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Study: Concentrated Poverty Increasing in Austin
Austin is trending in the wrong direction when it comes to the concentration of poor residents in high-poverty neighborhoods, a new Brookings Institution analysis finds. The share of poor residents living in high-poverty neighborhoods has grown faster in Austin than in the country's top 100 metro areas as a whole, according to the study - a finding that raises fresh concerns about local socio-economic disparities and the threat they could pose to the region's future vitality.
In a typical year from 2010 to 2014, 55% of poor residents in the Austin metro area lived in neighborhoods with poverty levels of at least 20 percent, according to the Brookings Institution analysis of Census Bureau data. About 13% of Austin's low-income residents lived in extremely poor neighborhoods - census tracts with poverty rates of 40 percent or higher, the report said.
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Travis County One of the Top Ten Healthiest Texas Counties
Austin/Travis County continues to rank high on overall health. Travis ranks ninth out of 241 Texas counties in the annual County Health Rankings. The report by the University of Wisconsin Population Health Institute and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) compares health differences on a broad range of measures among almost every county in the United States. The rankings allow each participating county to see how it compares on 30 factors that impact health including education, jobs, housing, exercise, smoking, obesity, child poverty and teen births.
The City Health and Human Services Department notes that, while many in our community are healthy, disparities persist. In Austin/Travis County:
- 647,650 adults are overweight or obese. That's about half of our entire population.
- 91,320 residents have diabetes.
- 785 residents die annually due to a tobacco-related illness.
- On average, every 35 hours, someone is diagnosed with HIV.
- 1000 residents are unaware they even have HIV.
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Homeless in Austin - Needs and Gaps Report
The Ending Community Homelessness Coalition (ECHO) has released a new report highlighting homelessness in our community - the facts, the trends and local efforts to deal with the problem.
For the first time in five years, the number of people identified in the annual Point in Time count increased. In January 2016, hundreds of volunteers went throughout Austin and Travis County and counted 2,197 people who were either in homeless shelters or living on the streets, under bridges or in other places not meant for human habitation. A survey conducted during the annual Point in Time Count found that 60% of people experiencing homelessness report a problem with drugs or alcohol and 45% report a mental health problem. African Americans are over-represented in the homeless population.
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Police Monitor posts 2014 activity report for community
The City of Austin Office of the Police Monitor has completed a "year in review" for 2014 and finds that Blacks were more frequently stopped, searched and arrested. Blacks were also more likely to file complaints with the Office of the Police Monitor.
According to the report, Blacks make up 8% of the voting age population in the City of Austin, but filed 31% of External Formal complaints to the Austin Police Department. The report finds that Blacks are stopped at a higher rate, given their representation in the population, than Hispanics or Caucasians. After being stopped, Blacks had a 1 in 6 chance of being searched, Hispanics had a 1 in 9 chance of being searched; and Caucasians had a 1 in 22 chance of being searched. The report also finds that force was used more frequently in the arrests of people who are Black than in the arrests of people of other races or ethnicities.
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UT Center for Transportation Research Teaming up with City of Austin to seek solutions to traffic congestion
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City Announces CodeNEXT "Prescriptions" for Four Quality of Life Issues and 2016 Project Schedule
The City of Austin announced its 2016 project schedule to preview CodeNEXT's "Prescriptions" for four quality of life issues on the minds of Austinites. CodeNEXT is an initiative to modernize Austin's outdated Land Development Code with a simpler, user-friendly code that creates and preserves people-friendly places. "CodeNEXT will be important tool to fixing permitting, development services and neighborhood planning. It will put growth where we want it, protect our neighborhoods, and pave the way for affordability," said Mayor Steve Adler. "The upcoming conversations will not be easy, but they are long overdue and I encourage Austinites to get engaged and to be open to collaborating in bold ways to solve long-standing problems." The Land Development Code plays a significant role in shaping places for people by determining what can be built in Austin and where it can be built. In advance of publishing the entire draft Land Development Code in January 2017, the City will share a series of previews (Prescriptions) outlining how the new code will impact these four issues. - Managing our growth; keeping our character (read Prescription here)
- Affordability (coming May 2016)
- Mobility (coming July 2016)
- Fiscal health in City planning decisions (coming September 2016)
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City of Austin and ACC Join the White House's TechHire Initiative
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Austin Community College (ACC), in partnership with the City of Austin, joins the White House's TechHire Initiative, designed to train and develop a home-grown information technology workforce. The Austin Chamber's February jobs report indicates approximately 8,000 local job openings in information technology. The goal of TechHire is to prepare more local residents to fill those jobs.
To learn more about the ACC programs designed to target this workforce gap and enhance IT training programs, please see the link below.
