Author Archives: Yoojin Cho

Doing 3,000-piece puzzles. Going for a run. Watching Netflix. And repeat.

In March, Austin-Travis County’s Stay Home, Work Safe orders forced public pools, movie theaters and shops to shut their doors in an effort to slow the spread of the new coronavirus. Families had to find what they could do at home to stay entertained.

After a few months, however, many felt they needed a new option.

Sabrina Anderson who lives in north Austin said, “We’ve always wanted a pool, and the pandemic did help seal the deal.”

The Anderson family recently started the permitting process to build a pool in their yard.

They’re on track to become one of more than a thousand families in Austin who applied for and received permits from the City of Austin this year to add pools to their property, making the pool industry a booming industry even during the pandemic.

Initial Drop in Business

Pool builders, along with restaurant and bar owners and retailers, suffered significant decreases in business when the local Stay Home orders went into effect.

Shortly after the orders, Austin became a ghost town. 

The once bustling 6^th Street and Red River Street became silent. Foot traffic on Congress Avenue dropped to almost non-existent, going from on average 50,000 a day to 2,300, according to the Downtown Austin Alliance.

Construction workers also had to pack up and go home. City and county officials’ guidance for the construction industry, issued March 24, said only those building affordable housing or housing for the homeless could continue.

Everyone else working on single-family homes, apartments and pools had to stop.

“It’s scary, right?” said Scott Turner, homebuilder in Austin. “Because anytime an entire industry slams to a halt, which is extraordinarily rare thankfully, that’s going to have a big impact.” 

“We were very stressed out,” said Guillermo Carrillo, owner of LECASA Homes and Renovations. He explained, many contractors live paycheck to paycheck.  

The Austin Board of Realtors also expressed frustration and urged Austin and Travis County to reconsider their orders.

The realtors group said, “Construction sites are a unique workplace with their own levels of social distancing built in as many workers are isolated completely or separated by large distances.” 

“We were very stressed out.”

-Guillermo Carrillo, LECASA Homes and renovations

Impact on the construction industry 

The City of Austin’s construction permits data shows a dramatic impact the Stay Home orders had on the number of residential permit applications filed.  

In March 2019, the city received 2,771 permit applications for “New,” “Addition and Remodel” or “Upgrade” projects. In March 2020, the city received 1,848 for those types of projects. 

When the data is narrowed to only show “New,” “Addition and Remodel” and “Upgrade” projects that contain the word “pool” in the description, the numbers followed a similar trend – a significant dip in March. 

That month, the City of Austin issued 74 construction permits for pools, about one third of how many the city issued in 2019.  

“It’s never been that permit levels [go up and up] for years and years and then all of a sudden it dips,” said Turner. “You can actually see the moment that they said everybody stop work.”

Pool Permits Issued in 2019 and 2020 by Month

Dramatic comeback

Pool building in Austin remained slow through April, but the data shows a fast and furious comeback beginning in May.

Austin and Travis County updated their guidelines for the construction industry at the beginning of April, saying they will “no longer prohibit commercial or residential construction projects.” 

By May, the number of permits issued for new pools rose to 180. In June, the city issued 292 pool permits, more than double how many it issued in June 2019. 

Pool Permits in 2019 and 2020

By October 31, Austin received applications for and approved 1,398 pool permits. In all of 2019, the city issued 1,321 pool permits.  

Builders said just like the Anderson family, people who’ve been thinking about adding a pool to their yard are deciding now is the perfect time.

Turner said, “You can’t go out and recreate in your neighborhood the way you used to. We build a lot of houses near Zilker Park, but people aren’t going out as much, so the pool is even more attractive.” 

Redefining luxury

Up until the pandemic, Turner said putting in pools was rare. 

He said, “You’re not expecting pools everywhere unless you are in a luxury price range. In neighborhoods where homes sell for a million dollars, for example, those buyers can probably afford to put in a $50,000 pool if they want to, both before and after construction.” 

ZIP Codes with the Highest Number of Pool Permits

Now, he said, it’s become more of a standard, especially for new homes.

When so many homes in Austin have added pools, buyers will expect that to be the new norm, Turner said.  

An analysis of Austin’s pool permits data from 2020 showed ZIP Codes 78704, 78739, 78703, 78757 and 78731 had the highest numbers of homeowners adding pools to their properties. 

ZIP Code	Median Home Sale Price, October 2020
78704	$770,150
78739	$610,000
78703	$976,000
78757	$646,500
78731	$958,887
City of Austin	$441,250

In October, homes in those ZIP codes sold for hundreds of thousands of dollars more than the City of Austin’s median home sale price. In 78703, the median home sale price was more than double the city’s median home sale figure. 

