To the residents of the first ward, Letter to the Editor by Laura Helle, Austin Daily Herald

4th Ave Fest Unites Communities by Jadon Fimon, Austin Daily Herald

Celebrating the Utility of Art by Eric Johnson, Austin Daily Herald

Cedar View Boosts Housing for Austin Workforce by Mike Bunge, KIMT News

Three Rivers Cuts Ribbon on 1st & 3rd Apartments by Evan Berg, KIMT News

Laura Helle Stepping Down as Arts Director by Eric Johnson, Austin Daily Herald

On Q: Austin Human Rights Commission with Eric Olson, KSMQ

Laura Helle in the news

Growing Austin

The City of Austin needs to add housing. We have low unemployment and our major employers are always seeking more quality workforce to hire. If we had the opportunity tomorrow to add even 20 high-paying jobs in Austin, we would not have the housing to support that influx of workers.

We should be adding housing that meets the needs of seniors, working families, and young professionals. The housing problem is complex and we don't have the luxury of focusing on one strategy. We need rental housing and homeownership opportunities. We need single family homes and multi-family homes. We need a system to prevent homelessness and a system to safely house people experiencing homelessness on a temporary basis.

If we make smart housing investments NOW, we increase the tax base. That makes give us more tax paying units to share the cost of city services and keeps everyone's taxes reasonable.

The strategies I think would be most effective are infill housing development and densification. Infill housing is building new housing on lots that already have sewer, water, and streets built. We add to the housing inventory but don't add new miles of street to plow and maintain. Densification is encouraging more investment per acre of taxable land. One example is encouraging downtown businesses to remodel upstairs spaces for use as housing or business. By activated unused space, the property generates more revenue and has the ability to pay more taxes. Again, we don't do this by adding new miles of streets to maintain.

Another example is if we reduce the requirements for parking spaces at retailers on 18th Ave NW. Have you ever seen the Wal-Mark parking lot totally full? I haven't. We could change zoning to allow part of the parking lot to be converted into a retail store. Again, we would enhance the tax base without adding to the miles of street to maintain.