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Posted
  On 5/12/2021 at 1:20 PM, bolverk said:
I know next to nothing about the tech scene in SA. Do you see that situation changing in the future, given the cost of living in Austin and its proximity to us? It seems that it'd make sense for some operations to be shipped down there if they could grow/retain/attract the talent.

Over the next decade or so,I honestly don’t think we will see boom towns like we have in the past due to remote work, which will just continue to grow even if there’s a blip back to the office post COVID. The boom towns will be driven by HQs looking to minimize taxes and not to leverage an existing workforce. No one thinks of Delaware as some dynamic power even though it’s the HQ for many companies due to no taxes. These would be boom towns in name only beacause they won’t reap the benefits of a highly paid and educated workforce at the levels currently seen by Austin, Denver, etc.

I’d guess the existing tech cities will continue to be hubs for companies that need a physical presence but companies wanting to plant 1,000+ jobs in a single physical location are going to be increasingly rare.

Now, cities with amenities, outdoor space, good schools will attract those high income earners that are remote. It just won’t be for a job or at the level we see today.
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Posted (edited)
  On 3/1/2021 at 1:07 AM, Neonmoon said:

Ha they had Columbus, Ohio in the top 7 for Tech 

 

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Having just lived there for 7 years it is remarkably comparable to mid 90s Austin for moving from the largest small town around, built on state government and the state's flagship university, to developing its own unique urban identity. It too is the liberal magnet in a sea of conservatives. Midwesterners come to go to school at tOSU and don't want to leave.

Edited by ShaggyBevo RIP
Posted (edited)

One not mentioned yet is Johnson City, Tenn.

Good weather and a good jumping off point for the Smokies and Blue Ridge Mountains. Three reservoir lakes within about an hour's drive and two more about 2 hours away.

Edited by ShaggyBevo RIP
Posted
  On 4/28/2021 at 4:07 PM, Al_4_ISU said:

Des Moines continues to grow steadily and has a growing tech sector.

It's not the next Austin, but it's surprisingly happening and out punches slightly larger similar metros, like Omaha specifically, from a cultural standpoint.

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Colder Busch Light?

Rapid City, SD was mentioned upthread.  Deadwood is just down the road and they voted in sports gambling last fall.  I'm told that'll give them a 50% bump in overall gambling.  Then you have Ellsworth AFB to the east.  Sounds like they're getting the hot few B21 stealth bomber.  Sweet Military patronage money, Baby!

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Posted
  On 6/13/2021 at 4:11 PM, Parliament said:

Colder Busch Light?

Rapid City, SD was mentioned upthread.  Deadwood is just down the road and they voted in sports gambling last fall.  I'm told that'll give them a 50% bump in overall gambling.  Then you have Ellsworth AFB to the east.  Sounds like they're getting the hot few B21 stealth bomber.  Sweet Military patronage money, Baby!

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In all seriousness, the beer scene would be an area where Des Moines is out ahead of Omaha.  El Bait Shop is one of the best beer bars in the country, and definitely in the Midwest.  Several of Des Moines' breweries would be the best brewery in Omaha, by a comfortable margin.

Posted
  On 6/16/2021 at 11:20 PM, KYHorn said:

You mean the city with a metro population of 2 million is the next Austin?

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The metro population of Nashville is only 1.2 million. The OP mentioned mass migration of people, tech companies, and money in general when qualifying "the next Austin". Nashville is about to add a $1.2 Billion Oracle campus which will bring 8,500 new tech-based jobs to the city, and there's an Amazon campus currently under construction which is expected to bring about 5,000 tech-based jobs to Nashville. But... yea, I guess my answer was way off. Sorry. 

Posted
  On 4/22/2021 at 4:28 PM, Cajun said:

As long as people from Waco live in Waco, I will never regret "sleeping" on Waco.

