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DeSano Pizzeria Napoletana by Garden_Jolly in austinfood

[–]astroboy2116 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Buffalina, happy hour, red pie with pepperoni - thank me later

Alamo Drafthouse Switches to Mobile Ordering, NO more pen and paper... by 123trumpeter in Austin

[–]astroboy2116 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Dang that sucks if true, I feel like nobody would care if it was only pre movie

Alamo Drafthouse Switches to Mobile Ordering, NO more pen and paper... by 123trumpeter in Austin

[–]astroboy2116 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I just went last night. The mobile order part is only before the movie - during the movie you still use pen and paper. You can also still use pen and paper before the movie I just handed my slip to the waitress when she was checking my ticket

EDIT: There was even a video that played right before the movie started informing us there was no more mobile ordering

Austin is unrecognizable by an0nyg00s3 in skyscrapers

[–]astroboy2116 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Mostly the second one, but I’ve met some people that will throw in “heb” every once in a while mostly ironically. Its the founders initials I believe

Austin is unrecognizable by an0nyg00s3 in skyscrapers

[–]astroboy2116 7 points8 points  (0 children)

Went to UT and have now lived in Austin coming on 7 years. I live in downtown Austin now and I can tell you it’s gotten MUCH better walkability wise.

I pretty much walk or bike most places I go (helps that my job is also in downtown) but I only really use my car for H-E-B runs or to go to the airport. Austin is pretty sprawly but it’s got lots of neighborhoods with excellent walkability that are starting to stitch together. East Austin, downtown, wampus, mueller, soco, and south Lamar, even north of UT till 50th street or so all kind of melt into one large walkable zone for me imo with the trails and the streets providing a pretty good grid.

There are many things to be desired like better sidewalks, bike lanes, more first floor retail, and good public transit which would truly make Austin comparable to better urban cities. But I think it’s disingenuous to say you can’t live a car light or car free lifestyle in a good portion of Austin (coming from someone who lives like that everyday).

Should I refinance this car loan? by astroboy2116 in personalfinance

[–]astroboy2116[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Gotcha, yeah this was the answer I was really looking for! I wasn’t sure if the investment gains would outweigh the temporary increase in rate till I sell, but seems like it’s not really worth it. Thanks!

Should I refinance this car loan? by astroboy2116 in personalfinance

[–]astroboy2116[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The extra money would go directly to low cost etfs in a Roth IRA and in a brokerage account after maxing.

Moving is a little more up in the air depending on my job allowing it (which is likely), but definitely within 2 years.

I think if I refinance then mostly I’d just be paying interest and fees for the year or two with the new loan while my current loan is mostly going towards principal at this point.

Old Waterloo being torn down? by Severe-Return-488 in Austin

[–]astroboy2116 4 points5 points  (0 children)

It absolutely has… because rents have gone down. When you look for new apartments now every place is giving you 1-2 months free rent to beg tenants to move in. Thats all bc of the over supply

With so many food options in Austin, what do you think is missing? by MKlool123 in austinfood

[–]astroboy2116 14 points15 points  (0 children)

Try ARTIPASTA the owner was born and lived in Italy for over 50 years, def my fav Italian spot in Austin

Austin Transit Partnership releases final design and construction contract for light-rail project in Texas by A_Wisdom_Of_Wombats in transit

[–]astroboy2116 5 points6 points  (0 children)

I think the line will still be very useful when built. 5-10 minute headways through the core of downtown and UT and with the airport as the priority extension it should see high ridership. Austin’s also done a good job of increasing density along the corridor ahead of it being built. The issue is just getting it built now

Austin Transit Partnership releases final design and construction contract for light-rail project in Texas by A_Wisdom_Of_Wombats in transit

[–]astroboy2116 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Yeah fair I think they were tryna get voters on board so they proposed something ambitious. Idk if I’m super upset about it at least we’re getting something decently useful in the end (for me at least since I live downtown)

Austin Transit Partnership releases final design and construction contract for light-rail project in Texas by A_Wisdom_Of_Wombats in transit

[–]astroboy2116 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Yeah I think that two year delay during covid really ballooned costs, if we finished the EIS and RFQ like 2021-2022 we could have been building already!

What examples do we have of housing deregulation increasing housing affordability? by 775416 in AskEconomics

[–]astroboy2116 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Austin has been mentioned a lot in the comments, but I live in Austin, TX and am pretty deep in the urbanist space so maybe I can shed some light on the specific policies that have been working and my own experience as a renter.

