Fortune 500 HQ relo from CA to DFW....... (Houston, Dallas: job market, quality of life)

[EDS_]

Adding nicely to DFW's engineering mass.



https://www.dallasnews.com/business/...as-fort-worth/


https://www.wfaa.com/article/money/b...7-f0664123a0ce

__________

Cue up:

A. The usual Dallas haters, detractors, self-important serial critics etc. letting us know this is meaningless or trivial. Begging the question how many cos. must move for the trend not to be trivial?

B. A few of the Houston gang to reinforce A.

[Rag King]

I get that companies are moving to Texas for tax reasons.

Out of the entire state of Texas, why Dallas specifically? Aren't there other areas of the state where there is less traffic and congestion and where the cost of living is lower?

[potatocoins]

Originally Posted by Rag King

I get that companies are moving to Texas for tax reasons.

Out of the entire state of Texas, why Dallas specifically? Aren't there other areas of the state where there is less traffic and congestion and where the cost of living is lower?

Companies move to where the talent is and the talent moves to where the companies are. There is less traffic, congestion, and a lower cost of living in Tyler, but there isn't as much talent there and less people are willing to move there because there are less job opportunities.

DFW is very well connected with all the interstate highway access and the DFW and DAL airports as well, and if the high speed rail ever gets off the ground, that'll be another big win too.

If a company is moving to Texas, it'll most likely be to one of the major cities, so they are the only ones that are competing with us (within Texas). We just have to make sure to continue to build and grow in a smart way to where we can keep up with the growth and not become too much more congested or expensive than Houston or Austin.

[albert648]

Not surprising. There's no reason for an engineering firm taking on major projects in TX that will probably take a decade or longer to remain in California. Taxes and cost differences help.

[EDS_]

Originally Posted by Rag King

I get that companies are moving to Texas for tax reasons.

Out of the entire state of Texas, why Dallas specifically? Aren't there other areas of the state where there is less traffic and congestion and where the cost of living is lower?

In this case they mentioned engineering and other other skilled talent available locally.

[EDS_]

Originally Posted by potatocoins

Companies move to where the talent is and the talent moves to where the companies are. There is less traffic, congestion, and a lower cost of living in Tyler, but there isn't as much talent there and less people are willing to move there because there are less job opportunities.

DFW is very well connected with all the interstate highway access and the DFW and DAL airports as well, and if the high speed rail ever gets off the ground, that'll be another big win too.

If a company is moving to Texas, it'll most likely be to one of the major cities, so they are the only ones that are competing with us (within Texas). We just have to make sure to continue to build and grow in a smart way to where we can keep up with the growth and not become too much more congested or expensive than Houston or Austin.

Now that is a good post.

[LocalPlanner]

Originally Posted by EDS_

Adding nicely to DFW's engineering mass.



https://www.dallasnews.com/business/...as-fort-worth/


https://www.wfaa.com/article/money/b...7-f0664123a0ce

__________

Cue up:

A. The usual Dallas haters, detractors, self-important serial critics etc. letting us know this is meaningless or trivial. Begging the question how many cos. must move for the trend not to be trivial?

B. A few of the Houston gang to reinforce A.

I'm a member of the Houston gang and think this is a further wake-up call to local leaders who have watched as the vast number of significant relocations happened in DFW or Austin and not here. Especially an engineering firm, for heaven sakes. Houston is an engineering town - DFW isn't really known for that (though it's not short on engineers of course).

I know DFW/DAL has better domestic flight routes, but I can't imagine the difference is THAT huge over IAH/HOU.

I realize Houston has to fight its reputation for flooding, which really ramped up over the last decade, but does it make CA firms that skittish? We have cheaper housing in Houston, and despite what ignorant folks in both the Houston and Dallas forums say, Houston's suburbs offer just as good quality of life.

[EDS_]

Originally Posted by LocalPlanner

I'm a member of the Houston gang and think this is a further wake-up call to local leaders who have watched as the vast number of significant relocations happened in DFW or Austin and not here. Especially an engineering firm, for heaven sakes. Houston is an engineering town - DFW isn't really known for that (though it's not short on engineers of course).

I know DFW/DAL has better domestic flight routes, but I can't imagine the difference is THAT huge over IAH/HOU.

I realize Houston has to fight its reputation for flooding, which really ramped up over the last decade, but does it make CA firms that skittish? We have cheaper housing in Houston, and despite what ignorant folks in both the Houston and Dallas forums say, Houston's suburbs offer just as good quality of life.

Yea. First Jacobs and now AECOM, both should have been perfect H-town fits IMO.

1. Jacobs' final two destination choices were A. downtown Dallas B. North Dallas (almost exactly where AECOM is located).

2. A little birdie told me AECOM's honchos wanted to be located such that worker's kids could attend solid publics or privates/live in the 'burbs or in the city and be an easy drive to DFW. The Noel location allows all that plus the company already has a large employment presence there.

3. Another little birdie showed me a working list of companies considering moves to TX cities over the next couple of years. In raw numbers of businesses Austin is the easy potential winner. In terms of name brand big companies and probably total employment gains DFW would be the likely winner. While Houston is well represented it lags on that list by a good bit. I have no idea why.

[potatocoins]

Originally Posted by LocalPlanner

I'm a member of the Houston gang and think this is a further wake-up call to local leaders who have watched as the vast number of significant relocations happened in DFW or Austin and not here. Especially an engineering firm, for heaven sakes. Houston is an engineering town - DFW isn't really known for that (though it's not short on engineers of course).

I know DFW/DAL has better domestic flight routes, but I can't imagine the difference is THAT huge over IAH/HOU.

I realize Houston has to fight its reputation for flooding, which really ramped up over the last decade, but does it make CA firms that skittish? We have cheaper housing in Houston, and despite what ignorant folks in both the Houston and Dallas forums say, Houston's suburbs offer just as good quality of life.

As someone who has spent most of their life in DFW (some in Austin) and almost none in Houston, I would agree with what you're saying.

I think the two metros share a lot of the same advantages. I'm honestly not sure why more relocations aren't happening in Houston. I feel like the DFW job market is more diversified and that gives it an edge over Houston? Potentially it has better interstate access as well, but I'm not sure about that. Either way, Houston is a strong city with a lot going for it. I really don't know too much about it and have never lived there to really chime in as to what they might need to change to improve how attractive they are.

Originally Posted by EDS_

Now that is a good post.

Haha, I'm capable when I try a bit.

[SanJac]

Congratulations Dallas!

McKesson is the one that stings for me.

Dallas was already a Regional HQ for AECOM so the Global HQ move there makes sense.