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Waco certainly won't be an Austin but on the plus side, it's still maintains a cheaper cost of living than Texas' major metro areas. Lot of semi-retired, retired and tele workers moving in due to the cost, low congestion and proximity to the major metro areas. This includes a lot of people from California cuz Chip and Jo.  Real estate has the same frenzy as much of the state with houses going off market same day with multiple cash offers. These include homes well over 500K.

There is definitely young and more progressive leadership at the city level that is helping to drive innovation even if they drag the Waco blue hair racist crowd into the 21st century.  There has been a flurry of new industrial and some higher tech facilities choosing Waco as an expansion area. At some point, new residents will reach a critical mass of the population that overcomes the Baylor insular, don't change my Waco, bubble people that have controlled the old money Waco. Those people have left Waco stagnant for decades.

And if Waco can keep from hosting some type of mass shooting event for more than a decade, then there are ingredients for Waco to be a successful small to mid-size metro area.

Posted
  On 6/17/2021 at 1:29 PM, Al_4_ISU said:

Waco had the most eerie, unwelcoming, downright creepy vibe of any place I've ever been.  There is truly something dark embeded in that community.

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There's a seedy underbelly to every community if you look hard enough. Waco's is people who pay lip service to piety but live a life not becoming of their church credentials. There is also old Waco money that thinks it competes with the big towns and a few families who hold dearly to their family's control of the city politics and socioeconomic divide. For those who just want to live a peaceful life, people of all skin tones live together without pretense in Waco.  Either you are a psychic empath or you brought prejudice into your visit to Waco, but I don't believe people can judge a city based on a "vibe". 

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Posted
  On 6/17/2021 at 1:09 PM, TexasPride10 said:

The metro population of Nashville is only 1.2 million. The OP mentioned mass migration of people, tech companies, and money in general when qualifying "the next Austin". Nashville is about to add a $1.2 Billion Oracle campus which will bring 8,500 new tech-based jobs to the city, and there's an Amazon campus currently under construction which is expected to bring about 5,000 tech-based jobs to Nashville. But... yea, I guess my answer was way off. Sorry. 

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Nashville has already blown up. Calling it the next Austin makes no sense

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Posted
  On 6/17/2021 at 1:38 PM, Newdoc said:

There's a seedy underbelly to every community if you look hard enough. Waco's is people who pay lip service to piety but live a life not becoming of their church credentials. There is also old Waco money that thinks it competes with the big towns and a few families who hold dearly to their family's control of the city politics and socioeconomic divide. For those who just want to live a peaceful life, people of all skin tones live together without pretense in Waco.  Either you are a psychic empath or you brought prejudice into your visit to Waco, but I don't believe people can judge a city based on a "vibe". 

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Neither.  I had a full expectation that tailgating at Baylor would be fun, and Waco would have been a normal town.

Our entire group, and almost everyone I've met who's been there agrees that there is something very off about Waco.  I've been to every corner of the US, and a lot of different places in Texas, and Waco is just different.

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Posted
  On 6/17/2021 at 1:24 PM, Newdoc said:

Waco certainly won't be an Austin but on the plus side, it's still maintains a cheaper cost of living than Texas' major metro areas. Lot of semi-retired, retired and tele workers moving in due to the cost, low congestion and proximity to the major metro areas. This includes a lot of people from California cuz Chip and Jo.  Real estate has the same frenzy as much of the state with houses going off market same day with multiple cash offers. These include homes well over 500K.

There is definitely young and more progressive leadership at the city level that is helping to drive innovation even if they drag the Waco blue hair racist crowd into the 21st century.  There has been a flurry of new industrial and some higher tech facilities choosing Waco as an expansion area. At some point, new residents will reach a critical mass of the population that overcomes the Baylor insular, don't change my Waco, bubble people that have controlled the old money Waco. Those people have left Waco stagnant for decades.

And if Waco can keep from hosting some type of mass shooting event for more than a decade, then there are ingredients for Waco to be a successful small to mid-size metro are

Expand  

My point had solely to do with Waco people, not real estate, not shopping, not anything of the sort.  As long as Waco people live in Waco, it will continue to creep me the fuck out.  And now you throw Californians in the mix?

