Serious question as someone who doesn't live in the US: where do (lower salary) non-tech workers live in SF?
I'm talking about the fast food workers, retail shop assistants, cleaners in the Google offices, etc. How are these people able to afford the average monthly SF rent on their hourly wages?
My wife works in mountain view and her co-workers drive from Oakland or out past Gilroy. If they live nearby, 2 incomes and multigenerational living helps.
It's pretty easy to find rent sub-1500/mo, which is definitely affordable for most folks, but you obviously need to taper your expectations. Minimum wage around here is +$20/hr.
would people have any tax advantage for commuting this long? For example, in Germany, you would be able to claim about 30 cents per kilometer (one way) for your commute on your tax return.
Otherwise, is the salary gap so big that people would not be better off working closer to home?
All of the complaints listed here (hot weather, shit-tier public transit, etc) were true of Austin prior to the Great Migration.
Everyone wanted in though because Austin is the first place people think of when they think of Texas, it's the only major city in Texas with rolling hills, it's perceived as the only non-conservative city in Texas (it is not), 6th St and Barton Springs are fun, and Texas has no income tax and cheap real estate.
Now that real estate prices in Austin are significantly higher than they were in the past, a self-induced problem BTW!, and the Real Texas Heat™ has finally come, folks want to move back. (Property tax rates in Texas have always been high, and they only go up every year.)
Austin was always a small town with Texas government and a huge school with a huge American football team (UT Austin). I don't think it was designed with the explosive growth that it has seen in the last 15 years.
Its road design is proof of this. US Interstate 35 cuts right through town and it only has one partial ring road (TX-130). It also has the MoPAC (TX-1), though that expanded and, consequently, became a partial toll road.
Compare this with Houston, where I live. It has three huge interstates going through it (US I-10 east-west; US-45 north-south; Texas I-69/US Hwy 59 SW-NE), one huge and constantly problematic interstate beltway (US I-610) and two state ring roads (TX-8; TX-99). It is designed to accommodate and move a significant population (or significant freight, which it does also).
Austin has always been overrated IMO.
Houston is way bigger, more liberal and diverse (in every dimension, not just race, but it is extremely racially-integrated) than Austin has ever been and has a world-class food scene but gets 1/10th of the hype because...actually, I have no idea why?
Dallas is also way bigger than Austin and actually has a tech scene of sorts (though it is old and enterprise-y) along with more moderate (but still hot) weather but didn't boom like Austin did. Why?
Houston has always had a bad reputation for hot, humid weather. We're talking oppressive heat. Add hurricanes to the mix. Harvey wasn't that long ago and we remember the massive flooding. No thanks.
Austin doesn't have that problematic weather. Their temperature is a few degrees cooler than Houston, and their humidity is a few percentage points lower. It may not be much, but every bit helps. Though Austin also got hit by Harvey, they didn't get hit as bad.
Austin also has a great music scene that's nationally recognized. Austin is a major league music city for producing well-known artists.
Austin is cool, Houston is not. It's really that simple.
What Austin lacks though, as you mention, is infrastructure. I know of many cities across the U.S. that are 1/3 to 1/2 the size of Austin and has more infrastructure. Not just highways and roadways - they lack conference space, they lack terminals at their airport, they have very little public transit - it's pretty bad considering the size of the population.
Between Houston and Austin, Austin wins it hands-down. It's a great place to visit, though I wouldn't live in either city.
Only coming here to comment as someone in tech who did some informal comparisons during the height of the pandemic.
Probably the biggest thing Austin seemed to have going for it is the combo of tech+diversity+what seem to be outdoor activities. Lake Travis looked tempting. [1]
Houston probably has tech+diversity but there's no outdoor placemaking.
Dallas probably has some tech+some diversity+slightly more outdoor activities.
San Antonio/Hill country seems like it might have some placemaking but no Tech and less diversity.
[1] The Oasis on Lake Travis
Discover Austin: The Oasis - Austin Eats
A few hot summers in Austin can really highlight the value of San Francisco's milder climate and access to water. Both cities have their perks, but these factors tip the scale.
Knowing about a phenomenon and experiencing for oneself are sometimes two different things. The article also cites record-high temperatures which presumably they didn't have foreknowledge of if they've never happened before.
So, tech workers paid >200k couldn't anticipate that hot places are going to get a lot hotter due to global warming and all the trends we've been observing over the last decade or so? Interesting.
Here [1] is a site with a bunch of various weather records for Austin. Assuming the climate is warming then, on average, literally every month should be the hottest month ever recorded. But it doesn't mean it's some night and day difference where suddenly temperatures just spike in ways never before seen.
Austin has long historic temperature ranges well above 100. The highest temperature (112) was recorded in 2000. It gets really hot. The record for the number of days > 100F was set in 2011, at 74. It also gets really cold. The record for the most number of freezing days was also recently set in 2022, with 51.
So? Tech workers commute from their air-conditioned houses in their air-conditioned cars to their air-conditioned offices, then shop in air-conditioned stores--then back to their air-conditioned houses. So they only need to spend a small amount of time in the heat.
I'm sure this article is a data-driven approach as full of journalistic integrity as the ones 2 years ago about everyone fleeing California, and definitely not just a cheap clickbaity attempt at schadenfreudeporn.
