Liveable City
Community News
Summer 2008
In This Issue:
Follow the Money: Liveable City Deconstructs Austin’s Economic Incentives
Health Insurance a Problem?
Take the Small Business Health Insurance Survey Today
It’s a Wrap: 2008 Liveable Vision Awards a Success!
Keeping Austin Family Friendly:
Task Force Recommendations Expected This Week
Join Jimmy LaFave and Rock Stubb’s for Healthcare:
Friday, August 15, 7pm
What Keeps Austin a Good Place to Live? You Tell Us!
Liveable City’s Speaker Series Gears Up for Fall
A Fond Farewell to Liveable City’s Wendi White
Save the Date: Real Community is Real Art, September 19-20
Shout Outs
A Word for our Sponsors...
Follow the Money: Liveable City Deconstructs Austin’s Economic Incentives
Liveable City has released a first-of-its-kind report, “Building a More Sustainable
Economy: Economic Development Strategy and Public Incentives in Austin.” Authored
by economist Michael Oden with assistance from Livable City’s Board, Advisory
Council and others, the report offers an in-depth look at Austin’s economic development
and answers key questions: where does our economic development strategy come from,
how is it implemented, and what institutions shape our local economic policies and
programs?
Focusing on tax incentives and how they fit in the broader economic picture, the study
examines why incentives are used, how much the city is giving, and what taxpayers are
getting in return. The report also identifies reforms needed to create a unified, sustainable
economic strategy with strong public support to better position Austin for future
economic challenges and opportunities.
Download the full report or executive summary at www.liveablecity.org
Health Insurance a Problem?
Take the Small Business Health Insurance Survey Today
It’s not a ranking to inspire pride, but Texas tops the nation in uninsured residents, with
one in four Texans having no health care coverage at all. Among the reasons for our high
uninsured rates are the number of small Texas businesses and nonprofits unable to offer
coverage to their employees due to the prohibitive costs of group health plans.
In response, the Central Texas Regional Health Coverage Project is developing low-cost
Health Coverage Plans for small Texas employers (2 to 50 employees) to be offered later
this year. To ensure the plans will meet employee health coverage needs at a price small
businesses can afford, the Project needs your input.
To weigh in on health care plans, please visit www.healthcarecentraltexas.com and scroll
down to click on the Survey button. Ten minutes of your time will improve access to
health care in our community and help our small businesses remain competitive.
The survey closes August 8 so don’t delay. Questions? Contact Ann Kitchen at
[email protected] or call 512-804-2090.
It’s a Wrap: 2008 Liveable Vision Awards a Success!
A festive throng gathered at the Carver Museum on May 21 to honor the winners of the
2008 Liveable City’s Annual Vision Awards. Recognized for outstanding achievements
in the following categories were:
• Equity – Austin Voices for Education and Youth
• Engagement – The CreateAustin Cultural Plan
• Esthetics – Butler Park (formerly Town Lake)
• Economy – HelioVolt Solar Manufacturing
• Environment - Texas Campaign for the Environment & Dell’s Computer Recycling
Program
This event was made possible by the generous support of many who share our
commitment to building a better future for all of Austin. Heartfelt thanks to our visionary
sponsors: Austin Chronicle, KUT Radio, Capital Metro, Southwest Strategies Group,
Earth Tech, Family Connections, Fisterra, Glazer's, Ignite Consulting, Little City,
Momark Development, People Fund, Perry Lorenz, Rick Cofer, Rodney Gibbs, AB
Porter, Stubb's Legendary Kitchens, Texas Disposal Systems, Dwyer Realty, Baer
Engineering, Big Night Catering, and the Institute for Community, University, and
School Partnerships.
Keeping Austin Family Friendly:
Task Force Recommendations Expected This Week
After input from child care experts, a citywide survey, numerous focus groups and a
review of successful programs in other cities, the City of Austin Task Force on Families
and Children is poised to release its “family friendly” recommendations this week.
Created through the efforts of former Council Member Jennifer Kim, the task force was
formed in recognition of the critical role families and children play in Austin’s continued
vitality and the special challenges that unprecedented growth is presenting for this sector
of our community.
Task Force members represented a broad cross-section of the Austin community,
including members of Liveable City’s Board and Advisory Council
(http://www.ci.austin.tx.us/council/fctf.htm). The Task Force’s recommendations will be
available at www.liveablecity.org following the report’s release.
