Schwab Leaves San Francisco for Texas • Hacker News Board

Re: Schwab Leaves San Francisco for Texas

#71

Post by hkmurakami » Sat, Nov 30, 2019, 5:18 PM UTC

hourislate wrote: post #60

seanmccann wrote: post #13

> The company said Monday that “a small percentage of roles may move from San Francisco to Westlake over time, either through relocation or attrition. The vast majority of San Francisco-based roles, however, are not anticipated to be impacted by this decision. Schwab expects to continue hiring in San Francisco and retain a sizable corporate footprint in the city.” Doesn't sound like they are leaving San Francisco, ju…

From what I have read in the Local News, it is just the first phase. I am assuming they will eventually move entirely but don't want to spook their existing workforce in SF.

They'll keep outside facing functions here for the local markets, clients, partners, etc.

Corporate back office operations will move entirely

Re: Schwab Leaves San Francisco for Texas

#72

Post by ummonk » Sat, Nov 30, 2019, 5:19 PM UTC

hindsightbias wrote: post #46

driverdan wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Westlake does not have cheap real estate.

And no Prop 13. Takes 1 or 2 reassessments before the screeching begins.

Unless you're a retiree, the lack of a state income tax makes up for it. Texas' policies are pro-worker and anti-landowner.

Re: Schwab Leaves San Francisco for Texas

#73

Post by fzeroracer » Sat, Nov 30, 2019, 5:19 PM UTC

CydeWeys wrote: post #28

nthomas wrote: post #7

Welcome to the Lone Star State! Cheap real estate and friendly folks. And BBQ, metric tons of BBQ...

And traffic out the wazoo, and few good alternatives to driving.

It's going to be funny in 5-10 years when the major Texas cities become the next SF because none of them are planning for any sort of large population growth.

Austin already suffers from horrific traffic and poor infrastructure. City planning here is a joke.

Re: Schwab Leaves San Francisco for Texas

#74

Post by zer00eyz » Sat, Nov 30, 2019, 5:20 PM UTC

api wrote: post #27

toomuchtodo wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Rational economic actors going to act. Why be in SF just for the novelty if you can go somewhere cheaper. Disclaimer: Schwab customer

Novelty? Quite a lot of that has been driven out already.

If you are a broker you go to NYC, banking is London, commodities is Chicago, electronics is Shenzhen.... You come to the bay FOR tech, and for A-team tech at that. There simply isn't any other place on the planet for you to go if you want to be with, and work with the best.

Re: Schwab Leaves San Francisco for Texas

#75

Post by burlesona » Sat, Nov 30, 2019, 5:20 PM UTC

aphextron wrote: post #43

nthomas wrote: post #7

Welcome to the Lone Star State! Cheap real estate and friendly folks. And BBQ, metric tons of BBQ...

>"Cheap real estate" And the highest property tax rate in the nation.

Because of the highest property tax in the nation.

This is a feature, not a bug. It’s very difficult for the wealthy to hide their property. There are also a number of ways to reduce the tax rate on one’s primary residence. Combined effect of this is surprisingly progressive, closer to a wealth tax.

Another effect high property taxes, is that most existing homeowners feel some pain when real estate prices soar and therefore there is a large contingent of voters who want to make sure that supply keeps up with demand so that their taxes don’t go up.

By contrast, where I live (in San Francisco), the existing homeowners make out like bandits when the government policies are punitively exclusionary towards outsiders. Soaring home prices mean nothing but good for homeowners when their taxes are both very low and virtually frozen at the original purchase price by prop 13.

Re: Schwab Leaves San Francisco for Texas

#76

Post by TulliusCicero » Sat, Nov 30, 2019, 5:21 PM UTC

zer00eyz wrote: post #69

skybrian wrote: post #58

This is better both for San Francisco and Texas, from a load-balancing perspective. Unless housing can catch up, large companies shouldn't be expanding in San Francisco.

Housing and taxes in CA are close to oppressive. The housing situation will not change unless CA voters agree to a change in property taxes and they won't. I would also bet that the move will come at the expense of Texas tax payers and to the benefit of Schwabb.

Part of the problem with housing prices in California is that property taxes are too low. Prop 13 means existing homeowners are shielded from higher property taxes, so growing property values are only good for them, no matter how high. Thus, there's no incentive to increase housing supply, which could lower prices.

Re: Schwab Leaves San Francisco for Texas

#77

Post by cortesoft » Sat, Nov 30, 2019, 5:21 PM UTC

hkmurakami wrote: post #51

jonas21 wrote: post #18

This is part of Schwab's merger with TD Ameritrade. Relevant bits from Schwab's FAQ [1]: Q: Where will the combined company be headquartered? A: As part of the integration process, the corporate headquarters of the combined companies will eventually relocate to Schwab’s new campus in Westlake, Texas. Both companies have a sizable presence in the Dallas-Fort Worth area. This will allow the firm to take advantage of th…

TD Ameritrade is headquartered in Omaha. The HQ location choice is not driven by existing Ameritrafe footprint, or by the merger itself. The FAQ is simply addressing what will be, not starting that there was a cause and effect because of the proposed merger. Also, Schwab was already reducing SF headcount for years. Also, afaik the merger is still in the prices of regulatory review. All this being said, the merger lik…

Why would the government review a headquarters move?

Re: Schwab Leaves San Francisco for Texas

#78

Post by slater » Sat, Nov 30, 2019, 5:22 PM UTC

"The brokerage giant heads for a state that doesn’t punish finance"

opinion, indeed!

Re: Schwab Leaves San Francisco for Texas

#79

Post by justinzollars » Sat, Nov 30, 2019, 5:23 PM UTC

skybrian wrote: post #58

This is better both for San Francisco and Texas, from a load-balancing perspective. Unless housing can catch up, large companies shouldn't be expanding in San Francisco.

The attitude here is we are fully developed and thus done developing. I don't imagine a bright future for California with these housing policies.

Re: Schwab Leaves San Francisco for Texas

#80

Post by scurvy » Sat, Nov 30, 2019, 5:23 PM UTC

FireBeyond wrote: post #63

scurvy wrote: post #48

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes, SF does rank #1 nationally for property crimes. It stinks, but most people value life more than property. Violent crime in the Bay Area is still much lower than national averages, and that's what most people concentrate on. Also, San Francisco isn't the entire Bay Area.

You go from saying "people who live in actual high crime areas would like a word with you" to acknowledging that SF has the highest property crime rates in the country. And then wave it all away as, I guess, it's only really non-violent crime. Odd logic.

I also said, that SF isn't the entire Bay Area.

If you gave weightings to crime categories (we all do this internally), property crime would probably be the lowest weighted next to white collar crime. Violent crime would get exponentially higher weightings.

It's one thing to have $200 worth of stuff stolen in a car break-in. It's another to be violently mugged for $200 in cash on your person. I've lived in bad areas and the Bay isn't one of them. I'll trade property crime for knowing my family isn't likely to end up the victim of a horrendous violent crime.

Manhattan also has high property crime rates but low violent crime. Even has high real estate costs, but you don't see anyone knocking it as a hell hole.

There are people with some weird agenda/vendetta against the Bay Area, and they're obviously pouncing here.