Austin’s housing debate again collided with questions of neighborhood identity. The Austin City Council voted on March 26 to advance a measure that could reframe where and how the city grows. Read the full story here: austinfreepress.org/upzoning-cou...

On April Fool’s Day, The Austin Bulldog — the first hyper-local, digital only, non-profit news organization in Texas — will celebrate 16 years of being a thorn in the sides of local politicians and government agencies. Read full story here: austinfreepress.org/bite-back/

As Women’s History Month draws to a close, Austin Free Press is reflecting on Wilhelmina Delco, a trailblazing woman whose leadership has reshaped the city’s institutions and expanded opportunity for generations. Read the full story here: austinfreepress.org/wilhelmina-d...

The marquees have dimmed, the stages are removed, and the crowds are gone. But the stories that unfolded at this year’s South by Southwest continue to echo — especially those told through an LGBTQ+ lens. Read full story here: austinfreepress.org/beyond-comin...

Austin built more than 120,000 homes in less than a decade, and the city is now being held up as proof that building more housing can push rents down. But the celebration comes with an asterisk. Read Full Story Here: austinfreepress.org/trickle-down/

As grocery bills rise and Americans are losing federal assistance, affordability is becoming the national talking point for the midterms. Read Full Story Here: austinfreepress.org/at-austins-t...

City of Austin officials have paused their request to demolish the historic Barton Springs Road Bridge, slowing a controversial project that has drawn outcry from preservationists, architects and environmentalists. Read the full story here: austinfreepress.org/suspension/

A UT-area block — once contaminated by dry-cleaning chemicals — is poised for a dramatic transformation with two luxury towers rising more than 400 feet above Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd under a proposal advanced this week by the Austin Planning Commission. austinfreepress.org/stain-removal/

City Council is expected to take a final vote March 12 on a rezoning request that has reignited long-running tensions in the Blackland neighborhood over land use, neighborhood plans, and what “compatibility” means in a historically Black part of East Austin. austinfreepress.org/speaking-for...

The Austin City Council is expected to take a final vote on March 12 on a rezoning request that has reignited long-running tensions in the Blackland neighborhood over land use, neighborhood plans... You can read the full story at austinfreepress.org/historical-l...

Tucked away in Pilot Knob, an unincorporated Central Texas community just south of McKinney Falls and Austin-Bergstrom International Airport, the 45‑acre Alexander Farm feels worlds away from the city’s sprawl. austinfreepress.org/black-cowboys/ #BlackCowboys #AlexanderFarm #EminentDomain #HighHorse

Austin’s plan to roll out mobile surveillance cameras in city parks is on hold again, stalled by questions about trust, transparency and who controls the footage. austinfreepress.org/short-circuit/

ATX City Council Member Ryan Alter said he will halt efforts to secure more money to replace the historic Zilker/Barton Springs Road bridge until he is convinced that demolition is the only option. austinfreepress.org/a-dynamite-b... #ZilkerBridge #BartonSpringsRoad #ZilkerPark

In the months after the council’s demolition approval, tenants saw signs of imminent redevelopment. austinfreepress.org/dissed-and-d...

With national and local voters putting “affordability” on the political agenda, an advisory commission is urging the city to direct its leading private gas utility to reduce prices, as well as its carbon footprint. austinfreepress.org/hot-seat/

The day Ray Price stumbled onto the Doris Miller Auditorium, he wasn’t chasing history — just a parking spot. It was 2017, and Price had just quit a cubicle job designing audio systems. austinfreepress.org/austins-ray-...

Northwest Austin residents told city officials this week that the noise of revving motorcycles racing around RM 2222 has become unbearable. austinfreepress.org/varoom/ #MotorcycleNoise #AustinCityCouncil #PublicSafety #NoiseOrdinance #NorthwestAustin #RM2222 #CommunityConcerns #APD

Poor communication and planning may uproot part of East Austin’s Festival Beach Food Forest, as Interstate 35 construction and a relocated wastewater line collide with years of grassroots work. austinfreepress.org/blindsided/

A judge is reviewing whether 494 petition signatures were wrongly excluded—potentially deciding whether Austin voters weigh in on the convention center rebuild. A ruling is expected before the Feb. 13 ballot deadline. austinfreepress.org/austin-city-... #AustinPolitics #LocalNews #ConventionCenter

For decades, East 22nd Street has served as a kind of seam in the Blackland neighborhood — close enough to Manor Road to feel the spillover from restaurants, traffic and nightlife, yet still residential in character. austinfreepress.org/blackland-cr...

A Texas appeals court is weighing whether Hays County Commissioners Court violated the Texas Open Meetings Act when it called a $778M road bond election — and whether voter approval still stands. austinfreepress.org/resurfaced/ #TXLege #OpenMeetingsAct #Transparency #LocalGovernment #TexasCourts

More than 125 homeowners in Central Austin’s Rosedale neighborhood are defending themselves from a lawsuit bankrolled by their own tax dollars. austinfreepress.org/sue-thy-neig...

The Historic Landmark Commission recommended East Austin’s Bethany Cemetery, Austin’s oldest Black cemetery, as a City of Austin landmark on Jan. 7. austinfreepress.org/ancestral-au...

An Austin “grocery nerd” advising New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani on his campaign promise to open five city-run public food stores worries that the new mayor isn’t thinking big enough to succeed. austinfreepress.org/heaping-plate/

In a move that’s becoming almost routine, Austin ISD trustees voted in November to close 10 local schools, citing a cocktail of budget shortfalls, declining enrollment, and state accountability pressures — all for a projected $22 million in savings. austinfreepress.org/whipsaw-aisd...

