3 ms·

Electricity is being worked on, as that press release indicates. On the hottest day or two of the year, the power might go out for a little bit. It's not a big

by natrius 14y ago

Electricity is being worked on, as that press release indicates. On the hottest day or two of the year, the power might go out for a little bit. It's not a big deal. Water is going to be the biggest issue this legislative session. California has similar water problems. Schools... are complicated. That one might not get fixed, but performance is better correlated with household income than education spending. Roads are easy. Tolls. The people who use the roads pay for them. Texas is my home state as well. I went to California for a few years, then came back. I don't plan on leaving.

saryant 14y ago
I did half of your roundtrip. Grew up in the Bay Area, moved to Texas. Swore I'd end up moving back but seven years later I have absolutely no intention of doing so.
- austingunter 14y ago
  CapitalFactory.com is by far the most up and coming startup community in Austin.
  - saryant 14y ago
    I'm actually in Houston but I've been heavily involved with some of Geekdom's efforts in San Antonio. Great stuff going on there.
larrydag 14y ago
Also looking at the Texas startup scene to name a few. TechWildcatters http://techwildcatters.com/ http://techwildcatters.com/ Texas Entrepreneur Network http://texasenetworks.com/ http://texasenetworks.com/ BarCamp Dallas http://barcamp.org/w/page/400642/BarCampDallas http://barcamp.org/w/page/400642/BarCampDallas
caseysoftware 14y ago
I moved here to Austin from the DC area two years ago and absolutely love the place. And I do visit the Bay Area regularly as I work for Twilio. I just wouldn't want to live there.
caniszczyk 14y ago
Same here, went to the bay area for a few years and came back to Austin. It's just a better area, so many things to do and better quality of life.
techsupporter 14y ago
Considering TXU is still being "managed" quite well by its leveraged buyout partners, "no big deal" may very well become a big deal. Texans already pay some of the highest average per-kWh rates in the country though the falling price of natural gas has helped. Unless Texas is going to take water from Oklahoma by force, I wasn't meaning a solution to the problem from the state government. Texas is in a long-term, structural drought. The Ogallala aquifer is a shadow of its former self and the next major underground aquifer in East Texas is in danger of being rendered unusable by the Keystone pipeline. Several surface lakes have simply gone...away (check out aerial maps near Bronte). As for tolling, I suppose the city folk will just keep letting paid for highways like 121 or capacity expansions (basically anything; 820, 183, Westpark, 635) go toll because hey, poor people don't need to get around. Mass transit will take care of that. Oops, no it won't. Besides, developers in rural areas gotta have their pristine FM roads (which are paid for by the state). I didn't leave Texas for California (heavens, no) and I had the chance to come back this year making more money than I do in the (higher cost of living) state where I now live. Couldn't do it. Until the Legislature gets its head out of its ass and realizes that government is expensive--both for needed things like roads and schools, and nice to have things like state parks--and that you just dishonestly[0] can't cut your way to perfection, my state is going to be set up more and more for long-term failure. Even the Comptroller, who is legally required to make an accurate assessment of the state's income, can't get it all to balance without slight of hand. 0 - Sure, the state government hasn't raised taxes or imposed new fees in years. They just leave that hatchet job for the local governments. Never mind the several billion dollars earning crap for interest in the "rainy day fund" that's never once seen an emergency worthy of tapping it. My apologies for the extreme derail; I'll stop ranting now.
- bjcy 14y ago
  Born and raised in Austin, still live and work here. I suppose I should learn a bit more about my own state as I didn't know much of this or the above comments... HN: where all y'all learn you somethin'.

by natrius 14y ago

saryant 14y ago

I did half of your roundtrip. Grew up in the Bay Area, moved to Texas. Swore I'd end up moving back but seven years later I have absolutely no intention of doing so.

austingunter 14y ago
CapitalFactory.com is by far the most up and coming startup community in Austin.
- saryant 14y ago
  I'm actually in Houston but I've been heavily involved with some of Geekdom's efforts in San Antonio. Great stuff going on there.

larrydag 14y ago

Also looking at the Texas startup scene to name a few. TechWildcatters http://techwildcatters.com/ http://techwildcatters.com/ Texas Entrepreneur Network http://texasenetworks.com/ http://texasenetworks.com/ BarCamp Dallas http://barcamp.org/w/page/400642/BarCampDallas http://barcamp.org/w/page/400642/BarCampDallas

caseysoftware 14y ago

I moved here to Austin from the DC area two years ago and absolutely love the place. And I do visit the Bay Area regularly as I work for Twilio. I just wouldn't want to live there.

caniszczyk 14y ago

Same here, went to the bay area for a few years and came back to Austin. It's just a better area, so many things to do and better quality of life.

techsupporter 14y ago

Considering TXU is still being "managed" quite well by its leveraged buyout partners, "no big deal" may very well become a big deal. Texans already pay some of the highest average per-kWh rates in the country though the falling price of natural gas has helped. Unless Texas is going to take water from Oklahoma by force, I wasn't meaning a solution to the problem from the state government. Texas is in a long-term, structural drought. The Ogallala aquifer is a shadow of its former self and the next major underground aquifer in East Texas is in danger of being rendered unusable by the Keystone pipeline. Several surface lakes have simply gone...away (check out aerial maps near Bronte). As for tolling, I suppose the city folk will just keep letting paid for highways like 121 or capacity expansions (basically anything; 820, 183, Westpark, 635) go toll because hey, poor people don't need to get around. Mass transit will take care of that. Oops, no it won't. Besides, developers in rural areas gotta have their pristine FM roads (which are paid for by the state). I didn't leave Texas for California (heavens, no) and I had the chance to come back this year making more money than I do in the (higher cost of living) state where I now live. Couldn't do it. Until the Legislature gets its head out of its ass and realizes that government is expensive--both for needed things like roads and schools, and nice to have things like state parks--and that you just dishonestly[0] can't cut your way to perfection, my state is going to be set up more and more for long-term failure. Even the Comptroller, who is legally required to make an accurate assessment of the state's income, can't get it all to balance without slight of hand. 0 - Sure, the state government hasn't raised taxes or imposed new fees in years. They just leave that hatchet job for the local governments. Never mind the several billion dollars earning crap for interest in the "rainy day fund" that's never once seen an emergency worthy of tapping it. My apologies for the extreme derail; I'll stop ranting now.

bjcy 14y ago
Born and raised in Austin, still live and work here. I suppose I should learn a bit more about my own state as I didn't know much of this or the above comments... HN: where all y'all learn you somethin'.