I'm feeling more like an Austin Traffic Complainer with each passing day (Round Rock: 2015, how much)

[Trainwreck20]

Honestly, my Austin 'world' is pretty small these days, and I still remember some of my worst traffic days ever being on the old 'surface street' Ben White and also 183.

[StarlaJane]

When I lived in Austin (1994-2000), I fortunately didn't drive much (I didn't have much of a car, so I walked and biked, and stayed local). I do, however, remember people complaining a lot about traffic and parking (and it wasn't nearly as bad then). I can only imagine what it is like now with even morepeople having moved to and moving to the area.

Austin is a great city but I don't think that it is designed to have as many people living in it as there are now. My only advice is to try to stay local and not drive as much. I know that it sounds completely unrealistic, which it probably is if you have a family (i.e. a spouse and kids, which I did not have when living there) but I was able to do it for 6 years, so it is possible. If you are able to do it, you will be much happier--I know I was!

[theone33]

Originally Posted by NoBull

Oh, how I pine for the days when Austin was just a sleepy college town. If only we could turn back the clock by 30 years or even 20 years. Heck, I'd be happy with 15 years turned back. I see so many out of state license plates, I just have to roll my eyes. I don't get it. How can so many people talk up a city so much and so many people believe the hype? I'm just waiting for the next "It" city so the Austin hype can finally move away with it. Until then, they'll keep on coming and clogging up our roads. Until then, keep your cool on the road as it's only going to get worse before it gets better.

From a Houstonian to Austinite...i feel your pain. Extremely annoying.

[Aquitaine]

How can so many people talk up a city so much and so many people believe the hype?

Don't forget - it helped that a lot of other previously great cities ran themselves (and/or are still running themselves) into the ground. You have to want to leave before you look for somewhere to go!

[Idlewile]

We now live the same distance outside NYC (central park south) as we did in NW Austin (16 miles) to, say, La Condesa.

We have now made 11 trips DRIVING in and out of the second busiest city IN THE WORLD, across the George Washington Bridge, and it routinely takes less time than it did in Austin. The last time we went to La Condesa on a Saturday night -- 5:45 reservations -- and we left 40 minutes in advance and we were 17 minutes late. No accidents. No festivals. Before the major MOPAC work. Made it to Central Park South in 32 minutes last week. New York City, people.

I thought it was a fluke but again and again the rides and distances don't compare, Austin loses on almost every account, with the exception of full on rush hour but NYC commuters take the train or the bus then anyway. Austin routinely serves up backed up traffic in the middle of the day or on a weekend for no reason. It's not like the United Nations is in session or anything. Barton Creek Sq to home, home to Ikea, home to anywhere on 35. Home to anywhere on 183... hell, walking to and along 183 could be more effective than using a vehicle.

I don't care what kind of infrastructure Austin does or doesn't have. It's pathetic. Austin is offering less and less in return for this 'trade-off.' There's little to make it worth it.

[eileenkeeney]

Yet the people still vote for leaders who brag about how great a job they are doing of creating jobs in Texas (which is really relocation of jobs from other states).

Tax breaks for big companies when they relocate their employees here, is driving much of the population increase.
Austin gives several of these.
Considering that computers are exothermic, from an energy standpoint, it does not make a lot of sense to put a data center in Austin. The money savings comes from tax breaks.

Lack of mass transit means people have to drive to work.

Neighborhoods are designed assuming people drive.

I looked at a piece of property, that is literally next door to the office when I will be working starting in November.
However, the walk to work would be almost a mile (0.8) according to Google. Half of the walk would be along a street with no side walk, and a very narrow shoulder.

Or I can try to climb over a Fence that looks to be over 8' high.

While dead ends are great for traffic control, not providing walking and biking routes, is a mistake.

So while more people adopting life styles that do not require driving would help decrease traffic, those who design neighborhoods design assuming everyone will be driving.

The bike and walk trails that the city has several of, mostly look to be designed for entertainment rather than routes to get people where they need to go.

[Aquitaine]

Considering that computers are exothermic, from an energy standpoint, it does not make a lot of sense to put a data center in Austin. The money savings comes from tax breaks.

