Austin, TX
From Austin to Anchorage, U.S. cities opt to ditch their off-street parking minimums
The city council in Austin, Texas recently proposed something that could seem like political Kryptonite: getting rid of parking minimums.
Those are the rules that dictate how much off-street parking developers must provide — as in, a certain number of spaces for every apartment and business.
Around the country, cities are throwing out their own parking requirements – hoping to end up with less parking, more affordable housing, better transit, and walkable neighborhoods.
Some Austinites were against tossing the rules.
“Austin has developed as a low density city without adequate mass transportation system,” said resident Malcolm Yeatts. “Austin citizens cannot give up their cars. Eliminating adequate parking for residents will only increase the flight of the middle class and businesses to the suburbs.”
But much more numerous were voices in support of eliminating the minimums and the impact they’ve had on housing costs, congestion, and walkability.
“I think our country has used its land wastefully, like a drunk lottery winner that’s squandered their newfound wealth,” said resident Tai Hovanky. “We literally paved paradise and put up a parking lot.”
The amendment sailed through the council — making Austin the biggest city in the country to eliminate its parking mandates citywide.
Dozens of cities have ditched parking minimums
But it’s not just Austin. More than 50 other cities and towns have thrown out their minimums, from Anchorage, Alaska, and San Jose, Calif., to Gainesville, Fla.
“They’re all just dead weight,” says Tony Jordan, the president of the Parking Reform Network, of parking minimums. One issue is just how arbitrary they can be.
Take bowling alleys. Jordan says the number of required parking spots per bowling lane could vary anywhere from two to five, in cities right next to each other.
“What’s the difference between a bowler in city A and city B? Nothing. It’s just these codes were put in … very arbitrarily back 30 or 40 years ago and they’re very hard to change because anytime the city wants to change them, there’s a whole big hoopla,” he says.
Random as these rules can be, they have major consequences: Parking creates sprawl and makes neighborhoods less walkable. Asphalt traps heat and creates runoff. And parking minimums can add major costs to building new housing: a single space in a parking structure can cost $50,000 or more.
One 2017 study found that including garage parking increased the rent of a housing unit by about 17 percent.
The real problem, says Jordan, is what doesn’t get built: “The housing that could have gone in that space or the housing that wasn’t built because the developer couldn’t put enough parking. … So we just lose housing in exchange for having convenient places to store cars.”
A move to let the market decide
Austin City Council member Zo Qadri was the lead sponsor on the resolution to remove parking mandates there. He emphasizes that getting rid of parking mandates isn’t the same thing as getting rid of parking: “It simply lets the market and individual property owners decide what levels of parking are appropriate or needed.”
Austin removed parking requirements for its downtown area a decade ago, “and the market has still provided plenty of parking in the vast majority of the projects since then,” says Qadri.
A new survey from Pew Charitable Trusts found that 62% of Americans support property owners and builders to make decisions about the number of off-street parking spaces, instead of local governments.
Angela Greco, a 36-year-old musician and copywriter in Austin, is one of them. She drives, but prefers to walk or take transit. She’s not worried that doing away with the old rules will make it too hard to find a place to park.
“I’ve lived in like cities where it’s way more difficult, like New York and L.A.,” Greco says. “Parking just isn’t that difficult in Austin to me to begin with, even in really dense areas.”
Ed Jones / AFP via Getty Images
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AFP via Getty Images
She says the question of whether the city invests in transit and walkability, or doubles down on cars, is decisive in whether she’ll live in Austin long-term.
“Like if it doesn’t seem like the public transit’s going to get better, and if it seems like the highway expansion is going to happen, then I’m probably going to start looking for where else I can live. … It’s a major factor in my life and my happiness. Like sometimes I’m driving on the road and I’ll be in traffic or something or even just on the highway, and it’s such an ugly landscape,” Greco says. “And then I’ll think: this isn’t really how I want to spend my adult life.”
Too much parking can hinder effective transit
What about the idea that cities without good transit can’t cut back on parking?
Jonathan Levine, a professor of urban and regional planning at the University of Michigan who studies transportation policy reform, says cities’ parking minimums can make good transit nearly impossible to develop.
