Austin, capital of the Lone Star State.
Brandon Bell/Getty ImagesOne of the biggest themes of the early years of the pandemic was the exodus from San Francisco. Given the freedom of remote work, many Bay Area residents choose to move elsewhere — be it Iowa, Miami, Tahoe, Austin, or more recently, Sacramento. When SFGATE interviewed five tech professionals in 2021 who left for Austin, most were charmed by the capital of the Lone Star State. But a recent report from Insider suggests many transplants’ opinions have soured.
The problem? Even as high-profile companies and power brokers like Elon Musk move to the area, the tech scene remains nascent compared to California’s, according to Insider. There exists a differential in “talent density” between Austin and Silicon Valley, one founder and investor told Insider. Even as Austin gains a foothold as a tech hub, talent remains concentrated in the Bay Area — meaning more successful companies, and therefore more talent. The effects compound.
To put it simply — a growing tech sector doesn’t automatically equate to Silicon Valley-levels of dynamism.
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The founder who spoke with Insider summarized his woes succinctly: “Austin is where ambition goes to die,” a statement considered a negative here, but one coincidentally aligned with the city’s laid-back mentality, which was cemented in pop culture with the ’90s indie film “Slacker.”
It’s not just the city’s comparatively underdeveloped tech scene that disappointed Insider’s sources. One company’s product lead pointed to thick traffic and unreliable public transportation. Another transplant cited the city’s 100-plus-degree heat, in what was one of the city’s most brutal summers since 2011, when only two days in July didn’t hit triple digits.
Some tech workers may be on their way out. Using U.S. Postal Service data, Insider determined that from January to May 2023, Austin saw the fifth-largest net outward migration among major U.S. cities.
But others feel trapped — financially, if not physically. Workers who purchased homes in Austin in 2020 and 2021 benefited from low interest rates on homes that were considered bargains relative to Bay Area real estate. Now that interest rates are higher, trying a new city on for size is a much more expensive proposition.
SFGATE editor Dan Gentile contributed to this report.
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