BG Reads // May 5, 2025

Author

A.J. Bingham
May 05, 2025

Presented By

✅ Today's BG Reads include:

[EVENT SPOTLIGHT]

✅ Austin Chamber ATX Policy Forum 2025 // Wednesday May 14th // 8AM to 10AM

Mayor Kirk Watson will take the stage alongside these influential policymakers from across Central Texas including County Judges for Bastrop, Caldwell, and Williamson Counties.

[CITY OF AUSTIN]

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[AUSTIN METRO NEWS]

✅ City reports fewer crimes, stable crowds in Sixth Street pilot (Austin Monitor)

Data from the city’s efforts to revitalize the Sixth Street Entertainment District show reductions in violent crime and public safety incidents, according to a new memo summarizing the results of a pilot program launched late last year.

A recent memo from Development Services Department leadership to City Council reported a modest, but notable, decline in serious incidents along Sixth Street, and stable pedestrian activity following the reintroduction of vehicle traffic during weekend nights. The pilot also won positive feedback from business owners and stakeholders regarding outdoor seating expansions and atmosphere improvements.

The pilot program, initiated this past fall, reopened portions of Sixth Street to vehicle traffic on weekends, introduced designated ride-hailing pickup zones, expanded outdoor seating opportunities for bars and restaurants and supported a series of temporary public space activations. Temporary barricades were used to manage pedestrian flow and vehicle access.

The city developed a data collection and reporting process to track safety, transportation and business activity. Staff noted that while early indicators are encouraging, continued evaluation and adjustments are necessary to refine strategies ahead of long-term infrastructure and policy changes… 🟪 (READ MORE)

🟪 Developers in East Austin work to remain agile in face of shifting market conditions (Austin Business Journal)

East Austin is growing fast, but that growth may not include more office space after what's springing up is done.

A variety of topics related to development in East Austin — such as plans to pivot away from office construction, the region's attractiveness to businesses and new real estate projects, and what it could look like in the coming years — were tackled during a panel discussion at the East Austin Growth Summit that included developers and one of Austin’s go-to real estate attorneys.

One major discussion point was how to remain agile and adapt in an office market experiencing high levels of vacancy.

Austin’s office vacancy clocked in at an elevated 24.5% in the first quarter, according to commercial real estate firm CBRE. That has caused a pause in new projects, and experts say the under-construction pipeline of office developments in the city could be cleared out entirely by the end of the year.

For Presidium, that means a shift away for now from office development at its River Park project on East Riverside Drive, Piano said. As a result, the initial phase of that project will feature a mix of residential, hospitality, retail and entertainment uses… ✅ (READ MORE)

✅ New Austin program helps connect residents with jobs as city begins major construction projects (KUT)

Skillpoint Alliance is one of the many partners the city is working with through the new Austin Infrastructure Academy. The city set aside $5 million this budget year for the program, a hub where Austinites can be connected to training for jobs in skilled trades like electrician, plumber and carpenter. The program also helps people find jobs in these fields.

Austin will see an increased need for workers in construction jobs over the next several years as the city takes on several major projects, like the redevelopment of the Austin Convention Center, the airport expansion and the Project Connect transit plan. Upcoming projects are expected to create 10,000 new jobs annually.

A study from local consulting firm CivicSol found that Austin would be short around 4,000 workers a year as these projects progress.

Laura Huffman, who helped conduct the study, said the data helped the city realize something needed to change to help fill those jobs… 🟪 (READ MORE)

[TEXAS NEWS]

✅ Aurora launches commercial self-driving truck service in Texas (Tech Crunch)

Autonomous vehicle technology startup Aurora Innovation says it has successfully launched a self-driving truck service in Texas, making it the first company to deploy driverless, heavy-duty trucks for commercial use on public roads in the U.S. 

The launch comes just as Aurora hits its deadline; in October, the company delayed its planned 2024 debut to April 2025. The debut also comes five months after rival Kodiak Robotics delivered its first autonomous trucks to a commercial customer for driverless operations in off-road environments.

Aurora says it began running freight this week between Dallas and Houston with its launch customers Hirschbach Motor Lines and Uber Freight, and that it has completed 1,200 miles in a single self-driving truck without a driver so far. The company plans to build up to “tens of self-driving trucks” and expand to El Paso and Phoenix by the end of 2025. 

