Tesla’s headquarters will move to Austin • Hacker News Board

Re: Tesla’s headquarters will move to Austin

#431

Post by vkou » Fri, Oct 08, 2021, 3:06 AM UTC

FredPret wrote: post #342

SauciestGNU wrote: post #249

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Politicians are at least theoretically accountable to an electorate, whereas egomaniacal billionaires are accountable to nobody.

uhhh... they are accountable to every one of their clients, every time those clients make a purchase. For almost all billionaires, that's a far larger constituency and a much more frequent and efficient selection process compared to elections every x years by the 30% of the population who bother to vote. As soon as they stop performing, the money stops rolling in.

> uhhh... they are accountable to every one of their clients, every time those clients make a purchase.

Nearly nobody gives a damn about the behaviour, eccentric, insane, evil, or otherwise, of the primary shareholders of a corporation that is involved, directly or indirectly, in producing products that they consume.

I may think that the Sackler family are murderous scumbags, but if I need medication made by Purdue, that's the medication I'll be buying.

Re: Tesla’s headquarters will move to Austin

#432

Post by jhatemyjob » Fri, Oct 08, 2021, 3:06 AM UTC

scoofy wrote: post #297

jhatemyjob wrote: post #281

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You're joking, right? It's 20 minutes away from downtown.

I mean, I haven't lived in Austin in a decade, and I know the east side neighborhoods are becoming more desireable, but my point is that it's an isolated area. You've got 71 and MLK as your only access to central Austin, so you're extremely limited in commuting. Any further development will quickly make the current Austin traffic paradigm problematic for anyone who isn't living on the east side. 130 does make pfugerv…

I see. Still, I think that's better than living in Fremont and commuting into SF. Even with BART. I tried it a few times, that shit sucks

FWIW I haven't been in Austin, just Dallas

Re: Tesla’s headquarters will move to Austin

#433

Post by semiquaver » Fri, Oct 08, 2021, 3:12 AM UTC

andyxor wrote: post #135

pmorici wrote: post #109

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Wonder if it had anything to do with this… https://mobile.twitter.com/unusual_whales/status/14462517624...

or this https://nypost.com/2021/10/05/tesla-ordered-to-pay-137m-to-e...

> federal court

Re: Tesla’s headquarters will move to Austin

#434

Post by nicoffeine » Fri, Oct 08, 2021, 3:17 AM UTC

FredPret wrote: post #342

SauciestGNU wrote: post #249

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Politicians are at least theoretically accountable to an electorate, whereas egomaniacal billionaires are accountable to nobody.

uhhh... they are accountable to every one of their clients, every time those clients make a purchase. For almost all billionaires, that's a far larger constituency and a much more frequent and efficient selection process compared to elections every x years by the 30% of the population who bother to vote. As soon as they stop performing, the money stops rolling in.

They aren't even held accountable when they sell products that spark a nationwide overdose epidemic.

"That may seem like a lot of money, but billionaire math can be deceptive. The Sacklers proposed to pay the $4.5 billion out over nine years. Their current fortune is estimated to be at least $11 billion. Conservatively, with interest and investments, this means they can expect a 5 percent annualized rate of return on that fortune. If that’s the case, they’ll be able to pay the fine without even touching their principal. When they’re done paying in 2030, they will probably be richer than they are today."[1]

There are a few cases of powerful politicians serving jail time. I can't think of a single case where a billionaire was put in jail, except for Madoff, because he was stealing from other billionaires. When you've got billions, you have enough to buy politicians every cycle. You are effectively above the law, forever, regardless of how well your initial product line is doing.

[1] https://www.nytimes.com/2021/07/14/opinion/sackler-family-op...

Re: Tesla’s headquarters will move to Austin

#435

Post by neilparikh » Fri, Oct 08, 2021, 3:17 AM UTC

mullingitover wrote: post #326

boringg wrote: post #296

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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/

> I'd be careful about directly comparing prices, real estate taxes (by rate) in Texas are significantly higher than in California.

The two are directly linked, so this makes sense. A higher property tax means that the future annual rent (real rent if you're a landlord, imputed rent if you're a owner-occupier) you get from property will be reduced, so the capitalized present value will decrease correspondingly.

Re: Tesla’s headquarters will move to Austin

#436

Post by conductr » Fri, Oct 08, 2021, 3:19 AM UTC

pvarangot wrote: post #158

etchalon wrote: post #141

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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".

Prices will only go down in Texas when people quit moving here because they think the RE is cheap. Construction never stops here and prices still go up.

Re: Tesla’s headquarters will move to Austin

#437

Post by [deleted] » Fri, Oct 08, 2021, 3:21 AM UTC

the_svd_doctor wrote: post #330

CalChris wrote: post #230

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Compared to the Peninsula, Austin is basically free. Median home price in Austin is $575,000. Median home price in Palo Alto, where the current Tesla HQ is, is $3,488,610.

To be fair, no one really looks at Palo Alto when buying a first home…

[deleted]

Re: Tesla’s headquarters will move to Austin

#438

Post by marcusverus » Fri, Oct 08, 2021, 3:21 AM UTC

setpatchaddress wrote: post #196

marcusverus wrote: post #51

Earlier quoted context omitted.

1) Very true, but unless you're an avid hiker or a marathoner, I'm not sure how big of a role climate plays in deciding a home. 2) Texas politics are invasive if you're a woman in need of an abortion, sure. But then, California politics are invasive for everyone who earns an income. If Texas politics are 'frequently invasive', then California politics must be downright suffocating.

I assume by "California politics" you mean taxes? Got news for you about TX property tax, chief.

Sorry, champ. Your news doesn't mean what you think it means.

Californians pay lower average property tax rates, but California's ridiculous housing prices mean that they pay more in property taxes. Median home value in California is $554,886, average property tax is 0.7%, for a (rough) average property tax bill of $3,884. Median home value in Texas is $207,301 with an average property value of 1.6%, for a (rough) average property tax rate of 3,316.

Californians also have a higher sales tax rate and an income tax, while Texas has no income tax.

So yeah, I mean taxes.

[0]https://taxfoundation.org/high-state-property-taxes-2021/ [1]https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_U.S._states_by_median_...

Re: Tesla’s headquarters will move to Austin

#439

Post by b20000 » Fri, Oct 08, 2021, 3:23 AM UTC

zero fucks given

Re: Tesla’s headquarters will move to Austin

#440

Post by b20000 » Fri, Oct 08, 2021, 3:23 AM UTC

Apocryphon wrote: post #56

The official reason is because of housing: "To be clear we will be continuing to expand our activities in California," Musk said. "Our intention is to increase output from Fremont and Giga Nevada by 50%. If you go to our Fremont factory it's jammed." But, he added, "It's tough for people to afford houses, and people have to come in from far away....There's a limit to how big you can scale in the Bay Area." https://ww…

so is he paying CA salaries in TX?