Who's Moving to Austin? Hint: It's Not Californians... (Houston, Dallas: school, live)

[scm53]

Originally Posted by cBach

Yes, the biggest source of our growth, even if you exclude cross town moves, is Texans, mainly from Houston and Dallas, that want a more liberal environment and prettier scenery.

And you have what data to back up that?

[slingshot]

Originally Posted by CptnRn

I keep hearing people ***** about all the Californians moving to Austin. If you are one of those people, you do not know what you are talking about. I am happy to see another article published on that subject:

Who's Moving to Austin? Hint: It's Not Californians | Boom Town | Austin Post






MigrationTravisCounty American Migration [Interactive Map] - Forbes

All this proved was that there are more people from other places than California moving to Austin. It seems the few Californians are making a bigger negative impact on Austinites than all of the others combined. Just an observation, not necessarily a fact.

[G Grasshopper]

I don't see any evidence that Californians "try to change" Austin any more (or less) than Chicagoans, New Yorkers or Podunkians. I have never heard of anyone moving someplace in the US in order to change it. Of course, they bring their political and cultural leanings with them, so there will be shifts of voting patters, etc. But this is true of every where that receives incoming residents. Greater Austin has experienced large population growth recently which has not been limited or discouraged by the city or any of the "powers that be." By encouraging growth, the city has invited in change. If the people of Austin did not want change, they should have been working hard years ago to stop growth. And they should be working on that right now. There are ways to do that (limit water hook-ups, increase costs to developers, etc.) Getting those kinds of stop growth policies passed, however, is unlikely. It is not the Texas style. That hasn't changed.

[TexasHorseLady]

Actually, the citizens of Austin DID work years ago to stop, or at least slow, growth. I can remember one of the "everyone gets input" sessions about 40 years ago where the biggest concern was coming growth and how to manage and reduce it so that Austin wouldn't be destroyed by it. Didn't work, and there've been other similar sessions since - mostly along the lines of "tell us what we want to hear and we're going to keep doing this until you do" as is done with so many other things that the Austin City Council wants.

And now people who've moved here complain because Austin didn't plan for growth but tried to stop it, and they came anyway, and now things are not as convenient for them in the way of traffic as they would like for it to be.

[slingshot]

That's what they do. They come into a new town, gradually change it to what they had where they came from, then don't like anymore and complain what a lousy place it has become. It happened in Idaho. It's happening in Texas, and it's happening here in Arkansas. Let it be noted that when I say 'they', I am referring to new-comers from all states and countries.

[Spacepup]

It is also possible that no city is detached from the rest of the world and many of the same forces which are affecting XXXXX also affect Austin, with many of the same results.

For examples: Cities around the country are becoming unaffordable to large swaths of their population due to income distributions becoming heavily bimodal (the middle class getting thwacked) and gentrification of formerly "affordable" areas. Transportation (and paying for it) is a problem everywhere. Property and sales taxes are going up everywhere because services cost more for municipalities and State and Federal governments are largely not offsetting the difference. Culture is getting much more uniform nationwide due to heavy media penetration, marketing, and nationwide chain retail.

When I go home and visit my family where I grew up I even hear people complaining about how people are moving in an ruining the place yet everything seems nearly identical to how it was, minus the main street not being 80% boarded up. The only places I can think of where this isn't happening are dying towns and communities where the major industry has left.

[orngkat]

There are just a whole lot more humans everywhere. Congestion is going on everywhere that one can make any sort of living. Perhaps we should work on making less people in the first place?

[G Grasshopper]

Originally Posted by orngkat

There are just a whole lot more humans everywhere. Congestion is going on everywhere that one can make any sort of living. Perhaps we should work on making less people in the first place?

This is so true. But I don't see the limitation of population growth as any kind of priority, either State or Federal. Too bad, because many of our problems (and the world's) arise from over-population.

[CptnRn]

Originally Posted by slingshot

All this proved was that there are more people from other places than California moving to Austin. It seems the few Californians are making a bigger negative impact on Austinites than all of the others combined. Just an observation, not necessarily a fact.

What is your basis for that observation? I have not seen any changes in Austin that I would attribute to Californians.

Originally Posted by G Grasshopper

I don't see any evidence that Californians "try to change" Austin any more (or less) than Chicagoans, New Yorkers or Podunkians. I have never heard of anyone moving someplace in the US in order to change it. Of course, they bring their political and cultural leanings with them, so there will be shifts of voting patters, etc. But this is true of every where that receives incoming residents. Greater Austin has experienced large population growth recently which has not been limited or discouraged by the city or any of the "powers that be." By encouraging growth, the city has invited in change. If the people of Austin did not want change, they should have been working hard years ago to stop growth. And they should be working on that right now. There are ways to do that (limit water hook-ups, increase costs to developers, etc.) Getting those kinds of stop growth policies passed, however, is unlikely. It is not the Texas style. That hasn't changed.

I agree, what changes have Californians made to Austin? I have heard people complain about Californians bringing liberal ideas to Austin, but if anything I think Austin has gotten more conservative during the 33 years that I have lived here.

[capcat]

Originally Posted by Spacepup

It is also possible that no city is detached from the rest of the world and many of the same forces which are affecting XXXXX also affect Austin, with many of the same results.

For examples: Cities around the country are becoming unaffordable to large swaths of their population due to income distributions becoming heavily bimodal (the middle class getting thwacked) and gentrification of formerly "affordable" areas. Transportation (and paying for it) is a problem everywhere. Property and sales taxes are going up everywhere because services cost more for municipalities and State and Federal governments are largely not offsetting the difference. Culture is getting much more uniform nationwide due to heavy media penetration, marketing, and nationwide chain retail.

When I go home and visit my family where I grew up I even hear people complaining about how people are moving in an ruining the place yet everything seems nearly identical to how it was, minus the main street not being 80% boarded up. The only places I can think of where this isn't happening are dying towns and communities where the major industry has left.

I agree, culture is getting more uniform. Information, trends and ideas travel fast, we're not so separated by distance, even though distance doesn't change. And, people are more well-traveled. They get out in the world and bring those experiences with them. It creates a market, it changes things. As long as some of the culture/character of a place is preserved, it's not a bad thing, and it's always been true. Austin of any decade was different than the decade before.

The only difference is that there's been a rather startling explosion of it in the past few years. I enjoy many of the new things, I enjoy the old too. But you're right, we don't have the market cornered on community change. I hear people talk about it elsewhere as well.

My key concern is that "Austin" won't give enough thought to what's being torn down in this rapidly changing community. Once it's gone, it's gone for anyone, not just old-timers, to experience. Like in any place that is new to people, newcomers and tourists appreciate locals who (politely) let them in on the establishments and customs that reflect the culture of a place. Being gracious and accepting of new cultures in that way, rather than villifying and alienating them, may be the best way to foster and preserve things worth saving.