“An area that has a lot of parking is transit-hostile territory,” he says.
He explains why: When people take transit, they complete their journey by walking to their destination. A sea of parking at the destination makes that walk longer, and it makes the physical environment less appealing to those on foot.
“Who wants to walk by a bunch of parking lots to get to your destination?” Levine notes.
And having tons of parking encourages driving. “If you have parking everywhere that you’re going, that parking essentially is calling to the drivers, drive here! Park here! … So if you keep on designing those areas by governmental mandate, you’re creating areas that transit can’t serve effectively,” says Levine.
Many more U.S. cities – including New York City, Milwaukee, and Dallas — are exploring getting rid of their parking minimums too. Duluth, Minn., lifted its parking mandates in December.
Levine says getting rid of these rules is good news for cities.
“It’s a huge drag on housing affordability. And it’s a huge impediment for cities fulfilling their destiny, which is enabling human interaction. Because what parking does is it separates land uses, separates people. It makes cities have a much more sprawling physical profile than they otherwise would have.”
Copyright 2024 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.
Austin, TX
Black Sheep Coffee Opens First Austin Location, Expanding Its Texas Footprint | What Now Austin
Black Sheep Coffee, the international coffee brand, will celebrate the opening of its first Central Texas location in Downtown Austin with two public events. The new café, located at W 6th St & Guadalupe St, Austin, TX 78701, marks a significant step in the company’s U.S. expansion following strong growth throughout the Dallas–Fort Worth region.
A public ribbon-cutting ceremony, hosted in partnership with the Austin Chamber of Commerce, will take place on Thursday, January 15 from 12:00 p.m. – 2:00 p.m., welcoming community members, local leaders, and partners into the space. During the event, guests can enjoy half-price lattes, including coffee and matcha drinks.
On Saturday, January 17, Black Sheep Coffee will officially celebrate their grand opening with a Sips & Beats event from 11:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m., featuring live vinyl set by DJ Foxxy Brown, signature menu tastings, and half-price lattes throughout the event. Continuing the celebration, the store will also offer a 50% discount to International Half Marathon medal holders on Sunday, January 18, welcoming runners and spectators to refuel post-race.
Designed to reflect Austin’s creative identity, the location features custom graffiti artwork inspired by the city’s street art scene and the energy of Downtown. The new outpost will serve Black Sheep Coffee’s complete menu, including its 100% specialty-grade Robusta coffee, ceremonial-grade matcha, smoothies, pastries, Norwegian waffles, curated food offerings, and two bakery variations created exclusively for the Austin store. Additional limited-time items will debut later in January as part of the brand’s functional health product refresh.
“Austin has long been on our radar for its passionate community and standout coffee culture,” said Eirik Holth, co-founder of Black Sheep Coffee in a statement. “We’re excited to become part of that fabric and bring something new to Downtown. With several U.S. locations in the pipeline, Austin marks a major milestone in our next chapter of growth.”
Black Sheep Coffee chose Austin for its strong alignment with the brand’s ethos and its reputation as a city that celebrates individuality and creativity. The opening also reinforces the company’s long-term commitment to Texas, with several additional locations planned statewide for 2026.
The Austin café will be open Sunday through Thursday from 6:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. and Friday and Saturday from 6:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. For more information, visit BlackSheepCoffee.us.
Austin, TX
Lawsuit: Brianna Aguilera’s parents allege underage alcohol service at Austin tailgate contributed to daughter’s death
The parents of Brianna Aguilera have filed a lawsuit against two organizations, alleging that they served alcohol to their underage daughter which contributed to her death in Austin.
Before Aguilera fell to her death from the Rio 21 Apartments in West Campus, the lawsuit states that she attended a tailgate at the Austin Blacks Rugby Club’s facility, organized by the UT Latin Economics and Business Association.
Both the Austin Blacks Rugby Club and the UT Latin Economics and Business Association were listed as defendants in the lawsuit.
>> What we know about Texas A&M student Brianna Aguilera’s death in Austin
Even though the lawsuit states Aguilera was “noticeably intoxicated” at the tailgate, her parents argue that the defendants continued to serve her alcohol.
