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Do you have any idea what housing costs in the bay area though? We can compare between the zipcodes of Gigafactory Texas and Fremont. According to Redfin the me

Do you have any idea what housing costs in the bay area though? We can compare between the zipcodes of Gigafactory Texas and Fremont. According to Redfin the median sale price for 78725 (Austin) is $362k, compared to $1.225 million for 94538 (Fremont). That's more than 3x the price. Compared to California it's definitely affordable. Austin: https://www.redfin.com/zipcode/78725/housing-market https://www.redfin.com/zipcode/78725/housing-market Fremont: https://www.redfin.com/zipcode/94538/housing-market https://www.redfin.com/zipcode/94538/housing-market

scoofy 5y ago
I mean, to be fair, 78725 is effectively the middle of nowhere in Austin. It makes sense if Musk's goal was to choose a fairly undeveloped exurb, but the gigafactory is as close to Manor and Webberville as it is to central Austin. I know Fremont is suburban, but it's a well incorporated suburb to both SF, Oakland and San Jose. 78725 is on the opposite side of Austin from most of the fancy neighborhoods.
- jhatemyjob 5y ago
  You're joking, right? It's 20 minutes away from downtown.
  - scoofy 5y ago
    I mean, I haven't lived in Austin in a decade, and I know the east side neighborhoods are becoming more desireable, but my point is that it's an isolated area. You've got 71 and MLK as your only access to central Austin, so you're extremely limited in commuting. Any further development will quickly make the current Austin traffic paradigm problematic for anyone who isn't living on the east side. 130 does make pfugerville and south austin accessible though, but it's a toll road.
    - jhatemyjob 5y ago
      I see. Still, I think that's better than living in Fremont and commuting into SF. Even with BART. I tried it a few times, that shit sucks FWIW I haven't been in Austin, just Dallas
      - yurishimo 5y ago
        I'm not sure I'd agree with some of these people here that Austin is worse than SF. I've driven in both within the past 6 months. But geographically speaking, Austin is pretty awful. I35 is basically the in/out for all of the commuters from the north and south. There are some tollroads but Austin has had trouble getting people to use them because they were so expensive. They even raised the speed limit to 85 as an incentive and still enough folks wouldn't pay the astronomical rates! Now, for people making software engineer salaries, they could afford it, but they likely won't be enough to continue investment in the needed timeframe. Apple, Tesla, etc, so many huge names are moving to Austin and the city just wasn't built for it. They have enough room to make stuff happen, but construction takes money and political will. Austin is a blue city, but we all know money leans red, especially when it comes to increased taxes to pay for city projects. Can you imagine the amount of money that would need to be spent to imminent domain a subdivision for a new freeway? I can see the speculative investment purchases already! Hold them up in lawsuits for a few years while the housing prices get pumped to kingdom come. Now, I live up the road in quaint little ole Dallas, so what do I know? I've watched the price of housing increase by 30% in a couple years. It's absolutely insane. Lucky for DFW, it has had more of a focus on transportation development across the entire metroplex a lot longer than Austin, so even during rush hour you can get all the way into downtown from the far suburbs in an hour. Granted, this is also made possible by an insane amount of investment in toll roads, but they've been strategically built through the wealthiest neighborhoods, forcing residents to take them just to leave home. (Obviously not required, but the city knew they had money to burn.) DFW also has the second(?) largest airport in the US, processing an insane amount of cargo and thus we have highways to match. DFW boasts 4 professional sports teams, a major backbone of financial services, a thriving entertainment scene, and still plenty of room to expand. DFW still lacks around public transportation, but if you are willing to pony up the cash for a place in the city, it's certainly possible to commute in a reasonable amount of time. You will absolutely need a car still for weekend activities unless you want to ride a bus for 3 hours one way. Californian's, if you're going to move to Texas, go fill up Austin first before I buy a house next year, but then when you realize it's too crowded down there, you can come visit the state fair (going on now)! ;)
