ABSTRACT
Austin, Texas, was recently named the fastest growing large city in the US and has sustained an above average growth rate for the past several decades. In a city so rapidly changing, where the population has doubled twice since the early 1970s, there is widespread interest in and concern about retaining or creating some level of livability but fierce debate about what constitutes livability and whose definition should be prioritized. In 2012, Austin adopted a new comprehensive plan, Imagine Austin, to replace the city’s previous plan, Austin Tomorrow, adopted in 1979. The new plan was several years in the making, and even adopting this high-level vision was contentious. Subsequent movement toward implementation of the plan has centered on who can afford to live in central Austin as it grows under the new plan. Yet despite the common focus on affordability, there remain deep divides regarding how to create or retain access to the aspects of the city that residents value. These divides are both rooted in the city’s historical development, shaped by planning and other public decisions, and in the current demographics of change, shaped by ongoing in-migration. This chapter considers the ways that visions of livability in Austin have changed over time, using the 1979 and 2012 plans to illustrate these changes. Whereas the 1979 plan emphasized protecting central neighborhoods from growth, the 2012 plan is challenging this vision, suggesting ways to adapt existing communities to accommodate growth and allow for greater use of transit. Key battles illustrative of these differences will be used to add depth to the discussion.
