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Tesla’s headquarters will move to Austin

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Re: Tesla’s headquarters will move to Austin

#31

Post by NikolaNovak »

temp8964 wrote: post #24
NikolaNovak wrote: post #9

I know this is charged but it's genuine question due to my ignorance - why are companies having or moving HQs to Texas? It feels that : 1. It's way out of temperate climate that one would live in when given full choice and all things equal (understanding they never are of course - I live in great white North :) 2. Politics are highly conservative and frequently invasive. now clearly half of Americans like it that way…

Is Tesla a progressive company? And what does that mean?

I thought I indicated that in literally next sentence;

Musk is building companies to change future and disrupt status quo in general (so opposite from the most generic definition of conservativism which seeks to preserve it) ; and specifically Tesla is a company that builds a product that in small way obviates what Texas exports and lives on

Re: Tesla’s headquarters will move to Austin

#32

Post by resters »

georgewsinger wrote: post #14

Warning: This post is written from a libertarian/center-right viewpoint. While this move is great, I'm skeptical of the idea that moving to Austin is a political panacea for moderate/center-right/libertarian governance. - The same percentage of people who voted for hard leftist candidates in SF also voted for hard leftist candidates in Austin. Don't believe me? Check it out for yourself: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki…

It's less about ideology than about the impact of entrenched power. For all the leftist rhetoric in SF, interest groups like property owner, landlords, etc., have political power sufficient to preserve the status quo.

I think the geographical constraints of SF (water all around) amplify the power of the above groups at the expense of others. Austin may have more space to gradually expand and spread out in a way that is more equitable and does not so disproportionately reward those who were there first.

Re: Tesla’s headquarters will move to Austin

#33

Post by larsiusprime »

NikolaNovak wrote: post #9

I know this is charged but it's genuine question due to my ignorance - why are companies having or moving HQs to Texas? It feels that : 1. It's way out of temperate climate that one would live in when given full choice and all things equal (understanding they never are of course - I live in great white North :) 2. Politics are highly conservative and frequently invasive. now clearly half of Americans like it that way…

Cost of living is one of many reasons. Highly sought after tech workers (like all workers) would prefer not to hand a huge portion of their salary straight over to their landlord. And tech workers, unlike most workers, actually have a bit of leverage under current market conditions to demand stuff.

Texas actually has some of the highest property taxes[1] in the nation, which (unintuitively to some) helps keep down the price of property. Countless studies (can share links if you like) demonstrate that property taxes (and land taxes in particular) are capitalized into the price of land.

California has some of the lowest property taxes, which when paired with Proposition 13, means it has some of the most expensive real estate in the nation.

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Property_tax_in_the_United_Sta...

Re: Tesla’s headquarters will move to Austin

#34

Post by danhak »

California's tax regime is really backward. I suspect Tesla's departure is just the tip of the iceberg and that the repeal of the SALT deduction in 2017 really hastened this trend.

High earners pay an effective tax rate of > 50%. They are partially picking up the slack from Prop 13, which artificially distorts the housing market by allowing longtime homeowners to pay property taxes based on decades-old assessed values while sitting on millions in equity gains.

So young, high earners see the state taking a massive chunk of their paycheck in exchange for middling infrastructure and pitiful public schools while simultaneously putting its finger on the scale of a wildly inflated housing market.

The exodus will only pick up steam unless policymakers get their act together.

Re: Tesla’s headquarters will move to Austin

#36

Post by xxpor »

cletus wrote: post #27

Good. This will both alleviate pressure on the Bay Area as well as accelerating the political shift to the left in Texas. It's a win all around. I actually think that living in the Bay Area as a tech employee is increasingly unjustifiable from an ethical point-of-view. It was once the case where that was necessary for many career paths but that's increasingly not the case and the pandemic has hastened that shift. Why…

But that's nonsensical from an ethical perspective because you can apply it to infinity. It's the no ethical consumption under capitalism idea.

The right solution is to fix the root cause (NIMBYism) not throw your hands up and move.

Re: Tesla’s headquarters will move to Austin

#37

Post by CheezeIt »

danhak wrote: post #34

California's tax regime is really backward. I suspect Tesla's departure is just the tip of the iceberg and that the repeal of the SALT deduction in 2017 really hastened this trend. High earners pay an effective tax rate of > 50%. They are partially picking up the slack from Prop 13, which artificially distorts the housing market by allowing longtime homeowners to pay property taxes based on decades-old assessed value…

The public schools aren’t pitiful at all. California has great schools.

Re: Tesla’s headquarters will move to Austin

#38

Post by tdeck »

NikolaNovak wrote: post #9

I know this is charged but it's genuine question due to my ignorance - why are companies having or moving HQs to Texas? It feels that : 1. It's way out of temperate climate that one would live in when given full choice and all things equal (understanding they never are of course - I live in great white North :) 2. Politics are highly conservative and frequently invasive. now clearly half of Americans like it that way…

> still,seems odd for largely progressive company like Tesla that's ostensibly working to put oil industry on defence

This is marketing. Read up on how Tesla treats its workers and you'll see what their leadership's real values are.

Re: Tesla’s headquarters will move to Austin

#39

Post by brodock »

NikolaNovak wrote: post #9

I know this is charged but it's genuine question due to my ignorance - why are companies having or moving HQs to Texas? It feels that : 1. It's way out of temperate climate that one would live in when given full choice and all things equal (understanding they never are of course - I live in great white North :) 2. Politics are highly conservative and frequently invasive. now clearly half of Americans like it that way…

Less taxes less overall regulation. It adds up having to deal with BS for everything you want to do.

Re: Tesla’s headquarters will move to Austin

#40

Post by kiklion »

larsiusprime wrote: post #33
NikolaNovak wrote: post #9

I know this is charged but it's genuine question due to my ignorance - why are companies having or moving HQs to Texas? It feels that : 1. It's way out of temperate climate that one would live in when given full choice and all things equal (understanding they never are of course - I live in great white North :) 2. Politics are highly conservative and frequently invasive. now clearly half of Americans like it that way…

Cost of living is one of many reasons. Highly sought after tech workers (like all workers) would prefer not to hand a huge portion of their salary straight over to their landlord. And tech workers, unlike most workers, actually have a bit of leverage under current market conditions to demand stuff. Texas actually has some of the highest property taxes[1] in the nation, which (unintuitively to some) helps keep down th…

Am I misunderstanding or are you basically saying that the monthly cost of housing is roughly equivalent so more taxes = lower home prices, such that taxes + principal + interest is the same in both places?
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