Is it time for social housing in Austin?

It offers clear advantages over traditional low-income housing strategies.

Jack Craver

Jack Craver

— 3 min read
Is it time for social housing in Austin?
Santa Rita Courts, one of three segregated federal public housing project built in East Austin during the Depression. Santa Rita was for Hispanics, Chalmers Court was for whites, and Rosewood Courts was for Blacks.

City Council is likely to approve a resolution at its first meeting next week to explore the start of a city-led "social housing" program.

What is social housing? Like many of the terms tossed around in housing policy, it is loosely defined, but in this case it appears to refer to public housing where most of the units are priced at market rates. (There is no universal or static percentage...it depends on the market)

This stands in contrast to the traditional model of low-income housing, where all of the units are subsidized and reserved for low-income tenants.

Read more