Austin as a larger metro area has an order of magnitude the amount of land that all of the peninsula has, with no water in the way. Supporting housing growth t

Austin as a larger metro area has an order of magnitude the amount of land that all of the peninsula has, with no water in the way. Supporting housing growth through suburban sprawl is a story of most cities in the midwest & south in the US, and has completely different problems. I don't think the comparison will hold up. The amount of livable land in a city like Mountain View is 12 square miles in city limits, Palo Alto is a massive 26! Austin is 271 square miles. I agree the tax situation for private housing is nuts in the bay, but we should not pretend the bay and Austin face the same housing problems.