Crime statistics for Austin trended
downward in 2025,
with the city experiencing last year
the lowest number of murders this
decade.
We're gonna talk about the trends
both locally and nationally and
discuss why the sentiment that crime
is rising still persists.
And the city has released an updated
design plan for a revamped
sixth street.
What's it gonna look like and when
might that work even begin?
Stay with us and find out.
That is on today's episode.
The Austin Signal is a production
of KUT News, hosted by
Jerry Quijano.
Plus the first full week of January
means it's free week in Austin.
Some of the city's best musicians
putting on shows in venues across
the city.
We're gonna have a lay of the land
and let you know what our sister
station KUTX is cooking up.
That's coming up next right here on
Austin Signal.
Howdy out there, and thank you
very much for tuning in.
This is Austin Signal.
It is January 5th, the
first Monday of 2026.
We are thrilled that you're starting
things off the right way here
with listener-powered public radio.
This is KUT News.
Well, the holiday break is over for
most of us, but perhaps you noticed
that the roadways were still a bit
light today.
We'll savor that feeling while it
lasts. It's back to class
tomorrow for Austin ISD.
And many other area school districts
after the winter break.
UT Austin's first day of classes is
not until next Monday, so
things are still calm around the KUT
studios, for now,
that is.
And in case you were out of town and
missed it, Austin hit some heat
records over the holidays, and more
may be on the way this week.
Tomorrow's forecasted high is 84
degrees, which would tie the
all-time record for January 6th,
and we could be setting a new record
on Wednesday, too.
But there is an end
in sight to the latest stretch of
warmer than normal weather.
Our next cold front is due late
in the week, and that's gonna bring
us back to temperatures more typical
of January, which is historically
our coldest month here in
Austin. We've got a lot more for
you today, so let's get on
with the show.
Crime in Austin trended downward
last year.
The city saw the lowest number of
murders since 2020, and
overall violent crime dropped as
well. Here with us to talk more
about the numbers is KUT's
government accountability reporter,
Andrew Weber.
Andrew, good to talk with you.
Good to talk to you too, Jerry.
So Austin experienced a decrease
in the number of homicides last
year, but I was hoping you can give
us some context on that data.
What were the numbers like in
previous years?
Yeah, the last five years or
so, Austin has been seeing a lot of
homicides, increases in homicides.
I should say this started back in
2020.
Austin saw its highest number,
I believe, was 59 that year,
which was the highest since APD
began collecting this data
back in the sixties.
And then the next year, the city saw
nearly 90 homicides
and since then, since
that 2021 record,
the numbers have dropped year over
year. Um, and
you know, Austin's also seen drops
in, in different sort of kinds
of crimes. A lot of aggravated
assaults, uh, those have largely
dropped year over year, or at
least middled out, um, and
sexual assaults as well.
Uh, they've been down through and
within the last year, 2025
to 2024, both of those
categories of violent and
nonviolent crime, trended
downward.
Okay, so when we're looking at these
numbers here in Austin compared to
other big cities across the nation,
what are we seeing?
Yeah, this has been part of a
national trend, right?
Like during the pandemic era,
there was a huge spike in crime
across the country.
And since then, you know,
at that time, everybody kind of
thought, okay, is this the new
normal? But since then it's
slowly been trending downward.
And to get some context about
all of this, I talked with Jeff
Asher. He's an analyst,
a crime analyst out of New Orleans.
He's a national expert on crime
and crime rates.
He has this big old dashboard online
that he updates with.
With sort of, he calls it the real
time crime index of any
major city.
And he had an analysis out right
before Christmas that caught my eye
that found in the U.S.
There was a 30% year
over year drop in homicides,
which he said was a record.
And also that over
the last three years, crime has gone
down nationally.
But he said to me that Austin's
drop in crime isn't as
drastic. As what we're seeing
across the country, but it's
still something that is noteworthy.
Necessarily seen the huge
drops in Austin this year that
you've seen elsewhere.
There have been less significant
declines sort of across the board
in Austin, this year relative
to last year, but certainly relative
to 2023 and the
early part of the pandemic you've
seen pretty dramatic drops in
Austin.
Austin's crime rate has been a topic
on a lot of people's minds over
the last few years It feels like
kind of a sentiment that runs
nationwide We've had discussions
locally here about police staffing
and if there's a sense that
crime is rising But the numbers
suggest that that's not actually the
case. Can you talk a little bit
about that? Why does that sense
persist?
Yeah, I think this is something that
really struck me when Kirk Watson
took over as mayor.
