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Austin housing division previews story map, early‑warning system and expanded navigator program
Summary
Austin Housing’s Strategic Development team outlined plans for a public story map on neighborhood change, an early‑warning displacement research project with UT, and an expanded navigator program (adding Montopolis and a Project Connect buffer) to connect vulnerable households to resources.
Dr. Marla Torrado, housing division manager, presented an overview of the Strategic Development team’s displacement‑prevention work and several projects intended to identify and respond to neighborhood change.
Torrado described three core program areas: policy and research (including the City’s displacement‑risk analysis updated from the Uprooted research), capacity building (technical assistance and equity mini‑grants), and anti‑displacement planning. She said the department will publish a story map in late spring that combines quantitative maps with resident stories to show how Austin has changed over time and to illustrate city programs and their impacts.
Torrado highlighted a new early‑warning system being developed with the University of Texas to produce annually updated indicators that can help the city be “proactive” rather than reactive to displacement trends. She also outlined the navigator program: a paid, community‑based navigator model piloted in Colony Park and Dove Springs that included three months of training and an external evaluation. The program will expand to include Montopolis and a 1‑mile buffer around Project Connect anti‑displacement geographies; the city separated case‑management services from navigator outreach to better close referral loops.
Torrado said the Colony Park displacement mitigation plan — focused on proactive strategies around ~208 acres of city‑owned land slated for redevelopment — kicked off in December with a large community engagement component.
Commissioners asked about transportation layers on the story map, small‑business change data and navigator hiring; Torrado said transportation will be added as a data layer, the city is coordinating with economic development on business change datasets, and the upcoming navigator solicitation will be open to the public (previous navigators encouraged to reapply).
