About this site
Mars Austin is a record of one American city in the middle of a correction, kept section by section and written from named sources.
The site is organised around five sections. The Boom, and the Bill That Came After It holds the housing, office and employment record from the 2020–22 arrivals to the reversal that followed. Roads, Rail, and What the Water Level Shows covers the I-35 rebuild, Project Connect and the Highland Lakes through the drought. The Pit Moved follows the trade out of the city and back to the older houses. The Room Count and the Festival Count sets the festivals that grew against the rooms that closed. Older Bones is what was already standing.
Every figure on the site carries the source it came from and, where the number will move, the month it was taken. Every piece names places, buildings, businesses and people that can be looked up. The archive holds the complete list of pieces.
The sections
Photographs are credited beneath each figure. Where a photograph of a named place could not be had, the piece runs without one rather than substituting something generic.