Amid a housing affordability crisis, the Austin City Council voted Thursday to allow the construction of more homes on single-family lots in a major bid to put more housing units on the market.They've also removed parking minimums, so new construction can be built without mandatory parking.
So many medium density places are in a bad equilibrium such that they aren't dense enough to be walkable but they have too many cars to be pleasant.
Walkability requires density - both of population and of neighborhood amenities - and what people mostly object to about density is cars.
To break free you need to add more people, and allow neighborhood retail amenities, without adding more cars.