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In 2020 America, California is expensive to a degree that makes even the eyes of the wealthy water (ie: beyond all sense even given the economy anywhere in California) because the United States allows non-citizens to buy property here.
Californian single family houses, among other similar vehicles, are a preferred parking spot for more foreign money than anyone would care to know about. In fact, paying as much as they can get away with is often advanteageous because it means more money can be transferred out of whatever corrupt nation they live in. It also encourages universal price appreciation, which they like.
This increased semi-synthetic demand (in terms of natural, national market forces driven by our national economy) by foreign money for property, with high price preferences, drives up housing costs.
Have you ever wondered how much housing sits off-market and empty in the Bay Area alone? A scandelous amount of houses sit empty. And yet, the prices keep going ...up.
What would happen to the housing market if that foreign money all wanted to sell at once, all of it having the same exact currency and banking regulation considerations that do not universally exist across working home owners that live in their properties?
In other words, what would happen to the economy if all of that property flooded the market at once given a single sell-trigger?
Yeah honestly you're not wrong. Same problem in NYC. Wayyyy too many properties are tax shelters or giant vacation homes used once per year. Meanwhile, thousands of homeless starve.
High density progressive populations are the result of both economic growth and urbanization. Not the cause. There are virtually zero Red cities of any significant size, growing or not.
Said differently, attributing urbanization or its economic growth to progresssiveness is like attributing poop to flies.
Austin's particularly left-leaning nature is absolutely a huge factor in it's growth. That quality (along with nicer terrain) is the main thing that differentiates it from the other cities in Texas. Austin was also quite progressive prior to being a large or.dense city, so I don't understand your cause/effect claim.
Austin's particularly left-leaning nature is absolutely a huge factor in it's growth. That quality (along with nicer terrain) is the main thing that differentiates it from the other cities in Texas. Austin was also quite progressive prior to being a large or.dense city, so I don't understand your cause/effect claim.
Austin is really not all that more blue than Dallas. It just gets more hype from annoying hipsters and tech bros. Like yes, it's measurably bluer. Normally votes 5+ points more for a blue and 5+ points less for red candidate. But when Dallas county is so much larger than Travis County, does it really matter all that much? I mean I would assume not, but I'd be happy to hear about how life is more significantly more progressive in Austin? Dallas has the better public transit too.
Austin is really not all that more blue than Dallas. It just gets more hype from annoying hipsters and tech bros. Like yes, it's measurably bluer. Normally votes 5+ points more for a blue and 5+ points less for red candidate. But when Dallas county is so much larger than Travis County, does it really matter all that much? I mean I would assume not, but I'd be happy to hear about how life is more significantly more progressive in Austin? Dallas has the better public transit too.
"5+ points more for a blue and 5+ points less for red candidate* is a pretty big difference... It's also a bit more than than on average. Not to mention Travis county is most of the Austin metro whereas DFW also includes some deep red counties.
1992:
Dallas: 39% Bush, 35% Clinton
Travis: 47% Clinton, 32% Bush
Austin is really not all that more blue than Dallas. It just gets more hype from annoying hipsters and tech bros. Like yes, it's measurably bluer. Normally votes 5+ points more for a blue and 5+ points less for red candidate. But when Dallas county is so much larger than Travis County, does it really matter all that much? I mean I would assume not, but I'd be happy to hear about how life is more significantly more progressive in Austin? Dallas has the better public transit too.
Not wanting to turn this into a Austin/Dallas thread. Austin is significantly to the left of Dallas by most measures. The Democratic primary data is better for indicating which city is more "progressive"
Dallas County 2016 Democratic primary:
Clinton 71.5%
Sanders 27.8%
Travis County 2016 Democratic primary
Sanders 51.4%
Clinton 48.2%
Dallas County 2020 Democratic primary
Biden 40.32%
Sanders 27%
Warren 9.89%
Travis County 2020 Democratic primary
Sanders 37.28%
Biden 23.46%
Warren 22.13%
In terms of party politics they are both reliably Democratic, though Austin has been so for much longer than Dallas, but within party lines, as the above shows, Dallas Democratic voters prefer the corporate, moderate wing of the party, and Austin voters incline to the left, progressive wing of the party. . .
