Oracle to build massive campus in SE Austin (Willis, Riverside: apartment, to rent)

[Trainwreck20]

If incentives are offered, the CoA can attach strings to those incentives, and ask the companies to create socially responsible development like Oracle did. The CoA should use Oracle as an example of what they want to see from corporate relo's.

Let companies decide if Oracle did it right and then they can chose to follow suit. I am not a big fan of having government decide what is 'right'. Private sector may be messy and miss the mark, but they end up 'fixing' it, whereas government often just ends up subsidizing bad choices long after it is obvious it is bad....

[Austinite101]

Originally Posted by Trainwreck20

Let companies decide if Oracle did it right and then they can chose to follow suit. I am not a big fan of having government decide what is 'right'. Private sector may be messy and miss the mark, but they end up 'fixing' it, whereas government often just ends up subsidizing bad choices long after it is obvious it is bad....

Sometimes.

[verybadgnome]

Originally Posted by cBach

Can you draw in where it will go and post it here?

Sorry did not mean to give impression that I had inside info or anything. I do know that the Lakeshore apartments at 2401 S. Lakeshore are being demolished and this is one of the few properties between Elmont and Lakeshore. They could also be developing the area to the north of the Park apts. for all I know.

[verybadgnome]

Originally Posted by Trainwreck20

Let companies decide if Oracle did it right and then they can chose to follow suit. I am not a big fan of having government decide what is 'right'. Private sector may be messy and miss the mark, but they end up 'fixing' it, whereas government often just ends up subsidizing bad choices long after it is obvious it is bad....

Lots of incentives have been given to developing downtown Austin starting with Will Wynn's administration. I think it has been a smashing success as the increased property, sales, alcohol, and hotel taxes will more than pay for these incentives. Also the creation and eventual expansion of the Neal Kocurek Memorial Austin Convention Center was initiated by Austin city council in 1983. Without it downtown hotel development would have been a shadow of what it is now.

[hsw]

Grt to see TX win some jobs b/c of its 0% st inc tx, world's cheapest housing, etc etc

Ult test is if any smart kids choose to start careers in TX (which has failed to spawn valuable new tech cos. in past 30+yrs, much like Seatt has failed in past 20+yrs): perhaps best IQ test for any allegedly smart kid

Cheap costs only go so far (both TX&WA have 0% st inc tx), even vs corrupt/absurdly costly NYC/CA/IL/MI, etc....ask '80s Japan or '00s China....

[petro]

Originally Posted by hsw

Grt to see TX win some jobs b/c of its 0% st inc tx, world's cheapest housing, etc etc

Ult test is if any smart kids choose to start careers in TX (which has failed to spawn valuable new tech cos. in past 30+yrs, much like Seatt has failed in past 20+yrs): perhaps best IQ test for any allegedly smart kid

Cheap costs only go so far (both TX&WA have 0% st inc tx), even vs corrupt/absurdly costly NYC/CA/IL/MI, etc....ask '80s Japan or '00s China....

You do realize that we already have a booming tech industry here in Austin? And your "world's cheapest housing" comment makes it sound like you haven't been here in a long time.

[ashbeeigh]

Just read this article Oracle's plan comes with hidden cost to some residents and feel like there is always another side to the story in Austin when it comes to "growth." I see both sides of it, but being in social services my heart breaks for families affected.

[sojourner77]

Originally Posted by ashbeeigh

Just read this article Oracle's plan comes with hidden cost to some residents and feel like there is always another side to the story in Austin when it comes to "growth." I see both sides of it, but being in social services my heart breaks for families affected.

I don't understand the problem - if you rent, you get below market prices for living in an area for however long you live there.


If you rent, you don't get to dictate how much you pay, or how long you get to live there - because you don't own the place!

[ashbeeigh]

Originally Posted by sojourner77

I don't understand the problem - if you rent, you get below market prices for living in an area for however long you live there.


If you rent, you don't get to dictate how much you pay, or how long you get to live there - because you don't own the place!

You signed a legally binding lease agreement that if broken you have rights to. Property owners are not holding up their end of the agreement (as the story is bring told by tenants and we have not heard the owner's side). This is all bring told by the tenants so it could be wrong. The other side of it is the social aspect, as gentrification increases it does just displace a human, it displaces a family, a child, life long memories, etc. I understand it is business, but as a business owner you kind of invest in the community around you and you're not being a great steward of your community, in my opinion. You displace all these people. It just might be heart speaking and not the rational part of me, but it just bothers me to think that with skyrocketing rent and cost of living that these families may be living in shelters, with family, with other families, in cars and hotels because their once affordable home will now house a 200k a year tech job for a Californian instead of providing a home for a fifth generation asistinite making 32k a year. There was also no mention of how much these people were paying. They very well could have been paying market rate.

[sojourner77]

Originally Posted by ashbeeigh

You signed a legally binding lease agreement that if broken you have rights to. Property owners are not holding up their end of the agreement (as the story is bring told by tenants and we have not heard the owner's side). This is all bring told by the tenants so it could be wrong. The other side of it is the social aspect, as gentrification increases it does just displace a human, it displaces a family, a child, life long memories, etc. I understand it is business, but as a business owner you kind of invest in the community around you and you're not being a great steward of your community, in my opinion. You displace all these people. It just might be heart speaking and not the rational part of me, but it just bothers me to think that with skyrocketing rent and cost of living that these families may be living in shelters, with family, with other families, in cars and hotels because their once affordable home will now house a 200k a year tech job for a Californian instead of providing a home for a fifth generation asistinite making 32k a year. There was also no mention of how much these people were paying. They very well could have been paying market rate.

When I mean less than market - I mean that by renting, you're paying less than your home-owning neighbors in order to stay in an area. It's always cheaper to rent (per month) than to buy. The caveat is that you have no protection from rent increases and ownership changes. That's part of the deal. These folks are not getting kicked off land that they own, but feel theyare entitled to stay there. There are areas in Austin, where you can buy a condos (PITI) for less than $1000 month. Heck, there are areas where homes with yards can be bought for that low of a monthly payment.




btw, I grew up in an expensive part of town as the child of renters, and bounced around 5-6 homes by the time I was 18. The houses in my old neighborhood start at 700K, and run up to the multi-millions. I can't afford to live there, and I'm not asking to be given affordable housing in my old neighborhood, either. Times change and people need to move on. it just chaps me that it's chic to play the victim card is this day and age. People in this country have been fed the milk of govt' subsidization, and they can't shake it off. It's bad for society.