Join Jimmy LaFave and Rock Stubb’s for Health Care:
Friday, August 15, 7pm
On Friday, August 15, health care takes center stage with a benefit for the Representation
Alliance at Stubb’s Bar-B-Q, 801 Red River. Doors open at 7pm for a show featuring
red-dirt troubadour Jimmy LaFave, along with Jimmie Dale Gilmore, Lonesome Dave
Fisher, and the Hydmen. Highlights of the evening include a raffle for a signed Epiphone
Hummingbird acoustic guitar and a barbecue buffet by Stubbs.
All proceeds benefit the Representation Alliance, a new nonprofit organization that
provides free legal services to individuals with low income who have been denied
authorization for professionally prescribed health care. Sponsors include Stubb’s Bar-B-
Q, Front Gate Tickets, the Austin Chronicle, Epiphone, WaMu, Collection Agency Films
and Liveable City.
Tickets are $20 for adults, $10 for 18 and under, and are available at the door or online at
www.frontgatetickets.com. For more about the Representation Alliance, please visit
http://representationalliance.org/.
What Keeps Austin a Good Place to Live? You Tell Us!
With fall approaching, Liveable City is preparing to launch its new 2008 Quality of Life
Visual Survey. Conducted door-to-door with a representative sample of Austinites, this
unique survey uses picture cards to find out what makes our city a good place to live and
what folks see as the biggest threats to our quality of life today.
The original survey, conducted in 2002, was key in identifying widespread concerns
about rising housing costs in Austin. Those results led to a broad community
conversation about affordable housing and helped build momentum for passing the first
affordable housing bond in Austin’s history.
After five years, it’s time to hit the streets again and find out what’s on our minds as a
city. The new survey will be conducted in both English and Spanish and will include a
diverse range of neighborhoods to ensure that all voices that make up our community are
heard. There will be an online version as well. Stay tuned for details!
Liveable City’s Speaker Series Gears Up for Fall
Liveable City’s speaker series, “Imagining the Next City,” will kick off in late September
with a panel discussion on the use of public economic incentives. The conversation is
expected to draw on LC’s recently released report on the topic, with a look ahead to a
November ballot proposal that would ban city incentives for retail businesses. Watch for
time and location of this important discussion in our September newsletter!
Created in partnership with the University of Texas Community and Regional Planning
Department and the LBJ School of Public Affairs Urban Program, the jointly-sponsored
speaker’s series is open to the general public. Forums will cover Liveable City’s five “E’s
of Sustainability” - Environment, Engagement, Equity, Economy, and Esthetics - with an
additional “E” in the area of Ethics. LC hopes these discussions will spark and support
new collaborations, projects and solutions to major issues facing our community.
A Fond Farewell to Liveable City’s Wendi White
LC’s Board, Advisory Council, and many friends join in wishing a fond farewell to
Wendi White, our departing Development and Membership Director. Austin’s loss is
Virginia’s gain, as Wendi and family will join her husband at his new job at Old
Dominion University. Wendi has played a central role during Liveable City’s formative
years, helping to build LC from a fledgling organization to an established nonprofit.
Wendi’s many contributions to the Austin community include her work with Zilker
Elementary, Austin Interfaith, the Mother’s Milk Bank, Texas C-Bar, the Austin
Children’s Museum and countless other community efforts. Please join us in wishing
Wendi and family the best and letting them know that there will always be a place for
them deep in the heart of Texas.
Save the Date!
Real Community Is Real Art: A Texas Workshop on the Arts and Urban Development,
September 19-20. For info, email [email protected]
Shout Outs:
• To the Moondays Project for leading the charge against light pollution in Austin.
http://www.moondaysproject.com/
• To new City Council Members Laura Morrison and Randi Shade and returning CM
Lee Leffingwell. Best wishes for a productive term of office!
And now, a word for our Sponsors...
Building a more Liveable City isn’t cheap! Special recognition goes to the Shield-Ayers
Foundation, the Rather Family Trust, the Trull Foundation, and the Greater Houston
Family Foundation’s Gray Family Fund whose generous help makes our work possible.
For a complete list of our wonderful partners and supporters, please visit
www.liveablecity.org.
