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Silicon Valley exodus: Bay Area tech companies leaving for Texas

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Re: Silicon Valley exodus: Bay Area tech companies leaving for Texas

#181

Post by cloverich »

dannyincolor wrote: post #125
sremani wrote: post #72

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There are pockets of Nimby in Texas - truth to be told Austin is one of the most Nimby cities in Texas. The only good thing is unlike Bay Area - the Cities in Texas a primed for outward sprawl.

How is public transit in Austin? Scalable for urban sprawl? I don’t know much about it from an on-the-ground POV

As in much of Texas, not very good in most places. If you are central there are some options. And Prop A passed in the last election, which will expand the (single) commuter rail line that exists now (among a few other things). If it is well received, it could potentially expand beyond that. Most residents I know are hopeful but skeptical. Living along Lamar puts you in the best position to take advantage of it, and there is concomitantly a "rapid" bus line that runs regularly North / South fully along it -- I used that on occasion too.

I was fortunate to live in a community on the Commuter rail stop (in Crestview) while I worked downtown and took the train daily for a couple years -- splendid. But though it was packed, I knew nearly nobody else in person that had used it, and many did not even know it existed -- such is the small areas it served.

IMO the best (commuter) features of Austin is it has the room to grow. Unlike Houston (or Dallas, I assume), it has much less roadway infrastructure and things seem slow to build here. So, despite being in and out of this city since college (~20 years ago), I still feel unsure what the future looks like.

Re: Silicon Valley exodus: Bay Area tech companies leaving for Texas

#183

Post by throwaway9980 »

shadowgovt wrote: post #55

If efforts to secede gain any traction, that could disrupt this flow quickly. It's more expensive to do business internationally than state-to-state.

It’s already difficult to do business with entities in California if you live in another state. I no longer take contracts with CA based companies after a run in with the FTB. Not worth it.

Re: Silicon Valley exodus: Bay Area tech companies leaving for Texas

#184

Post by residentfoam »

pb7 wrote: post #87
alexmingoia wrote: post #70

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What do low property taxes have to do with high rent and lack of housing? Higher property taxes would result in higher rent and property prices...

NIMBYs oppose new construction because it keeps their property values high. They don't care about property values ballooning because they pay property taxes on the assessed values from when they bought, which is often decades ago, due to Prop 13. Prop 13 in general keeps things stagnant. For another example, there is no incentive to renovate/tear down/rebuild bigger because now you will pay significantly higher prope…

This! Right to the point.

I think Texas got this right. Higher property taxes are assessed every year on the current property value. This has the positive effect to keep the real estate market within reason. Home owners have no incentive to see their taxes explode, unless they plan to sell and move.

CA is a mess! And don't get me started on the fact that property taxes pay for public schools, so if I buy a property today say at $1M whereas my neighbor bought 10y ago and payed $100k guess who is paying the most to finance schools ? It is utterly unfair!

Hence, after almost a decade in SF, I and my finally finally moved on, I kept my job and bought a nice, modern, luxury house in Austin! I and my family are super happy now.

I voted democrats my entire life, I have now realized how wrong I was! SF and CA turned me into a republican! And that's what I vote now.

Re: Silicon Valley exodus: Bay Area tech companies leaving for Texas

#185

Post by Acrobatic_Road »

s5300 wrote: post #139
Acrobatic_Road wrote: post #123

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There are 28,995,881 people living in Texas vs 39,512,223 in California. There are 151,278 homeless in California vs 25,848 in Texas. Is homelessness a problem in Texas? Yes, but it isn't remotely as bad as California. And of course, then there are states with nearly non existent homelessness.

Huh it's almost as if it's been forever known to anybody paying attention that other states literally give their homeless bus tickets to California. Wonder how that affects statistics like yours people like to tout

most homeless people in california are native californians

Re: Silicon Valley exodus: Bay Area tech companies leaving for Texas

#186

Post by dannyincolor »

jonathanyc wrote: post #154
dannyincolor wrote: post #147

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Also a gun owner in CA. Came from a state with open carry/no license needed. I found CA’s laws to be quite reasonable; I was told all variety of stories about guns being taken from my home when I told people I was moving out. Weird stuff. I think CA is highly demonized and I don’t really get it, even as someone originally from a very conservative (and also evangelical Christian) background/area. I actually live in a…

Hey! Thanks for replying, good to hear from another resident :D Yea, I certainly don’t agree entirely with CA’s gun laws. I also definitely don’t believe CA is perfect. But I agree that the state seems unfairly demonized, I’ve been trying for a bit now to try dig into why. Agree 100% about loving the diversity in this state.

Back at ya! I also don’t agree with all the laws either, btw, but overall I found them far less onerous than they were hyped to be by my IDPA (sport shooting club) friends asserted.

And yeah, I think being a transplant really helps; it’s easier to realize just how unique the climate and culture truly are. And that applies to any other state where one is a transplant to: I think a big part of this conversation that’s missing is the whole “grass is greener” effect. CA has more population than anywhere else, so we have the most natives by definition (or at least close enough that my point stands - I know the birth rate is below the national median here, but I’d suspect the population outweighs that effect). It’s only in leaving the Midwest that I appreciated some things I overlooked there, but none of those were in the areas of personal freedom (e.g. my city had an amazing food scene and I didn’t know how much I’d miss the unique spirit of that scene).

