I’m not taking a side in this argument about who is saying what. But I live in Austin. In the decade I’ve been here, housing prices have nearly doubled.
[Deleted long superfluous rant about gentrification which is stuff you almost certainly already know.]
I’m watching Austin do exactly what Silicon Valley did fifteen years ago. It’s no secret that our own local homeless population is growing fast. I can easily see us winding up with semi-permenant camps as large as that on the Coyote Creek banks.
Individual selfishness had little to do with the problem other than people wanting to make a better living. But because affordable housing was never a serious consideration, the growth thus fueled has left a lot of people behind and more every day. Urban planning that includes more than token gestures towards affordable housing is needed. Maybe not radical reorganization, but even moderate housing policies often get greeted with incredulity.
Edited to be more succinct and less lecturing in tone.
