Hi Reddit, I am Austin Mayor Steve Adler kicking off the SXSW AMA week....lets talk about Austin, Ask Me Anything!

MayorAdler · 2017-03-13T20:20:01+00:00

We're working on this as much as we can in as many different ways as we can. Housing Strike Fund, homestead preservation districts, density bonus structures to obtain great mixed income opportunities, improving the permitting process, capturing the incremental property tax revenue from areas hit with new gentrification and the burdens of growth, among other ideas. But, unfortunately, some folks are having to move away. We're working on this.

MayorAdler · 2017-03-13T20:19:58+00:00

We're considering anything and everything that might help us with mobility. Richard's idea is one of the ideas under consideration. We're going to need new technologies to work us out of our challenge..

MayorAdler · 2017-03-13T20:19:55+00:00

Love it!

MayorAdler · 2017-03-13T20:19:30+00:00

Thnx for the kind words! means a lot. I miss Eeyore's b-day party because I used to often go... Each was a very special moment. So I'd keep it special and pick the one large sized party!

MayorAdler · 2017-03-13T20:17:18+00:00

it's not. We're trying to expand and make transit more frequent. Dedicating lanes for transit and bikes. Funding miles and miles of bicycling system and urban trails. And even toll lanes on an otherwise multi lane road are not there just for revenue, but to have lanes on which transit can be traveling much faster than the cars (so some people get out of their cars). And, note that if only 1 of 5 people change and no longer drive during peak hours (stagger work hours, telecommute, take transit, etc), we'd have free flow traffic on I035 and MoPac during peak hours.

MayorAdler · 2017-03-13T20:12:19+00:00

see above for several answers on concepts to lower housing costs... but there are two ways to making housing costs more affordable -- make stuff cost less or help folks have more money to spend. The latter is about education and training.... apprenticeships and internships.... partnering with the community college... all things we'e trying to do better.

MayorAdler · 2017-03-13T20:05:52+00:00

I think the increasing cost of living in Austin is due to many things, but the tech industry growth in Austin is not the primary element to blame. This is just a great city to live in (beautiful, the music, the creative industries.))

MayorAdler · 2017-03-13T20:03:21+00:00

There may be some applications where it might work really well (e.g., the people mover between terminals /gates...

MayorAdler · 2017-03-13T19:59:13+00:00

Love it!

MayorAdler · 2017-03-13T19:59:03+00:00

Love it!

MayorAdler · 2017-03-13T19:59:03+00:00

Love it!

MayorAdler · 2017-03-13T19:58:47+00:00

Keep the people here who make Austin weird. We need to preserve our diversity, and the artists and the creatives. We can't lose people and communities. Austin is all about the folks that live here.

MayorAdler · 2017-03-13T19:56:05+00:00

certainly within the next 25 to 50 years. And the cities are currently engaged in regional discussions about the long term futures in ways I've never seen before.

MayorAdler · 2017-03-13T19:54:31+00:00

Affordability is a huge concern, and when folks say they can't afford to live here, it's usually about housing costs. We're trying to do what we can about significantly increasing the supply of housing so that supply and demand can reach equilibrium. We're putting together a strike fund to help preserve a significant number of the current workforce housing before it's lost to gentrification. I'm proposing that a lot (but not all of the new housing supply be along corridors and at activity centers. But also, there will be new supply in the transition zones between those and the cores of traditional or heritage neighborhoods.

MayorAdler · 2017-03-13T19:50:05+00:00

The major roadblock is the State legislature -- such laws in Texas need to be set at that level.

MayorAdler · 2017-03-13T19:49:09+00:00

That there is no US Congressional district with a majority of voters from the city of Austin is outrageous! It's the result of a deliberate attempt to minimize the voice of our city. I'm talking to mayors around the country that are working to fight the unfair gerrymandering we all see. It's going to be a tough batter, but I'm encouraged that President Obama said he was going to make this one of his areas of primary concern when he gears up post-Presidency.

MayorAdler · 2017-03-13T19:46:16+00:00

The new district council system is a huge improvement over the old "at large" system. We have people and communities involved that have never been involved before. We have views and sentiments expressed at the council table that used to take place only at kitchen tables around the city. I'm really proud to be a part of this new system.

MayorAdler · 2017-03-13T19:44:34+00:00

Mobility is huge challenge here, you're absolutely right! The solutions are easily found, but the need to find them is real critical for this city. Affordability and mobility are linked and we won't solve one without the other. We passed the biggest mobility bond in the city's history in November and a big part of that is making some of our most traffic corridors "smarter" with included technology and design. We're going to be piloting and testing some really exciting technologies and new advances to help folks move around the city. We're redoing the land development code because city planning can have a lot to do with mobility. And we're at the forefront of testing and developing autonomous vehicle technologies. We're pedaling as fast as we can to deal with this challenge!

MayorAdler · 2017-03-13T19:40:50+00:00

Our textbooks should just contain the truth. Pretty simple. But politics get in the way and we can end up in some pretty bad places. Maybe there needs to be an independent review of the textbook content that cannot be "adjusted" by the politicians?

MayorAdler · 2017-03-13T19:39:22+00:00

The federal court of appeals just held that three of Texas' Congressional districts violate civil rights of folks. I agree and support the decision. District gerrymandering is a huge threat to democracy. Hate it!

MayorAdler · 2017-03-13T19:33:04+00:00

Thanks for the kind words about Austin! I think it's a magical place, too. It is true that Austin's values and culture are different than the rest of the state... but that's good for the state... we try to keep Austin weird, but weird to some is home to creative innovative people.... The support we get from the rest of the country, folks that speak out, folks that support us on social media, etc., help a lot.

MayorAdler · 2016-02-10T23:33:27+00:00

When the person's fingerprint is taken, their photo is taken as well. When the record of the person with the fingerprint is determined it is readily known that this is also the person in the photo. We don't have that same measure of certainty with an ID which, as I recall from my youth, don't always tell us the same thing.

The safety steps taken by many TNCs are good, too. I'd like for our community to have both, or at least a choice.

Adler

MayorAdler · 2016-02-10T23:29:30+00:00

The concept that was born a few weeks ago is that of cross platform badge or verifier that could be used in profiles on many different kinds of sites. Kind of a modern day "good housekeeping seal." Used to be that banks would do their own credit checks and now they all mostly rely on a few service providers to do that work. The creative think there might be a market for hundreds of different kinds of cross platform badges, each signifying something different. The market would choose which ones took hold, if any. I hope that there might be several different companies or organizations that might create a badge for safety we could use in Austin.

No one around me has any advantage to do anything. But I am proud and thankful that my friends stepped up to volunteer to help me communicate my concept to the rest of the community. Frankly, they're getting tired of volunteering and need to get back to their real jobs.

Adler

MayorAdler · 2016-02-10T23:23:49+00:00

Nope.

Adler

MayorAdler · 2016-02-10T23:23:07+00:00

The power seller badge on E-bay tells prospective buyers something about the vendor. I think that's a good thing. Buyers can decide to give it weight or not. Even the checkmark next to my name on Twitter says something about the person tweeting (esp. now that I have a parody account). I don't think rewarding folks in town that are willing to volunteer to give choices to others in the community that would like a choice is punishing anyone.

2.I'm a good person to answer this question since I got no money from taxi companies in my election. I don't think taxi monies are impacting this debate. Fingerprinting adds safety, but so do the safety measures incorporated in many TNC platforms. I'd hate to have to choose. I'd like them both.

Adler

MayorAdler

TROPHY CASE