Tech workers now doubting decision to move from California to Texas
Tech workers now doubting decision to move from California to Texas
California techies have doubts about moving to Texas
Despite anxiety over Texas' growth and billboards in California trying to persuade residents to stay put, many still chose to switch states, often picking Austin and the larger Central Texas region as their next home.
People selecting Texas over the Golden State cited affordability as a key factor. But for some, it's come with different costs: dense traffic, a lack of dependable public transportation and scorching heat that transplants say is lowering their quality of life. An August report from Insider found that tech workers in particular are getting fed up with Texas, frustrated that career opportunities just aren't as plentiful as they are in Silicon Valley.
As a result, people are moving out of the Lone Star State, or at the very least are considering it. Using U.S. Postal Service data, Insider found that from January to May this year, Austin saw the fifth-largest net outward migration among major U.S. cities, trailing New York, Los Angeles, and Houston, which actually ranked No. 1 among cities that saw the most people leave during that stretch.
Most of the people I know who are looking to move back to the Bay Area or Portland/Seattle are doing to because of the political climate, not the weather. A lot of people were pushed to move by their jobs, or elected to move because they saw a cost of living benefit. They figured they could do the blue city in a red state thing. With people like Abbott in charge, that’s no longer going to be a viable option.
How so? Isn't the average tech worker's salary sufficient to pay for personal remedies to most statewide conservative laws? For example, someone earning six figures would have no trouble quickly and quietly traveling to another state for an abortion.
I don't know anyone in Austin but I do have liberal tech worker friends in DeSantis's Florida and while they're opposed to his policies, they aren't personally affected by those policies in any serious way.
I make decent money and live in Texas. My wife is currently pregnant and the state's policies on maternal care during pregnancy scares the shit out of me. In the case of a medical emergency money doesn't buy time.
The education policies being pushed by the state government are also terrible and private schools are not really any better in that regard. We could homeschool but I am not interested in that for my child.
The general rhetoric demonizing and taking the basic human rights of immigrants, LGBT, and other marginalized communities is also really hard to hear.
Several mass shootings as schools and public places with no interest in taking any kind of preventative actions is disgusting.
The property taxes have become a significant burden on our housing price with no sign of that changing anytime soon.
The state government is opernly corrupt and hostile to anyone who is not a Republican and quietly hostile to the Republicans who aren't high income, powerful, or political donors. Look at our power grid and the states actions after the freeze.
Money can't buy your way out if any of these. We stay because our families live nearby and we want our kids to grow up around them. If I could convince them to move with us, I would leave in a second despite living here for the last 30 years.
Ah yeah a extremely hostile red state that pulls back LGBT laws, passes racist laws, and cops run amuck? Watch my taxes go to build a police militia to stop some invisible enemy, while some poor families live in a van and are harassed? Walking by places that treat my family like criminals because we are brown.
Imagine being okay with an oppressive theocracy because it's only hurting poor people right now
tell me you don't understand, at the fundamental level, what it means to be a liberal and care for others, which makes you a liberal in the first place
This is similar to a situation I'm in. Does it affect me personally? No. You're right I can find ways around it easily enough, I have the money. But I hate the fact I'm seeing it happen to those around me. I've lived my whole life in Texas and was hoping this wave could help tip the scales to have the government start providing better for its people, but sadly things are way too rigged to make an impact.
Thinking of possible scenarios: If you have school age children and want them educated in a public school; f you were LQBTQ+; if you were POC; and/or if you wanted politicians who shared your values and policy priorities, you would be directly affected. ETA: Thought of one more. If you can possibly get pregnant, intentionally or not, you could also possibly have a miscarriage or stillbirth and be charged with an abortion. So abortion laws will affect you even if you aren't actively seeking an abortion.
Also, tangentially related to politics, infrastructure in Texas seems precarious. There are no politicians holding the private companies that run the power grid responsible. People have died because of the cold and the heat in Texas due to infrastructure issues and no politicians and pushing for a solution. It looks like things will simple become worse. This affects everyone in Texas.
It's becoming more and more difficult to keep female, LGBTQ+, or those with children who fall into those categories, in state. I own a tech company with headquarters in Austin and a presence in Florida, California, Virginia and Wyoming. Time and again our candidates ask if they'd have to move to Texas or Florida. They bring up their concern about the political climate, accessibility to healthcare (subtext being gender reassigning care or reproductive care). We are 100% work from home if you choose but have workspaces in certain locations accessible to our staff.
It used to be that most candidates couldn't wait to move to Austin or Orlando, now many e concerned if they'd have to leave their blue state. Austin is an amazing city and I highly recommend it, especially if you are young and are looking to build a close network that'll last you a lifetime. The Austin tech industry is smaller but it also maintains a small town vibe. After a while, you won't only know people across multiple companies, you'll actually properly know those people beyond casual acquaintance.
PS: I know a lot of tech C level execs in Austin. If you're a young woman considering Austin but concerned about access to abortion, bring it up during the interview process. A lot of companies are offering benefits like discreet transportation and lodging with a suspiciously large per diem to cities in blue states. Some extend those benefits to "significant others" and your children. Don't expect these benefits to be advertised, just ask.
PPS: If you live in Texas or Florida, vote Democrat regardless of whether or not you agree with all of their policies. The Republican agenda is going to destroy the economies of those states.
You do realize they want to stop people at the border now to prevent them from traveling for abortions right? We're probably like 6 months away from sitting up some Road checkpoint on harassing people. Plus you've also got transgender healthcare that is becoming increasingly illegal even for adults, never trust this protect the kids bullshit it's never true. So that means you'd have to fly out to California not just for a possibly once in a lifetime abortion but for a monthly prescription refill, and on and on and on. Also the power grid isn't even reliable in Texas