The look at my notions and biases comment instead of providing anything supporting your statement. If you don't make tons of money and want to abuse the tax system there is no real incentive to move to Austin and a lot of people just realize that. It's the same pattern the streaming community took. Move to Austin be happy about the money and mad about everything else.
Texas became a pretty unsafe place for lgbtq people. Austin has historically maintained an open and friendly atmosphere for people of all stripes. But a friendly city in a dangerous state is still a dangerous place to live if you are queer.
In California, we see a variety of policies operating in concert to restrict housing supply. Tokyo is also a desirable place to live but they've managed housing affordability there much better. In California you have all of the following operating together to restrict housing supply:
* Property tax policy that strongly favors not selling and not renovating;
* Numerous private rights of action that people can bring against new developments;
* State and municipal agencies with a wide variety of rules available to them that can serve as a basis for obstructing new developments;
* Large areas of the state that have been declared "open space" by various towns and cities.
Readit News
I'm talking about the fast food workers, retail shop assistants, cleaners in the Google offices, etc. How are these people able to afford the average monthly SF rent on their hourly wages?
It's pretty easy to find rent sub-1500/mo, which is definitely affordable for most folks, but you obviously need to taper your expectations. Minimum wage around here is +$20/hr.
Otherwise, is the salary gap so big that people would not be better off working closer to home?
There’s even an award-winning independent film about the topic (a fictional drama) from 2019 called “The Last Black Man In San Francisco”.
All of the complaints listed here (hot weather, shit-tier public transit, etc) were true of Austin prior to the Great Migration.
Everyone wanted in though because Austin is the first place people think of when they think of Texas, it's the only major city in Texas with rolling hills, it's perceived as the only non-conservative city in Texas (it is not), 6th St and Barton Springs are fun, and Texas has no income tax and cheap real estate.
Now that real estate prices in Austin are significantly higher than they were in the past, a self-induced problem BTW!, and the Real Texas Heat™ has finally come, folks want to move back. (Property tax rates in Texas have always been high, and they only go up every year.)
Austin was always a small town with Texas government and a huge school with a huge American football team (UT Austin). I don't think it was designed with the explosive growth that it has seen in the last 15 years.
Its road design is proof of this. US Interstate 35 cuts right through town and it only has one partial ring road (TX-130). It also has the MoPAC (TX-1), though that expanded and, consequently, became a partial toll road.
Compare this with Houston, where I live. It has three huge interstates going through it (US I-10 east-west; US-45 north-south; Texas I-69/US Hwy 59 SW-NE), one huge and constantly problematic interstate beltway (US I-610) and two state ring roads (TX-8; TX-99). It is designed to accommodate and move a significant population (or significant freight, which it does also).
Austin has always been overrated IMO.
Houston is way bigger, more liberal and diverse (in every dimension, not just race, but it is extremely racially-integrated) than Austin has ever been and has a world-class food scene but gets 1/10th of the hype because...actually, I have no idea why?
Dallas is also way bigger than Austin and actually has a tech scene of sorts (though it is old and enterprise-y) along with more moderate (but still hot) weather but didn't boom like Austin did. Why?
Houston has always had a bad reputation for hot, humid weather. We're talking oppressive heat. Add hurricanes to the mix. Harvey wasn't that long ago and we remember the massive flooding. No thanks.
Austin doesn't have that problematic weather. Their temperature is a few degrees cooler than Houston, and their humidity is a few percentage points lower. It may not be much, but every bit helps. Though Austin also got hit by Harvey, they didn't get hit as bad.
Austin also has a great music scene that's nationally recognized. Austin is a major league music city for producing well-known artists.
Austin is cool, Houston is not. It's really that simple.
What Austin lacks though, as you mention, is infrastructure. I know of many cities across the U.S. that are 1/3 to 1/2 the size of Austin and has more infrastructure. Not just highways and roadways - they lack conference space, they lack terminals at their airport, they have very little public transit - it's pretty bad considering the size of the population.
Between Houston and Austin, Austin wins it hands-down. It's a great place to visit, though I wouldn't live in either city.
Only coming here to comment as someone in tech who did some informal comparisons during the height of the pandemic.
Probably the biggest thing Austin seemed to have going for it is the combo of tech+diversity+what seem to be outdoor activities. Lake Travis looked tempting. [1]
Houston probably has tech+diversity but there's no outdoor placemaking.
Dallas probably has some tech+some diversity+slightly more outdoor activities.
San Antonio/Hill country seems like it might have some placemaking but no Tech and less diversity.
[1] The Oasis on Lake Travis Discover Austin: The Oasis - Austin Eats
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ov6agXn9WTM
Try Denver.
Austin has long historic temperature ranges well above 100. The highest temperature (112) was recorded in 2000. It gets really hot. The record for the number of days > 100F was set in 2011, at 74. It also gets really cold. The record for the most number of freezing days was also recently set in 2022, with 51.
[1] - https://www.extremeweatherwatch.com/cities/austin
https://community.cloudflare.com/t/archive-today-does-not-re...
* Property tax policy that strongly favors not selling and not renovating;
* Numerous private rights of action that people can bring against new developments;
* State and municipal agencies with a wide variety of rules available to them that can serve as a basis for obstructing new developments;
* Large areas of the state that have been declared "open space" by various towns and cities.
Sometimes I wonder if half of the city is not owned by FAANG, so they can get back some of those paychecks they sent you.