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All this talk about Austin becoming the new SV - but then you see regressive laws like this getting pushed through. No thanks.
by TrackerFF 5y ago
All this talk about Austin becoming the new SV - but then you see regressive laws like this getting pushed through. No thanks.
- thatguy0900 5y agoI half suspect this is because of Austin becoming the new sv. They don't want you guys, they want to stay red. This will scare a lot of people off.
- Robotbeat 5y agoMigration of people from SV to Austin will change the political landscape and stop stuff like this from being passed.
- twa999 5y agocounter point, laws like this are necessary to prevent this from happening.
- stephenhuey 5y agoHouston underwent the greatest ethnic transformation of any major U.S. city in my lifetime. 1 out of 4 Houstonians is now foreign-born, and a lot of people have moved to Houston from the northern U.S. in the last decade. Austin has voted differently from a lot of Texas long before any SV influx, and they may help diversify voting in the state but not nearly as much as changes in other parts of Texas.
- wavefunction 5y agoI tell people from outside Texas that Houston is the most diverse city in the US and they act like I'm shamelessly lying. With all the stuff there is about Texas government and politics to criticize, it's a very unique part of the country under significant tensions pulling the place and people in multiple contradictory directions.
- crazy_horse 5y agoIt used to frustrate me but now it just makes me laugh when I see people talk about Dallas, Houston like they aren't two of the more diverse and largest metros in the country.
- azinman2 5y agoYet when my Indian friends were getting a housing tour in Dallas, they were told how diverse the area is: they have Protestant, Baptist, and Catholic Churches in this neighborhood! That didn’t impress them much (in fact it did the opposite) and they stayed in SF.
- crazy_horse 5y agoIt certainly depends on the area. I'm within about 2 miles of a Buddhist template and multiple mosques. There are another sixty churches in the same area, but it is what it is.
- azinman2 5y agoIt not about the religion. It’s that a local thought that was indicative of diversity. It spoke to the local mindset.
- wavefunction 5y agoDallas is very different than Houston and I made no claims about Dallas.
- deleted 5y ago[deleted]
- btmiller 5y agoIn practice it really isn’t. The city sprawls endlessly with no mass transit, so you end up staying in your corner of the greater Houston area all the time, which is 90% suburbs with no walkability. Urban Houston is more diverse yes, but once you get beyond 610 you lose all city benefits and all the neighborhoods are homogeneous and monocultural. Houston is ok. Greater Houston is a terrible place. Great food though.
- dctoedt 5y agoScene: Houston, wedding-anniversary dinner in a French restaurant a few years ago. The server looked faintly Asian but sounded faintly French. Me: Are you Vietnamese by any chance? Her: No, I'm from Kazakhstan. Me: That's so interesting; I didn't know we had Kazakhs here in Houston. Her: Yes, there's about 5,000 of us. I was gobsmacked, as our Brit friends might say.
- dctoedt 5y agoNow if the blue cities in Texas can just somehow get rid of the conservative-rigged gerrymandering that gives the red rural areas such disproportionate power in state government.
- Robotbeat 5y agoI’m not sure ethnic change translates into progressive social policies. Latino immigrants tend to be socially conservative. (This is why Republicans hyperventilating about immigrants changing the political landscape should calm themselves down and Democrats shouldn’t take anything for granted.) SV immigrants probably a lot more socially progressive.
- stephenhuey 5y agoI’ll give you that, but more languages are spoken in Houston than in NYC or LA, so even though the Hispanic population is in the majority, there are a lot of other kinds of people as well. And in the past election, Biden received twice as many votes from Houston as he did from Austin due to the fact that for all its fame Austin is a much smaller city.
- smt88 5y agoProbably not just SV, but it's true Texas is changing. It's a shame it didn't change faster.
- jhayward 5y agoAll of the demographic change is essentially growth in the Hispanic population. The Hispanic demo votes overwhelmingly conservative.
- smt88 5y agoThat is not correct. Depending on the survey you look at, only 30-38% of Latino voters voted for Trump in 2020[1][2]. This was a big shift toward Republicans in 2020, but it still didn't make Latinos majority Republican. There are trends that work for and against both parties right now, too, so 2022 is anyone's guess, but they'll still likely vote majority Democrat. 1. https://www.nbcnews.com/news/latino/racist-latino-vote-accelerates-texas-republicans-seek-restrictions-rcna1546 https://www.nbcnews.com/news/latino/racist-latino-vote-accel... 2. https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2021/08/05/latinos-are-not-lock-democrats-heres-why/ https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2021/08/05/latinos-a...
- jhayward 5y agoNo, it won't. Austin is one of the most gerrymandered regions of the country. I live in downtown Austin. My congressman is Chip Roy, an ultra-right-wing MAGA nonsense spewing idiot. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Texas%27s_21st_congressional_district https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Texas%27s_21st_congressional_d...
- slaveryintx 5y agoYou don't have to pay prisoners for work in Texas.
