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Public consumption of alcohol is now legal in all of East Austin, including several neighborhoods where it was previously illegal to do so.
Action taken by City Council Thursday updated city code to allow responsible public drinking in these neighborhoods:
- Central East Austin
- Chestnut
- Rosewood
- Riverside
- Montopolis
Yes, that means that it's legal to drink alcohol in most parts of the city.
The areas highlighted are the only spots where public consumption of alcohol is prohibited, but Council is amendeding city code to allow it in areas 2, 5 and 6.(City of Austin)
The law, enacted and updated throughout the 1990s, still prohibits public consumption in three portions of Austin: downtown, South Lamar Boulevard and The Drag near campus.
Council Member Natasha Harper-Madison, whose District 1 includes portions of East Austin where public consumption was outlawed, said there was no legitimate reason for excluding her district from drinking responsibly in public. Statistics compiled by city staff reveal a disproportionate amount of related citations were given to minority offenders.
The change in law was first proposed by Harper-Madison back in December. For a full history of the public consumption laws, see the city staff report outlining the approvals of each designated area where drinking was prohibited.
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Elon Musk joined Tesla's second quarter earnings call from the Giga Texas site in Southeast Travis County on Monday. (Bob Daemmrich)
The electric carmaker reported more than $1 billion in quarterly net income and the production of more than 200,000 vehicles for the first time despite challenges such as a global semiconductor shortage.
"It … seems that public sentiment towards electric vehicles is at an inflection point, and at this point, I think, almost everyone agrees electric vehicles are the only way forward," Musk said.
Despite rising consumer demand and adequate factory capacity, Tesla faces what Musk described as a "quite serious" global semiconductor shortage, which will determine the company's growth rate for the rest of the year.
With increased revenue and production, Tesla is investing in new factories, Chief Financial Officer Zachary Kirkhorn said. These include Giga Texas, the $1.1 billion manufacturing plant that broke ground last summer and is slated to open later this year.
The Giga Texas factory in Southeast Travis County has rapidly increased in size since ground broke last August. (Tesla)
Musk commended the construction team for "incredible progress," transforming what was basically a vacant site into "a mostly complete large factory a year later."
Giga Texas will produce the highly anticipated Cybertruck, along with other models, but Musk said scaling its production will be difficult, especially given the supply chain delays caused by the pandemic. "It's going to move as fast as the slowest of its up to 10,000 unique parts," he said.
In other news, Musk said Monday's earnings call would likely be his last regular appearance, only jumping on future quarterly calls when big announcements warrant it.
Tesla Solar recently made news when it announced plans to build the nation's most sustainable residential community in Southeast Austin earlier this month. The newly built homes will feature Tesla solar roof tiles and Powerwall battery storage as well as electric vehicle charging stations.
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