Council adopted a property maintenance code during an April 10 meeting that will require all housing units to have air conditioning. City officials filed a resolution in 2023 to mandate AC due to heat-related illness and rising temperature concerns. Prior to the code’s implementation, the city required installed AC’s to properly function, but it did not require housing units to...

Sixth Street at night

Austin City Council approves new Sixth Street safety resolution

The Austin City Council unanimously approved a resolution regarding safety on Sixth Street on April 10. The resolution committed to continuing data collection and reporting regarding safety and crime on Sixth Street, as well as exploring the implementation of a year-round code enforcement team to monitor bars in the area. It also follows the Sixth Street Safety Plan implemented by the Austin Police...

Illustration of transit app on phone

CapMetro approves contactless payment option on buses, trains

Capital Metro’s board of directors approved including a tap-to-pay option for riders on buses and trains on Monday. Currently, riders can pay fares using cash, the CapMetro app or by purchasing a physical transit card. These changes allow riders to use their credit cards, debit cards, Apple Pay or Google Pay to pay for fares. Fare rates will not change, Jorge Ortega, the former CapMetro communications...

Illustration of someone filling out a form

City Council passes resolution aiming to get rid of hidden fees throughout rental process

Austin City Council passed a resolution during its Oct. 24 meeting directing the city manager to draft an ordinance that requires landlords to disclose all additional fees other than rent throughout the leasing application process. The resolution is expected to return to council in June as an ordinance to ensure it’s implemented before people renew their leases over the summer. District 5 Council...

Exterior of Austin City Hall

City of Austin opens rent assistance application

In partnership with multiple community organizations, the city of Austin reopened a rent assistance application on Friday to help Austin residents manage the affordable housing crisis. The application is set to close on Nov. 7 at 5 p.m. The “I Belong in Austin” program, a city-run initiative created to provide “tenant rental assistance” to those vulnerable to eviction, reopened on Nov. 1...

Mixed-use development in West Campus, South, East Austin sheds light on Austin’s growth strategy

Austin City Council approved 29 total mixed-use developments as of Oct. 17. Twenty-eight developments still under consideration in South and East Austin, as well as West Campus, will combine residential, retail and office space under the city’s Density Bonus 90 program.  Buildings can reach up to 90 feet high in approved areas. Under the program, commercial uses are required for 75% of the ground...

View of UT campus with Interstate 35 in the foreground

Reconstruction of Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard Bridge to start soon

Reconstruction of the MLK Boulevard bridge is set to begin this week, and the bridge will likely be demolished early next year, said Jeffrey Barker, a Texas Department of Transportation public information officer. The reconstruction of the bridge is a part of the I-35 Capital Express Central Project, a series of improvements along portions of Interstate 35 within Austin. The bridge construction is...

Chart showing noise complaints

Austin City Council approves sound assessment ordinance for residential building developments

Austin City Council approved an ordinance on Sept. 12 that requires sound assessments for residential developments near music venues. The ordinance requires residential building developers to obtain a sound assessment if the project site is located within 600 feet of at least one outdoor music venue or 300 feet from at least one performance venue. The ordinance went into effect Monday, and intends to...

Austin rent prices declined this past year, data shows

Austin rent prices have been on the decline since last year, according to a June 11 report by Realtor.com. In the study, analysts evaluated property rent prices for studio, one and two-bedroom apartments from May 2023 to May 2024 across the 50 largest metropolitan areas in the nation. According to the findings, the national average rent this year was less than last year’s for the 10th month in a row....

A person adjusts a gray comforter on a bed

Developers have built thousands of windowless bedrooms in Austin. Now, the city may outlaw them.

For two decades, UT Austin professor Juan Miró has given his undergraduate architecture students an assignment: Draw the window in your bedroom. The task for a class called “Architectural Detailing and Materials,” Miró says, is to get students thinking about the details of a room. The dimensions. The window. The windowsill. When Miró gave this assignment in January 2022, several students raised...

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