According to court documents, Aguilera allegedly began stumbling at the tailgate and needed help standing at times. At some point, the lawsuit said she fell into the woods and lost her phone.
After leaving the tailgate at approximately 10 p.m., court documents state Aguilera died around two hours later.
The lawsuit also accuses the defendants of negligence and gross negligence for serving alcohol to Aguilera despite her age and allegedly overserving her.
In the suit, Aguilera’s parents demanded a trial by jury and sought at least $1 million plus interest, costs and punitive damages.
Aguilera’s parents also seek damages for wrongful death, citing the defendants’ alleged misconduct.
Houston-based attorney Tony Buzbee, who’s representing the Aguilera family, commented on the lawsuit in a Tuesday news conference.
Watch the full news conference below:
“Brianna was obviously overserved,” Buzbee said. “Even the police have concluded that she was overserved at that tailgate. She was not 21.”
Buzbee also stated that the Austin Police Department has allegedly told multiple witnesses not to talk with him and Aguilera’s parents.
“They told the three, the three individuals that were in that apartment that night when this young girl died. They told them, do not speak to Brianna’s mother or her lawyers,” Buzbee said.
He said that the lawsuit could provide a way for the witnesses to eventually come forward with information.
“By filing this lawsuit, not only will we hold accountable an entity or entities that were involved in overserving Brianna and other minors, but we will also be able to subpoena individuals and documents and video and data so we can continue our investigation,” Buzbee said.
KSAT’s sister station, KPRC, has reached out to both the Austin Blacks Rugby Club and the UT Latin Economics and Business Association for comment on the lawsuit. This story will be updated once the organizations provide a statement.
More coverage of this story on KSAT:
Copyright 2026 by KSAT – All rights reserved.
Austin, TX
Cedar pollen eases, but record heat builds across Central Texas
Although record-breaking heat and spring-like warmth dominated the first few days of the new year, cooler — but still warmer than normal —temperatures settled in to start the first work week of 2026.
The heat will ramp up yet again Tuesday and Wednesday, with temperatures about 20 degrees above the normal early-January high of 62 degrees.
Expect a blanket of low stratus clouds and some patchy dense fog Tuesday morning, but skies should begin clearing around lunchtime.
“In the meantime, a surface trough (of low atmospheric pressure)/dry line will push from the southern Edwards Plateau into the I-35 corridor, bringing temperatures into the lower to mid-80s,” meteorologists with the National Weather Service wrote in a forecast discussion Monday. “It is going to be very warm for this time of year, and some daily high temperature records could be broken.”
Those temperatures could rival record highs at both Austin climate observation sites, Camp Mabry and Austin-Bergstrom International Airport, where the standing record is 84 degrees, set in 1989.
Behind the dry line Tuesday, drier air will move into Central Texas, leading to a slightly cooler start Wednesday under mostly to partly cloudy skies.
Morning temperatures will dip into the 50s around sunrise before climbing into the upper 70s to mid-80s by the afternoon. Those highs would surpass the record of 80 degrees set in 2008 at Camp Mabry.
Temperatures the rest of the week will remain above normal with mostly cloudy mornings but sunny afternoons.
A cold front is forecast to move across the region later in the week with a slight rain chance Thursday and Friday, but most of the rain will fall north and east of Austin. However, cooler and more seasonable weather is expected this weekend.
This past weekend, Austin experienced the highest cedar pollen counts so far this season with a count of 3,200 grains per cubic meter Saturday and a peak of 4,000 grains per cubic meter on Sunday. However, the count dropped to just over 1,000 grams per cubic meter on Monday. Humidity has been on the rise in the past few days, and winds have been much lighter. Those factors have helped “settle” the cedar pollen for the time being.
Luckily, the winds have turned southerly and are much lighter, so the pollen has settled a bit. A small chance of rain on Thursday and Friday should also help dampen cedar pollen before it becomes airborne. However, above-normal temperatures will allow tree pollen cones to continue opening, setting the stage for another pollen surge when the next breezy cold front arrives.
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