CodeNEXT

CodeNEXT is Austin's first rewrite of its Land Development Code in three decades. It promised to allow more housing choice, more units by right, more walkability, smart growth management, missing middle housing, etc. But so far it seems to mostly be a recodification of existing standards with, if anything, residential entitlements being stripped away on net; to our read, missing middle remains pretty missing. This is disappointing given the clear recommendations from [this report from the Obama Whitehouse]

The city's resources for the process and product are here. This includes:

• Comparison maps -- make comments on the maps here
• Comment Tool -- make comments on the code text here
• Zoning Framework Table
• Transect Zones Matrix
• Affordability Code Talk, presentation and panel with pro-housing experts

A lot of the necessary work of making sense of the code has fallen to housing advocates:

• Chris Bradford's excellent high-level overview of CodeNEXT's transect zone paradigm
• Robert Foster: "The Promises and Failures of CodeNEXT"

Specifics

• Transect Zones
  • T5MS
  • T6
• ADUs
• Rowhouses
• Parking
• Site Plans
• Multiplexes
• Trees
• Missing Middle Height