This year’s municipal elections in Austin are an apt case study of a generational and ideological conflict that has become central to urban politics in America’s largest and fastest-growing cities. In races across Austin, where the median home price is now north of $600,000, younger candidates calling for changes to the city’s notoriously restrictive zoning code to allow for more housing have faced off against older challengers more reluctant to change the “character” of established single-family neighborhoods.
The battle over housing overlaps with a simultaneous battle over environmentalism. On one side there is an older generation of environmentalists who cut their teeth fighting to protect Austin’s natural resources, most notably the city’s iconic Barton Springs, and are instinctively skeptical of new development, making them natural allies of neighborhood associations. On the other side is a younger generation of activists who see dense development as key to reducing sprawl and car dependence. The latter view tall, mixed-use developments as an unqualified environmental asset that makes it easier for people to get around by foot, bike, or public transit.
