McMansions in Austin
Dear City Council,
I know that tonight you will be hearing testimony on the McMansion debate that has ensued our City. I am unable to attend this evening but wanted to express my concerns on this issue.
While I am not fully versed on the McMansion debate, I want to respond as a young person who has lived in Austin for the past 8 years and hopes to continue living here for many years to come. I am deeply concerned about the growing housing (and property tax) costs and gentrification of Central Austin neighborhoods. I realize the positive impact that more taxes can bring to our City, but surely there are many other ways to absorb our tax needs than to continue changing our neighborhoods to where even middle class people can not afford to live in them.
My partner and I are currently looking into buying our first home. We love Austin and want to call it our home for much longer. Combined we have a decent joint-income of ~70K/yr and yet we are having a hard time finding a home we can afford in Central Austin. I can't even fathom how a single person or a lower income family could afford to live here. I can only imagine what this will look like in 2, 5 or 10 years from now if these McMansions continue to take over our neighborhoods and raise the costs of living in Austin. Do we really want to push all lower and middle class people out of the heart of our City? I hope not.
Thank you for considering my opinions, and I hope you will vote to keep Austin affordable.
Sincerely,
Marti Bier
xxxx
Austin, TX xxxxx
martibier@
LBJ School of Public Affairs student
I know that tonight you will be hearing testimony on the McMansion debate that has ensued our City. I am unable to attend this evening but wanted to express my concerns on this issue.
While I am not fully versed on the McMansion debate, I want to respond as a young person who has lived in Austin for the past 8 years and hopes to continue living here for many years to come. I am deeply concerned about the growing housing (and property tax) costs and gentrification of Central Austin neighborhoods. I realize the positive impact that more taxes can bring to our City, but surely there are many other ways to absorb our tax needs than to continue changing our neighborhoods to where even middle class people can not afford to live in them.
My partner and I are currently looking into buying our first home. We love Austin and want to call it our home for much longer. Combined we have a decent joint-income of ~70K/yr and yet we are having a hard time finding a home we can afford in Central Austin. I can't even fathom how a single person or a lower income family could afford to live here. I can only imagine what this will look like in 2, 5 or 10 years from now if these McMansions continue to take over our neighborhoods and raise the costs of living in Austin. Do we really want to push all lower and middle class people out of the heart of our City? I hope not.
Thank you for considering my opinions, and I hope you will vote to keep Austin affordable.
Sincerely,
Marti Bier
xxxx
Austin, TX xxxxx
martibier@
LBJ School of Public Affairs student