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Austin’s public transit is an absolute joke compared to SF. It’s actually embarrassing how bad it is for a city it’s size, but that’s what you get when you live

Austin’s public transit is an absolute joke compared to SF. It’s actually embarrassing how bad it is for a city it’s size, but that’s what you get when you live in an anti-tax area like Texas. Perhaps California taxes are too high, but at least some of them are being put to good use.

jonahhorowitz 3y ago
It's a myth that they pay low taxes in Texas. For most people the taxes are lower in CA (somewhat due to Prop 13).[0] [0] - https://www.foxnews.com/politics/california-taxed-less-texas-new-study-yes-catch https://www.foxnews.com/politics/california-taxed-less-texas... [1] - https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/texas-california-higher-taxes-policy-b2161227.html https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/texas-cali...
- LapsangGuzzler 3y ago
  Which makes the decision not to fund things like public transit even more ridiculous. But then again, Texas refused to deploy its literal rainy day find when Harvey hit, so it really shouldn’t be that surprising.
  - dragonwriter 3y ago
    > > It's a myth that they pay low taxes in Texas. > Which makes the decision not to fund things like public transit even more ridiculous. No, Texas still collects far less taxes and has less money to spend, but at similar income levels, people (outside of the very high end of the distribution) pay higher taxes in Texas. California has more strongly progressive taxes and California has a higher income population, so it can collect a lot more total taxes (per capita, it has the #3 tax revenue per capita of the 50 states + DC) despite people at or below (and up to a fair amount above) US median income paying less in taxes than people making the same amount would in Texas.
- mdorazio 3y ago
  You should probably read the sources you post. Right from #1: "For instance, despite being listed as number 12 compared to Texas' 40th spot, the average Californian paid $9,612 in taxes compared to the average Texan's $8,006. Even more dramatically, despite being only three spots below Texas, New Jersey residents paid $12,652." It's also not relevant to the commenters on this site. People who move to TX from CA tend to be young, high-income, childless, and less likely to own a home. If some combination of those applies to you, the 0% income tax and lower sales tax massively lower your burden.
  - LapsangGuzzler 3y ago
    True, although landlords absolutely pass the cost of property taxes onto renters when they can and this was certainly true in Austin.
    - dragonwriter 3y ago
      > True, although landlords absolutely pass the cost of property taxes onto renters when they can “When they can” is essentially always: if landlords can’t pass costs on to renters, they aren’t going to be landlords for long.
    - mdorazio 3y ago
      Downtown Austin average rent is around $2,200 now [1]. Average in SF is, what, close to $3,500 now? Landlords everywhere pass along property taxes to renters, but even so, Texas renting is still cheaper than CA by a good margin. [1] https://housingworksaustin.org/2022-city-council-district-by-district-and-community-at-a-glance-analysis/ https://housingworksaustin.org/2022-city-council-district-by...
rurban 3y ago
But for Texas they do have the very best public transport. Everybody there drives with the bus, in Houston or Dalles only the ones who cannot afford a car
hn_throwaway_99 3y ago
It's really sad because in 2000 there was a public referendum on starting the first leg of light rail that lost by less than a percentage point. If we had started building out then it would have been much more affordable, and we would have had good momentum and people would have seen the value of it. Instead we're still in the planning phase for the recently approved referendum that will cost billions upon billions for a few miles of stations. On the plus side, I do think Austin has done a good job building out their bike lines over the past few years. Lots of central/suburban roads now have separate bike lanes that are at least protected by those "flexi posts".

jonahhorowitz 3y ago

It's a myth that they pay low taxes in Texas. For most people the taxes are lower in CA (somewhat due to Prop 13).[0] [0] - https://www.foxnews.com/politics/california-taxed-less-texas-new-study-yes-catch https://www.foxnews.com/politics/california-taxed-less-texas... [1] - https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/texas-california-higher-taxes-policy-b2161227.html https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/texas-cali...

LapsangGuzzler 3y ago
Which makes the decision not to fund things like public transit even more ridiculous. But then again, Texas refused to deploy its literal rainy day find when Harvey hit, so it really shouldn’t be that surprising.
- dragonwriter 3y ago
  > > It's a myth that they pay low taxes in Texas. > Which makes the decision not to fund things like public transit even more ridiculous. No, Texas still collects far less taxes and has less money to spend, but at similar income levels, people (outside of the very high end of the distribution) pay higher taxes in Texas. California has more strongly progressive taxes and California has a higher income population, so it can collect a lot more total taxes (per capita, it has the #3 tax revenue per capita of the 50 states + DC) despite people at or below (and up to a fair amount above) US median income paying less in taxes than people making the same amount would in Texas.
mdorazio 3y ago
You should probably read the sources you post. Right from #1: "For instance, despite being listed as number 12 compared to Texas' 40th spot, the average Californian paid $9,612 in taxes compared to the average Texan's $8,006. Even more dramatically, despite being only three spots below Texas, New Jersey residents paid $12,652." It's also not relevant to the commenters on this site. People who move to TX from CA tend to be young, high-income, childless, and less likely to own a home. If some combination of those applies to you, the 0% income tax and lower sales tax massively lower your burden.
- LapsangGuzzler 3y ago
  True, although landlords absolutely pass the cost of property taxes onto renters when they can and this was certainly true in Austin.
  - dragonwriter 3y ago
    > True, although landlords absolutely pass the cost of property taxes onto renters when they can “When they can” is essentially always: if landlords can’t pass costs on to renters, they aren’t going to be landlords for long.
  - mdorazio 3y ago
    Downtown Austin average rent is around $2,200 now [1]. Average in SF is, what, close to $3,500 now? Landlords everywhere pass along property taxes to renters, but even so, Texas renting is still cheaper than CA by a good margin. [1] https://housingworksaustin.org/2022-city-council-district-by-district-and-community-at-a-glance-analysis/ https://housingworksaustin.org/2022-city-council-district-by...

rurban 3y ago

But for Texas they do have the very best public transport. Everybody there drives with the bus, in Houston or Dalles only the ones who cannot afford a car

hn_throwaway_99 3y ago

It's really sad because in 2000 there was a public referendum on starting the first leg of light rail that lost by less than a percentage point. If we had started building out then it would have been much more affordable, and we would have had good momentum and people would have seen the value of it. Instead we're still in the planning phase for the recently approved referendum that will cost billions upon billions for a few miles of stations. On the plus side, I do think Austin has done a good job building out their bike lines over the past few years. Lots of central/suburban roads now have separate bike lanes that are at least protected by those "flexi posts".