Disqus - Latest Comments for seanbrown

Re: Public Notice: Department of Unintended Consequences

Sean Brown — Thu, 23 Jan 2020 12:26:15 -0000

"If rents or purchase prices start to flatten, they'll simply stop building."
Wouldn't they keep building as long as they project an acceptable NPV and IRR?? Even if purchase prices went down by 10%, many projects could still make sense...

Re: On Proposition A

Sean Brown — Wed, 31 Oct 2018 10:18:29 -0000

Yep - we need massive new supply (accomplished through both Missing Middle and especially dense apartments/condos).

And over time, we need to trust that huge supply increase + filtering will allow for a range of people/families to be able to live in the central core.

Re: Why no endorsements, M1EK?

Sean Brown — Mon, 22 Oct 2018 12:41:07 -0000

What about Skidmore vs. Tovo on land use?

Re: 2017 Wireless Carrier Speed Test Battle Time: Let’s See Those Screenshots!

Sean Brown — Fri, 04 Aug 2017 07:53:26 -0000

Verizon from inside my house (Austin). Used to be 20 Mbps, before unlimited rolled out. https://uploads.disquscdn.c...

Re: Has Ridesharing In Austin Been Ruined?

Sean Brown — Wed, 12 Apr 2017 05:46:03 -0000

Great, I guess they should be welcomed back then, if they will "fail anyway."

Re: New Controversy in District 10 City Council Race

Sean Brown — Sat, 03 Dec 2016 08:21:37 -0000

It's a freaking nursing home, how do you want them to get to the polls?

Re: New Controversy in District 10 City Council Race

Sean Brown — Sat, 03 Dec 2016 08:20:33 -0000

Are you kidding me?

Page 3 and pages 14-16 file specifically that they spent to benefit Alter and Walker.

(Pool is also mentioned as a beneficiary on pg 18)

Re: Rezoning the Champions Tract

Sean Brown — Fri, 02 Dec 2016 21:36:10 -0000

So Gallo is supposed to go super-obstructionist and hijack several Council sessions - like Pool (The Grove) - to allow some anti-density groups to block new apartments?

Is this article advocacy, or journalism? Whatever it is, it's certainly not encouraging efficient, standards-based, transparent governance.

Re: Public Notice: On and Off the Rails

Sean Brown — Thu, 01 Dec 2016 11:39:54 -0000

"They deserve that say. If you've been in Austin a while and paid attention, you know that the current "developers versus neighborhoods" conflict is as it ever was."

Nope, I 100% disagree. I've lived in Austin essentially my entire life and remember when the Chronicle "fighting developers" was actually fighting the good fight (including many good Chronicle articles).

It was more about fighting ecology-damaging developments in undeveloped environmentally-sensitive zones, the apogee being SOS which blocked a Freeport-McMoRan development along Barton Creek which would have been dominated by single-family homes and 3 golf courses.

Now fighting vs. developers is more about trying to preserve single-family homes with large lawns and prevent apartments from going up in and near the central core.

Times have changed.

Also I disagree with the entire paradigm that "newbuilds are prima facie bad for existing-property values." And even if that were true, it would be awfully unprogressive as a society to block newbuilds for that reason alone.

Re: Public Notice: On and Off the Rails

Sean Brown — Thu, 01 Dec 2016 08:12:22 -0000

If FAN is so right-wing and GOP-friendly, how come it strongly endorsed the recent Obama White House-issued toolkit/white-paper urging high-density construction and an easier path to more newbuilds? Is Obama secretly a right-wing developer shill??

https://www.whitehouse.gov/...

Also, if FAN is some kind of omnibus developer PAC as you insinuate, why is FAN not a supporter of Pilot Knob? That's the largest residential development around these days, no?

From what I can tell, FAN is pro-infill rather than "pro-developer."

Re: Over two dozen treated for K2 cases into the weekend

Sean Brown — Sun, 27 Nov 2016 08:43:40 -0000

E 6th has devolved from Austin's entertainment hotspot into Austin's Tenderloin. A few months ago I actually saw 2 people smoking crack (or some type of crack-type device) in front of an abandoned building on West 6th.

It's sad that people are just OK with this. Downtown is supposed to be the region's economic powerhouse and amenity-filled safe zone. Increasingly, it feels like a scene from a zombie movie (don't walk under the I-35 bridge early in the morning).

Re: Over two dozen treated for K2 cases into the weekend

Sean Brown — Sun, 27 Nov 2016 08:38:59 -0000

It's the Austin and Travis County taxpayer that pays at the end of the day. I believe Central Health reimburses Seton a decent amount for indigent care.

A high % of these offenders are not actually from this county though. We are basically subsidizing other jurisdictions. The state should be helping out more.

Re: Council: Here Comes CodeNEXT ... Eventually

Sean Brown — Thu, 24 Nov 2016 13:29:32 -0000

Thanks for the explanation, it makes sense.

2 minor pushbacks are 1) McCracken was lost the 1st round to Leffingwell by over 20 points (47:27), 2) I remember Facebook comments toward Riley from 11/6/2014, saying he should concede, but can't find them now.

Re: Council: Here Comes CodeNEXT ... Eventually

Sean Brown — Thu, 24 Nov 2016 07:28:48 -0000

Thanks for the explanation.

I definitely remember Facebook comments calling on Riley to drop out the day after the election (11/6/2014). But I guess the pressure was nowhere near as open as during Shade vs Tovo. And those commenters were probably incorrect (about saving money).

McCracken was also down vs Leffingwell by 20 points (47/27) in the 1st round, which probably played a large factor in hia decision.