Aurora will also continue to haul “more than 100 loads of commercial freight” for customers every week with a fleet of more than 30 supervised autonomous trucks, according to a company spokesperson… 🟪 (READ MORE)

✅ Texas Republican lawmakers may “financially handcuff” cities that don’t play by their rules (Texas Tribune)

Two years after Texas lawmakers enacted a sweeping law aimed at sapping authority from the state’s urban areas, GOP legislators once more have advanced bills intended to stop local governments from adopting progressive policies.

Republicans in the Texas Legislature want to give the state the authority to effectively torpedo cities’ budgets if they pursue local rules that might conflict with state law — intended to deter them from adopting left-leaning ideas in the first place. GOP legislators have targeted financial assistance programs for needy families, measures to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and initiatives to promote diversity, equity and inclusion. They’ve sought to overturn moves in cities like Austin and Dallas to decriminalize possession of small amounts of marijuana. No issue is too small. Some Republicans even want to make it harder for cities to install bike and bus lanes.

The slate of bills marks the latest front in Texas Republicans’ decade-long crusade to erode the power of local officials in the state’s major urban areas, who often are Democrats. In that time, the GOP-controlled Legislature forbade cities from regulating oil and gas drilling, requiring landlords to accept federal housing vouchers and from cutting their police budgets without going to voters. Conservatives have often couched those moves as ways to relieve the burden they say those regulations place on businesses and stop the proliferation of progressive policies… 🟪 (READ MORE)

✅ Ortiz Jones, Pablos head to runoff in San Antonio mayoral race (Texas Public Radio)

Former U.S. Air Force Under Secretary Gina Ortiz Jones and former Texas Secretary of State Rolando Pablos have advanced from a crowded field of 27 candidates to a runoff in the race for mayor of San Antonio.

Ortiz Jones was not available for comment as she attended the Fiesta Flambeau parade coinciding with Election Night. She amassed 27,483 votes, which is 27.20% of the vote.

16,785 people voted for Pablos, giving him 16.61% of the vote.

"I think now that we got rid of the rest of the pack, I think we'll have a lot of allies coming on board who, you know, are aligned with our message. So I'm very excited about that," Pablos told supporters at his Election Night watch party.

Pablos has represented the Republican party at the state level and Oritz Jones has represented the Democratic party in previous congressional races. Both raised much of their campaign money from outside San Antonio and Texas.

While Ortiz Jones has consistently polled at the top of the pack, Pablos said he is ready for the runoff… 🟪 (READ MORE)

[US and World News]

✅ Does a president need to uphold the Constitution? Trump says 'I don't know' (NPR)

President Trump — when asked if he thinks he needs to uphold the Constitution on "Meet the Press with Kristen Welker" — said, "I don't know," but added that his lawyers "are obviously going to follow what the Supreme Court said."

The response came after a series of questions regarding the right to due process for people living in the United States and the Fifth Amendment. During this exchange, Trump said he wants to deport millions of undocumented immigrants — who he called "some of the worst people on Earth."

"I was elected to get them the hell out of here and the courts are holding me from doing it," Trump said... 🟪 (READ MORE)

✅ How the stock market made back all its losses after Trump escalated the trade war (Associated Press)

It felt much longer, but the U.S. stock market needed just a few weeks to roar all the way back to where it was on President Donald Trump’s “Liberation Day.” That’s when he shocked Wall Street by announcing much steeper tariffs than expected on nearly all U.S. trading partners. Those tariffs unveiled on April 2 were so severe that they raised fears Trump did not worry about causing a recession in his attempt to reshape the global economy. Within just four days, the S&P 500 fell about 12%, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average lost nearly 4,600 points, or about 11%.

This past Friday, though, the S&P 500 rallied 1.5% for a ninth straight gain and pulled back to where it was on April 2. Of course, the index at the heart of many 401(k) accounts is still more than 7% below its all-time high set earlier this year. And stocks could easily fall again as uncertainty remains high about what Trump’s tariffs will ultimately do to the economy. But the run for U.S. stocks back upward has been just as wild and unexpected as its fall. Here’s a look at what happened… 🟪 (READ MORE)

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