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(Stuart Seeger/CC)
The Wall Street Journal singled out Austin in a report that highlighted the growing exodus from big cities like New York and San Francisco in favor of the Texas capital—a trend longtime residents have been well aware of.
<p>Locals and natives alike already know the city is growing and attracting more people and businesses by the minute, but since the onset of COVID-19, Austin's growth has been in hyperdrive.</p><p>Although this year has had a damper put on it with the pandemic, companies like Tesla, French luxury retailer Hermès and venture capital firm 8VC are expanding to Austin and helping to create around 10,000 jobs, the highest single-year figure on record, according to the Austin Chamber of Commerce.<br/></p><div class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="f36281c5adef923fa109802b80df6622" id="e337a"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-partner="rebelmouse" data-twitter-tweet-id="1334916626890838017"><div style="margin:1em 0">Austin added 17,400 jobs in October, narrowing pandemic-related job losses to 28,300. Austin’s leisure and hospital… https://t.co/VkClDxpnWW</div> — AustinChamber (@AustinChamber)<a href="https://twitter.com/AustinChamber/statuses/1334916626890838017">1607103900.0</a></blockquote></div><p>So what does Austin have that other big cities don't?<br/></p><p><a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/covid-19-remote-work-make-austin-a-magnet-for-new-jobs-11607423401#_=_" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">WSJ reported</a> that Austin is becoming popular in the pandemic because of this influx of remote and corporate jobs as well as its lower cost of living (and with more bang for your buck—remember, they don't have backyards in NYC) and mild winter climate. There is also the absence of a state income tax. </p><p>People are also entering the city faster than others are leaving. Between April and October this year, for every one person who left Austin for the Bay Area, almost three people moved in the opposite direction, and for every one person who left Austin for New York City, more than two New Yorkers came to Austin.</p><p>Plus, due to constant construction, Austin has tens of thousands of apartments to rent. According to the National Apartment Association, between 2014 and 2018 more apartments were built in Austin than in any other U.S. city. The massive number of apartments has managed to keep up with demand. </p><p>However, while Austin is the <a href="https://austonia.com/austin-top-tech-town" target="_self">number one tech town</a> in the U.S. and chock full of opportunity, locals know it is not without its fair share of issues.</p><p>Austin is growing progressively more expensive—surpassing other major metropolitan areas like Houston and Dallas. In fact, Austin ranked as one of the <a href="https://austonia.com/austin-least-affortable" target="_self">least affordable cities</a> in the country this year.</p><p>WSJ also noted that, although housing is abundant, it is not necessarily affordable. In Texas, developers are not required to include affordable—or below market-rate—units, which means a majority of them cater to the most affluent Austinites.</p><p>And don't even try to get by without a car, as Austin has a relatively small public transit system compared to major cities. However, with <a href="https://austonia.com/transit-in-austin" target="_self">Project Connect</a> in the works, that is gearing up to change ... over the next 13 years. </p>All things considered—with more celebrities and businesses moving to the city—it is safe to say Austin is just getting started.
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(CC)
Google leased office space in downtown Austin in 2019.
Chances are, if you moved to Austin in the past two years, it was probably for a tech job.
