Much of the problem could be avoided if Austin loosened its residential zoning some. Right now, there is a small downtown that immediately transitions into single family housing. Some of that needs to be replaced with taller, multi family housing but current home owners fear the effect on their property value. That should improve affordability considerably.
some searching suggests that influx of educated professionals causes prices to go up.
i would have argued that density makes things worse, although that’s probably not the main factor.Yeah, it’s a growing city. Demand is outpacing supply, so prices go up. The added problem is one of the “missing middle” where you either get skyscrapers downtown or single family homes outside of downtown. What is missing is middle sized 1-2 bedroom and studio apartments that are somewhat near downtown and have good access to transit, shopping, etc. This forces growth to either go to the outskirts of the city with yet more single family homes or prices people out of the market and onto the streets.
So Austin needs to stop trying to squeeze all of its density into pricey downtown apartments and condos and make it viable to live in medium-density housing that still provides good access to necessities. Otherwise its houselessness issues are just going to keep getting worse.
This is far from a unique problem. Many cities that are going through growing pains are facing it. But there are solutions that we know work, and adding density is one measure.
