Working From Home

Austin and Round Rock clock in among best U.S. cities for remote workers

Is there a better place for a remote worker to call home?

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Working remotely is increasingly part of the Austin lifestyle, and a new report cements Austin's status as one of the top places for remote workers, along with a local suburb.

Apartment search website RentCafe places Austin at No. 13 and ever-growing Round Rock at No. 11 among its Top 50 Cities for Remote Workers, released in November.

The study looked at 150 U.S. cities, comparing them across five main categories: leisure, affordability, comfort, rental demand, and remote work readiness. Scores were based on 19 metrics, from cost of living, availability of apartments with short-term leases, and rental demand to coworking spaces, percentage of remote workers, and internet speed.

"With remote work migration on the rise, we uncovered the most desirable cities to move to across the nation if you work remotely," the website says. It suggests that remote workers on the move "look toward the South and Southeast, where we identified several cities that offer the perfect balance between comfort, value, leisure and remote work-readiness."

At No. 11, Round Rock ranks best for:

Access to internet connection
Number of high-end units
Number of apartments with access to sports amenities

While No. 13 Austin's top rankings are:

Number of remote workers
Average download speed
Number of apartments with access to sports amenities

Two other Texas cities appear in the top 15. College Station (No. 9) makes the cut for remote workers due to its high availability of short-term rentals, large population of renters, and access to sports amenities. And the Houston suburb of Conroe (No. 15) offers a big share of new apartments, a high number of high-end units, and (like the others) access to sports amenities.

Lower on the list, but still in the top 50, are: Plano (No. 23), Lubbock (No. 27), Houston (No. 35), Amarillo (No. 36), San Antonio (No. 41), Dallas (No. 42), and Fort Worth (No. 46).

The top city for remote workers, according to RentCafe, is Greenville, South Carolina.

Hit the Road

Austin City Council passes resolution over MoPac expansion concerns

Photo courtesy of KVUE

The City Council has taken issue with some environmental concerns and planning that may be outdated.

The Central Texas Regional Mobility Authority (CTRMA) has been looking to make improvements on MoPac Expressway South from Cesar Chavez Street to Slaughter Lane to try to improve traffic. It is looking to add up to four express toll lanes.

But the Austin City Council recently passed a resolution over its concerns with the project.

“[The resolution] tells the city manager to work with the CTRMA on the MoPac South Project. When you see state money being spent on projects that affect the local community, we want to make sure we are holding the highest standard possible," Councilmember Paige Ellis said.

Some of the concerns listed in the resolution include that it's been more than 11 years since CTRMA held its original scoping meeting; that the Recommended Build Alternative has not changed substantially since 2015; and that fine particulate matter in the air in Travis County already exceeds healthy metrics; plus others.

Ellis said she has some environmental concerns.

"The environment is protected for species like the golden cheeked warbler and salamanders, so we want to make we are sure limiting impervious cover," Ellis said.

The CTRMA said its environmental study evaluates potential harms and mitigations to things like water quality and endangered species. The CTRMA added that it has "worked extensively with the city of Austin throughout the study."

Read the full story, including information on how to submit feedback, and watch the video at KVUE.com. CultureMap has added a paragraph to this excerpt listing some details from the City Council document.