- minhazm 5y ago
  Google maps says downtown Austin to Giga Texas is 17 miles, 24 minutes. I don't know what traffic is like in Austin but I imagine it's not nearly as bad as the bay area. I think a 25-30 min commute is pretty reasonable and most people would happily take that for much cheaper housing. The big difference is that in Austin you have the option to commute a bit for much cheaper housing. But in the bay area you could be commuting over an hour each way and the houses will still be over $1 million.
  - deleted 5y ago
    [deleted]
  - adamvalve 5y ago
    People have been pouring in to Austin for years and Austin has done nothing in terms of infrastructure. Traffic is a nightmare.
  - bradknowles 5y ago
    I lived and worked for six months in the Cupertino area for a contract job at Apple. My wife and I moved to Austin in 2006. Traffic in Austin is weird. There are some places where it’s literally the worst in the nation — I-35 is the most congested interstate in the nation, and the most congested part of I-35 starts just above Austin and ends just south of Austin. I-35 is more or less congested pretty much around the clock. But if you live closer in, and you’re traveling further out, then you can go counter flow, and it might not be too bad, depending on where you start and where you end. I can say the same is true for Cupertino. My commute there started on Stevens Creek Road, where it crossed 280 and went west on Stephen’s Creek Road and ended when I got to Bubb Road, just east of where Stevens Creek Road crossed 85. If you can carefully pick your starting and ending points, the commute isn’t so bad. But I was a contractor. I was getting paid way more than the employees. At the time my contract was up, I calculated that if they were going to offer me a job, they’d have to offer me at least $250k per year plus bonuses and stock, just to let me keep renting that same one bedroom apartment. And nobody but executives were making that kind of money at that time. Meanwhile, my wife stayed here in Austin, with our cats and our house, and we were still making house payments as well — and my 1BR apartment out there cost way more than our 4BR house here. Getting back to the traffic here in Austin, 360 can be a parking lot if you’re going the wrong direction at the wrong time. So can Mopac. And both are still better than I-35. And that’s really it for major north-south commuting options. The 130 toll road on the far eastern sides of town just isn’t an option for most people. As fast as it is, it would take far too long to get over there, go north or south by however much you need, and get back, compared to just staying on the parking lot you’re already on. So, the key will be to choose housing that is close to the office, so that you can avoid most of the commute in the first place. And housing costs is one area in which Austin fortunately still can’t compare to the Bay Area. As much as I hate how much housing costs have gone up and that my wife and I are now effectively locked into our house because we can’t find a place we could afford to buy within a 200 mile radius for what we would get for this house, our housing costs are still way, way below that in the Bay Area. And yes, we still hate all the jokers coming in from California who are gladly dropping millions of bucks to buy up houses that just a few years ago were only worth a few hundred thousand. Thanks for visiting, but Austin is full. Yankee go home, please.
- freewilly1040 5y ago
  All three cities you list are over an hour to Fremont via transit. 45 min to 1.5 hour via car with traffic.

