Felicity M. Maxwell

There is a joke that Austin is like Atlanta for white people. I’m not fully aware of the demographics of mid size cities in the UK but which one has a significant minority population to the point where it’s a type of Mecca for that group? That’s the right comparison for a key part of Atlanta.

If they were serious about fire, they would require noncombustible construction, like pretty much every country in the world does. This is just NIMBYism.

The worst outcome is a Doggett vs. Casar fight, which of course is exactly what will happen because we are in the dumbest timeline.

Sorta feels like "they are actively gutting cancer research" should be finding more purchase out there

Last year, 4,289 people were killed on Texas roads, and so far in 2024, Texas is averaging 10 roadway deaths a day. Some of the top causes of crashes make up part of the card that troopers will hand out for two weeks starting Nov. 7. The messages include: Drive safe speeds Buckle up Move over or slow down Get a sober ride Avoid distractions Lives instantly altered Since Nov. 7, 2000, more than 87,000 people have been killed on Texas roads.

Officially 25 years this November 7th.

As of last year, 87,000 Texans have died in that time due to road violence. And that number goes up by about 3,500 deaths per year.

Congrats! Expecting steady cadence of #buildtheikedike pieces!

Texas SB 1567 set to end 4-person housing limit for Texas A&M students The bill will keep in place city ordinances to limit the number of people based on health and safety standards, but it forbids them from regulating occupancy limits through immutable characteristics.

Thanks to some tireless students at Texas A&M, Texas just fixed occupancy limits statewide for most college towns: www.kxxv.com/news/local-n...

Would point out that that Single Stair and @parkingreform.org are two very popular YIMBY issues that basically do both.
These are "wonky" policy issues where the resulting changes demonstratively make cities better & more enjoyable for residents.

Local AARP leaders were key supporters for Austin’s reforms & Texas AARP endorsed several f the big housing reform bills at the #txlege. They are great partners on this issue but always surprises me that more folks aren’t aware of their work!

FYI: @aarp.org has been a strong supporter of housing choice for years, particularly ADUs which they note allows for inter-generational living, aging in place for older adults & better access to communities & needed resources. They even wrote a step by step reform guide! www.aarp.org/pri/topics/l...

Opinion: Allowing prisoners to vote is a symbolic indication that they remain citizens Dr Cormac Behan outlines how prisoners in Ireland were given the right to vote and how the process now works.

This Irish opinion piece from last year actually highlights the stark divide between European nations and UK / US w/r/t to this issue: www.thejournal.ie/readme/votin...

Coffee taco & water at Manana in Austin TX (not Europe)

If your coffee stop is in the middle of a pedestrian plaza and has the Tour de France on, that means you’re in Europe, right?

I’m guessing research maven @gritsforbreakfast.bsky.social might be able to help with this.

Those old fashioned Canada Dry ads in the background were so well done - really glad Marvel took a gamble on something so visually different!

That’s actually a key point of why it’s so expensive- the abundance of rock in & around Austin makes the project much more difficult & really escalates costs BUT plenty of other places with tricky soil composition still have buried lines so…..

To be clear, the analysis could also be unhelpful because of its framework & assumptions but it’s definitely not helped by a situation where the status quo is 10x cheaper than anything else.

It’s the overhead wires - TX utilities have pretty broad latitude w/r/t infrastructure & regulatory requirements absolutely favor cheap reconstruction vs. long term sustainability.

Its wild! Only 33 of the 5,000 "sections" they reviewed made economic sense to bury. Either the analysis is whack or we've made it really cheap to put up overhead lines. And yes, I know which one is correct, at least in TX.

Not just NJ: Austin's own utility put the cost of burying local power lines at over $50 billion and noted there is no real way to get to done. Completely ridiculous given the growing impact (and cost) of extreme weather in Texas: austinmonitor.com/stories/2025...

One of our Austin recommendations for future study was to move to a single stair height based cap, which aligns more accurately with our other land use standards. Its unclear to me why we keep talking about "stories" when build heights are a more objective way to address the issue.

Related, we found the floor caps to be arbitrary & hard to explain. Most buildings now have either parking or commercial (or both) on the ground floor & that can be fireproofed separately, so the floor count for the SS building can in theory start at a higher point but doesn’t necessarily?

Checked Austin - looks liked we did not adopt the appendix previously so not in our current updated Fire code?

And yes @aura-atx.org endorsements for #atxcouncil have been a critical tool to help low-information voters make more informed decisions about who to support in municipal elections. This is a vital piece of our advocacy work and essential to our success.

This has been the approach of @aura-atx.org since the beginning. AURA started around transit issues in Austin, moved into more housing policy but has *always* been explicitly both pro-housing + pro-transit because otherwise your city doesn't work.

Excited to see this analysis from @ebwhamilton.bsky.social & team. I know @texansforhousing.bsky.social & others are excited to work on this critical reform next #txlege session 🏘️

Small elevators, an unsung hero of affordable, accessible city living.

#apartments

I know MA is a totally different beast, but have to say the opt-in model seems to be working well so far. Seems like it gives cities some flexibility (local control) but with just enough state level nudge to make it relatively easy to get the reform passed.

Tennessee now has *five* cities that have adopted their statewide model single stair code! This is the same approach we used at #txlege & soon any city in Texas can adopt our new statewide single stair model code locally. Want to learn more? Reach out to @texansforhousing.bsky.social

The dedication and energy of single stair advocates working to promote better building types and more affordable housing opportunities in cities across North America is totally inspiring. Excited to start doing this work statewide in Texas! #txlege

And if you need to understand why Open Street events are good for communities, tourism, local businesses, families, students & more, I’m sure @safestreetsaustin.bsky.social @aura-atx.org @atxfriends.org & @downtownaustin.org would be happy to put together the relevant research.