Austin is planning to grow significantly over the next few years. 60,000 new units are planned for the city, to be complete in the next few years, according to KVUE. 

This month, the Austin City Council voted to support a new housing plan for the city that could bring up to 135,000 new residences to the Texas capital. According to the plan, up to 60,000 of those new homes will be administered as affordable housing units. 

The new plan is focused on bringing housing costs down in the city, where experts have been sounding alarms for years over rampant income segregation. 

According to the Austin Chronicle, the city's population has more than doubled since 1990, with a large percentage of the new arrivals enjoying a high degree of wealth. As a result, many low- and moderate-income Austinites have become rent-burdened. The problem matches that of many other American cities: Despite receiving an influx of new residents in recent years, housing production has lagged behind growth rates, fueling a housing affordability crisis. 

In response, the city is moving to not only build lots of new housing, but aims to do so across the city, especially along transit corridors. 

Austin City Councilmember Greg Casar told KVUE, "We're becoming more and more economically segregated. By at least one researcher's account, we're one of the most, if not the most, economically segregated city in the country." Casar added, "So if we want to get ourselves off of that list, and sort of live up to who I think it is that we want to be—which is an integrated, affordable city that still has great job opportunities for people—we can't ignore housing and planning in our city.”

The plan is due to go into effect over the next eight years.