Our Goals
FREE TO JOIN
No membership dues ever. We want to be as open as possible and part of that is reducing barriers to membership and to voting.
INCLUSIVE AND TRANSPARENT
Everyone in the neighborhood can join and be a part of the community. Renters, property owners, business owners, and homeowners can join. Everyone is welcome since we are all a part of the community. We are the only neighborhood group in Hyde Park that posts online our voting results, how we communicate voting results to the city council, posts our voter rolls online for independent verification, and allows everyone in Hyde Park to participate at any time.
ONLINE VOTING
Voting on local issues should be easy and everyone should be able to participate. We use a secure online voting system. Anyone in the neighborhood can sign up to vote at any time. We understand that people have busy lives and cant attend all meetings to vote on the issues that they care about. Allowing everyone to vote online allows more people to participate in their community and to better represent the views of everyone in Hyde Park.
FRIENDLY
We have social hours instead of formal meetings. One of our main goals is to create a place where people can get to know their neighbors in person. We help neighbors that need help navigating permitting and variance requests at the city and help the community in any way that we can.
About Us
Friends of Hyde Park is a true neighborhood association, one whose primary goal is to bring neighbors together. We understand that even though we live together we might approach situations from a different perspective and we value all the perspectives that make Hyde Park the best neighborhood in Austin to live. We strive to use all the tools available to enable all our neighbors to have a voice and to particpate in ways that work for them.
Kids are welcome.
-
Meetups
We meet at local restaurants or businesses to, eat, drink, hang out, and show our support for locals businesses. It also allows neighbors to get to know each other in an informal settings.
Check out the "Events" section at the top of the page for the next events or sign up on our google group by going to the "Stay Up To Date" link at the top to get announcements when there's a social hour. -
Monthly Meetings
Periodically, we also have meetings where we get together and discussion the neighborhood or specific topics. Check out the "Events" section at the top of the page to verify location and time. However, most of our neighborhood discussion will be on our forums (https://forum.friendsofhydepark.com/).
Board Members
Pete Gilcrease
Teresa Griffin
Tommy Ates
Matt Desloge
Tania Oropeza
Scott Snyder
Latest news
Friends of Hyde Park Joins Rethink35 Suing TxDOT!
Friends of Hyde Park is joining Rethink35 as a co-plaintiff in the upcoming lawsuit against I-35 and TxDOT. Join Rethink35 THIS Monday 1/29, 9am outside TxDOT’s HQ on 11th St for the public announcement of Rethink35’s I-35 lawsuit. Help Rethink35 get a big crowd for this important event! https://actionnetwork.org/events/lawsuit-press-conference/ The lawsuit will be VERY expensive.[…]
Friends of Hyde Park Endorses Zo Qadri for Austin City Council District 9
Central Austin Deserves a Pro-Housing Voice at City Hall Austin’s housing crisis demands swift and drastic action. And tackling it going forward won’t be easy. The city is fighting an uphill battle against powerful interests who find the status quo convenient and are terrified of opening up more of the city to people who might[…]
Friends of Hyde Park Endorses Celia Israel for Mayor
Austin Needs a Mayor Who Understands The Urgency of Our Housing CrisisAustin is at a pivotal moment in its history. Amidst a nationwide housing crisis, the city is making the incomprehensible decision to double down on its history of exclusionary zoning. Instead of embracing the fact that reversing our city-imposed development bottleneck and greenlighting the[…]
Friends of Hyde Park Endorsements For the May 1, 2021 election
Friends of Hyde Park Endorsements For the May 1, 2021 election.
