Most cities look at large-scale, high-salary employers as a good thing; they go out of their way to solicit them, because high-income employees consume fewer se

Most cities look at large-scale, high-salary employers as a good thing; they go out of their way to solicit them, because high-income employees consume fewer services while paying more into the system, and because those employees are extremely valuable to the local retail economy. Most cities would see techies as a good thing: they ride bikes, they buy expensive local coffee, they eat out all the time, they're statistically very unlikely to mug people or steal cars. I was in Austin recently and I definitely felt a much more positive energy out there than in California. At first, it was weird. "Wait, people here want people like us to move in?" As an economic arrangement, homeownership is (IMO) a less-than-optimal one-- possibly better than renting but only because the government makes it so-- but it's good for civic virtue because when middle-class people can own houses, there's a focus on making the place better for everyone (since you're planning to be there for several years) rather than this zero-sum mentality you get in the coastal star cities.