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To stay on topic: does it seem to be making a difference in Texas? How or how not? Companies are moving to Texas, and cities like Austin seem to be popular am

by asow92 3y ago

To stay on topic: does it seem to be making a difference in Texas? How or how not? Companies are moving to Texas, and cities like Austin seem to be popular amongst people who agree with leftist perspectives. fwiw, I'm from up upstate NY and what we've seen is companies and people leaving over the decades while taxes increasing. It doesn't seem sustainable.

brendoelfrendo 3y ago
I think, unfortunately, the insulating effect of wealth can explain some of the individual-level decision making. If we assume these companies are relocating professional, full-time staff, it's very possible those folks are making much, much more than the locals. When I lived in Texas, I made several times more than the median income for my metro area, and that's while still being paid less than my coastal peers. Someone in that situation may not agree with local policies around housing, or healthcare, or transportation, or whatever; but they're also likely to be able to spend their way out of any problems that they encounter with those policies. Likewise, a professional couple relocating from New York may not agree with state or local policies around schools, or gun control, or air quality; but they can probably afford private schools (which they were probably already using in New York, even if they largely agreed with NY's public school policy), and a home in a secure neighborhood, and an electric car. They may have delayed having kids, or had fewer kids, or maybe they don't have kids at all and live the DINK life where there DI goes much, much further. Cities like Austin have all the amenities that a "lifestyle leftist" would want: local stores selling local goods and produce; farm-to-table restaurants; a vibrant arts scene; plentiful EV chargers; etc. Such a person will probably live near like-minded people, with whom they will lament that Abbot has to go and that it's unfortunate that the state government is so hostile to teachers, or the environment, or trans people; but they're not going to take meaningful action that might bite the hand that feeds, like pushing to reduce corporate subsidies or increasing financial or environmental regulations.
hn_throwaway_99 3y ago
I've lived in Austin for about a quarter century. All of my extended family are from upstate NY (parents/grandparents from there originally). Totally agree with what you've said about upstate NY - it's pretty depressing to visit these days. Taxes and regulations aren't the only aspect, but they're a huuuge part of it. Have seen some valiant efforts to turn things around (e.g. SUNY), will have to see how that works out. With regard to Austin and TX, will be interesting to see how that plays out. Austin has always been more liberal ("The People's Republic of Austin" was a nickname), but now essentially all the major cities in TX (not to mention everywhere else) are liberal. TX State Leg and Austin used to fight a lot, but things have gotten decidedly worse recently with the state trying to neuter all local control (and even doing some particularly gross things like passing voting legislation that only applies to Houston). See https://www.texasobserver.org/death-star-hb-2127-democracy/ https://www.texasobserver.org/death-star-hb-2127-democracy/ I used to love Austin, but not so much anymore, and it's not just a "back in my day" story. When I first moved here, I thought "yeah, it's smack in the middle of Texas, and it doesn't have anywhere near the amenities (arts, sports, architecture, transit connections, etc.) of a larger coastal city. But it's so much cheaper than those cities, so you can actually afford to take a lot more advantage of the things it has. And from a weather perspective, sure you've got 2 months of super hot summer, but then you get 10 months of great weather." Those tradeoffs have started to go rotten. Austin is now expensive as fuck (with the traffic to match) but it still lacks the amenities of a larger city. The state government has really started negatively affecting the day-to-day lives of citizens. And from a weather perspective, this is not just a hellish summer - we've never had anything like this continuous onslaught of 105+ days, and it's only going to get worse.

by asow92 3y ago

brendoelfrendo 3y ago

I think, unfortunately, the insulating effect of wealth can explain some of the individual-level decision making. If we assume these companies are relocating professional, full-time staff, it's very possible those folks are making much, much more than the locals. When I lived in Texas, I made several times more than the median income for my metro area, and that's while still being paid less than my coastal peers. Someone in that situation may not agree with local policies around housing, or healthcare, or transportation, or whatever; but they're also likely to be able to spend their way out of any problems that they encounter with those policies. Likewise, a professional couple relocating from New York may not agree with state or local policies around schools, or gun control, or air quality; but they can probably afford private schools (which they were probably already using in New York, even if they largely agreed with NY's public school policy), and a home in a secure neighborhood, and an electric car. They may have delayed having kids, or had fewer kids, or maybe they don't have kids at all and live the DINK life where there DI goes much, much further. Cities like Austin have all the amenities that a "lifestyle leftist" would want: local stores selling local goods and produce; farm-to-table restaurants; a vibrant arts scene; plentiful EV chargers; etc. Such a person will probably live near like-minded people, with whom they will lament that Abbot has to go and that it's unfortunate that the state government is so hostile to teachers, or the environment, or trans people; but they're not going to take meaningful action that might bite the hand that feeds, like pushing to reduce corporate subsidies or increasing financial or environmental regulations.

hn_throwaway_99 3y ago

I've lived in Austin for about a quarter century. All of my extended family are from upstate NY (parents/grandparents from there originally). Totally agree with what you've said about upstate NY - it's pretty depressing to visit these days. Taxes and regulations aren't the only aspect, but they're a huuuge part of it. Have seen some valiant efforts to turn things around (e.g. SUNY), will have to see how that works out. With regard to Austin and TX, will be interesting to see how that plays out. Austin has always been more liberal ("The People's Republic of Austin" was a nickname), but now essentially all the major cities in TX (not to mention everywhere else) are liberal. TX State Leg and Austin used to fight a lot, but things have gotten decidedly worse recently with the state trying to neuter all local control (and even doing some particularly gross things like passing voting legislation that only applies to Houston). See https://www.texasobserver.org/death-star-hb-2127-democracy/ https://www.texasobserver.org/death-star-hb-2127-democracy/ I used to love Austin, but not so much anymore, and it's not just a "back in my day" story. When I first moved here, I thought "yeah, it's smack in the middle of Texas, and it doesn't have anywhere near the amenities (arts, sports, architecture, transit connections, etc.) of a larger coastal city. But it's so much cheaper than those cities, so you can actually afford to take a lot more advantage of the things it has. And from a weather perspective, sure you've got 2 months of super hot summer, but then you get 10 months of great weather." Those tradeoffs have started to go rotten. Austin is now expensive as fuck (with the traffic to match) but it still lacks the amenities of a larger city. The state government has really started negatively affecting the day-to-day lives of citizens. And from a weather perspective, this is not just a hellish summer - we've never had anything like this continuous onslaught of 105+ days, and it's only going to get worse.