Friends of Hyde Park Opposes Baker Center Historic Designation Rezoning
Historic Commission Meeting: November 16, 2020 Planning Commission Meeting: November 24, 2020 Austin City Council Meeting: December 10, 2020 Case Number: C14H-2020-0087 Project Location: 3908 Avenue B Historic Commission, Planning Commission, and City Council, Friends of Hyde Park strongly opposes the rezoning of the Baker Center to include historic zoning (-H). This rezoning will remove[…]
Friends of Hyde Park Supports Transforming The Hancock Golf Course Into A Park
Friends of Hyde Park members overwhelmingly support transforming the Hancock Golf Course into a public park and green space. The membership of Friends of Hyde Park took a vote, and out of the 88 members that voted, 91% of those members supported this change. The Hancock Golf Course is 45 acres of green space next[…]
Friends of Hyde Park November 2020 Voter Guide
Friends of Hyde Park Recommendations: Texas U.S. Representative District 10: Mike SiegelTexas U.S. Representative District 25: Julie OliverTravis County Attorney: Delia GarzaTravis County District Attorney, 53rd District: Jose Garza For Proposition A – Project Connect – Light Rail System If Austin is going to combat climate change and traffic problems, Prop A is a must[…]
Friends of Hyde Park Files Amicus Brief in LDC Lawsuit
Friends of Hyde Park filed an amicus brief in support of the City of Austin. “Friends of Hyde Park urges reversal of the trial court judgment and supports adoption of the Land Development Code (LDC) at issue here. We believe that Austinites are entitled to a process in which democratically elected representatives determine the general[…]
Voter Guide – Anyone Can Vote By Mail For July 14 Runoff – Deadline July 2
Friends of Hyde Park Recommendations:U.S. Senate: Royce WestU.S. House District 10: Mike Siegel (Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren endorsed)Railroad Commissioner: Chrysta CastañedaCounty Attorney: Delia GarzaTravis County District Attorney: Jose Garza (Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren endorsed) “The Texas Supreme Court makes it clear: any Texas voter can request a mail-in ballot to avoid risk of injury” –[…]
Petitions to Fire Police Chief Manley And Help End Police Violence in Austin
The Friends of Hyde Park board voted to sign onto the following letter with the Austin Justice Coalition, Just Liberty, and many other Austin groups calling on the Austin City Council and the Austin City Manager to fire the Austin Police Chief, Brian Manley, and to institute other major police reforms to end police violence in Austin.[…]
Friends of Hyde Park Recommendations For Healthy Streets
Friends of Hyde Park supports and recommends designating the following streets as Healthy Streets in Hyde Park. Healthy Streets (previously referred to as “Slow Streets”) will turn selected streets into pedestrian/bicycle-priority streets while allowing local traffic to enable safe exercise during, and possibly after, the COVID-19 pandemic. The short and long term benefits could be[…]
Friends of Hyde Park Land Development Code Draft 2 Statement
Hyde Park residents want bolder, more progressive changes to be made to our neighborhood. In a single month, Friends of Hyde Park collected a physical petition that received signatures from over 400 North Hyde Park residents to show the overwhelming support for the new land development code applying to Hyde Park. However, Draft 2 makes[…]
Friends of Hyde Park Recommendations – 46th-47th & Bennett-Middle Fiskville Bikeway
Friends of Hyde Park supports a safe, family friendly, All Ages and Abilities Bikeway Network. We believe that local mobility projects like the two projects for the biking network on 46th-47th and Bennett-Middle Fiskville in North Hyde Park are a critical part of developing this network. However, we don’t believe these goals are achieved by[…]
Friends of Hyde Park Opposes A New Land Development Code That Keeps NCCDs
Creating a new land development code happens only once every 20 to 30 years in Austin. This is our one opportunity in some of our lifetimes to make the changes that we need to be successful as a growing city. We will hopefully not look back 30 years from now and see that the new[…]
What Are Neighborhood Conservation Combining Districts (NCCDs)?
What Are Neighborhood Conservation Combining Districts (NCCDs)? Neighborhood Conservation Combining Districts (NCCDs) are zoning overlays that override base zoning districts, meaning that any zoning regulation specified in an NCCD overrides the city land development code. This establishes a complicated opt-in/opt-out basis for zoning regulations, sometimes on a property by property basis. NCCDs are almost exclusively[…]
Friends of Hyde Park Statement on Inadequate Austin State Hospital Plan
While Friends of Hyde Park supports and acknowledges that the Austin State Hospital is in desperate need of renovations and repair, the recently released $283 million master plan for a redesign of the 95 acre campus is inadequate. The redesign has been a signature achievement that Texas State Senator Kirk Watson’s (D-Austin) has been working[…]
Hyde Park Overwhelmingly Opposed Prop J – It’s Time to End NCCDs