He was very insistent that he wanted
to obviously address crime, but
also the perception of it, the
feeling that people have that crime
is on the rise.
And you know, obviously that's
important. It's important for people
to feel safe in the city in which
they live.
And I think these numbers
don't necessarily suggest that
Austin is an unsafe city.
I think if you look, you know,
there's this sort of magnification
on social media on certain
corners of the internet.
I think I'm looking at you are
Austin, I'm looking at next door.
I'm looking at x.com
formerly Twitter.
I think I think this perception
that Austin is unsafe is highlighted
by certain cases, assaults
downtown, you know, murders,
obviously, and it
seems like kind of a thunderdome,
if I'm being honest.
So I asked Jeff Asher about this.
Obviously, he's a national analyst,
he has a whole whole bunch of
context.
About crime writ large
in the U.S.
And he's also a UT grad.
So I asked him whether he considers
Austin a safe city.
Certainly DKR can be like a
Thunderdome at times, but for
the most part, Austin has a
relatively low murder rate,
it has a relatively low violent
crime rate.
I think about breakfast
tacos a lot more than I do when I
think crime when I think about
Austin.
All right, that was Jeff Asher, a
national expert on crime and crime
rates, and we have been speaking
with Andrew Weber.
He is KUT's government
accountability reporter.
Andrew, thanks for your time.
Appreciate you, Jerry.
Well the new year always brings with
it some fresh changes and
some modifications could be on the
way to 6th Street here in Austin.
KUT City Hall reporter Luz Moreno
Lozano is joining us now with more.
Howdy Luz! Happy New Year!
Happy New Year.
Hi Jerry.
Happy New year.
I'm glad you're here with us to give
us a little bit of what's going on.
So first off, why does the city
want to renovate 6th Street in the
first place?
Yeah, this has been, you
know, kind of in the works for a
couple of years. We've had a lot of
issues down on that street.
You know, it's filled with bars and
restaurants and it's nightlife and
the city is trying to not only
improve safety, but kind of make
it a more welcoming place that
would reach a broad range of
ages, not just people going downtown
to party.
Maybe, yeah, maybe like 20,
21-year-olds, you know, make it
applicable to a wider swath
of Austin. Exactly.
And as you said, we have already
gone through some changes on
6th Street.
What has been done there so far?
Yeah. So one of the big things that
they started with was those, um,
it was like these metal gates that
they put just along the road and
that was just to keep people.
Like a barricade, right?
Yes, it was just to keep people on
the road and over the last year
We've seen them change these gates
to water-filled barricades those
like orange and white ones It kind
of looked like it was a construction
zone and then a little confusing
Yeah, and then they put those
concrete up ones that are up now So
we've seen a lot of changes down
there in terms of like what those
barricade look like just to Keep
people on those sidewalks
Yeah, if you have spent any time
down there, you would know exactly
what loose is talking about So
we had a the city recently
released an updated design plan
I definitely want to ask you about
the plan But first how long did
it take them to come up with this
plan that they're releasing?
So they did some
early preliminary looks,
I think for the better part of
like the summer to now,
essentially. They did some community
feedback, they'd been talking with
business owners and local
stakeholders about what that road
would look like.
So yeah, so they spent a good amount
of time on it.
And yeah, and they made sure that
they were talking, especially with
those business owners.
I did a story early last year
about what some of those concerns
were about access to businesses and.
Crowding in front of businesses that
were kind of blocking entrances, and
so all of that was part of the
design that they released.
Okay, yeah, as Luce mentioned,
you can find that story that she
reported on in 2025 at
KUT.org.
So let's talk about this updated
plan that was released.
What is in it and what's
not in it?
Yeah, one of the big things is
that, so currently Sixth Street, if
you drive down that road during the
normal time of day, it's four
lanes going west.
This new design would take
those four lanes down to two.
We would use that extra
space or those lanes to expand the
sidewalk so that people have more
access, pedestrians.
And it would also include a
dedicated access lane.
So for anyone who is driving
downtown in the middle of the day,
some of the-
If you spent one hour or one
10 minute drive driving
west down 6th street,
inevitably you're going to run into
a lane that's being blocked by some
big old truck unloading beer,
unloading whatever.
Yes, yes, or bands, you know,
if they're setting up, yeah, so this
would be a dedicated access lane for
those commercial trucks.
It would also be a good access lane
for rideshare drop-offs.
That's good.
So yeah, so all of this would be
included as part of it.
One of the things it does not
include is bike lanes.
What we heard from community
feedback in the report that I was
looking at this morning, everyone
seemed to be like, when can we get
bike lanes down on 6th Street?
