Traffic Congestion

• Even though Austin Texas has been voted as the number one place to live in America and ranked as the fastest-growing large city in the U.S., the city leaders are reported to be tackling the major issue of traffic problems in the city.
• Due to its bad traffic congestion, Austin Texas has been recently named as one of the most traffic-congested cities in the world by TomTom.
• The problem of traffic in Austin Texas is due to the fact that it has only one interstate passing through it (Austin Texas Insider), along with a major need for financial resources for building major roadways that traverse the city to create more routes to getting around. Also, there is a need to promote more active transit to encourage people not to drive for short commutes that they could walk or bike.

Importance to the Community

• According to the Tomtom report, "Austinites spend an average of 25% more time stuck in traffic than other drivers."
• In a community survey report, it was found that 75% of the people responded that the city can't build enough roads to solve their traffic problems and 50% said that "they would rather get around town in something other than their own car." Indeed, a large percentage (79%) also was willing to support businesses that showed commitment to solutions beyond cars to improvise this condition.

What is Being Done

• The city leaders are creating volunteer initiatives such as Austin City : One Challenge, which is intended to encourage the public to think of ways to solve transportation issues, along with promoting carpooling, riding the bus, e-bike, and other mediums of transportation.
• The leaders in Austin launched the group 'Move ATX' to tackle the issue of traffic congestion involving residents to participate in adopting active commuting and ways to include financial incentives for certain businesses that show commitment to solutions beyond cars.

Stakeholders Involved

• The primary stakeholders involved in tackling this issue of traffic congestion and mobility in Austin, Texas include the city leaders from transportation naming Austin Mayor Steve Adler, Robert Spillar, Director of Transportation of the city, Austin City Manager, and Austin Assistant city manager, along with officials from North American City solutions
• Additionally, the residents of the city are involved in the initiatives taken up to overcome this challenge of traffic congestion in Austin, supported by businesses and community groups.

A Question to City Leaders

• How is the city planning to overcome the financial investment required to look for options for building new and more highways and skyway system?

Affordability

• Austin has been facing a major challenge of the affordability crisis in terms of housing supply failing to keep up with demand due to the increasing disparity in Austin’s median income and its affordable housing stock.
• The city leaders are increasingly tackling the issue of affordability to accommodate the influx of people in the city, which has become a highly desirable place to live by many people willing to move to the city for growth opportunities.
• The Austin Economic Indicators highlight that the "Austin’s affordability index fell from 54.5 to 54.3, while the national index increased from 56.4 to 56.6" and has shown a decline since 2013.

Importance to the Community

• Due to the increasing disparity in the median income of Austin residents as the demand for houses rises, it is making the property values rise and also increasing property taxes, but not with an equal amount of income rise. This has led to housing affordability crisis and most of the residents unable to afford their own homes.
• On average "about 150 people move to Austin each day while many current families are being pushed out to surrounding cities where housing is more affordable."

What is Being Done

• Austin leaders are proposing to build more affordable housing through a new plan, which would help to ease the permit requirements for developments that have at least 50% "low-income housing" in their project.
• Many community foundations have come in front to offer affordable housing and supportive services for low-income families.
• 23 affordable housing communities consisting of nearly 3,000 units have been deployed along with promoting affordability with sustainable options to homeowners.

Stakeholders Involved

• The major stakeholders involved in tackling the challenge of the affordability of Austin include city leaders, such as Austin Council members along with city real estate developers.

A Question to City Leaders

• Do we have any plan to boost the median income level /spending power of the Austin workers?

Research Strategy

Traffic Congestion and Transportation Network

• CityLab identified Vaughan City as a "boomburb", a suburban community experiencing rapid growth and urban expansion.
• Boomburbs are defined as previously rural regions transitioning to become urban areas.
• However, with Vaughan's economic growth and expansion comes problems such as increasing traffic congestion.
•  York Region interviewed some local candidates about the biggest issues facing Vaughan together with Woodbrige.
•  Traffic congestion was identified as the top concern followed by the rising cost of living and taxes.
• One candidate said, "The gridlock on our roads represents the biggest issue facing residents" while another said "One of the top complaints I hear is the horrendous congestion on major arterial roads; the increased levels of smog and noise pollution."
• Vaughan's leaders are addressing the worsening traffic by improving both transportation and transit networks.
• In his 2019 Statement, Mayor Maurizio Bevilacqua said that the city is working to create new connections between communities and establishing higher-order transit networks.
• Initiatives include building additional subway stations such as the Yonge Street Subway Extension.
• King-Vaughan member of Parliament (MP) Deb Schulte has also secured a $595 million pledge from Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to establish a train line through the York region.
• Schulte has admitted that "The transportation network has not kept pace with our rapid development."
• The GO Train line looks to improve and extend existing train stations in Vaughan, King, Aurora, Newmarket, and other areas in the York region.
• Metrolinx CEO Phil Verster stated that there is a $2.60 economic benefit gained for every $1 invested in GO.
• Mayor Bevilacqua said that a well-developed transit will continue to attract residents, businesses and a talented workforce to Vaughan.
• The local and regional government are involved as the primary stakeholders in addressing the situation, as well as private providers such as Metrolinx which owns GO.