<p>Only Vancouver and San Francisco topped Austin in the <a href="http://cbre.vo.llnwd.net/grgservices/secure/North%20America%202020%20Tech-30.pdf?e=1603991030&h=7ef32502539f5ee741d6f2f78a81993b" target="_blank">latest tech market rankings released Thursday</a> from CBRE, a commercial real estate services firm. Austin tech jobs grew by 22.9% in 2018-19, topping Seattle and New York City to round out the top 5 tech markets in the U.S. and Canada.</p><p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-rebelmouse-image">
<img class="rm-shortcode" data-height="385" data-rm-shortcode-id="46be623b0fc61e7db4751411a5fe7bc7" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yNDYzNDg4NC9vcmlnaW4ucG5nIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTY3MTg3MzYzN30.P6fCkb5Nuy1OExbIkcBNyYQfcbvDbu7HAH_ja31cwPU/img.png?width=980" data-width="347" id="0684e" type="lazy-image"/>
<small class="image-media media-photo-credit" placeholder="Add Photo Credit...">CBRE</small></p><p>Austin also ranked in the top 10 for office market rental growth from mid-2018 to mid-2020, growing 9.1% in that time.<br/></p><p>Last year, Austin placed fifth on <a href="http://cbre.vo.llnwd.net/grgservices/secure/NA%20Tech-30%202019.pdf?e=1603993315&h=9c14d0652b2a41cfda31c863b19a870b" target="_blank">CBRE's Tech-30 list</a> with a similar growth rate of 22.5%. Here are other takeaways from CBRE's annual technology jobs report:</p><ul class="ee-ul"></ul><ul class="ee-ul"><li>11,857 Austin tech jobs were created 2018-19. In total, 63,663 people were employed in the high-tech software and services fields in 2019.</li><li>22.6%<strong> </strong>of Austin office jobs were in the technology sector in 2019.</li><li>$102,586 is the typical salary for an Austin software engineer.</li><li>Northwest Austin was the top tech submarket locally and the 23rd fastest-growing submarket the past two years in U.S. and Canada, with 3.3% tech office growth.</li><li>6.5 million square feet is how much office supply is under construction in Austin, with another 1.9 million square feet available to sublease.</li><li>The Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex was the only other Texas market to rank among top tech markets at #7.</li></ul>
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(Stock Photo)
After threatening to ban video sharing platform TikTok, President Donald Trump said he approved Oracle Corporation's bid for the U.S. operations of the popular Chinese-based app, which could make its headquarters in Texas, Bloomberg reports.
<p>The deal, which Trump said is approved "in concept," would result in a new company called TikTok Global. Oracle and Walmart Inc. will have a 20% stake in the new company and could bring upwards of 25,000 jobs to Americans and help the app avoid shutdown in the U.S. by becoming an American-based company.<br/></p><p>"If they get it done, that's great," Trump said. "If they don't, that's OK, too."</p><p>Gov. Greg Abbott tweeted that he had spoken to the president about the potential deal and let him know that "Texas would be the perfect place" for the new headquarters.</p><p>Though it has not been said where in Texas the headquarters would be based, some have speculated it could be in Austin since Oracle, a California-based company, has a strong presence in the city, where it has more than 2,500 employees. TikTok also opened an Austin office this year, which created over 2,000 jobs.</p><p>In order for the deal to move forward, the Chinese government must approve it and donate $5 billion to a Texas education fund, per the president's request.</p><p>The president had been threatening to ban the app since Aug. 6 and formally ordered the app's parent company ByteDance, to divest in its U.S. businesses on Aug. 14, citing security concerns, personal data protection and threats of propaganda, which garnered criticism from the ACLU.</p><p>Along with Oracle, companies like Microsoft and Twitter had also considered making a deal with TikTok, which has over 100 million U.S. users. ByteDance will retain 80% ownership of the company.</p><p>TikTok stated that Oracle will host all U.S. user data and technology and that it is working on a commercial partnership with Walmart. But the company has yet to confirm the new headquarter's location.</p><p><br/></p><p><strong>More on TikTok:</strong></p>
<h2><a href="https://austonia.com/austin-tiktok-artist-2647447622" target="_self">Austin artist makes waves on TikTok for ocean artwork</a></h2>
<img lazy-loadable="true" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yNDQyNzk3MC9vcmlnaW4ucG5nIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTY1Njg2ODQ3MH0.L-sEzYeqfptfnsbX7JMS0ux5tyhyHbcUgLlLPHrXNas/img.png?width=980" id="e3d28" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="b25ab6a75179a5de0a1157f088e2d3ec" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" data-width="1592" data-height="1046" />
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Austin Mayor Adler talks COVID, inequity, homelessness and policing in 'State of the City' address
05 August 2020
(City of Austin)
Austin Mayor Steve Adler delivered his annual "State of the City" address Wednesday—virtually.
This story has been updated to include quotes from the mayor's speech.