And hanging out in both cities, that difference is, for better or worse, palpable. Dallas is more racially progressive, but for every other variable I can think of, Austin is to the left of Dallas politically. i would say Dallas and San Diego are politically fairly comparable. Neither one is as lefty as Austin, and all three have some notably conservative suburban areas.
And hanging out in both cities, that difference is, for better or worse, palpable. Dallas is more racially progressive, but for every other variable I can think of, Austin is to the left of Dallas politically. i would say Dallas and San Diego are politically fairly comparable. Neither one is as lefty as Austin, and all three have some notably conservative suburban areas.
One reason I would like San Diego better. It has the best remaining politics of the major California cities. That, and the weather is more tolerable than in Austin.
In terms of party politics they are both reliably Democratic, though Austin has been so for much longer than Dallas, but within party lines, as the above shows, Dallas Democratic voters prefer the corporate, moderate wing of the party, and Austin voters incline to the left, progressive wing of the party. . .
And hanging out in both cities, that difference is, for better or worse, palpable. Dallas is more racially progressive, but for every other variable I can think of, Austin is to the left of Dallas politically. i would say Dallas and San Diego are politically fairly comparable. Neither one is as lefty as Austin, and all three have some notably conservative suburban areas.
I'd rather live in Austin now, and vacation in San Diego. But, I would rather live in San Diego later in life.
Austin really, truly has an "it" factor that very few cities have. Though it's been the popular migration destination for over a decade, it still doesn't seem to have lost the authentic feel that made it so desirable to begin with.
The music, the food, the people.. The lake(s), the hills. I'll concede that the summers would drive me insane, but I'd like to think it has the natural resources accessible to make it more tolerable as compared to many other cities southern/southwestern cities.
Austin is the most overhyped and pretentious city in the US, bar none. Now that I've been living outside of the US, it's become even clearer. I don't think I've ever encountered a place with rapid growth and a high number of transplants that are also incredibly myopic and provincial. Usually that's encountered in stagnant cities with very settled populations. I forget who said it but it went along these lines: "Texas is viewed in America the way America is viewed around the world." Austin just happens to be a city version of that "exceptionalism mentality."
In terms of party politics they are both reliably Democratic, though Austin has been so for much longer than Dallas, but within party lines, as the above shows, Dallas Democratic voters prefer the corporate, moderate wing of the party, and Austin voters incline to the left, progressive wing of the party. . .
And hanging out in both cities, that difference is, for better or worse, palpable. Dallas is more racially progressive, but for every other variable I can think of, Austin is to the left of Dallas politically. i would say Dallas and San Diego are politically fairly comparable. Neither one is as lefty as Austin, and all three have some notably conservative suburban areas.
That's the part I'm getting to. Dallas' voting record is slightly more moderate, but does that actually have an effect on QOL? I mean, in SD, the LGBT community and minorities are accepted throughout the urban areas of the city, just like in any other city. SD County is more conservative and sometimes downright literally the KKK (Klantee). But LA has that in the desert and parts of OC. SF has that in parts of the East Bay. NYC has that in parts of NJ and LI. This is not something specific to SD only.
But on the ground living day to day in Dallas, does the QOL actually improve for, say, an LGBT Muslim/Jewish woman of color? If she lived in/around downtown Dallas like Uptown and Deep Ellum, would her life be worse than if she was living in Austin? I'm not saying one way or another. Genuinely asking. Because as it relates to this thread, if a woman like that would not actually experience a higher QOL in Austin, it's very challenging to continue the idea that Austin is far more liberal than the rest of Texas and SD as well. Because SD is not conservative when you're actually there. If you hang out anywhere like PB OB Hillcrest North Park Coronado downtown, bigotry is very rare there. The city is quite progressive in those areas. No argument that the county is more conservative, but the urban city zones are not whatsoever.
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