Hyde Park residents overwhelmingly voted to oppose Proposition J in the November 2018 election with about 63% of Hyde Park residents voting against it. Prop J was devised as a way to prevent a new land development code in Austin by requiring voter approval for any “comprehensive revision” of a land development code. This[…]
Voting Recommendations and Voter Guide
Voting Recommendations: TX Senate: Beto O’Rourke U.S. House of Representatives: Julie Oliver (South of 45th St) Austin Mayor: Austin Mayor Steve Adler Austin City Council District 9: Danielle Skidmore Proposition A to I: For Proposition J: Against Proposition K: Against Friends of Hyde Park’s voting recommendations and guide only include races and propositions[…]
Friends of Hyde Park Endorses Danielle Skidmore For Austin City Council District 9
The Friends of Hyde Park board, representing the largest neighborhood association serving Hyde Park, voted to endorse Danielle Skidmore for Austin City Council in Austin’s upcoming November 2018 election against Kathie Tovo. Danielle Skidmore is an LGBTQIA+ advocate. She serves on the City of Austin LGBTQ Quality of Life Advisory Commission. Danielle would be the[…]
A Tale of Two Neighborhoods – North Hyde Park and South Hyde Park
Most people don’t realize that the Hyde Park area is split into what’s essentially two completely different and distinct neighborhoods. The original Hyde Park neighborhood is located south of 45th St and is simply referred to as Hyde Park (234 acres) or sometimes South Hyde Park. The neighborhood that’s north of 45th St is referred[…]
Friends of Hyde Park Endorses Steve Adler for Mayor
The Friends of Hyde Park board, representing the largest neighborhood association serving Hyde Park, voted to endorse Mayor Steve Adler for Mayor in Austin’s upcoming November 2018 election. Friends of Hyde Park appreciates Mayor Adler’s continued support for the CodeNEXT process and his desire to see more housing available throughout Austin in order to address[…]
Friends of Hyde Park’s Updated Statement On Baker Center Rezoning
Planning Commission Meeting: March 13 Case Number: C14-01-0046.02 Project Location: 3908 Avenue B Planning Commission, Friends of Hyde Park is concerned that Alamo may have no intention of ever building any housing on the property, which is a requirement for them in order to qualify for the purchase of the property from AISD. We are[…]
Friends of Hyde Park Requests Planning Commission Change Baker Center Rezoning
Planning Commission, Friends of Hyde Park requests that the rezoning for the property located at 3908 Avenue B as CS-HD-NCCD-NP be denied. Instead, we request the zoning of the property be approved as CS-HD-NP with the same requested entitlements or that this rezoning case be delayed until after the adoption of CodeNEXT. The only difference[…]
Friends of Hyde Park CodeNEXT Draft 3 Response and Recommendations
CodeNEXT Draft 3 incorporates some minor improvements over Draft 1, Draft 2, and our current land development code. However, the latest draft still falls far short of the changes that are needed in order to address affordability, transportation, and social equity in a meaningful way. Draft 3 will continue to push new development into gentrifying[…]
If You Thought Hyde Park Had a Lot Of Missing Middle Housing, You’d Be Wrong
Most people think that Hyde Park is full of what’s called missing middle housing or middle income housing. This may have been true at one time, but that’s no longer the case. According to information obtained from the Travis County Central Appraisal District there are only 9 triplexes and 7 fourplexes that remain in Hyde[…]
When It Comes to “Calcutta,” Words Matter
When It Comes to “Calcutta,” Words Matter Comments expressed in KUT’s article “A Word About Your Responses To Our CodeNEXT Language Story” have no place in our civic discussion, especially when the specter of Jim Crow still lives on in Austin’s land development code. Friends of Hyde Park (FOHP), the largest neighborhood association in Hyde Park[…]
Austin’s ADU Ordinance May Be Illegal (Garage Apts, Granny Flats, Tiny Homes)
In November of 2015 the Austin City Council voted to approve a city wide change to allow ADUs (accessory dwellings units – also known as garage apartments, granny flats, tiny homes, or secondary homes) on all SF-3 zoned lots as small as 5,750 sqft in every neighborhood in Austin and to reduce burdensome parking requirements that can prevent ADUs[…]
Is Hyde Park “Exclusively for White People” Again?
Is Hyde Park “Exclusively for White People” Again? Austin City Council and CodeNEXT Staff Must Answer Questions In CodeNEXT, Neighborhood Conservation Combining Districts (NCCDs) creating de-facto zoning barriers to class and race is not a zoning code. It’s a betrayal of Austin values. Friends of Hyde Park, the largest neighborhood association in Hyde Park, has unanswered[…]
A Successful Bike to Work Day!
Thank you to all of the Friends of Hyde Park volunteers and to everyone that participated in Bike to Work Day today in Hyde Park. And a special thank you to Quack’s for providing the refreshments!
Friends of Hyde Park Opposes Current CodeNEXT Draft
In one of the largest stakeholder processes in Hyde Park’s history, Hyde Park residents voted overwhelmingly to support a new land development code to replace the existing land development code in Hyde Park as part of the CodeNEXT process. The neighborhood association Friends of Hyde Park held the vote, allowing anyone that lives in the[…]