This plan does not included that.
I think there was a lot of concern
about like, are we adding additional
protected lanes?
And is that safer?
Is that not safer?
So this plan doesn't include it, but
the city did talk about how they
can, um, add bike lanes in
other nearby streets to kind of
improve connectivity downtown.
Which, you know, if you do some
biking downtown, you know that there
are a few streets that you can get
on, so it makes sense that people
would desire a little bit more.
But an understanding that there is a
little bit of infrastructure there
already. Yeah.
So, okay, we've got this updated
plan.
Do we expect work to start soon?
Probably not until at least
2027.
So one of the big things as part of
this redesign is that they have to
get it funded.
And we could see that as part of a
potential bond package that
could go before voters in November.
We won't know that until later
in the year. I think we'll get a
preliminary look actually later this
week.
So finding the money to fund it is
the next big thing.
If it is approved by voters and it
gets on the bond package, we could
start to see construction start in
2027.
And this is just a certain stretch
of it, I should mention that.
So this is from I-35 to Congress
Avenue. So the rest of 6th Street
will look the same, but this
particular redesign would include
what we call dirty 6th street.
Okay, well you can find more about
this story. Take a look at some of
the diagrams yourself.
That is over at KUT.org.
And that story was written by Luz
Moreno Lozano.
She is KUT City Hall reporter.
Luz, thank you for being with us
here on Austin Signal.
Thanks, Jerry.
And thank you out there for tuning
in.
This is KUT News 90.5.
We're on the KUT app.
And we have more about this show
at kut.org
slash Signal.
And it is the first full
week of January.
That means it's free week in Austin.
Lots of live music going on this
weekend.
Come find out what you can't miss.
That's coming up after this break
right here on Austin Signal.
This is Austin Signal.
Thank you for spending part of your
Monday here with us.
It's the first full week of 2026.
And in case you didn't know, that
means here in Austin that it's
free week, which means there's gonna
be a bunch of free shows and music
around town. A great way to start
the new year.
And here to talk with us about
free week and the shows on her radar
is your morning drive time host over
at KUTX, Taylor Wallace.
Taylor, thanks for being with us on
Austin Signal!
Thank you.
Thank you for having me, hello!
So let's just say somebody recently
moved to Austin, they're tuning in
to KUT to connect with the
community around them.
This is the first time they're
hearing about Free Week.
Tell us about, you know, I'm
assuming that everything's free, but
what are some of the expectations?
What goes into the Free Week?
So free week is a wonderful time
to support the venues that provide
the stages for our artists.
January is historically a very down
month for a lot of bars and things.
People have just spent money.
They have New Year's resolutions
that don't align with going out and
everything. So this is a way
to encourage people to go out
and to, you know,
spend some money at the venues
because if the stages go away,
the musicians have to find somewhere
else to play.
So it's
a And, uh, and since everything's
free, it's a wonderful way.
I say there's a trifecta of
wonderful ways to do free week.
It's a great way to see an
artist you love who maybe you
haven't seen in a while.
It's a great opportunity to see
a band you haven't seen yet, but
perhaps have been hearing on your
favorite local radio station.
Wink, wink.
And, um, and just a way to like
bounce around like, Oh, I like this
band, but oh, that's kind of, maybe
it's a little crowded here or you
just want to change the scenery.
And so you bounce across the street
or next door and you're like, oh my
gosh, I have no idea who these
people are.
Now I'm their next newest fan and
I'm going to go to their next show.
And just because the shows are
free, there is still merch.
So there are ways to directly
support the artists as well.
And, um, if you're wanting to
get, if your...
I don't know if I can do two full
days of all of this free week
and you're trying to get like one
show, get a mosaic of Austin
Sound.
We have our own free week show.
Oh, really? Okay, who's going to be
on the bill for the KUTX show?
So the KUTX free week show is this
Friday. It stubs indoors.
We're kicking off the night at eight
o'clock with myself.
I'll be doing a vinyl DJ set.
Nice, okay, very cool from your
own personal collection my own
personal collections
And then we'll have Paige Plaisance,
who is like a country artist
originally from Louisiana.
Nothing about my
mama's old piano
Nothing bad
And there is definitely like
some of her songs swing more
country country and then some of
them get a little bayou, get a
Little Swampy Country, yeah!
So she's gonna kick off the proper
sets and then we'll have R&B
artist Sweet Lim, fantastic,
we've been playing him a lot on
KU-TX, we've played all these bands
on KUTX.
I just wanna be happy
I just wanna make all
my dreams come true
I just wanna be present sometimes
I just wanna be a better
man too
Then we kick it into the rock
drive with this punk garage band
called Cormé.