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Make the Connection: CapMetro 2016 Goals
Capital Metro President and CEO Linda Watson calls 2016 the year of planning for the city's transit agency. "[It's] going to be a pivotal year for us when you think about everything we're going to be doing to lay the groundwork for future services," she said.
From expanding MetroRail operations and Park & Ride facilities to conducting an analysis of its service network, Watson said these actions will pave the way for advances the agency will make in its system. Help Capital Metro outline its service plan for the coming years by participating in Connections 2025.
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Affordable Housing - Know Your Rights
Neighbors United for Progress is hosting a workshop on affordable housing this Saturday, April 9th, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Housing experts will be on hand to answer questions about...
- down payment assistance,
- home improvement assistance, and
- home purchasing process guidelines.
The workshop is free. Lunch and childcare will be available. Follow the link below to register and find more information.
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Fair Housing Conference
Follow the link below to register and find more information.
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UT Opportunity Forum Presents - Uniting Our Divided City: Closing the Racial Wealth
The Opportunity Forum's 2015-16 Lunch Series on Uniting Our Divided City will focus on our community's persistent racial wealth divides. The fourth and final luncheon program in this series will be help from noon to 2 p.m. on April 22nd in the Bass Lecture Hall.
Wealth is critical for families to achieve financial stability and build a better life. But the ability to build wealth in our society is highly racialized, leading to a racial wealth gap that is now at historic levels. Black and Latino households currently have 80% less wealth than white households, with far reaching consequences. What does this mean for Texas families and what is being done to address the ever-growing inequality?
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Mobility Talks: share your ideas for transportation priorities
The City of Austin is hosting public meetings and soliciting on-line input on what the community thinks local transportation priorities should be. This input will be gathered through May 8th. Here's how you can contribute:
- take an online survey at MobilityTalks.org
- participate in a community meeting in your Council District.
- share your thoughts online at SpeakUpAustin.org
- participate in an April Conversation Corps www.ATXtalks.org
- attend a Mobility Talks Open House
- attend a public hearing
Feedback will be presented to the Austin City Council's Mobility Committee on June 8th at 3 p.m. in Council Chambers.
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Share Your Ideas on How to Fix ATX Housing Needs
Got ideas to fix ATX housing needs? The City of Austin's Neighborhood Housing and Community Development office wants to hear them! NHCD is creating an Austin Housing Plan to address the following topics:
- How might we ensure our children can afford to live in Austin?
- Where should Austinites who work hard - cooking food, watching your children, and caring for the sick - be able to afford to live?
- The cost of housing is inter-connected with City decisions around job access, parking, permitting, and housing types allowed. What policy changes can you live with?
Check the link below and find a way to engage that is convenient to you.
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New CAN Research Analyst, Carlos Soto
We are pleased to announce the newest member of the CAN team, Research Analyst, Carlos Soto!
Pursuing a desire to make a difference in the lives of children and families with limited English proficiency (LEP), Carlos began his public service career in 2010 working as a bilingual elementary school teacher serving the low income and recent immigrant populations of AISD. Carlos has a Bachelor of Science in Anthropology from Massachusetts Institute of Technology (2009) and a Certificate in Geographic Information Science from Texas State University (2015).
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CAN Board of Directors
The CAN Board of Directors, comprised of board members and senior executives of the CAN partner organizations, is dedicating 2016 to an issue by issue analysis of how our community is working to bridge the economic divide. The April 8, 2016 meeting will focus on workforce development. Representatives of the following CAN partner organizations will share how they are working to bridge the economic divide through workforce development: Austin Community College, Workforce Solutions, Goodwill Industries and the City of Pflugerville.
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CAN Community Council
The CAN Community Council will continue to explore person-centered approaches outside of non-profit organizations. Their meeting on Monday, April 11th will include a presentation by Dr. Christopher King with the Ray Marshall Center for the Study of Human Resources. Dr. King will discuss how dual generation programs provide a person centered approach by addressing the educational needs of adults and their young children. Meetings take place from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. at the Housing Authority of the City of Austin, 1124 S. Interstate 35.
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CAN is a partnership of governmental, non-profit, private and faith-based organizations which leverage mutual resources to collective improve social, health, educational and economic opportunities in our community.
CAN Partners: Austin Chamber of Commerce, Austin Community College, Austin ISD, Austin Travis County Integral Care, Capital Metro, Central Health, City of Austin, City of Pflugerville, Community Justice Council, Del Valle ISD, Goodwill Industries of Central Texas, Greater Austin Asian Chamber, Greater Austin Black Chamber, Greater Austin Hispanic Chamber, Huston-Tillotson University, Interfaith Action of Central Texas (iACT), Manor ISD, One Voice Central Texas, Seton Healthcare Family, St. David's Foundation, St. Edward's University, Travis County, United Way for Greater Austin, University of Texas at Austin, and Workforce Solutions - Capital Area
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