Re: Council: Here Comes CodeNEXT ... Eventually

Sean Brown — Wed, 23 Nov 2016 13:02:50 -0000

May 2011: Tovo 48/Shade 33, 15 point discrepancy. Race goes to runoff, but in the ensuing month Shade takes a LOT of heat for "wasting the city's money."

Nov 2014: Tovo 49/Riley 40, 9 point discrepancy. Riley (under external pressure) drops out of the runoff a few days later in order to save the city money and avoid criticism of wasting city resources like Shade received in 2011.

Nov 2016: Gallo 48/Alter 36, 12 point discrepancy. Absolutely no calls for Alter to save the city money or drop out.

Seems like a double standard to me.

Re: Austin City Council

Sean Brown — Thu, 20 Oct 2016 20:34:34 -0000

"The fundamental difference between the two lies in approach to the city's explosive growth."

As best as I can tell, Alter and Pool want to push most of the explosive growth out to the suburbs, while Casar, Gallo, Gauldin want more in the city limits (especially the wider core).

At least, those are the consequences of the major policy initiatives these actors have spearheaded.

Too many Type M (Motive-focused) arguments here. Too few Type C (Consequences-focused) arguments.

Re: Suburbs Will Soar on Wings of Tech

Sean Brown — Fri, 30 Sep 2016 16:05:44 -0000

OK, retail volumes per square foot. How's that?

Re: Suburbs Will Soar on Wings of Tech

Sean Brown — Fri, 30 Sep 2016 16:04:56 -0000

Within city limits, I mean. Not within the CBD.

Re: Suburbs Will Soar on Wings of Tech

Sean Brown — Thu, 29 Sep 2016 17:07:27 -0000

Retail sales per square foot are way higher in urban areas than suburbs, controlling for per-capita income. Average online-delivery-truck miles traveled per delivery is way lower for urban areas than suburbs. There are a lot of non-manufacturing activities that involve carbon/sulfur/nitrogen emissions.

Edit: also factories located in urban areas generate less driving by the factory employees. They are also more likely to be highly-automated (lower factory footprint) meaning fewer employees needed per widget produced.

Re: Police: Couple believed to be supplying Austin with K2

Sean Brown — Thu, 29 Sep 2016 15:19:00 -0000

Ah, the ARCH. Jewel of downtown. Glad that the 2 homeless shelters are directly in the CBD! Really great for land values and quality of life here.

Re: What is Freedom Urbanism?

Sean Brown — Thu, 22 Sep 2016 10:09:45 -0000

I definitely like the idea, and the name is good too. As someone who loves capitalism and used to be a small-l libertarian, the name is also attractive to me, though I'm not really sure about the wider public. I guess there are some alternatives like Intelligent Urbanism or Efficient Urbanism? But Freedom Urbanism does have a good ring to it.

I agree it's important to differentiate from market urbanism. Those guys fetishize low Houston and Dallas metro area housing prices too much, without thinking of the wider costs to society - global warming, fat from lack of exercise, fewer/weaker social ties - and other cons - lots of time sitting in traffic, sucks for kids/poor/disabled who can't drive - from an ~80-mile diameter of sprawl at low average density.

Compared with all the other orgs, seems like AURA still drives on net to increase the housing supply (e.g. ADUs), but I totally agree with you that emphasizing tenants' rights and forcing tenant-relocation compensation to come straight from landowners' pockets dulls supply incrementally.

(As does any kind of affordable-housing subsidy coming straight from the pocket of a specific landowner - essentially a tax falling directly on newbuilds, with a progressively higher rate as the newbuild gets denser - the perversity of the density "bonus" that Chris B has written about.)

Re: What is Freedom Urbanism?

Sean Brown — Wed, 21 Sep 2016 16:43:11 -0000

I like Freedom Urbanism. It is very close to my own ideology and preferences. On the other hand, I do think AURA is still a worthwhile organization overall, on net. But I wish that every retort to Freedom Urbanist arguments from AURAites weren't "Austin (city limits) will always be majority Democrat, therefore it's better to slant our framing and policy to appeal to relatively hardcore leftists."

Obviously I am biased as a capitalist moderate, but I think there are enough moderates + Rs in Austin to move the needle. Yes, with ONLY a subset of moderates + Rs onboard, you can't do much in this city. But would embracing some Freedom Urbanist positions really alienate all the Democrats from aligning with AURA???!

And young people should be pro-construction in general, as they feel the housing shortage the most keenly (most young people I know in the Bay Area have turned pro-construction over the last 6 years, even though they mostly WEREN'T before).

Re: Suspect admits to assaulting prostitutes in Austin ‘garden’

Sean Brown — Sun, 04 Sep 2016 10:40:30 -0000

Uhh...Obama administration supports this type of policy; likely Hillary would as well.

http://www.truth-out.org/ne...

It's more the local Democratic party, which has very little checks/balances and models itself off of northern California Dem parties (NIMBY/low-density/anti-apartment, but very soft on crime). The local Democratic party, on some issues, diverges significantly from Obama/likely Hillary.

Re: Point Austin: Mayor Adler's Superhighway to the Mobility Bond

Sean Brown — Thu, 28 Jul 2016 15:52:12 -0000

The bond is way too road-heavy and doesn't invest enough in mode-shift to more-efficient and healthier modes of transit - walking, biking, buses, rail.

It also implicitly subsidizes the suburbs by trying to temporarily loosen capacity bottlenecks that are caused by suburban commuters driving in/out of the city every day.

Re: Program changing way Austin police handle homeless population

Sean Brown — Wed, 01 Jun 2016 10:30:36 -0000

Austin (still) has significantly lower construction costs than places where illegals are largely shut out of construction, like NYC or Boston.