That's C-O-R-M-A-E if
you're wondering.
We get a job and a rock and roll!
And then we rounded all night out
the night with some like real good
funk-infused what I
like to call little dance punk
from Blaspa who put out one
of my favorite albums of the year
and put out specifically my favorite
Austin album of 2025.
Yeah
So that is our whole night, it's a
little bit of everything and
together, threaded together, it
sounds absolutely fantastic.
And that's Friday.
And then if you're also looking to
go out on Saturday, we've got
a couple of good suggestions of some
different sounds you wanna go out
exploring.
Yeah, a little taste of everything because it
sounds like the KUTX show is pretty
eclectic already, but you got a
little extra mix for us
Indeed. And so on Saturday at
chess club, which if you haven't
been to chess club yet, it used to
be plush and it's
a small venue.
So you want to get there early to
make sure you get a spot, but the
energy there is fantastic.
And this experimental rap
group called Ha Ha Laughing
is going to be playing and
they are to be heard better
to be than to just be described.
Take my money, take my money Take
my, take, take Take my Money,
take Take my
I think if you really want to
surprise yourself with one of the
most off the wall sounds
that you're going to find, it's
going to be at 1130 at chess club
on Saturday.
And then kind of bringing it back to
the KU TX fold and kind of more
of the, uh, maybe one
of the more core sounds of the indie
music scene.
Good looks who have been a KU-TX
artist of the month and definitely,
um, Austin music darlings
for the last few years.
They haven't played a show.
It's been a hot minute, so I'm
excited to go.
Like I said in step two, revisit
an artist I haven't gotten to see
live in a while.
And they'll be playing Mohawk
Outdoor on Saturday.
Skyline, take me
back
Say goodbye, it's nice
to be
And what's really cool is Bright
Light Social Hour is going to be
rounding out the night.
You don't normally get a free Bright
Light social hour show.
Bange your locks until the sun comes
up
Yeah, and Saturday looks like it's
gonna be a really nice, really the
whole weekend is shaping out to be
perfect weather for an outdoor
show just like that.
Okay, so we've got a great mix of
what you can expect to see and hear
out at Free Week.
It's kind of reminded me of Art
Tour, the art studio tour around
Austin. It's a way to get a little
bit of a taste here and there of
everything you don't have to commit
to one big experience,
but you can dip your toe in.
And you mentioned a great way,
a couple of great ways to support
local artists.
Going out to see them buying some
merch.
It's free week this weekend,
but all January long we are
celebrating Love Austin Music Month.
For our listeners who might not be
familiar, what is Love Austin music
month?
Love Austin Music Month basically
is just a reminder and kind of
an encouragement to connect with
Austin Music, to stay connected with
Austin music.
It's very easy to do that if you
listen to KUTX and party with us all
the time. But it's also a
reminder to maybe go
reconnect with some live music,
to go listen to that album.
Well, I hear that song, but what
does the whole album look like?
And it's really just a way
to be really connected and
whether you do it all the time
and Love Austin Music Month is just
your life anyway, or sometimes
we need some reminders.
We take some things for granted
sometimes. So I think it's a good
opportunity to really
connect. And then with at KUTX,
we already play a lot of Austin
music. Every song of the day this
month is gonna be from an Austin
artist.
Our My KUTx and all of our specialty
programming will be reflecting Love
Austin music month.
So at the very least, you tune
into 98.9 and boom, there you go.
You're doing Love Austin, Music
Month.
That's right and you can find more
about Love Austin Music Month and
free week over at KUTX.org.
That is Taylor Wallace, your morning
drive time host over at our sister
station KUTx.
Taylor, thank you for joining us on
Austin Signal.
Always a pleasure.
A big thank you to Taylor Wallace
for those recommendations and
congrats to Taylor and KUT
and KUTX's Mark Fort.
They're both nominated for best
radio personality in the 44th
annual Austin Music Awards.
Also nominated for Best Live
Sound Engineer is our guy Jake
Perlman.
Go cast your ballots for all of them
and best station of course, KUTx989,
that is at vote.austincronicle.com.
And that's it for today's show.
Thank you to Luz Moreno Lozano
and Andrew Weber for
stopping by.
Kristen Cabrera is our managing
producer.
Rayna Sevilla is our technical
director.
And I'm your host, Jerry Quijano.
We are with you every weekday
afternoon at one o'clock.
You can subscribe wherever you get
your podcasts.
And we have more at kut.org
slash signal.
We'll be back tomorrow.
Talk to you then.