381–390 of 691 posts
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Traffic in Austin is insane. Legit insane. Definitely comparable to the Bay Area if not worse. And there is absolutely no transit alternative comparable to BART. There is a morning and evening train, but it's really only effective if you live and work exactly on the stops.
What a great candidate for the Boring Company! He'll build a new tunnel for Teslas to drive through!
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I talked to several Tesla and former Tesla folks that will probably relocate because of this, and the say is that since Austin in less NIMBY than the Bay Area new housing will get built and prices will go down. It's a more complex bet than just "we move there because houses are affordable now".
Beyond housing, isn't traffic a problem? Lots of people will be commuting from Round Rock.
By the time Tesla reaches critical mass in Austin, Project Connect may very well be on its way to construction of the Orange and Blue lines. This establishes a light rail train from North Austin to the Airport. Given Round Rock is north of Austin, and the Airport is nearly adjacent to the Tesla complex, this could be a suitable option for commuters. Or easily extended with additional investment.
Though, for white collar jobs, I would expect multiple Tesla offices in Austin to work around this problem. They already have office space leased on opposite ends of the city.
Tech Ridge is a great location that is accessible from Round Rock and Cedar Park. Apple, GE, 3M, Home Depot, and Blue Apron all have offices in this area.
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As someone who just bought a house in Austin this year, if the reason is "affordable housing", they're in for a world of hurt.
I talked to several Tesla and former Tesla folks that will probably relocate because of this, and the say is that since Austin in less NIMBY than the Bay Area new housing will get built and prices will go down. It's a more complex bet than just "we move there because houses are affordable now".
My utilities are 50% cheaper and more reliable, crime is lower, the air quality is better, and I bought a new construction with 10G Fiber Internet (You will never get this in California due to failing infrastructure). I miss is the arts, culture, and nightlife, but that was wiped out by government-enacted COVID restrictions so there are few redeeming reasons to stay. Tesla should be a good lesson that when you put political idealism above the basic needs of your residents (Safety, infrastructure, housing), people leave.
How does this save or make Elon Musk money, personally? Because that seems to be the question that underlies almost every major move Tesla has made since Elon took over.
You know Elon has run Tesla from like... practically the ground floor right? He bought a controlling share like 8 months into the company history and has been CEO since 2008. Given that half of Elon's wealth is Tesla stock, what makes Elon money is pretty much inseparable from what makes the company money. Weird thing to complain about.
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This is a huge reason that property values are cheaper in Texas. Either you pay high property tax rates on (relatively) cheaper property or you pay exorbitant rent to your landlord that just keeps escalating. There is very good evidence that property taxes are capitalized into property values. Land taxes in specific are fully capitalized (which is to say, they lower the price of the land, and the landlord can't pass…
A decade ago, I owned a 200k house in Austin while making a 6-figure salary in California-- I paid more in property taxes on the house in Austin than I did on income taxes on my income in California.
This would be a complete non-story if not for the propaganda-driven political climate that needlessly and divisively pits "red states" against "blue states".
Whenever I read news like this I can never figure out what moving a company's headquarters actually means. Musk has already been living in Texas for a while. Tesla already has sizable operations there (both offices and factories). The company is registered in Delaware, so legally this change means nothing. They aren't going to fire employees in California or force them to move (in fact Musk said that they will contin…
It depends on the company.
In the case of Tesla, at first it will probably be a lot like Boeing, which hardly anyone in the general public realizes is headquartered in Chicago and not Seattle.
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According to a friend that moved to Austin last year, yeah traffic is a problem but in downtown Austin in new buildings it's even worse. Sewage is a problem.
That sounds really bad. What are the specific problems with sewage there?
I wouldn't trust this. Speaking as a resident of Austin, there's several OG Austinites that are mad about all the change. Sounds like FUD to me. Point to a source please!
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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?
To clarify a bit: The monthly cost of renting a house is way higher in California, not because it costs more to rent the house, but because it costs more to rent the land the house sits on. Property tax taxes two things -- the house, and the land. The portion of the tax that taxes the land is capitalized into the selling/renting price of the land, which is to say that causes it to cost less to buy the land and less t…
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I feel for everyone as the prices are getting stupid everywhere.... BUTTTT I just looked on Redfin - I could buy a 3300 square foot house in Austin for under $900k with a huge pool and that was a 5 second search. No offense all you Austin folk, but you literally have no clue.
I'd be careful about directly comparing prices, real estate taxes (by rate) in Texas are significantly higher than in California. They might be overall lower given that the real estate prices are cheaper, but Texas is #6 in the country for real estate taxes while California is #34[1]. [1] https://taxfoundation.org/high-state-property-taxes-2021/