“We feel like doing a small pool as a standard is something that is attractive in the marketplace and makes our product more competitive,” Turner said. 

He added, “I’ve said this for a long time, but every disaster has a silver lining for some industry. You hate to say this, but roofers make a lot of money during hailstorms, and so the same thing here. Pools are the silver lining here that people are definitely spending more money on [while] not going out to eat as much, not taking vacations.” 

2017… to 2019! I’m not going to try to pack everything into this one post. (Baby steps, right?)

Since I last posted here, my attempt at documenting my life happened behind the scenes, but I would give myself maybe 3 out of 10 for that feeble try.

Last year, I wrote one day here and one day there on Google Docs. I remember when I would write every single day (handwritten entries, too!) in elementary school, and even though my tries don’t seem to last too long, here we go again. I think it’s always better to keep going at it, rather than giving up altogether.

Highlight #1

After I wrote about my engagement photos, WE MOVED TO AUSTIN, TX!

Jack and I took a short trip to Austin when we were visiting my parents for Thanksgiving. We checked out 6th Street (both Dirty 6th and East 6th). We stopped at Voo Doo Doughnuts, and of course, devoured these delicious tacos at Torchy’s.

We ended up moving here in January 2018, and since then, we’ve had so much fun eating our way through Texas’ capital.

Some places that quickly made my favorites list:

• Valentina’s (AMAZING brisket tacos)
• Black Sheep Lodge (order cheese curds)
• Odd Duck
• Tamale House
• Yellow Jacket Social Club
• And so, so, so many more

Highlight #2

Our wedding!

When people say your wedding day flies by, you’re always going to remember your wedding day, it is one of the best days… Yeah, all true.

My heart becomes so full every time I think about how loved we felt when our loved ones surrounded us with so much love, joy and support as we said our “I do’s.”

You can see more from our wonderful photographers’ blog.

Whoa. Where did September go? I can’t even wrap my mind around just how quickly this summer and September FLEW BY. Sure, everyone always questions how we just snap our fingers and go from January to now-almost-October, but I truly feel like I went to the Avett Brothers New Year’s Eve concert just a week ago.

Needless to say, A LOT has happened in September, and we have quite a bit of catch up to do!

-Engagement photos! 

I am SO excited to share these with everyone. Of course, I can’t share all 180 pictures, but that one is one of my favorites. We went to a parking garage in Midtown Charlotte at 7:30 a.m. to take these photos. We worked with a photographer Jack knows through work – Carolina Top Shots; check it out! – and I am just so happy with these.

-That brings me to… DOBBY FACES

Oh, Dobby, Dobby, Dobby.

After we got these photos – a super quick turnaround, Brian uploaded them for us just a couple hours after we took them – I spent an hour zooming into Dobby and just laughing. By myself.

“Ma, get that camera outta my face!”

I can’t even.

We love our sweet dog, but the “smile” trick that some dogs seem to have mastered… that does not come easily (or ever) to our doggo.

He either looks frightened (look at the first picture) or annoyed in all of these pictures. Tell us how you really feel, Dobb…

-Another Dobby topic – DNA test!

Okay, a little Dobby-heavy post here, but who doesn’t love our #DobbyDog? Jack got me a doggy DNA test kit for my birthday.

For years, we’ve always said Dobby was half tree climbing coonhound and half German short haired pointer. Why yes. Our superb Google Image search skills led us to that very specific conclusion, thank you very much.

But guess what.

We were half right.

A perfect half – treeing walker coonhound.

And the other half – MUTT.

I love how they couldn’t even identify what his grandparent could’ve been. Just… a mixed breed in there somewhere.

But no matter what he is, we love him sooooo much! Dobby’s is the silliest, goofiest, funniest doggo I’ve ever met. Sure, you may say I’m biased. But spend just 30 minutes with him, you’ll know what I mean.

-More serious note – a learning experience

And switching gears. I was busy earlier this month working on a 2-part series. It’s a series I truly stumbled upon when I least expected it.

I went to cover a house fire and ended up leaving the scene with a great story idea, thanks to the Charlotte Fire Department’s Public Information Officer.

This is what came out of it.

I learned a lot while putting this story together. I hope it’ll teach you something, too.

Firefighters and Cancer Risks Part 1 PKG 091717 from Yoojin Cho on Vimeo.

Firefighters and Cancer Risks Part 2 091717 from Yoojin Cho on Vimeo.