Fuck to the no.

Posted (edited)

Having just driven through a few days ago I can tell you one town that will NOT be the next Austin -

Austin

What an implosion.

 

Edited by Cajun
Posted
  On 6/17/2021 at 2:24 PM, Al_4_ISU said:

Neither.  I had a full expectation that tailgating at Baylor would be fun, and Waco would have been a normal town.

Our entire group, and almost everyone I've met who's been there agrees that there is something very off about Waco.  I've been to every corner of the US, and a lot of different places in Texas, and Waco is just different.

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Decades and decades of weird history. There’s a sociological trauma there. Chip and Joanna can’t unring that bell. 

Posted
  On 6/17/2021 at 1:24 PM, Newdoc said:

And if Waco can keep from hosting some type of mass shooting event for more than a decade

Surely the AR-15 cult or whatever they’re called that just relocated there will help this
Posted

An AR-15 cult relocated to Waco?  What?  Like a gun rights group moved offices there?  Or just a pack of hundreds of AR-toting morons moved to waco?  

I like guns, but how fucking insanely in love do you have to be with an inanimate firearm to choose it over a decent quality of life?  I wouldn't move to Waco if my children lived there.  Let alone a fucking firearm.  

Posted
  On 6/18/2021 at 1:27 AM, Lobo said:

An AR-15 cult relocated to Waco?  What?  Like a gun rights group moved offices there?  Or just a pack of hundreds of AR-toting morons moved to waco?  

I like guns, but how fucking insanely in love do you have to be with an inanimate firearm to choose it over a decent quality of life?  I wouldn't move to Waco if my children lived there.  Let alone a fucking firearm.  

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They're not really in Waco but a town called Thornton 40 miles away but, yes, a weird ass cult nonetheless:

Gun Church That Worships With AR-15s Bought a 40-Acre Compound in Texas for Its ‘Patriots’

image.thumb.png.d5c18a746262097c6eda74bff470ac07.png

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Posted
  On 6/18/2021 at 12:57 AM, gmr548 said:


Surely the AR-15 cult or whatever they’re called that just relocated there will help this

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It’s at the south end of a lake not even in the same county as Waco. It would take an hour and a half to get to that part of the lake from Waco.  I’ll make sure I blame all the wacky crap in Dallas on Fort Worth.

Posted
  On 6/17/2021 at 2:24 PM, Al_4_ISU said:

Our entire group, and almost everyone I've met who's been there agrees that there is something very off about Waco.  I've been to every corner of the US, and a lot of different places in Texas, and Waco is just different.

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It’s like Derry, Maine.

Posted
  On 6/18/2021 at 4:21 AM, Newdoc said:

It’s at the south end of a lake not even in the same county as Waco. It would take an hour and a half to get to that part of the lake from Waco.  I’ll make sure I blame all the wacky crap in Dallas on Fort Worth.

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Branch Dividians were technically in Axtell, Texas. To the rest of the world, it’s Waco. 

If AR cult drinks mass kool-aid, the news will say in Thornton, outside Waco. Then the story will be, another cult near Waco. What’s in the water in Waco, etc. 

No ones got time for small town geography 

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Posted
  On 6/18/2021 at 3:49 PM, Neonmoon said:

Branch Dividians were technically in Axtell, Texas. To the rest of the world, it’s Waco. 

If AR cult drinks mass kool-aid, the news will say in Thornton, outside Waco. Then the story will be, another cult near Waco. What’s in the water in Waco, etc. 

No ones got time for small town geography 

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Media: A cult in Thornton, TX
The rest of the country:

The 25 Most Confused GIFs on the Internet … No, Hold On, Maybe Not … Wait,  What's the Question? - Funny Or Die

Media: A cult in a town 40 miles/90 min from Waco, TX
The rest of the country:

The 25 Most Confused GIFs on the Internet … No, Hold On, Maybe Not … Wait,  What's the Question? - Funny Or Die

The media: A cult in some shithole town in Texas between Houston and Dallas
The rest of the country:

There We Go GIFs | Tenor

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Posted
  On 6/18/2021 at 11:38 PM, Parliament said:

WTF did I just read?