Sorry, that's nonsense.

First, data centers want cheap energy. Texas has it, compared to many other states.

Second, other than corporate welfare deals like with Apple, most companies come here because of tax rates and not tax breaks. Apple gets in the news but the influx in Texas has been going on for years. As bad as things have gotten here, there is no amount of money that would make me relocate my business back to NYC or to California. The business environment is more than just the tax rates - it's how the state deals with you on everything from paperwork to support to payments ... things like, can I fill out these forms online or do I need to hire an accountant to prepare and mail a packet to Albany every quarter?

Also, Dallas seems to be a more popular location for data centers than Austin, though - I know of a couple here but I haven't heard of a huge rush to Austin for that purpose -- Codero is headquartered here but their data centers are in Phoenix and Dallas and the East Coast; Rackspace is (supposedly) moving a bunch of people here but I don't think they're building a data center, unless anyone has information to the contrary?

[Trainwreck20]

We do a bit of work for a couple of data centers here in Austin, one of them huge (at least, in my understanding of the data center business) and they intentionally stay as much off the radar as they can, it seems. Not sure if they are worried about sabotage or what, but they take their security WAY more seriously than any TV data center.

As to business environment, I have to agree with Aquitaine, though..we have offices in three states (Texas, Maryland, and Baltimore), and the easy of business (not just cost) is hugely different. Some states (I think Michigan was one we looked at) put up almost comical barriers to doing business there. Sort of a 'show us your best contortionist moves and we might give you a permit to do business'.

[centralaustinite]

Idlewide, wow you made the move, congrats! How are the allergies?

We had the same experience visiting Chicago, my spouse had lived there almost 30 years ago and took public transportation everywhere, this time we had two seniors with us and 7 total, so we drove everywhere and just paid to park (same or less than the El x7 would have cost) and we were stunned. Even driving at 5 pm, even going from south to north the full length of the city, the traffic moved.

In Austin, as was said upthread, demand is overwhelming design. In contrast, in Chicago if anything, the city felt built out to support a bigger population than they have! We never had an issue parking and never had to wait for table in a restaurant and many were half empty!

Such a contrast!

[eileenkeeney]

Originally Posted by Aquitaine

Sorry, that's nonsense.

First, data centers want cheap energy. Texas has it, compared to many other states.

Second, other than corporate welfare deals like with Apple, most companies come here because of tax rates and not tax breaks. Apple gets in the news but the influx in Texas has been going on for years. As bad as things have gotten here, there is no amount of money that would make me relocate my business back to NYC or to California. The business environment is more than just the tax rates - it's how the state deals with you on everything from paperwork to support to payments ... things like, can I fill out these forms online or do I need to hire an accountant to prepare and mail a packet to Albany every quarter?

Also, Dallas seems to be a more popular location for data centers than Austin, though - I know of a couple here but I haven't heard of a huge rush to Austin for that purpose -- Codero is headquartered here but their data centers are in Phoenix and Dallas and the East Coast; Rackspace is (supposedly) moving a bunch of people here but I don't think they're building a data center, unless anyone has information to the contrary?

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/03/us...pagewanted=all

The article covers the state, not Austin specifically. Austin is one subset of the larger picture.

I pay more for energy in Austin, than I did in Oregon. I pay more for water as well.
So I am not guessing that the data center, that my employer built, that is across the street from my house, is not getting a lower rate than they did in Oregon unless it is through some sort of subsidy.

I pay more in property taxes here, than I did in Oregon. So why would property taxes be lower for companies, unless it was through some sort of subsidy?

So it is hard for me to believe that Austin (or Texas) has lower energy rates or lower property tax rates than all of the states in the northern part of the country.

My employer built their data center in Austin, for the tax break. The tax break included a requirement to relocate employees here. I know this for a fact.

While not all companies come here for tax breaks, multiple companies have done so. Finding an example where they did not, does not make the fact that many do false.

Even if energy was cheaper in Texas (which it is not), it is not environmentally a good idea to choose a location that requires more energy.

However, if putting solar panels on the data center, produced all of the needed energy to cool the data center, I might feel differently.
But I don't see any solar panels on the data center.