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Just because developers can feasibly work from anywhere, especially remotely for already-established companies, do not immediately presume that it is best for d
by iplaw 10y ago
Just because developers can feasibly work from anywhere, especially remotely for already-established companies, do not immediately presume that it is best for developers to work from anywhere.
Working remotely is not for everyone. Some people have problems with efficiency and procrastination when working from home or when working without immediate oversight. Some people have poor communication skills which are further hampered by the long distance communication and lack of face to face interaction. Some companies and, perhaps, developers prefer human interaction and team cohesiveness, which is difficult to achieve in an all-remote development team.
In many cases, the most expensive tech cities became that way after the developers landed and earned crazy money and bonuses. Take Austin for example. A mere ten years ago, it was a very affordable city. Now, there are 800 sq. ft. homes with window-unit air conditioning selling for $600,000. Why? Austin became a tech hot spot in Texas while it was still affordable and, due to the exorbitant salaries being paid and countless millionaires being made, the demand for housing skyrocketed. With limited supply of proximate housing, the prices shot up.
- TACIXAT 10y agoAustin seems incredibly cheap to me (when considering southern California as the alternative). You can get a nice house on a large lot for less than 500k. It's not in the city center but I prefer having more space anyway. In San Diego and any reasonable commute around it you get a repair project with anything below 500k. Couple the cheaper housing with income tax savings and I see the appeal.
- arcanus 10y agoYea, Austin isn't cheap anymore but it's by no means expensive when compared to the coasts. It used to be something like a factor of two more expensive in SF or NYC, and I don't think it's quite that large a gap. The Austin city center is also so much smaller than many major cities that it can be misleading. Just 1.5 miles from downtown the price of housing starts to drop substantially.
- John23832 10y agoSoCal/Bay Area expats are driving up costs in Austin.
- conductr 10y agoAgree. Similar thing in all Texas metros. Although expats in Austin are certainly of the CA tech majority. I feel like all of TX is turning into CA.
- pm90 10y agoWell, they do have many things in common: * Warm weather year round * Lots of great universities * Large hispanic population (and immigrants in general) * 2 largest states in the contiguous US The most glaring difference is probably the conservative politics. But that's mostly the rural areas. And the hispanic population may actually help change that. Note: not implying that all hispanic people automatically vote democrat, just that they do in general.
- magic_beans 10y agoHispanic people might vote Democrat, but they are largely religiously, socially, and politically conservative.
- conductr 10y agoI've lived in Texas all my ~40 years, all of these things have been true the entire time. The influx of residents over last ~10 years is why I say TX is feeling like CA. It's the ethos. The food. The culture that comes with it. Not a bad thing, just different. Texas is the friendly state but if I'm being honest there is a part of me that is getting old and cranky and doesn't like it / wishes it could go back to the way it was. However, I totally see the appeal of selling your small expensive CA house and moving to TX to buy a mansion for cash. I'd do the same.
- rdslw 10y agoI'm from EU (continental climate) but been multiple times to CA and TX - I would never say they have similar climate. They dont. July and August are unbearable in TX. June/Sep almost too.
- the_watcher 10y agoHaving lived in Southern California, Austin, and now San Francisco, I can confirm that Austin remains laughably cheap, despite what Austinites like to claim.
- pm90 10y ago> countless millionaires being made, I think its more accurate to say that countless millionaires that moved in. Austin still hasn't had its Google/Intel/Facebook yet.
- evgen 10y agoBack when Austin, Round Rock, and Georgetown were actually places separated from each other by at least a mile or so of scrub and no development you had Dell and a couple of other early dot-com companies mint a large batch of nouveau riche techies who had dreams of 'the next big thing' happening in Austin. I left before the crash and the subsequent agglomeration of the entire area into a single contiguous mass of strip malls and condo complexes, but it seems to me that Austin has had its share of locally generated rich people as well.
- throwasehasdwi 10y agoAustin isn't cheap when you look at the nation overall, but for tech hotspots it's still a bargain. I chalk it up to being a democratic city in a deeply republican state. Lack of regulation coupled with low taxes, great combo if you ask me.
- quxbar 10y agoAustin's housing market exploded over a series of years prior to its new tech hub status, tech workers only make up a fraction of the influx of monied Californians flooding the poor little town.