Northwest Austin Edition | January 2026

Austin park growth slows following new law From the cover

How we got here

The context

The overview

Annual parkland payments State law hampered Austin’s ability to maintain past levels of parkland dedication.

Much of Austin lacks the parks access that’s a stated desire of residents and city planners. Less than 18.5 acres of parkland were available per 1,000 residents as of late 2025, 77% of the city’s per-resident goal. That gap equates to a need of roughly 5,700 acres, or almost 9 square miles. The parks department estimated about 70% of residents remain out of walking distance from public green spaces. However, city mapping shows many neighborhoods remain “parks decient” based on that metric, most notably in North Central and East Austin, and around the city’s fringes. Grantham said recent strides have still been made. More than 1,100 park acres have been acquired since 2020, with a focus on decient areas, resulting in almost 200,000 people city- wide seeing their parkland access increase. “We make our best eort, and we try to hit every council district,” he said. “We are actively trying to acquire land in areas that are not well- served by parks—areas where people currently, today, cannot walk to a park.”

Austin’s supply of parks and open spaces is often referenced as one of its most cherished amenities. But after years of population growth, it’s become more challenging to meet rising recreational needs. The city prioritizes all residents living within 10-minute walks from a park and oering at least 24 acres of parkland per 1,000 people. Portions of city bond packages have been used to expand parkland, and Austin’s also relied on a parkland dedication system requiring developers to either pay fees or contribute land. But future acquisition funding is uncertain, especially under a new state law that slashed dedication requirements. “Parks create community; parks are spaces for recreation, for physical health for mental health, for relief from urban life,” said Scott Grantham, Austin Parks and Recreation Department principal planner. “It’s going to be vital that we nd a way to continue to bring parks to the people.” Parkland acquisitions Austin’s dedication system has allowed for new parks and amenities since its inception in 1985.

Annual appropriations

Projected

FY 2022-23

$26.1M

FY 2023-24

$17.4M

FY 2024-25

$23.4M

FY 2025-26

$7.5M

FY 2026-27 $1.1M

City requirements on developers rose through the 2010s and early 2020s, when developers had to donate land or pay fees equivalent to 9.4 park acres per 1,000 residents. Limitations under House Bill 1526 went into eect in 2023. The bill targeted cities of 800,000 people or more, and lawmakers ref- erenced Austin in their statement of intent, citing rising dedication fees and housing costs as a threat to economic growth. This forced local ocials to approve new rules at a fraction of pre-2023 levels based on location—most signicantly downtown, where dedication values are more than 100 times smaller than under past policy. At the time, former council member Alison Alter said HB 1526 “gutted” the city’s system. “Its been huge. We were originally appropriating in the neighborhood of $20 million in fees through parkland dedication [annually], and now it has been reduced to about $2 million,” Grantham said.

Parks access Austin’s level of per-resident park service has declined.

1 Great Hills Neighborhood Park 2 Walnut Creek Greenbelt

City goal of parkland acres per 1K residents Actual parkland acres per 1K residents

MOPAC

SIERRA NEVADA LN.

0 15 20 25 30

183

PARK BEND DR.

SIERRA OAKS

JOLLYVILLE RD.

WALNUT CREEK

SOURCE: CITY OF AUSTINCOMMUNITY IMPACT

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