Community Impact

As the Austin metro continues to grow, Austin’s job market continues to evolve as more people become Austinites and the city recuperates jobs lost during the COVID-19 pandemic. Austin is the eighth-best performing among the top 50 metros with a job growth of 6.4%, or 75,000 jobs, in the past year, according to a report from the Austin Chamber of Commerce.

Confederate Avenue, sometimes seen as Confederate Street, has been changed to Maggie Mayes Street by City Council in efforts to remove references to the Confederacy throughout the city.

Across the Austin area, average rental rates continue to rise in commercial office spaces despite some market stabilization and decreases in vacancies in the past few months, according to the latest Austin office market report released July 25 from commercial real estate firm Aquila.

Austin Energy is looking to increase its base rates for the first time in ten years to balance raising inflation and infrastructure costs counteract customers reducing their energy usage, which is causing a budget shortfall for the utility company.

Recently opened senior living facilities are filling up fast as the baby boomer generation, which accounts for 130,000 people in Travis County, turn to senior housing such as The Reserve at Lake Austin.

Nonprofit Foundation Communities, which serves families and single adults transitioning out of homelessness through affordable housing and on-site resources, plans to open a second affordable apartment complex in Northwest Austin in early 2023.

Erica Wood said her passion for travel came from seeing an older cousin study abroad and watching TV shows where Anthony Bourdain and Andrew Zimmer traverse the globe.

During the Austin ISD bond program meeting July 12, AISD confirmed it will ask for a bond to be placed on the ballot in the November election.

Serving western Travis County, TexStar Chiropractic added a location in Southwest Austin at 11614 Bee Cave Road, Ste. 110, that opened in April.

Baylor Scott & White Health expanded the NeuroHealth Institute into Lakeway, giving Central Texas comprehensive neurological care for brain and spinal cord conditions.

As Austin experiences summer, the high temperatures are a constant with multiple days in a row having temperatures of over 100 degrees Fahrenheit. The city of Austin is taking steps to address the heat and the potential issues that may arise because of it.

The Capital Metro board of directors appointed William “Matt” Harriss as one of the three Capital Area Metropolitan Planning Organization’s appointees for the Capital Metro board at its June 27 regular monthly meeting.

Nicole Halder said she has seen the work that Wonders & Worries, which serves families that have parents facing a life-changing illness or injury, does from many angles.

In their last meeting before their summer break, Austin City Council approved June 16 agenda items that will impact how Austinites prepare for disasters, the future of the St. John neighborhood and a former Fleet Services building on Hargrave Street.

On June 16, Austin City Council approved a resolution to increase the age of those able to buy AR-15 or semiautomatic-style weapons from 18 to 21 following the recent mass shooting in Uvalde, Texas.

On June 5, Public Works Department Director Richard Mendoza took over for Austin Transportation Department Director Rob Spillar as the interim ATD director.

United Way for Greater Austin announced June 1 it donated $2.2 million in grants to 68 nonprofits that specialize in education, financial stability and health throughout Travis and Williamson counties.

The Williamson County Commissioners Court voted May 31 to move forward with a management control agreement that would affect emergency dispatch telecommunications and could possibly reconfigure the agency.

Local nonprofit Foundation Communities is asking for the public's help to raise $30 million to fund its latest effort to build eight affordable housing communities over the next three years for low-income Austinites.

Lou’s opened its second location on 1608 Barton Springs Road, Austin, on May 16.

The city of Austin is taking initiative to conserve and raise awareness for the impact that bees have in the surrounding areas after it became a Bee City USA affiliate March 24.

When a rare strong tornado touched down in Round Rock and the surrounding area March 21, many residents may have been unprepared about what safety measures to take.

On Feb. 26, Austin FC entered into its second season, and the team's partnership with Capital Metro continues despite the recent shortage of bus operators.