scoofy 5y ago

I mean, to be fair, 78725 is effectively the middle of nowhere in Austin. It makes sense if Musk's goal was to choose a fairly undeveloped exurb, but the gigafactory is as close to Manor and Webberville as it is to central Austin. I know Fremont is suburban, but it's a well incorporated suburb to both SF, Oakland and San Jose. 78725 is on the opposite side of Austin from most of the fancy neighborhoods.

jhatemyjob 5y ago
You're joking, right? It's 20 minutes away from downtown.
- scoofy 5y ago
  I mean, I haven't lived in Austin in a decade, and I know the east side neighborhoods are becoming more desireable, but my point is that it's an isolated area. You've got 71 and MLK as your only access to central Austin, so you're extremely limited in commuting. Any further development will quickly make the current Austin traffic paradigm problematic for anyone who isn't living on the east side. 130 does make pfugerville and south austin accessible though, but it's a toll road.
  - jhatemyjob 5y ago
    I see. Still, I think that's better than living in Fremont and commuting into SF. Even with BART. I tried it a few times, that shit sucks FWIW I haven't been in Austin, just Dallas
    - yurishimo 5y ago
      I'm not sure I'd agree with some of these people here that Austin is worse than SF. I've driven in both within the past 6 months. But geographically speaking, Austin is pretty awful. I35 is basically the in/out for all of the commuters from the north and south. There are some tollroads but Austin has had trouble getting people to use them because they were so expensive. They even raised the speed limit to 85 as an incentive and still enough folks wouldn't pay the astronomical rates! Now, for people making software engineer salaries, they could afford it, but they likely won't be enough to continue investment in the needed timeframe. Apple, Tesla, etc, so many huge names are moving to Austin and the city just wasn't built for it. They have enough room to make stuff happen, but construction takes money and political will. Austin is a blue city, but we all know money leans red, especially when it comes to increased taxes to pay for city projects. Can you imagine the amount of money that would need to be spent to imminent domain a subdivision for a new freeway? I can see the speculative investment purchases already! Hold them up in lawsuits for a few years while the housing prices get pumped to kingdom come. Now, I live up the road in quaint little ole Dallas, so what do I know? I've watched the price of housing increase by 30% in a couple years. It's absolutely insane. Lucky for DFW, it has had more of a focus on transportation development across the entire metroplex a lot longer than Austin, so even during rush hour you can get all the way into downtown from the far suburbs in an hour. Granted, this is also made possible by an insane amount of investment in toll roads, but they've been strategically built through the wealthiest neighborhoods, forcing residents to take them just to leave home. (Obviously not required, but the city knew they had money to burn.) DFW also has the second(?) largest airport in the US, processing an insane amount of cargo and thus we have highways to match. DFW boasts 4 professional sports teams, a major backbone of financial services, a thriving entertainment scene, and still plenty of room to expand. DFW still lacks around public transportation, but if you are willing to pony up the cash for a place in the city, it's certainly possible to commute in a reasonable amount of time. You will absolutely need a car still for weekend activities unless you want to ride a bus for 3 hours one way. Californian's, if you're going to move to Texas, go fill up Austin first before I buy a house next year, but then when you realize it's too crowded down there, you can come visit the state fair (going on now)! ;)
minhazm 5y ago
Google maps says downtown Austin to Giga Texas is 17 miles, 24 minutes. I don't know what traffic is like in Austin but I imagine it's not nearly as bad as the bay area. I think a 25-30 min commute is pretty reasonable and most people would happily take that for much cheaper housing. The big difference is that in Austin you have the option to commute a bit for much cheaper housing. But in the bay area you could be commuting over an hour each way and the houses will still be over $1 million.
- deleted 5y ago
  [deleted]
- adamvalve 5y ago
  People have been pouring in to Austin for years and Austin has done nothing in terms of infrastructure. Traffic is a nightmare.
- bradknowles 5y ago
  I lived and worked for six months in the Cupertino area for a contract job at Apple. My wife and I moved to Austin in 2006. Traffic in Austin is weird. There are some places where it’s literally the worst in the nation — I-35 is the most congested interstate in the nation, and the most congested part of I-35 starts just above Austin and ends just south of Austin. I-35 is more or less congested pretty much around the clock. But if you live closer in, and you’re traveling further out, then you can go counter flow, and it might not be too bad, depending on where you start and where you end. I can say the same is true for Cupertino. My commute there started on Stevens Creek Road, where it crossed 280 and went west on Stephen’s Creek Road and ended when I got to Bubb Road, just east of where Stevens Creek Road crossed 85. If you can carefully pick your starting and ending points, the commute isn’t so bad. But I was a contractor. I was getting paid way more than the employees. At the time my contract was up, I calculated that if they were going to offer me a job, they’d have to offer me at least $250k per year plus bonuses and stock, just to let me keep renting that same one bedroom apartment. And nobody but executives were making that kind of money at that time. Meanwhile, my wife stayed here in Austin, with our cats and our house, and we were still making house payments as well — and my 1BR apartment out there cost way more than our 4BR house here. Getting back to the traffic here in Austin, 360 can be a parking lot if you’re going the wrong direction at the wrong time. So can Mopac. And both are still better than I-35. And that’s really it for major north-south commuting options. The 130 toll road on the far eastern sides of town just isn’t an option for most people. As fast as it is, it would take far too long to get over there, go north or south by however much you need, and get back, compared to just staying on the parking lot you’re already on. So, the key will be to choose housing that is close to the office, so that you can avoid most of the commute in the first place. And housing costs is one area in which Austin fortunately still can’t compare to the Bay Area. As much as I hate how much housing costs have gone up and that my wife and I are now effectively locked into our house because we can’t find a place we could afford to buy within a 200 mile radius for what we would get for this house, our housing costs are still way, way below that in the Bay Area. And yes, we still hate all the jokers coming in from California who are gladly dropping millions of bucks to buy up houses that just a few years ago were only worth a few hundred thousand. Thanks for visiting, but Austin is full. Yankee go home, please.
freewilly1040 5y ago
All three cities you list are over an hour to Fremont via transit. 45 min to 1.5 hour via car with traffic.