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I dunno, man, but you just briefly dipped your head in the crazy waters of the Brazos and saw the crazy fish that swim therein.

There's just something about the Waco area that seems to attract these sorts. Is it in the water? Maybe...but most of these groups are outsiders who've relocated there. Is it the aura generated by the ghosts of the Branch Davidians? Maybe...but Baylor had been around those parts long before they arrived.

Just know that Waco ain't the next Austin and never will be.

Posted

Austin is still the next Austin for now.

Three Hollywood Stars Recast Their Lives Deep in the Heart of Texas
As the pandemic upended Tinseltown, Jamie-Lynn Sigler, Haylie Duff and Becca Tobin made a pact to abandon Los Angeles and join the mass migration from California to Texas.

Actors Jamie-Lynn Sigler, left, Haylie Duff, center, and Becca Tobin, right, in Ms. Tobin’s backyard in Austin, Texas. Amid the pandemic last year, the three friends moved their families from Los Angeles to Austin, joining an eastward migration that has seen home values in the Texas capital balloon to record levels.  

During the blockbuster plot twist that was 2020, three Los Angeles-based actors and longtime friends wrote themselves a scene that was playing out in cities across the United States. Early into lockdown, Becca Tobin, best known for her role as Kitty Wilde on the Fox series “Glee,” formed a pandemic pod with her fellow actors Haylie Duff and Jamie-Lynn Sigler, gathering for regular backyard confabs about shifting priorities, family demands and their future in Hollywood.

“We had been able to work from home successfully and set up our careers from anywhere,” Ms. Tobin said. “And we were all kind of ready for a change.”

Ms. Tobin, 35, Ms. Duff, 36, and Ms. Sigler, 40, had all moved to Los Angeles in their 20s for work and, like so many others, spent much of 2020 wondering if they wanted to live somewhere else. Hollywood the town and Hollywood the job had been cleaved apart, with acting classes going online, self-tape auditions replacing in-person, and the offscreen demands of the job — red carpets, award shows, interviews — going virtual or extinct.

“We found our conversations shifting more toward life,” said Ms. Sigler, who made her mark playing Meadow Soprano on “The Sopranos.” “And then we started to fantasize about what it would be like to live in different cities, and would we ever want to leave L. A.?”

They were far from alone. For the first time in more than a century, California lost people last year, according to population estimates released by the state in May. Some of that was a result of Covid-19 deaths, falling birthrates and the Trump administration’s efforts to limit immigration. But for many, it was simply a matter of finding better prices in greener pastures.

The three made a pact to relocate their “quaranteam,” leaving Hollywood together for a new city where they could keep working but enjoy a less hectic, and less expensive, life.

“It reminded me of being in high school and being like, ‘You’re gonna go home tonight and shave your legs, right? Because I’m going to do it, too,’” Ms. Tobin said of the agreement. “Like adult peer pressure.”

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Posted
  On 6/18/2021 at 12:58 PM, Al_4_ISU said:

Absolutely.

When we were tailgating at Floyd-Casey, one of my buddies made the comment that "it feels like we're on some kind of Indian burial ground; we shouldn't be here".

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Tailgating at FCS sucked because back then the cops would literally come by and tell you to pour your beer out.  It's nothing like that at McLane   

Posted
  On 6/23/2021 at 2:43 PM, Trey3216 said:

Tailgating at FCS sucked because back then the cops would literally come by and tell you to pour your beer out.  It's nothing like that at McLane   

Expand  

There was just no one there for the first couple hours besides a couple hundred ISU fans.

I went to take a leak in a far off porta-pot on the east side of the stadium.  There was no one around, and no one line.  I walk up to open the john door (it was unlocked) and I was horrified to find an old woman in some kind of prairie bonnet squeezing one out.  I froze in horror and she slowly raised her head, looked me in the eye, and scowled.  I just slammed the door shut and ran away screaming in terror.  