I do think people make it into this “competition” almost, which is a really odd reflex to me, considering this country has freedom of movement and you can just hit up any of 100s of sites to find a place with the right balance of laws for your lifestyle, costs, diversity, etc.

It’s the furthest from a zero-sum game, in other words, and that argumentative spirit seems like it could be easily replaced with a cooperative one.

Makes me want to start a national real estate/moving consulting company where it’s all focused on finding the perfect place for your specific interests and price point, but I digress

Re: Silicon Valley exodus: Bay Area tech companies leaving for Texas

#187

Post by cloverich »

jonathanyc wrote: post #154
dannyincolor wrote: post #147

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Also a gun owner in CA. Came from a state with open carry/no license needed. I found CA’s laws to be quite reasonable; I was told all variety of stories about guns being taken from my home when I told people I was moving out. Weird stuff. I think CA is highly demonized and I don’t really get it, even as someone originally from a very conservative (and also evangelical Christian) background/area. I actually live in a…

Hey! Thanks for replying, good to hear from another resident :D Yea, I certainly don’t agree entirely with CA’s gun laws. I also definitely don’t believe CA is perfect. But I agree that the state seems unfairly demonized, I’ve been trying for a bit now to try dig into why. Agree 100% about loving the diversity in this state.

As a Texan that hears that frequently among my right winger friends / family, I think its mostly (plain old) ignorance and indifference. When I talk about liking California I get -- effectively -- dirty looks. But concomitantly, if I press for details there are none. So I think it is just one of those talking points that's taken on a life of its own, probably exacerbated by the housing prices that also get blamed on Californians. If I wanted to reason about it from a policy standpoint, I might argue the electoral college plays a significant role. Since in presidential elections the right doesn't need Californian votes, they are fee to demonize it at will -- its free points in a sense. No hills I'd die on, just my 2 cents.

Re: Silicon Valley exodus: Bay Area tech companies leaving for Texas

#188

Post by bcheung »

dannyincolor wrote: post #114
thatfrenchguy wrote: post #89

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah having a house 3x the size is not great for you or the environment, given that people don’t use most of their houses ;-)

I think they said “the environment”. Whether that’s important to you is - as always - completely up to you in this country. I don’t understand the animosity between different states; we can all go wherever we fit best and that’s a great thing. Nothing wrong with wanting a big house, but also nothing wrong or coercive with mentioning it has environmental impacts

Well, the USA was supposed to be a union of states where they could more or less govern as they see fit based on their own ideology but come together when they need to. But unfortunately the Federal government has gotten involved in far too many things that should have been left up to the states and so there isn't as much diversity or tolerance for other ways of life anymore.

Re: Silicon Valley exodus: Bay Area tech companies leaving for Texas

#189

Post by bradlys »

bordercases wrote: post #158
ProfessorLayton wrote: post #148

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The Bay Area is home to a lot of immigrants from all over the world, as well as first generation American citizens whom were raised by their immigrant parents. Is the implication here that they all have the same ideologies?

They all moved to the Bay Area didn't they? And they left behind people that didn't. Given that they don't spend much time segregating themselves into Chinatowns and Little Italies one should expect some preference for the culture of the Bay Area to explain the selectivity and staying power, when other locations are just as prosperous (New York, Texas, Boston). An analogy from my own experience: in my youth I was rai…

> Given that they don't spend much time segregating themselves into Chinatowns and Little Italies one should expect some preference for the culture of the Bay Area to explain the selectivity and staying power, when other locations are just as prosperous (New York, Texas, Boston).

Honest question, have you ever lived in the Bay Area? It’s an extremely segregated region. It frequently dictates where people live because there is a huge cultural clash. It isn’t little neighborhoods that segregate - it’s entire cities...

Anyway, I don’t think there is much diversity in thought here. There’s plenty of controversy nonsense. I had to see the ladies with signs out in front of the planned parenthood everyday when I still commuted. QAnon rallies are a thing. So forth and so on. It’s not some leftist paradise.

I’d say the thing it lacks is leftism. It’s got a radical amount of neoliberal capitalism on all sides because so many people here are obsessed with money, prestige, and power. Kinda gets old. Ain’t no one looking for a more traditional means of happiness, lol.

Re: Silicon Valley exodus: Bay Area tech companies leaving for Texas

#190

Post by GcVmvNhBsU »

dave5104 wrote: post #155
istillwritecode wrote: post #120

As a long term resident of the bay area, I'm happy to see companies relocate elsewhere. The unbridled growth of companies here without improvements to infrastructure like housing and transportation are what caused many of the problems. From 2010 to 2018 my commute roughly doubled in time. As the quality of life degrades in the bay area, it's natural for people and companies to act in their own self interest to reloca…

> ... I'm happy to see companies relocate elsewhere. The unbridled growth of companies here without improvements to infrastructure like housing and transportation are what caused many of the problems. This seems like an odd mindset. Why are you happy to drain the local economy, instead of working to fix those problems and support a good economy?

This also seems like an odd mindset. Can’t you have a good economy without overpopulating an area? A saying I grew up with - The frog does not drink up the pond in which it lives.
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