- religionintx 5y agoUnfortunately, I find it necessary to help elucidate some moral issues that recent legal developments in one state of the Union have brought to light. Such a God is correctly assessed as hostile to the patrons of Earth. Such a creation myth involving seven (7) days to create Heaven, Hell Lite, and Hell (Heaven, Earth, and Hell) is what we must interpret. At issue is whether the singular, supernatural God in Heaven is Benevolent (Good) and Omnipotent (All-knowing). Why would a loving God create Heaven without suffering on the first day, and then create Earth etc. with suffering on the succeeding days? Why not create Heaven for all? Why send infants into a life of suffering on Earth (Hell Lite) when they could be sent directly to Heaven with no suffering? Ergo, God's plan is to force babies to suffer on Earth for awhile; but if they die sinless, then they go to Heaven where parents aren't needed. Ergo, Heaven is full of parentless dead babies. You've made asses of yourselfs in trying to manipulate others into your golden candlestick tax districts, where the whole congregation does not have healthcare. God created a world in need of healthcare, and isn't getting healthcare to it. Ergo, because God created a world of suffering for us - and babies - god is not Friendly. And if god is not friendly, god is a very poor basis for our morality, and for our legal system. Case in point: did god ask for Mary's (or even Joseph's) consent? A benevolent god would design in required consent. In the Christian bible, furthermore, god tells them to kill even the enemies' women and unborn children. Ergo, god does not value the sanctity of infants' lives over other concerns. For citations of scripture, see e.g. Freedom from Religion Foundation > What Does the Bible Really Say About Abortion? https://ffrf.org/component/k2/item/25602-abortion-rights https://ffrf.org/component/k2/item/25602-abortion-rights A very poor basis for morality and law, indeed. What is "Original Sin" if not a suggestion that we should choose very wisely? And when they rolled that [silver] rock from the tomb, behold what did they find? No dead baby; for the dead baby of god was in heaven, gentlemen. Sinless dead babies all go to heaven, gentlemen. I think we can all agree that preventing unintended pregnancy is a worthwhile objective; though we have very differing views on whether abstinence-based education works. States with higher rates of religiosity (by church attendance) have higher rates of teen pregnancy: there is a somewhat strong positive correlation. A standing prayer request: Pray that we might get healthcare to our congregation.
- fmakunbound 5y agoBetter if they migrate to rural Texas. We’re all cracked, packed and stacked here in Austin and other metropolitan areas since Tom de Lay and the rest of the Republicans redistricted back in 2003.
- MandieD 5y agoWoke: moving to Bell or Lubbock County to improve Texas politics Bespoke: moving to Milam or Scurry County to improve Texas politics
- dredmorbius 5y agoTexas is close enough to flipping blue that it wouldn't take a whole lot. A few more votes in a few more districts.
- rbanffy 5y agoShouldn't we build an app to make that easier? The data is public, just focus on the districts where the voting was closest and connect that to Zillow or something similar. You can't guarantee results, of course, but we can point people in the right direction to change the state.
- toomuchtodo 5y agoI don't think so. Folks shouldn't sacrifice quality of life (moving to rural areas versus areas they might desire more) to tip the state faster than it will already tip. It's just a matter of time, governed by the birth, immigration (domestic and foreign), and death rate. It's just a matter of time (I don't say that lightly, I have made my donations to support relief efforts from recent policy decisions).
- rbanffy 5y agoThe website can't force anyone to make the move, but can help with deciding where to move to in order to improve quality of life for everyone in the state. It's also a solid investment to purchase real estate in a place you know quality of life will improve.
- toomuchtodo 5y agoHelp yourself to the data: https://ballotpedia.org/Pivot_Counties_in_Texas https://ballotpedia.org/Pivot_Counties_in_Texas Sort by counties in descending order closest to ~50% blue for targeting relocation suggestions, turning counties that flip solid blue. Best bang for your buck imho. Probably cheaper housing too, close enough to urban cores for hybrid remote, far enough out to be affordable. A couple days worth of CRUD/GIS/data science work if I had to hazard a guess.
- klyrs 5y agoIf you thought that Austin was progressive but weren't aware that voting in Austin is futile, here's your wakeup call.
- smt88 5y agoAustin has dozens of elected officials below the state level. Voting is never futile. Vote even if you don't think you'll win because that's what motivates other people to vote, and it's the only thing you can do to delay having to actually fight an authoritarian regime.
- vkou 5y ago> Austin has dozens of elected officials below the state level. Which the party of states' rights will happily run over. Republican-controlled state legislatures have no issue with overturning local government legislature to impose their agenda.
- smt88 5y agoThere are hundreds of local policies that states don't touch, including things related to collecting and spending taxes. If everyone in Texas voted, it might have avoided this situation. You vote when it's hopeless until it isn't anymore.
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- quest88 5y agoBlame packing and cracking voting districts.
- RickJWagner 5y agoThere's a reason people are fleeing California and running to Texas. It would be a shame if the bad parts of California followed them.