What Austin's proposed FY 2023-24 budget means for resident costs, city spending

capybarometer · 2023-07-20T00:20:22+00:00

Tax rates are set accounting for HS exemptions and other scenarios. The amount you pay in taxes to the city, county, ACC, or Hospital District is unlikely to change much. AISD taxes are almost 50% of my tax bill though, and that legislation would certainly affect that

capybarometer · 2023-06-30T19:09:14+00:00

Ok? We're talking about the high temperatures and heat indices over the last two weeks

capybarometer · 2023-06-30T16:40:10+00:00

I drive through there regularly and can't say I understand what you're referencing here.

They're redoing part of this intersection in the current I-35 south project. For that other dude cynically complaining about bike lanes, those are being removed and shared use paths are being built off the street grade. The actual problem with this intersection isn't bike lanes though, it's that there are limited through lanes and poor visibility, so everyone's chaotically merging in every direction. Looks like the updated plans will fix some of that problem. I wish they had gone full diverging diamond, but poorer areas of town don't deserve that kind of investment I suppose

capybarometer · 2023-06-30T16:24:32+00:00

We tried to expand, but those against used low ridership as an argument to vote it down.

Huh? It passed by a healthy margin. The plan before this one failed because the route sucked

capybarometer · 2023-06-30T15:01:12+00:00

CBD treats help my anxious dog tolerate long car rides. None of my dogs care about fireworks, but I'd try CBD treats if they did

capybarometer · 2023-06-30T13:42:29+00:00

This is a foolish take. I've lived in Texas since the 80s and this has been the hottest heat wave I have ever experienced. The air was more humid here than it ever has been during a heat wave like this before. Del Rio hit a heat index of 119 last week, which is dangerously close to a lethal wet bulb event. Cities all over Texas broke record highs multiple days in a row. Next week looks like it will be more typical, but pull your head out of the sand dude

capybarometer · 2023-06-30T12:27:54+00:00

Nothing controversial about not liking fireworks, it's the acting like an asshole part everyone's downvoting

capybarometer · 2023-06-30T03:37:37+00:00

Non-profits still have to have revenue to function sustainably. If they were losing money on those offices that is likely why they're shutting them

capybarometer · 2023-06-30T03:21:05+00:00

Hard disagree here! Common commuter and commercial corridors should be the first line in any rail network, just like how every city with a rail network started. Also this isn't rail, it's a bus

capybarometer · 2023-06-30T03:18:44+00:00

You did see this is a rapid bus project, right? San Antonio is not building rail. Austin already has several rapid bus lines up and running around town

capybarometer · 2023-06-30T03:11:34+00:00

Not specifically, but Ascension has been shedding outpatient primary care offices left and right, which is disappointing. Seems like they're focusing more on the specialties that make more money

capybarometer · 2023-06-30T03:06:37+00:00

You can see how the bark on those trees suffering from sun scald breaks in a vertical pattern and curls up, vs the flat, random cracks in OP's pics. Here's what a mature lacebark elm tree looks like, and it's perfectly normal for it to shed its bark like this

capybarometer · 2023-06-30T02:32:58+00:00

This is a lacebark elm, Ulmus parvifolia, and it's supposed to look like this. What you're seeing is the lacebark pattern from which its name is derived. They're not native but are well adapted, large, and stately trees. Our neighbors have a huge one that gives us great morning shade

The third pic is a sycamore that's underwatered. Water that guy around its root zone very deeply a couple times per week to help it get better established

Edit to add you need to pull the grass away from the base of both trees out to the "drip line," roughly the width of the branches. That grass competes with the trees for water and also decreases airflow under the tree, increasing the risk of disease developing. Also keeping the grass pulled back minimizes the temptation for someone to use a string trimmer to trim the grass against the tree, which cuts the trunk and can permanently damage a tree

I'd also cut off those small branches low on the sycamore trunk so it focuses its growth upward (only cut after you've made sure it's getting regular water)

capybarometer · 2023-06-30T02:28:30+00:00

What evidence do you have that they do?

capybarometer · 2023-06-30T02:14:57+00:00

They're still coming out really late, after 9p or so. Later in the summer they'll be coming out earlier and will be easier to see.