When the handful of Baylor fans started trickling in, people just felt very unwelcoming.  A totally different vibe than I've received at the 3 other Texas schools I've been to games at (UT, Aggy, TCU).

Like I said, it just felt like the universe wanted us to just move on.

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Posted

There's talk of massive investments in Black entrepreneurship to rebuild the Greenwood neighborhood north of Downtown Tulsa. It's about as good a story as I've heard recently. Won't work though if the fucking governor and rural lawmakers keep fucking around with bullshit. There is so much wasted potential in downtown and midtown Tulsa and we won't be making any of these lists for a while. I'd put my money on Ashville, NC.

Posted
  On 6/23/2021 at 2:43 PM, Trey3216 said:

Tailgating at FCS sucked because back then the cops would literally come by and tell you to pour your beer out.  It's nothing like that at McLane   

Expand  

I only went to one game at Floyd Casey, the 2005 game during our championship season.  I drove up with a friend and we made it just before kickoff without any chance to find a Longhorn tailgate.  All I remember is shitty access points to the stands, shitty food vendors, and shitty number of restrooms.  Fuck that whole place.

Posted
  On 6/23/2021 at 1:06 AM, bolverk said:

Austin is still the next Austin for now.

Three Hollywood Stars Recast Their Lives Deep in the Heart of Texas
As the pandemic upended Tinseltown, Jamie-Lynn Sigler, Haylie Duff and Becca Tobin made a pact to abandon Los Angeles and join the mass migration from California to Texas.

Actors Jamie-Lynn Sigler, left, Haylie Duff, center, and Becca Tobin, right, in Ms. Tobin’s backyard in Austin, Texas. Amid the pandemic last year, the three friends moved their families from Los Angeles to Austin, joining an eastward migration that has seen home values in the Texas capital balloon to record levels.  

During the blockbuster plot twist that was 2020, three Los Angeles-based actors and longtime friends wrote themselves a scene that was playing out in cities across the United States. Early into lockdown, Becca Tobin, best known for her role as Kitty Wilde on the Fox series “Glee,” formed a pandemic pod with her fellow actors Haylie Duff and Jamie-Lynn Sigler, gathering for regular backyard confabs about shifting priorities, family demands and their future in Hollywood.

“We had been able to work from home successfully and set up our careers from anywhere,” Ms. Tobin said. “And we were all kind of ready for a change.”

Ms. Tobin, 35, Ms. Duff, 36, and Ms. Sigler, 40, had all moved to Los Angeles in their 20s for work and, like so many others, spent much of 2020 wondering if they wanted to live somewhere else. Hollywood the town and Hollywood the job had been cleaved apart, with acting classes going online, self-tape auditions replacing in-person, and the offscreen demands of the job — red carpets, award shows, interviews — going virtual or extinct.

“We found our conversations shifting more toward life,” said Ms. Sigler, who made her mark playing Meadow Soprano on “The Sopranos.” “And then we started to fantasize about what it would be like to live in different cities, and would we ever want to leave L. A.?”

They were far from alone. For the first time in more than a century, California lost people last year, according to population estimates released by the state in May. Some of that was a result of Covid-19 deaths, falling birthrates and the Trump administration’s efforts to limit immigration. But for many, it was simply a matter of finding better prices in greener pastures.

The three made a pact to relocate their “quaranteam,” leaving Hollywood together for a new city where they could keep working but enjoy a less hectic, and less expensive, life.

“It reminded me of being in high school and being like, ‘You’re gonna go home tonight and shave your legs, right? Because I’m going to do it, too,’” Ms. Tobin said of the agreement. “Like adult peer pressure.”

  Reveal hidden contents

 

Expand  

Which one of you super studs is going to bang Meadow Soprano? I think telling her you're a Surly 1 percenter should be enough. 

