Austin Requires On-Site Affordable Housing Near Light Rail, Ends Fee-in-Lieu in Transit Zones

The Austin City Council voted Sept. 10 to require developers using the city's density bonus program within a half-mile of the planned light rail route to build affordable units on-site rather than pay a fee into a city housing fund, a shift backers say will steer low-income housing toward transit even as some builders warn it could push new projects out of the corridors the city most wants to densify.