The mayor says:

“Linz will never be a city without construction sites”

Dietmar Prammer in front of the stadium of his favorite club, BW Linz.(Bild: Markus Wenzel)

Linz isn’t on summer break—issues like safety, crime, affordable housing, traffic jams, and a lack of parking are highly contentious. The mayor answers questions and explains why his heart still aches.

Dietmar Prammer is sitting on the steps of the Tabakfabrik; it’s one of his favorite spots in Linz. Numerous people stop by to greet the city’s leader. The mayor has been giving the matter some thought and speaks about:

safety in the state capital: “We face major challenges at the Volksgarten—that’s nothing new. I’m well aware of the problems. I’ve given instructions to step up monitoring and address those individuals who aren’t making a good impression there. Security personnel and the police alone won’t be enough. All these recent terrible incidents have fueled fears. But I believe Linz is still a safe city.”

Traffic jams, lack of parking, construction sites: “Linz is a commuter city. People rely on their cars, and public transportation isn’t as well-developed as it needs to be. But a lot is happening. That will continue to be the case in the future, so we’ll probably never be a city without a construction site.”

Affordable housing: “That’s probably our biggest challenge. More than half of our apartments are owned by nonprofit housing cooperatives. That’s one reason why our rents are still moderate compared to other cities. But we need to keep building housing. That’s also how I measure my success as mayor.”

High investments amid growing budgetary pressure: “The big issue is operating costs—the payments to the state, which amount to 100 million euros. With a budget of one billion euros, that’s ten percent in a single year. But it’s not as if Linz is the only city struggling. By now, every other municipality in Upper Austria can no longer balance its budget.”

His heart is breaking after Blau-Weiß’s relegation: “This disastrous season was terrible, but I believe that Blau-Weiß will make it back up this year. But we also have LASK in Linz, which won the double. As mayor, I can be proud of that, too.”