Housing Affordability

• Another challenge of Vaughan's boomburb transformation is the lack of affordable housing.
• York Region reported that Vaughan Millennials living with their parents are trapped by the housing affordability crisis.
• Millennials identified gentrification and the urban expansion happening in Vaughan as culprits forcing people out of the neighborhood.
• Housing prices has risen beyond Vaughan residents' regular salary, with some needing to take on several jobs to make ends meet.
• One local candidate said, "Affordable housing and a plan to manage the influx in population are paramount" while another said, "The biggest issue we’re facing in Vaughan-Woodbridge is affordability."
• According to Zolo.ca, houses in Vaughan are the 4th most expensive and 7th fastest-selling in Greater Toronto.
• The average house price in Vaughan is listed at $971,470 while a house in Toronto only averages at $906,000.
• The rise in prices also extend to the business community in Vaughan.
• In 2018, RENX Canada reported that Vaughan along with other nearby areas registered the highest net rental rates hike in commercial space in the Greater Toronto Area for the 7th consecutive quarter.
• Vaughan's leaders are addressing the housing problem through a Housing Supply Action Plan starting this 2019.
• The city's 2019 report has identified 5 barriers to affordable housing: innovation, speed, mix, cost, and rent.
•  Innovation is needed to identify concerns and opportunities to increase housing supply while development projects need to be approved faster (speed).
•  Restrictions should be addressed to supply the right mix of housing while costs relating to high land prices and government fees need to be lowered.
•  Regulations also need to be eased for landlords while protecting tenants (rent).
• The City of Vaughan acknowledged that "Governments (federal, provincial, municipal), the development industry and other key stakeholders will have to work together to achieve streamlined processes that continue to protect homeowners and residents."

Question

• How do you plan to balance the continued economic expansion of your city against the growing demands for affordable housing and sustainable cost of living?

Population

• The total city population of Austin is 964,254.
•  7.2% of Austin's population is between 20 and 24, while 17.4% is aged 25-34. Therefore, the population that is 20-34 is approximately 237,206.
• The city is considered to have a young population, mostly thanks to recent graduates of local colleges and universities.

City Elections in 2020

• The general municipal elections will take place on November 3.
• The offices on the ballot will include District 2, 4, 6, 7, and 10.

Neighborhoods

• North Loop is a neighborhood located near the University of Texas, regarded as "the trendy hub of North Austin." It is famous for its unique atmosphere, vintage shops, and attractive dining and entertainment offerings.
•  Its residents include young families and professionals, as well as artists.
• Rollingwood is an upscale community, with luxurious homes, top-rated schools, and various amenities. It is also close to downtown Austin.
• It is a frequent choice for young families due to the Eanes Innovative School District, which has a 99% college acceptance rate. Also, it is recognized as one of the most attractive neighborhoods in Texas and nationally.
• Allandale is another popular neighborhood among young families and professionals. It is well-established, close to downtown Austin, and offers a quiet, family-friendly atmosphere.

City ID Card

• While several Texas cities considered implementing a municipal ID program, Austin being one of them, none has introduced it so far.
• Specifically, Austin's officials explored the idea in 2014, mainly because it would make immigrants more likely to report the crimes.

Question to City Leaders

• Do you plan to revisit the idea of launching a municipal ID card program?

Research Strategy

1. THE POPULATION IN VAUGHAN, CANADA

• According to the 2016 Census in Canada, the total population in Vaughan is 306,233 people.
• There are 62,915 people aged between 18 and 34 years in the city.

2. 2020 ELECTIONS

•  No city elections will take place in 2020 for Vaughan City, as the next date for municipal elections is Monday, October 24, 2022.

