Today, Sept. 1, marks the legal start for more than 600 new state laws for Texans to follow. From healthcare to transportation to education and public safety, there’s something that affects everyone in the Lone Star State.

Antonia Malchik presents the sad state of affairs resulting from years of car-centric planning and design. We have sacrificed our right to walk and are paying the price in more ways than we imagined. 

Studies and rankings focusing on rush-hour traffic may be missing the point when it comes to combatting congestion. By just looking at at congestion during peak hours and assuming more roads means less traffic, are we missing the bigger picture of how to improve mobility in Austin? 

Recent reports on the state of Austin's music industry may have painted a grim picture of the future of music in Austin, but local industry leaders see hope in reevaluating the city's role as 'live music capital' amid rapid growth and rising rents. 

Looking to Seattle's recommendations for moving from single-family only zones to encouraging mid-density, low-rise houses in existing neighborhoods, author Daniel Hertz makes a clear case for how context-sensitive, smaller multi-family housing can help increase affordability and offer more housing options without sacrificing what we love about our neighborhoods.  

Council's Economic Opportunity Committee saw plans for a proposed $400-600 million Convention Center expansion projection that would dramatically increase its footprint onto nearby blocks. For images and renderings from the report and proposal, check out Austin Towers' coverage of the story. 

After hearing conflicting advice on which firm to choose, the Capital Metropolitan Transportation Authority board of directors voted unanimously Monday to postpone selecting a consultant to head up the development of the organization’s 10-year service plan.

TxDOT is currently considering an option to depress I-35 though Downtown Austin in way that could be capped one day.  Dallas capped the Woodall Rogers Freeway that severed Uptown from Downtown Dallas, and results in many ways have exceeded expectations.

Median home prices reached $269,500, an 8 percent increase from July 2014, according to the Austin Board of Realtors. ABoR members note that insufficient housing inventory may be driving increased home prices, but see growing inventory levels as a step towards a more balanced housing market. 

RECA speaks out against development delays in response to the Austin Business Journal's recent article on how those delays may be inflating rent and housing costs. The recent article sites a study done by UT student Megan Shannon and estimates that rates might be inflated as much as $60 a month because of long waits in the development review process. 

The City Council Economic Opportunity Committee's Monday Aug. 24 meeting may give us an update on the Convention Center’s expansion plans onto nearby Cesar Chavez blocks.

While TxDOT is engaged in multiple freeway widening projects through Austin, other DOTs are taking a different approach, looking at options that don't involve freeway expansions and signaling that the era of "building our way out of congestion" may be coming to an end.

The conversation on ADUs takes a positive turn as City Council reevaluates the number of necessary spaces they would require for new ADUs. Reducing parking requirements from 2 spaces to 1 could mean more ADUs, more housing options in existing, well-connected neighborhoods, and more ways homeowners can bring in profit to keep up with rising housing costs. 

A recent study shows that regulatory delays in the development process may be hurting renters most of all. As Megan Shannon describes, the longer the Planning and Development Review Department takes to approve new development, the more costs are incurred by the developers, and in turn the renters. 

Of the two teams who applied to help CapMetro develop their long range plan, it seems one is already practicing what it preaches in terms of multi-modal transportation options. Doesn't it seem odd to pick a transit consultant that is headquartered in an area that demands people drive to work and limits their own employees transit options? 

As Type 2 Short Term Rentals (STRs) become an increasing concern in Austin Neighborhoods, City Council plans to meet to review a resolution sponsored by Council Member Sherri Gallo aiming to provide more oversight from Austin's Code Department.

AURA's Guadalupe Corridor Working Group has a new report calling for more transit priority lanes, removing the wall running along The Drag's east side, and removing excessive on-street parking.

The Atlantic looks deeper at why focusing affordable housing efforts in wealthier neighborhoods away from established communities could be bittersweet. East Austin residents voice concerns over not benefitting from their own grassroots efforts and losing community ties as housing tax credits incentivize affordable housing elsewhere. 

Every vote to REI means $5 goes to support the new Violet Crown Trail connecting Zilker to greater Hays county. Let's support the Hill Country Conservancy's efforts!

For all those hungry, multi-modal, compact and connected burger lovers.