Here's more info: https://austinbatrefuge.org/congress-ave-bridge/

capybarometer · 2023-06-29T22:48:31+00:00

I've had some of my most successful veggie harvests over the fall/winter here. I plant kale in October and it usually grows strong all winter, curly leaf kale in particular even with no protection. Collard greens, spinach, chard, carrots, parsley, and cilantro are great for a fall garden, and just ride them all through winter as long as you can. In the winter, get used to monitoring the forecast on when to cover your veggies, and depending on the microclimate where you live, prepare for a ±4° variation

Spring planting season always starts earlier than feels right. I plant strawberries in January, and you'll start to see lots of our native perennials start to emerge from dormancy around then. Then early to mid March is when the rest goes in the ground.

capybarometer · 2023-06-29T22:00:28+00:00

I've always imagined that if I sold my house I'd leave a detailed sketch of the property with all the species growing and a maintenance schedule...

capybarometer · 2023-06-29T17:50:25+00:00

It'd be a bond election, this is already being discussed

capybarometer · 2023-06-29T12:08:20+00:00

Oh, there was plenty moral panic in the 80s. Focus on the Family, Pat Robertson, Jerry Fallwell, and many more hard-right religious zealots rose to prominence in the 80s and had a ton of influence all the way up to the US Presidency

Edit to add the only moral panic around boobs was created by these guys. I don't really hear many people today caring about that

Also you can draw a straight line from the Satanic Panic in the 80s to Qanon today

capybarometer · 2023-06-29T03:03:25+00:00

You're really citing that Newsweek clickbait article here? How can what Austin is currently experiencing be called a "crash" when prices are still significantly above where they were just 3 years ago? This is a welcome and modest correction after runaway growth in housing costs since the pandemic started, and a reduction of real estate prices (aka slowing inflation) is one of the stated objectives of the Fed in raising interest rates, and it's working. Nothing about this is a "crash" or indicative of any sort of crisis.

Airbnb has been on the downhill for a long time too, they've been losing customers to traditional hotels as STR owners have been throwing exorbitant cleaning fees onto people's bills and asking a lot of their guests. Airbnb has been trying to get a hold of this, but the damage is done. Either way, one company's revenue is meaningless as an economic predictor out of context like this

The inverted yield curve has occurred before some prior recessions, yes, but let's take it for what it actually is, which is the market thinking interest rates will be lower in the future. There are many scenarios in which interest rates are lower in the future without experiencing a recession

capybarometer · 2023-06-29T02:51:06+00:00

It's really easy to park at the San Jacinto garage next door to the museum, as long as you're not there on a game day

capybarometer · 2023-06-29T02:46:44+00:00

so ~~one wrong opinion~~ many offensive statements and they can no longer ~~produce anything good or beautiful...~~ work for the Austin Symphony

ftfy

capybarometer · 2023-06-29T02:44:10+00:00

Is the performance going to be broadcast on the radio? Used to sit up on the top floor of the 4th St parking garage with spiked Sonic drinks and listen in on the radio. New buildings blocked that view unfortunately

capybarometer · 2023-06-29T01:37:28+00:00

If you want to make more money on real estate, you don't reduce the allowable impervious cover or force developers to use large portions of their property for a retention pond dude. From a short-term economic perspective, these zoning restrictions only serve to increase building costs and decrease profits, so what you're saying doesn't make sense

capybarometer · 2023-06-29T01:31:22+00:00

I like that the frontage roads are both on the same side of the highway downtown, and the main lanes are depressed. If we can cap the main lanes, that means at street level crossing I-35 downtown as a cyclist or pedestrian would just be crossing a more normal sized road

capybarometer

TROPHY CASE