Participatory desk
Send a tip
Public record is usually a few weeks behind the fence that just went up on your corner. This is a participatory paper, and that's the part you're better at than any dataset: you see the change first. If you've noticed something shifting near you, tell us. We check anything we use against the public record ourselves before it goes anywhere, and a tip is never attributed to you by name — not in an edition, not anywhere else on this site.
What we're looking for
- Construction and permits — a fence, a dumpster, a crew on-site before any sign explains why.
- New openings — a business, restaurant, or storefront that's open, or clearly about to be.
- Changes to a block or corner — something torn down, something new going up, a use that visibly changed.
What we don't take
- A dispute with a neighbor. We can't look into it or referee it, and repeating one side of it would only make things worse.
- Anything about a specific person — a neighbor, a tenant, a landlord, anyone at all. This paper never publishes resident names. A tip naming someone doesn't change that; it just gets set aside.
How we handle what you send
A real person reads every tip — nothing publishes automatically. Before anything from a tip shows up in an edition, we check it against the public record ourselves. We never publish who sent a tip, and sending one doesn't guarantee we'll use it.
Send a tip
After you submit
On-screen confirmation:
Thanks — we've got it. [If email provided: We'll reach out to [email] if we have a follow-up question; otherwise, no news is just no news.] If it holds up, it might turn up in a future Zilker's Ramble — without your name anywhere near it.
An independent newsletter by EZOSHosting, Austin, TX. Not affiliated with, endorsed by, or operated by the City of Austin or Travis County. Official information: austintexas.gov.