3. NOTEWORTHY NEIGHBORHOODS

• Concord is an industrial district in Vaughan with access to several major highways. Its superior road network is vital for businesses. As such, many large, multinational operations have their headquarters there.
• It is home to Vaughan Mills, the most ranked top attraction in Vaughan by traveler favorite, according to Trip Advisor. Vaughan Mills is also among the largest enclosed shopping centers in Canada.
• There are several other establishments in Concord, including hotels, coffee and tea shops, spas, and bakeries.

• The Kleinburg community is home to many "wealthy executives and affluent families."
• The community has several heritage homes built in the nineteenth century.
• "Only large properties and large lots with detached homes can be found there."

• This neighborhood is home to many executives and high-end professionals.
• The area is relatively expensive. It has great scenery due to the surrounding trees and trails.

4. CITY ID CARD PROGRAM

• Yes, Vaughan City has a VPL Library Card program.

• The VPL Library Card is given to people who live, work, own property, or attend an educational institution in the City of Vaughan, as it guarantees them free membership to use the library.
• However, people "who live, work, own property, or school in a York Region municipality, Brampton, or Town of Caledon" might qualify for a free library card as well.
• Applications can be made online or in person. In either case, a valid means of identification is required.

RESEARCH STRATEGY

• We were unable to provide the population of people in Vaughan, Canada, between the ages of 18 and 35 years, as that information is not publicly available. The most accurate source of information for this data is the official 2016 Census report, which we obtained from the Canadian government website. However, despite all avenues to triangulate the information, we could not find any metric with which to derive the requested info. We also looked at a more narrow report from the Toronto government in a bid to find more streamlined data that might provide broader statistics. However, as this report was also prepared from the 2016 Census data available, no new information was provided.
• We were only able to derive the population between the ages of 18 and 34 years, after which we tried searching for the population of 35-year-olds in the city. We searched through some government documents for Vaughan, but could not find anything useful. The aim was to find the data for the 35-year-olds in Vaughan and add the values to our triangulated values. However, in the absence of useful data, we have presented the population between the ages of 18 and 34 years in Vaughan.

CALCULATIONS

• From the Canada 2016 Census, there was no available age bracket that provided the population of people in Vaughan from 18 to 35 years. To triangulate the info, we considered several sets of data as follows:
• Population from 15-19 years = 21,280 people.
• Population from 20-34 years = population of 20-24 years + 25-29 years + 30-34 years = 20,285 + 17,105 + 16,825 = 54,215 people.
• Thus, to determine the population in Vaughan between 18 and 34 years, we must calculate for the population between 18-19 years, then add it to the population from 20-34 years.

• The population from 18-64 years = 192,665 people.
• Total population from 20-64 years = population of 20-24 years + 25-29 years + 30-34 years + 35-39 years + 40-44 years + 45-49 years + 50-54 years + 55-59 years + 60-64 years = 20,285 + 17,105 + 16,825 + 19,430 + 23,345 + 25,440 + 24,480 + 20,805 + 16,250 = 183,965 people.
• Thus, we can derive the population from 18-19 years by subtracting the population of 20-64 years from that of 18-64 years.
• From this derivation, the population from 18-19 years = 192,665 – 183,965 = 8,700 people.
• Therefore, the population from 18-34 years = population from 18-19 years + population from 20-34 years = 8,700 + 54,215 = 62,915 people.

The population in Vaughan, Canada, from 18-34 years is 62,915 people.

Small Business Promotion Initiatives

Small Business Program

• As part of its commitment to the development of small businesses, the government of Austin runs the Small Business Program, where it empowers small business owners and entrepreneurs by providing relevant business training, educational events, and coaching.
• "The initiative's mission is to foster job creation and support the growth of new and existing businesses by providing capacity building information, tools, and resources."

Small Business Assistance

• In assisting businesses with incentives and grants, Austin's Small Business Assistance initiative is designed to provide assistance, ranging from technical support to loan services, to improve and ensure the success of growing small businesses. With this initiative, "the city community also encourages the creation of jobs for low- to moderate-income households."
• This initiative looks to provide micro-enterprise technical assistance from entities, such as BiGAustin, and loan services from the PeopleFund community development bank.

Local Merchant Associations

•  Austin Texas Insider, a local media company, provides a list of some merchant associations in Austin. Some, as well as others, include:
• The Austin Independent Business Alliance 
• The Austin Chamber of Commerce 
•  Austin LGBT Chamber of Commerce 
•  Greater Austin Merchants Cooperative Association 

Major Partnerships

• The city of Austin partnered with UT-Austin, a tech company, "to automate the data-gathering process for traffic studies while making the results immediately available."
• UT-Austin's advanced computing center and its technology analyze traffic flow in realtime by accessing the city's cameras and counting all vehicles and pedestrians on a given roadway.