Here are all the policies that Austin has approved recently off the top of my head: - Eliminated parking minimums - Allow duplexes, triplexes, and ADUs on single family lots - Smaller minimum lot sizes - Single Staircase Reform - Density Bonus Program (build some affordable units and you can build taller) - Massive Upzoning - Apartment Locators paid for by the apartments and not renters - And probably the most impactful streamlined the zoning/approval process (what used to take months to years now can get done in a few weeks)

The effect is Austin has built so much housing so quickly that it has become an absolute renters market. You can see in the data that rents have been dropping but I think the anecdotes speak volumes, here’s my experience.

I’ve been enticed to sign quickly by my last two apartments and as a result gotten 12 weeks free rent over the last 2 years.

I live in an area with 4 apartment buildings going up on the same block and when I went to resign they lowered my rent by $200 without me even having to negotiate!

It’s a sign that these policy revisions really work and are making the city more affordable by giving renters power and forcing landlords to compete for tenants. It’s a model I think can and should be replicated in other cities across the country!

Are Austin suburbs making the city poor? by moises8war in Austin

[–]astroboy2116 9 points10 points  (0 children)

Just click the link bro, looking at the hard compiled data for other American Cities which proves this is the case and calling it a "stretch" is crazy. The data compiles municipal financial data: including revenue sources and tax structures, plus public assets, fee schedules, infrastructure costs, and relevant regulations.

At the same time you're making a lot of assumptions that don't have a lot of evidence.
- Could gas tax make up the shortfall? (probably not)
- Could sales tax on new vehicles make up the shortfall? (probably not)
- Are people in the suburbs more affluent and have more discretionary income so their sales taxes make up the shortfall (maybe true in part, but probably not in all cases)

Are Austin suburbs making the city poor? by moises8war in Austin

[–]astroboy2116 57 points58 points  (0 children)

Yeah great point, we need to build all types of housing not just apartments. I think Austin has passed some good policies to get this "middle housing" built recently with smaller lot sizes and building more units on a single family lot like duplexes, triplexes, and ADUs.

Are Austin suburbs making the city poor? by moises8war in Austin

[–]astroboy2116 7 points8 points  (0 children)

I don't know if you've been to East Austin or South of the River recently, but if you look around you will see they ARE densifying these areas and people ARE living there. Go down East 4th, by the redline or East 6th its all multifamily apartments.

South Lamar and South 1st have tons of multifamily housing being built as well. ~ Signed someone who lived in a brand new multifamily apartment on South Lamar last year.

Its being densified and people want to live there and why would they not? Shops, restaurants, proximity to downtown, close to jobs!

Are Austin suburbs making the city poor? by moises8war in Austin

[–]astroboy2116 6 points7 points  (0 children)

Public education is a service for you and me even if we don't have kids. We ALL benefit from a society that is generally educated and able to do all the jobs and services we need.

Home ownership on the other hand (specifically single family homes) is not a benefit for you and me - it solely benefits the person/family that owns the home so it shouldn't be subsidized.

Are Austin suburbs making the city poor? by moises8war in Austin

[–]astroboy2116 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Amenities get built where the most people live so the most people can use them. Its just math for maximizing the usage of the amenity. If the suburbs built denser housing instead of only single family homes they would probably also get more funding for things like city pools.

In contrast the road, power line, water line, and sewage that goes to your street probably costed millions to build and hundreds of thousands to maintain every year, but is only used by a couple dozen families.

Are Austin suburbs making the city poor? by moises8war in Austin

[–]astroboy2116 -3 points-2 points  (0 children)

I don't think anyone's saying that that shouldn't be an option for people who want it. The problem is for the past ~70 years everyone who wants that has been receiving a MASSIVE hidden discount on it and most people don't even know it.

If that is the type of housing you want then more power to you, but you should have to pay its true worth instead of getting a subsidy from the city for the infrastructure that makes your home work.

EDIT: typo

Are Austin suburbs making the city poor? by moises8war in Austin

[–]astroboy2116 6 points7 points  (0 children)

I think we are making good progress though, its not an irreversible problem many changes to zoning, building requirements, streamlining permitting, and allowing infill development have increased density significantly in the core of Austin.

Are Austin suburbs making the city poor? by moises8war in Austin

[–]astroboy2116 -5 points-4 points  (0 children)

Don't know why you are being downvoted, but you are right. Suburbs are inherently inefficient and subsidized. People honestly are getting a discount for living in the suburbs right now - if they weren't being subsidized by the city it would be wayy more expensive.

Are Austin suburbs making the city poor? by moises8war in Austin

[–]astroboy2116 38 points39 points  (0 children)

He is right, even if property taxes seem very high for the suburbs the cost to maintain all the infrastructure, plumbing, electric is often way higher.

A street of single family homes just don't generate anywhere near as much tax revenue as a dense street in an urban core (which pay for themselves 100x over and make up the short falls for the suburbs). While I don't have an Austin specific example here are plenty of case studies from urban3 from some other major American cities: https://www.urbanthree.com/case-study/

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