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If I were working for Tesla or Oracle and already living in the Bay Area... then by definition I'd (probably) be able to afford living in the Bay Area. So I'd pick that over a smaller, hotter, more humid, less interesting, but cheaper metro.
I think that if I were a HQ person making a good buck and owning real estate in a place like Palo Alto, I would rent my house out and move to Austin and see how it goes. If it was a no go, I would just start applying to companies in SJ, and return.
Disclaimer: I live in Austin, but work for a company based in the SJ metro and travelled there frequently prior to Covid.
San Jose has a much better climate, but I'm not a fan of the city. I do think its suburbs are nicer than Austin's, however they are insanely expensive for what you get. San Jose has much more to do in terms of weekend trips, but Austin has more to do locally. If you can afford San Jose housing, you can afford flights from Austin.
Overall, I'm just not a huge fan of the San Jose metro honestly. Even with tens of millions I'd probably be looking at Southern California or SF rather than SJ. With less money, Austin is better. Even with say $2-4 million for the home budget I'd much prefer what that gets you in Austin vs. San Jose, much less Palo Alto.
I think that if I were a HQ person making a good buck and owning real estate in a place like Palo Alto, I would rent my house out and move to Austin and see how it goes. If it was a no go, I would just start applying to companies in SJ, and return.
Palo Alto real estate is extremely expensive. A small percentage of people that work at the Tesla HQ would be able to afford a SFH there.
People say San Jose has a better climate. . .but I find it awfully boring. I prefer thunderstorms, ice, and tornados over sun every day. Honestly, this is probably a draw for me for various reasons and it all comes down entirely to money. In my current job or industry, Austin, no question. It is cheaper and, from what I heard, people doing my job in the Bay Area do not make enough more to live a similar lifestyle with no roommates. If I was in tech and, at the end of the day adjusted for housing and other COL, I had the same income, then probably San Jose, only because of its proximity to the San Francisco region. I voted Austin, however, because I don't see myself ever leaving my industry, especially for tech,
This is a tough one for me. I almost voted for Austin. But the horrible oppressive humid Austin summers, and I'd miss NorCal's Pacific Ocean and mountains. I'd miss San Jose's easy proximity down to Santa Cruz and Monterey. I didn't vote, can't decide
Probably San Jose if there's a cost of living adjustment between the two being compared. I don't quite love humid and hot summers so that's a demerit for Austin while I do love access to mountains and the ocean. As cities, San Jose has a lot less bustle, but it does have some fairly urban neighborhoods and access to other such places in the metro that are more bustling has improved and is looking to improve quite a bit further with a BART extension and the electrification and other improvements to Caltrain. I'm also pretty partial to East Asian and Southeast Asian cuisine and groceries, so that's another bonus. I think the San Jose region is in for a pretty large building, and denser building, phase as well as a lot, for the US, mass transit improvements and I think those will be make the livelier urban living part better pretty rapidly.
If I was already well established in the San Jose housing market and could afford to stay, then I would almost certainly remain in that area. Otherwise, I would likely move to Austin. Not that Austin is cheap.
There are too many benefits to San Jose's location not to choose it, IMO. I'm very affected by physical setting, and while San Jose proper may not be spectacular, so much nearby is stunning. Plus I really like to visit San Francisco.
San Jose is closer to places I’d rather be (Carmel). But in the end, housing would push me to Austin. It’s closer to what I’m used to culturally as well.
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