Small Towns Around Austin Struggle with Big-City Housing Costs

byJill Ament

Driving into Taylor, the vibe is rural but not the usual trope of a dying, small town. The city has seen a gradual increase in its population in the past 10 years, and with that has come a renaissance of sorts. Now comes news that Taylor will soon be home to a $17 billion Samsung microchip making plant, which is also expected to bring a lot of newcomers. Residents of Taylor and other once-rural towns around Austin are already feeling the effects of the city’s growth. With skyrocketing of housing prices during the pandemic, smaller communities are grappling with big-city issues like affordability and gentrification. 

I-35 Expansion Plan Sparks Discussion Over Historical Barrier

byMinka Atkinson

Clearing neighborhoods and bulldozing businesses to expand an existing concrete barrier that has divided communities or digging deep into a reimagined urban core; these are the choices up for debate in the struggle to find a plan for modernizing I-35 through the center of Austin. Following a public comment period that ended Sept. 24, the […]

UT’s William Wayne Justice Center Encourages Students to Enter Public Interest Law

byHailin Zhang

Jane, one of millions of Texans living below the poverty level, needs a lawyer but cannot afford to pay for one. Fortunately, she’s part of the approximately 5.2 million who qualify for legal aid. So she has a couple of options. She could get help from an organization like Texas RioGrande Legal Aid, which serves […]

Central Texas Rescuers Work to Save Pigs, Farm Animals During Winter Storm

byBenton Graham

Central Texas Pig Rescue, a non-profit, was founded in 2016 and is run entirely by volunteers. In addition to housing hundreds of pigs at its farm in Bastrop, the rescue sees itself as a pig advocacy group and aims to create the “perfect pig paradise.” All animals at the rescue, which includes the 228 pigs, four donkeys, two goats, five cats, six chickens and two guinea fowls, survived Winter Storm Uri.

Hays County’s Indigenous Community Continues Struggle for Recognition

byBrooke Nevins

Hays County Commissioners Court raised the ire of critics by failing to reappoint members of its historical commission during a meeting earlier this year, a move that effectively dissolved a committee that represented the interests of Tejano and Indigenous groups.  The criticism came from citizens after the court did not reappoint members of the Hays […]