After the 1954 Brown school-desegregation decision, Delco overcame racism to earn a U.T. zoology Ph.D, becoming a Huston-Tillotson University dean. austinfreepress.org/a-trailblaze...

In 2025, Austin Free Press delivered scoops on housing and other crucial affordability issues. Read the full recap here: austinfreepress.org/a-tenacious-...

The most momentous event of the year came when affordability-strapped residents told city officials to curb their spending already. austinfreepress.org/done-that/

Austin United PAC filed a lawsuit Monday against the city of Austin, asking a judge to overturn the city’s rejection of its convention center petition and to force the release of statistical records the city is using to keep the measure off the May 2026 ballot. austinfreepress.org/signed-compl...

“There would be, inevitably, people in the audience” over the last few years who “liked my music but didn’t like my opinions,” singer Jimmie Dale Gilmore told 100 or so people... austinfreepress.org/dc-9-nocturne/

When Antone’s night club unveiled its new 50-year lease last month, the public learned only the broad strokes: a landmark agreement, a future blues museum, and $1.3 million in support tied to the city’s cultural preservation efforts. austinfreepress.org/home-of-blues/

Linda Curtis was struck by déjà vu last month when the Austin city clerk invalidated a citizen petition drive challenging the city’s plan to build a $1.6 billion convention center. austinfreepress.org/draconian-fl...

On most mornings, Hungry Hill Foundation is vibrant and bustling. Serving free hot meals from its food truck or cold sandwiches out of the multipurpose room fridge is the first priority for founder Chase Wright. austinfreepress.org/do-the-wrigh...

“Every dollar ensures all Austinites have access to well-kept parks, trails, and green spaces,” the Austin Parks Foundation says. Austin’s iconic Zilker Park has played host to the ACL Fest for decades, drawing hundreds of thousands of spectators a year. austinfreepress.org/zilker-zinger/

The Austin City Council this week will decide the future of one of East Austin’s most historic school sites, as a proposal to rezone the former Rosewood Elementary School property at 2406 Rosewood Avenue heads to a final vote. austinfreepress.org/retooled-sch...

The Nov. 4 trouncing of Austin City Council’s Proposition Q tax hike ballot measure has prompted soul searching by some council members as they seek to regain the trust of voters who overwhelmingly rejected higher taxes. austinfreepress.org/constituent-...

Two Travis Co. property owners filed suit Wednesday against members of the Travis Co. Commissioners Court, saying the group exceeded their authority when they voted to set the county tax rate in excess of the amount needed to address the July 4 flooding disaster. austinfreepress.org/property-own...

Austin voters slam-dunked the city council on Tuesday with a resounding rejection of Proposition Q – a proposal that would have permanently raised the city’s property-tax rate to generate roughly $110 million annually. austinfreepress.org/nope/

A tax increase to aid homelessness also would price some people out of their homes. austinfreepress.org/tuesdays-ele...

City of Austin park officials privately signed a new Event Agreement in August with Live Nation-controlled C3 Presents that locks Zilker Park into hosting the Austin City Limits Music Festival through 2040. austinfreepress.org/acl-palooza/

More than a decade after Austin became the nation’s largest no-kill city for shelter animals, local leaders voted to revise the city’s no-kill policy, raising the ire of animal welfare advocates across the city. austinfreepress.org/bark-and-bite/

Days after AFP published a story last week on local homeless nonprofits funding a PAC promoting the Prop. Q tax-increase on Austin’s Nov. 4 ballot, TX AG Ken Paxton announced a probe of “a potentially illegal fundraising scheme” by those nonprofit PAC donors. austinfreepress.org/political-sp...

Top contributors to a political committee promoting a city of Austin tax increase on the Nov. 4 ballot overwhelmingly stand to benefit politically or financially from Prop Q funding priorities, such as affordable housing, homelessness, and public safety. austinfreepress.org/tax-dilemma/

Austin has a long history of LGBTQ+ activism and active leadership from local groups like allgo, Out Youth, and Austin Pride. Yet Pride in Black ATX is one of the city’s few coalitions creating events that center the Black LGBTQ+ community. austinfreepress.org/black-queer-...

ATX United PAC leaders told AFP that they will deliver petition signatures to the city clerk Monday, requiring the city council to put a measure on the ballot asking voters if they want to delay the city’s $1.6 billion replacement plan for the Convention Center. austinfreepress.org/voter-conven...

​​Locals wouldn’t know it hiking around Town Lake or shopping at Whole Foods, but Black people have always existed in Austin. austinfreepress.org/where-we-at/

OPINION | Thursday the Austin City Council is scheduled to consider saving animal shelter money by revising city reporting of the spaying of visibly pregnant animals and by adjusting how it calculates live-release rates (agenda item 3). austinfreepress.org/pet-peeve/

The July floods that hit Central Texas were catastrophic, killing more than 135 people, including 27 campers and counselors at Kerr County’s Camp Mystic and 10 people near Leander in Travis County. Estimated damages are approximately $20 billion. austinfreepress.org/washed-out/

​​Almost a year after the Austin City Council voted to demolish the downtown convention center and sink $1.6 billion into a larger replacement, the future of that new downtown convention center might be left up to voters. austinfreepress.org/competing-vi...

As Austin continues to struggle with an affordable housing crunch, the Austin City Council passed a resolution Thursday that aims to fund the preservation of the city’s older naturally occurring affordable housing (NOAH). austinfreepress.org/noahs-arc/