Posted

I was getting some to-go months ago from that nice seafood joint at the HCG and thought, "That woman looks just like Meadow Soprano (I couldn't remember her real name)", but then thought, "Nah, what the fuck would she be doing in this random restaurant, maybe she visits Austin, not during a pandemic, and not all the way out here...so far from downtown."  I guess it was her.  She looks fucking smoking hot for her age.  No hollywood wardrobe or makeup and she looked twice as beautiful as she did 15 years ago on the show with all the trappings.  

Did I read that right, she married the douchebag son of douchebag Dykstra?  

Posted (edited)
  On 6/23/2021 at 4:05 PM, 'stache said:

There's talk of massive investments in Black entrepreneurship to rebuild the Greenwood neighborhood north of Downtown Tulsa. It's about as good a story as I've heard recently. Won't work though if the fucking governor and rural lawmakers keep fucking around with bullshit. There is so much wasted potential in downtown and midtown Tulsa and we won't be making any of these lists for a while. I'd put my money on Ashville, NC.

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Know some Trumpers that recently moved to Tulsa because their city was getting too liberal. That should be fun for them, 

 

Edited by Neonmoon
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Posted

I love Tulsa. It has a lot of elements that remind me of Austin. The downtown area and around St John (I think north of 41st street and riverside) are just ripe for gentrification. I've thought about opening up a pharmacy there but Oklahoma has a lot of burdensome regulations that make doing business up there annoying and not very worker friendly. 

Posted
  On 6/23/2021 at 4:05 PM, 'stache said:
There's talk of massive investments in Black entrepreneurship to rebuild the Greenwood neighborhood north of Downtown Tulsa. It's about as good a story as I've heard recently. Won't work though if the fucking governor and rural lawmakers keep fucking around with bullshit. There is so much wasted potential in downtown and midtown Tulsa and we won't be making any of these lists for a while. I'd put my money on Ashville, NC.

When I started going to Tulsa weekly for work in 2010, the change downtown has been remarkable. It was utterly dead after 5pm. It was a glorified office park. My employer offered to buy me a condo above Billy’s downtown so I didn’t have to stay in a hotel. They were like $40K. I passed.

Now there’s a lot more businesses, restaurants and bars. It’s definitely headed quickly in the right direction.
Posted
  On 6/27/2021 at 7:56 PM, CooterBrown said:


When I started going to Tulsa weekly for work in 2010, the change downtown has been remarkable. It was utterly dead after 5pm. It was a glorified office park. My employer offered to buy me a condo above Billy’s downtown so I didn’t have to stay in a hotel. They were like $40K. I passed.

Now there’s a lot more businesses, restaurants and bars. It’s definitely headed quickly in the right direction.

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<Winston Zeddemore> When your employer wants to buy you real estate, you say YES!! <Winston Zeddemore> 

Posted
  On 6/27/2021 at 7:18 PM, HRSchenker said:

I love Tulsa. It has a lot of elements that remind me of Austin. The downtown area and around St John (I think north of 41st street and riverside) are just ripe for gentrification. I've thought about opening up a pharmacy there but Oklahoma has a lot of burdensome regulations that make doing business up there annoying and not very worker friendly. 

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...and it's full of dipshit okies.

Posted (edited)

I've wondered why some of the towns and cities in NW Texas (Amarillo), NE New Mexico (Raton) and E/SE Colorado (Limon, Trinidad and Pueblo) haven't blown up.   

Say what you want about places like Amarillo or Pueblo but land is cheap to some degree and for some of those places you're only a couple of hours from tons of outdoor stuff (fishing, skiing, etc.)    In those two cities cases, you either have an airport with direct flights to Houston, DFW, OKC and Vegas (Amarillo) or you're only a short drive to one (Pueblo to Colorado Springs).   Obviously places like Raton, Trinidad and Limon are problematic with regard to air travel  but if my employer told me I could move go Trinidad I might consider it one day.  

I always find it funny that places in Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama aren't usually in the mix.   I know Birmingham has gotten some love lately but I guess corporate America still just can't wrap its head around employees showing up to work sporting Confederate flag t-shirts and having to allow for spit cups on their desks.

Edited by Macanudo

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