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Where in Texas were you? I live in Austin, which is rapidly becoming a landing spot for Californians looking to get away, and my experience in Texas has been qu

Where in Texas were you? I live in Austin, which is rapidly becoming a landing spot for Californians looking to get away, and my experience in Texas has been quite different than yours. Segregation was physically built into the planning of the city of Austin[0], and it's pretty apparent if you spend a significant amount of time here. Not only that, but rising cost of living in Austin keeps pushing minority communities further and further from the city. The social scene is pretty similar to what you're describing in Palo Alto as well. Tech is overwhelmingly white and male, and the social scene around the industry reflects this. I'm not going to argue that companies are the only problem, but job creation that only benefits highly skilled labor and leaves the rest of the community out to dry causes, or at the very least exacerbates, several of the problems outlined in this piece. It's a system that has benefited me tremendously, but as I get out of the tech community "bubble" and explore more of Austin, I see a lot of parallels between SF and ATX. My fear is that SF is just ahead of the curve. [0]: https://projects.statesman.com/news/economic-mobility/ https://projects.statesman.com/news/economic-mobility/

rayiner 8y ago
Few hours east of Dallas. No tech out there, but lots of good oil & gas/manufacturing industry jobs.
bilbo0s 8y ago
Well, segregation is definitely a part of Texas. But what I think he/she was saying was that blacks and hispanics could shop and eat at the same restaurants and shops that whites and asians shop and eat at. Of course they won't live in the same areas, as you said, segregation is a part of life in Texas. But there is more mixing is what he/she was getting at I think.
pcwalton 8y ago
Having grown up near-ish Austin and now living in SF, I agree that SF is just ahead of the curve. There's nothing special about Texas that makes it immune to de facto segregation caused by history and NIMBYism. In fact, Texas government is significantly more dysfunctional than that of California. If Houston (or Chicago for that matter) had followed the same economic path as SF, it would have ended up with the same problems. The idea that rich people in Texas are somehow more virtuous is laughable; talk to people from Plano sometime.

rayiner 8y ago

Few hours east of Dallas. No tech out there, but lots of good oil & gas/manufacturing industry jobs.

bilbo0s 8y ago

Well, segregation is definitely a part of Texas. But what I think he/she was saying was that blacks and hispanics could shop and eat at the same restaurants and shops that whites and asians shop and eat at. Of course they won't live in the same areas, as you said, segregation is a part of life in Texas. But there is more mixing is what he/she was getting at I think.

pcwalton 8y ago

Having grown up near-ish Austin and now living in SF, I agree that SF is just ahead of the curve. There's nothing special about Texas that makes it immune to de facto segregation caused by history and NIMBYism. In fact, Texas government is significantly more dysfunctional than that of California. If Houston (or Chicago for that matter) had followed the same economic path as SF, it would have ended up with the same problems. The idea that rich people in Texas are somehow more virtuous is laughable; talk to people from Plano sometime.