Many say that home is the starting place for love and hope, but for those who live in Austin, it could be the starting place for stress and frustration. The housing crisis has been an ongoing issue throughout the city, and with the continued  decline of affordable rentals, the future of housing in Austin is unclear.  

In this forum project, we reached out to community members who have seen or felt the effects of the housing crisis firsthand. We asked them to share their experiences, what they think the root cause of the problem is and what the future of housing will look like in Austin.

In this forum project: 

Joseph El Habr, a community and regional planning graduate student, explains the importance of incorporating stakeholders, specifically students, when it comes to urban planning and development in West Campus. 

Jacob Wegmann, a professor in the School of Architecture, argues the rising housing market is harming students and that the University and city must both start taking action from multiple fronts. 

Anthropology senior Audrey Dahlkemper describes her experience with the housing crisis and how it can affect the well-being of students and the prospective growth of Austin. 

Ethan Smith, a UT alumnus and Austinite, argues that West Campus developers are contributing to the housing crisis and explains how the University must shift their focus from its current project to helping alleviate this issue.

The forum team consists of forum editors Alexa Leon, Tommy Wan and editor-in-chief Megan Tran. As always, if you have any thoughts on this topic or any other, please feel free to reach out to us at [email protected].