4 ms·

That is pretty interesting, Texas seems to be pretty business positive in every aspect it can be. I continue to wonder how much Elizabeth Holmes and Theranos ha

by Pigo 8y ago

That is pretty interesting, Texas seems to be pretty business positive in every aspect it can be. I continue to wonder how much Elizabeth Holmes and Theranos has hurt the prospects of other female entrepreneurs in Silicon Valley, and startups in Silicon Valley in general.

lotsofpulp 8y ago
Business owner (capital) positive, not business positive.
burlesona 8y ago
Texas is also serious about keeping the cost of housing down. It helps that there’s a lot of land, but as the major cities are now boxed in by as much sprawl as people are willing to drive through (ala LA), they have lower barriers to densification and redevelopment compared to most places. Austin isn’t doing as well in that regard but the other cities have made it more of a priority.
- amyjess 8y ago
  As a Dallas native: 1) There are no natural borders in the Dallas area, so development can sprawl forever and ever unlike in SV/SV and LA which are boxed in by mountains and the Pacific Ocean. 2) Pretty much the entire metro area embraces the concept of edge cities. Someone who lives in Frisco (an exurb) is more likely to commute to Plano (an inner-ring suburb) than to Downtown Dallas. And people who live in Dallas proper may even commute to the suburbs. For an example of the former, I have a friend in McKinney (another exurb) who currently works in Frisco and is interviewing for a position in Lewisville (I guess you could call it another exurb). For an example of the latter, I personally live in Far North Dallas, a very suburban section of Dallas proper, and I commute to work in Plano (and I've had two jobs in the past where I've commuted to Richardson, which was a lateral commute, as Richardson is due east of me while Downtown is due south of me... though both of my jobs in Richardson have been slightly north of where I live). Now, that's not to say that densification in the suburbs isn't a thing at all. Just take a look at all the development at the Tollway & 121 in Plano or the CityLine area in Richardson (I wish I could share pictures of the former, but it's so new that half the development doesn't show up on Google Maps and even less of it shows up on Street View). But it's not necessary for continuous growth thanks to our lack of natural borders and embrace of edge cities. We also do a pretty good job with the street layout as well. We have six-lane divided arterials on a one-mile grid that covers not only Dallas proper but also the suburbs, making it easy to navigate across long distances. Compare this to spaghettified messes like Silicon Valley or pretty much every suburb in the eastern US (I'm thinking of NoVa and Atlanta here... and let's throw in the Philly and NYC suburbs too), and it's heaven. It also makes the Dallas area look like a waffle iron at night: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Dallas_Metropolitan_Area_at_Night.jpg https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Dallas_Metropolitan_Area_...
  - existencebox 8y ago
    Let me defend the philly suburbs for a second here: The actual philly grid extends _quite_ far out, ~hour drive outside city center. On top of that, the light rail goes WAY outside in a bunch of key directions, with rather impressive bus connections. Don't get me wrong, as a now-seattlite I would be remiss to criticize robust road transportation (god knows ours isn't) but I think you're looking at Philly through the wrong lense. I never needed, wanted, or had any friends who wanted a car while living there (especially since more modern tooling like zipcar and now ridesharing), and I miss that greatly. I don't think I could manage the commute I did via public transit alone in many cities other than some of the NE hubs you mention. (I'd add boston in too, at least back when I was there the T+Bus connections were great)
    - amyjess 8y ago
      It doesn't extend very far into the western suburbs, though. Example: https://goo.gl/maps/TZDgVrsLsbE2 https://goo.gl/maps/TZDgVrsLsbE2 At the same zoom level here are some exurbs of Dallas (Frisco and McKinney to be specific) which are pretty close to the edge of continuous development: https://goo.gl/maps/MsQBWBX9pH12 https://goo.gl/maps/MsQBWBX9pH12 This part of the Dallas area is much farther out from Downtown Dallas than the first screenshot is from Downtown Philly. (Also, this bit here isn't about Dallas vs. Philly, but here's a selection that shows off why I love Dallas's grid so much -- https://goo.gl/maps/1NEtE6WnYX42 https://goo.gl/maps/1NEtE6WnYX42 -- it's from Plano, an inner-ring suburb that was mostly built out in the '80s and '90s and probably some of the '00s. Note that there are shopping centers at almost every single intersection of arterials. Since arterials are on a one-mile grid, this means that no matter where you live, you are never more than sqrt(2)/2 mi. from a place to shop even though you're living in a very pleasant suburban subdivision.)
      - existencebox 8y ago
        You're not wrong but I think that misses my point. http://www.septa.org/maps/system/ http://www.septa.org/maps/system/ The rail offers great coverage way into the western parts where the grid breaks down. To avoid us talking past each other, recognize that to me the whole "Grid with shopping centers on every arterial intersection" seems like the most horrific implementation of corporate "pleasantville" I could imagine. Echoing what I said before, what I found beneficial about Philly is being able to traverse so many different areas and vibes with only public transit. I bring this up exclusively to advocate for rail, because it often seems to be subsumed under the "build better/more roads." (Which, again, I broadly support, but the positive impact accessible rail had to my life cannot be understated)
deleted 8y ago
[deleted]

by Pigo 8y ago

lotsofpulp 8y ago

Business owner (capital) positive, not business positive.

