They want to hear from you; they really want to hear from you
The citizen task force considering development regulations governing compatibility in older neighborhoods (the “McMansion” issue) now has a message board. No “ugly” has been sought, but the “good” and the “bad” or examples of them in your opinion are wanted. Whether the task-force website will develop into more than a message board remains to be seen. As you’ll recall, the City has its own pages, where citizens may sign up to receive notifications. There’s also a brief fact sheet out there prepared by the task force.
All of the McMansions are making great areas of Austin now only available to the elite. I love the Hyde Park area, but the average house has gone by $100,000 in the last 5-6 years (reference: http://www.housealmanac.com/property/austin/showSummarySubdivision/subdivision/hyde-park-addn.htm).
Now a middle or the road house there costs $360,000. In my mind Austin is just not a mansion kind of town, but maybe I just can’t accept “progress”.
If you want affordability in the center-city, support more multifamily development. That’s the only way that actually works. Fighting McMansions just preserves neighborhoods for those who can afford the high cost of living there to begin with; I’m even OK allowing that if those same neighbors agree to some multifamily infill so others can afford to live central as well; but, typically, the same people are opposing both.