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There is no truth to your assertion that companies will be leaving Bay. Google, Facebook, Salesforce etc. are actually massively expanding their Bay Area footpr

by dmode 8y ago

There is no truth to your assertion that companies will be leaving Bay. Google, Facebook, Salesforce etc. are actually massively expanding their Bay Area footprint. Google is expanding their Mountain View and building a massive new headquarters https://sf.curbed.com/2017/3/8/14858200/google-headquarters-expansion-tech https://sf.curbed.com/2017/3/8/14858200/google-headquarters-... Google is also expanding into San Jose Apple just recently completed their spaceship campus Facebook is massively expanding their Menlo Park footprint https://www.bizjournals.com/sanfrancisco/news/2018/03/15/facebook-fb-campus-expansion-menlo-park-gehry.html https://www.bizjournals.com/sanfrancisco/news/2018/03/15/fac... In addition, they signed the largest lease ever in SF https://sf.curbed.com/2018/5/14/17353094/facebook-park-tower-250-howard-lease-sf https://sf.curbed.com/2018/5/14/17353094/facebook-park-tower... Salesforce recently opened their new 60 story tower in downtown SF http://www.salesforcetower.com/ http://www.salesforcetower.com/ And I haven't even touched upon continued expansion of Uber, Lyft (which opened a new autonomous division in Palo Alto), Airbnb etc. Austin is a bit player in the tech scene. The only other alternative right now is Seattle.

malandrew 8y ago
All the startups are moving to other markets. The problem long term is that all these startups provide the training for people that eventually join those other companies. Eventually unicorns will show up in other markets that don't have the insanity of the Bay Area. When that happens these companies won't be able to attract talent and risk becoming a shadow of their former selves along with the city. At one time Armonk, NY and Maynard, MA were the center of tech too. It's will be a long slow death by a thousand cuts.
kingnothing 8y ago
Salesforce's tower is mostly going to be rented to other tenants. The company will largely maintain distributed office space in the Financial District.
echelon 8y ago
Austin is not a "bit player" in the tech scene. Incredible growth is happening outside of the California bubble. Texas, the entire east coast... Many talented people don't want to relocate for work, and companies are realizing that. Distributed offices are becoming more and more of a thing.
rco8786 8y ago
I don’t understand the obsession with Austin. It’s actually quite a small player in the tech industry.
- WalterSear 8y ago
  Its cachet is overblown in most respects. My friends living there joke about it being due to the requirement to drive through the rest of Texas to get there.
- heurist 8y ago
  The best startups and investment out here tend to be second-tier compared to the Bay Area. It's improving but still small and far from SF-level success. That said, second tier is great compared to everywhere outside of the Bay Area and NYC. I'd recommend not moving to Central Texas, by the way. Water availability is going to be a huge issue as the population continues to increase. Cities aren't feeling it yet but the small towns on the fringes definitely are - and the issue will continue to spread.
  - rco8786 8y ago
    Yea I'm not moving there, but I'm pretty sure they'll figure out the water issue as they always do. My point was more that there's probably 8-10 metro areas that fall into the "second-tier", but Austin somehow gets pretty consistently thrown out as some alternative to the valley. But the numbers play out a bit differently. In terms of VC investments, Austin is yes..second-tier (really 3rd, b/c NYC, LA, and Boston make a case for being the 2nd and everyone else is well behind them)..right there with Miami, Chicago, DC, Philadelphia, Atlanta, Dallas, etc. In other words...it's just a regular city that has an ok tech scene. Not to say that VC money is the only metric by which we should judge, but it's a pretty decent barometer.
  - kevin_thibedeau 8y ago
    The small towns are feeling it because farmers get priority and use deep wells to suck their local aquifer dry, leaving the townies with mud.

by dmode 8y ago

malandrew 8y ago

All the startups are moving to other markets. The problem long term is that all these startups provide the training for people that eventually join those other companies. Eventually unicorns will show up in other markets that don't have the insanity of the Bay Area. When that happens these companies won't be able to attract talent and risk becoming a shadow of their former selves along with the city. At one time Armonk, NY and Maynard, MA were the center of tech too. It's will be a long slow death by a thousand cuts.

kingnothing 8y ago

Salesforce's tower is mostly going to be rented to other tenants. The company will largely maintain distributed office space in the Financial District.

echelon 8y ago

Austin is not a "bit player" in the tech scene. Incredible growth is happening outside of the California bubble. Texas, the entire east coast... Many talented people don't want to relocate for work, and companies are realizing that. Distributed offices are becoming more and more of a thing.

rco8786 8y ago

I don’t understand the obsession with Austin. It’s actually quite a small player in the tech industry.

WalterSear 8y ago
Its cachet is overblown in most respects. My friends living there joke about it being due to the requirement to drive through the rest of Texas to get there.
heurist 8y ago
The best startups and investment out here tend to be second-tier compared to the Bay Area. It's improving but still small and far from SF-level success. That said, second tier is great compared to everywhere outside of the Bay Area and NYC. I'd recommend not moving to Central Texas, by the way. Water availability is going to be a huge issue as the population continues to increase. Cities aren't feeling it yet but the small towns on the fringes definitely are - and the issue will continue to spread.
- rco8786 8y ago
  Yea I'm not moving there, but I'm pretty sure they'll figure out the water issue as they always do. My point was more that there's probably 8-10 metro areas that fall into the "second-tier", but Austin somehow gets pretty consistently thrown out as some alternative to the valley. But the numbers play out a bit differently. In terms of VC investments, Austin is yes..second-tier (really 3rd, b/c NYC, LA, and Boston make a case for being the 2nd and everyone else is well behind them)..right there with Miami, Chicago, DC, Philadelphia, Atlanta, Dallas, etc. In other words...it's just a regular city that has an ok tech scene. Not to say that VC money is the only metric by which we should judge, but it's a pretty decent barometer.
- kevin_thibedeau 8y ago
  The small towns are feeling it because farmers get priority and use deep wells to suck their local aquifer dry, leaving the townies with mud.