Austin Mayor Steve Adler delivered his annual "State of the City" address Wednesday evening, in which he discussed the coronavirus pandemic, police funding, the local economy, homelessness, transit and equity issues.
<p>Usually delivered to a crowd at City Hall, tonight's address was—as are all things Council these days—virtual.</p><p>"This could have been a speech only about COVID-19," Adler said. Instead, much of his 25-page address focused on the opportunities presented in this moment. </p><p>"Perhaps only at times such as these, where our routines and inertia are so utterly disrupted, can we be freed and forced to dream and act big," he said. "So let's do big things. Let's end homelessness. Let's bring real mobility to Austin. Let's reimagine how we keep one another safe. Let's address race and do something about correcting centuries of injustice because it is the fundamental injustice that fuels so many others." </p><p>Below are some quotes, excerpted from a transcript shared in advance. </p><p><strong>On the coronavirus</strong> </p><p style="margin-left: 20px;">"We all want the local economy—and our lives—back as we knew them. But the governor's decision to reopen before we had sufficient testing and tracing in place and before our numbers were low enough compounded the challenge. … Truth is, the virus was never gone. <a href="https://austonia.com/testing-asymptomatic-austin" target="_blank">It just hides</a>, waiting for us to invite it back into our lives." </p><p><strong>On the economy</strong></p><p style="margin-left: 20px;">"Unemployment is at unimaginable levels. Businesses have shuttered - some temporarily and some lost forever. Many of our neighbors don't know how they're going to feed their families or whether they'll be evicted from their homes. Tenants struggle with rent; homeowners and landlords struggle with mortgage payments. Our hospitality and creative workers and industries, so great a part of our economy, are reeling. For many, it's already too late." </p><p><strong>On homelessness</strong> </p><p style="margin-left: 20px;">"To the people <a href="https://austonia.com/austin-texas-homeless-petition" target="_blank">that signed on to the petition</a> because they were desperate for a solution for people experiencing homelessness, I want to say that I share your impatience. Having chosen this more just path, though, and having rejected the false promise of cosmetic fixes, our work is incomplete unless we follow through with the commitment to house the homeless. This will require us to do a better job of inclusively managing shared public spaces." </p><p><strong>On transit</strong> </p><p style="margin-left: 40px;">"Project Connect is <a href="https://austonia.com/transportation/project-connect-austin" target="_blank">a bold transit plan</a> for the just and accessible city we aspire to be. It certainly addresses traffic, but it will do so much more. … Project Connect will connect our entire city, creating new opportunity for Austinites, reducing our dependence on expensive personal vehicles, and save lives." </p><p><strong>On police funding</strong> </p><p style="margin-left: 20px;">"I want to address police department leadership. … We need not only an openness to consider change but a keen desire to move past the status quo and to look at public safety more broadly than [ever,] mainly focusing on ensuring we're best equipped to deal with unsafe moments when they occur. We need more than just a willingness to accept change <a href="https://austonia.com/austin-city-council-police-policy" target="_blank">if it happens</a>; we need a champion for change at its best."</p><p><span></span>Want to read the whole speech? Here's the transcript. </p><p class="pdf-loader"><a class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="bdab21c224a6f214f9ee5a4066743481" href="https://roar-assets-auto.rbl.ms/documents/6988/SOTC 2020 FINAL.pdf">SOTC 2020 FINAL.pdf</a></p><p>Make it a game! Adler invited residents to use this bingo card to mark off every topic mentioned in the speech. Can you get to bingo? Share it on social media with #ATXSOTC.</p><p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-rebelmouse-image">
<img class="rm-shortcode" data-height="1080" data-rm-shortcode-id="6b0e4c3e305d794e5a8d90586202a727" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yMzUzNzU2OC9vcmlnaW4ucG5nIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTY1Njg4NTY1NH0.wzAmDm1N9F0NflybdxcR9O5shzZ_8EsH-H8Dhs40ywM/img.png?width=980" data-width="1080" id="99d54" type="lazy-image"/>
<small class="image-media media-photo-credit" placeholder="Add Photo Credit...">(City of Austin)</small></p>
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