• Austin's department of transportation partnered with Iota Foundation, a nonprofit organization, "to develop a more interoperable transportation ecosystem."
• This partnership promises an envisioned transportation structure, "where every transit system can interact with the same payment app and a single digital identity."

• The partnership between the city of Austin and ECHO gears towards the creation of housing units that allow partners, pets, and possessions.
• In line with this partnership, ECHO plans to add "200-300 short-term motel units that would substantially impact the community of Austinites living without shelter."

• The city of Austin's finance department has a dedicated online platform where it publishes RFPs; however, no price ranges are technically provided. A typical example is an RFP for financial planning and regulated reporting software.
• While most RFPs do not include price ranges, the RFP for miscellaneous streets slurry seal and fog seal IDIQ includes an initial contract amount that will not exceed $2 million, with the RFP having an estimated amount of $8 million.
• Also, some RFPs, like the RFP for transmission line foundation IDIQ with an estimated worth of $10 million, include estimated amounts only.

Questions

• How do you plan to promote small businesses through strategic partnerships in 2020?
• How do you plan to engage local merchant associations to ensure and consolidate on the ease of doing business in Austin?

Business Promotion Initiatives

• The Vaughan Chamber of Commerce (VCC) conducted a Business Mission to Israel this November 2019 to promote market opportunities in the city of Vaughan.
• Vaughan is home to a sizable Israeli/Jewish diaspora and has built community ties with the Israeli city of Ramla.
• The VCC is working with the Federation of Israel Chambers of Commerce to build a business-to-business connection with the City of Vaughan which includes small businesses.

• This 2019, the Vaughan Chamber of Commerce together with Newmarket Chamber of Commerce launched the York Region Business Coalition (YRBC).
• The Coalition is made up of 9 business organizations representing 5,000 businesses in several regions including Vaughan and NewMarket.
• The YRBC will lobby at Canada's three government levels to prioritize investment structure to help businesses including SMEs to succeed in the represented areas.

• The Vaughan Chamber of Commerce developed the Business Support Program together with vivaNext to help local businesses along Highway 7 West and Bathurst & Centre corridors.
• The initiative will help affected businesses (including SMEs) during a construction project and provide them with tools and business information.
• The Business Support Program also provided complimentary VCC annual membership to qualified companies to help them promote their businesses.

Local Merchant Associations

• The Vaughan Chamber of Commerce (VCC) was established to promote and advocate the interests of the business community in Vaughan, Canada.
• The VCC is a member-based, not-for-profit organization that acts as a catalyst and resource for the business community.

• The Vaughan Business Enterprise Centre is a resource center for small businesses in Vaughan.
• VBEC acts as a one-stop help and services hub where entrepreneurs can ask for training, hands-on assistance, and business information in the city.
• The Centre is under the broader City of Vaughan’s Economic and Cultural Development department.

• The Markham, Richmond Hill & Vaughan Chinese Business Association [MRVCBA] is a business organization that represents and serves the business community in the York region including Vaughan.
• The MRVCBA helps promote trade and investment primarily in the areas of Vaughan, Richmond Hill town, and Markham city.
• The Association also works to promote commercial interest and unity in the business community of its member areas.

Public-Private Partnership

• In 2017, York Region reported that the City of Vaughan was considering a public-private partnership to help fund the construction of its North Maple Regional Park (NMRP).
• In return for funding the park redevelopment, private investors may share of any profit arising from future NMRP operations.
• No further information on definite public-private partnerships has been disclosed by the City for the NMRP project.

• WT Partnership reported that the City of Vaughn considered a public-private partnership to fund its Streetlighting Replacement P3 project in 2018.
• The P3 project will oversee the replacement of 28,000 streetlights and 2,400 outdoor lamps throughout Vaughan City over a period of 18 years.
• However, WT reports that Vaughan decided not to proceed with the public-private partnership.

Request For Proposals

• The amounts for requests for proposals (RFPs) is not publicly viewable at the RFP.ca for the City of Vaughan.
•  Membership is required to view RFPs as well as bids and tenders.
• The Bids and Tenders website for the York region was undergoing site maintenance at the time of research.

Question

• Do you have plans to establish any public-private partnerships in the near future (~5 years) aside from the potential partnerships for the North Maple Regional Park Project?