burlesona 8y ago

Texas is also serious about keeping the cost of housing down. It helps that there’s a lot of land, but as the major cities are now boxed in by as much sprawl as people are willing to drive through (ala LA), they have lower barriers to densification and redevelopment compared to most places. Austin isn’t doing as well in that regard but the other cities have made it more of a priority.

amyjess 8y ago
As a Dallas native: 1) There are no natural borders in the Dallas area, so development can sprawl forever and ever unlike in SV/SV and LA which are boxed in by mountains and the Pacific Ocean. 2) Pretty much the entire metro area embraces the concept of edge cities. Someone who lives in Frisco (an exurb) is more likely to commute to Plano (an inner-ring suburb) than to Downtown Dallas. And people who live in Dallas proper may even commute to the suburbs. For an example of the former, I have a friend in McKinney (another exurb) who currently works in Frisco and is interviewing for a position in Lewisville (I guess you could call it another exurb). For an example of the latter, I personally live in Far North Dallas, a very suburban section of Dallas proper, and I commute to work in Plano (and I've had two jobs in the past where I've commuted to Richardson, which was a lateral commute, as Richardson is due east of me while Downtown is due south of me... though both of my jobs in Richardson have been slightly north of where I live). Now, that's not to say that densification in the suburbs isn't a thing at all. Just take a look at all the development at the Tollway & 121 in Plano or the CityLine area in Richardson (I wish I could share pictures of the former, but it's so new that half the development doesn't show up on Google Maps and even less of it shows up on Street View). But it's not necessary for continuous growth thanks to our lack of natural borders and embrace of edge cities. We also do a pretty good job with the street layout as well. We have six-lane divided arterials on a one-mile grid that covers not only Dallas proper but also the suburbs, making it easy to navigate across long distances. Compare this to spaghettified messes like Silicon Valley or pretty much every suburb in the eastern US (I'm thinking of NoVa and Atlanta here... and let's throw in the Philly and NYC suburbs too), and it's heaven. It also makes the Dallas area look like a waffle iron at night: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Dallas_Metropolitan_Area_at_Night.jpg https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Dallas_Metropolitan_Area_...
- existencebox 8y ago
  Let me defend the philly suburbs for a second here: The actual philly grid extends _quite_ far out, ~hour drive outside city center. On top of that, the light rail goes WAY outside in a bunch of key directions, with rather impressive bus connections. Don't get me wrong, as a now-seattlite I would be remiss to criticize robust road transportation (god knows ours isn't) but I think you're looking at Philly through the wrong lense. I never needed, wanted, or had any friends who wanted a car while living there (especially since more modern tooling like zipcar and now ridesharing), and I miss that greatly. I don't think I could manage the commute I did via public transit alone in many cities other than some of the NE hubs you mention. (I'd add boston in too, at least back when I was there the T+Bus connections were great)
  - amyjess 8y ago
    It doesn't extend very far into the western suburbs, though. Example: https://goo.gl/maps/TZDgVrsLsbE2 https://goo.gl/maps/TZDgVrsLsbE2 At the same zoom level here are some exurbs of Dallas (Frisco and McKinney to be specific) which are pretty close to the edge of continuous development: https://goo.gl/maps/MsQBWBX9pH12 https://goo.gl/maps/MsQBWBX9pH12 This part of the Dallas area is much farther out from Downtown Dallas than the first screenshot is from Downtown Philly. (Also, this bit here isn't about Dallas vs. Philly, but here's a selection that shows off why I love Dallas's grid so much -- https://goo.gl/maps/1NEtE6WnYX42 https://goo.gl/maps/1NEtE6WnYX42 -- it's from Plano, an inner-ring suburb that was mostly built out in the '80s and '90s and probably some of the '00s. Note that there are shopping centers at almost every single intersection of arterials. Since arterials are on a one-mile grid, this means that no matter where you live, you are never more than sqrt(2)/2 mi. from a place to shop even though you're living in a very pleasant suburban subdivision.)
    - existencebox 8y ago
      You're not wrong but I think that misses my point. http://www.septa.org/maps/system/ http://www.septa.org/maps/system/ The rail offers great coverage way into the western parts where the grid breaks down. To avoid us talking past each other, recognize that to me the whole "Grid with shopping centers on every arterial intersection" seems like the most horrific implementation of corporate "pleasantville" I could imagine. Echoing what I said before, what I found beneficial about Philly is being able to traverse so many different areas and vibes with only public transit. I bring this up exclusively to advocate for rail, because it often seems to be subsumed under the "build better/more roads." (Which, again, I broadly support, but the positive impact accessible rail had to my life cannot be understated)

deleted 8y ago

[deleted]