Just found this terrific article about how Austin’s growth pattern is driven by the ‘freakonomics’ of Central and Old West Austin. I didn’t realize who the author was until the end. It was a nice [but not unexpected] surprise to see that is was authored by Chris Bradford! Great job, Chris!
Below are two great quotes from the article:
“Families also did not have to flee central Austin to escape dense, overcrowded neighborhoods. The typical central Austin neighborhood is no denser than a typical suburban neighborhood. Most central Austin neighborhoods consist almost entirely of single-family residences. Indeed, in some, nearly 90% of the residential acreage is set aside for single-family housing, with multi-family developments relegated to busy streets. And yard sizes in suburbs are frequently little larger than the yards in the central neighborhoods.”
“Yet there’s an ironic side to this. Alarmed by the decline of families in the city, the same city council that enacted the McMansion ordinance created a new task force a few months later to determine why central Austin has now so few families with children.”
Thanks, Jude. You scooped me on my own article!