Austin is the fastest growing metropolitan in the country, is its growth directly related to an influx of Californians who have grown tired of their Golden State?
“Austin is the New L.A., but keep it on the down-low. Everybody who learns about this place and comes here ends up staying.” I had met Cole and Pele at the Barton Creek River in Austin, during late May earlier this year. The weather was hot, but not yet Texas hot. A friend and I were enjoying an evening picnic in our bathing suits, watching the glow from the sunset slowly creep down the rocky ledges until a dark shadow was cast across the entire river.
They were quintessential hippies in every regard – super skinny, long hair, bare feet. They claimed to be strung out on some sort of trip, I can’t recall if it was mushrooms or acid but they were friendly enough and we found ourselves falling into conversation easily with them. They had told us they traveled all over the world, but that Austin was their favorite place by far. I found this surprising, naturally assuming they would claim some sort of tropical paradise instead. Pele’s sentiment regarding Austin as the new L.A. seemed especially interesting to me and I decided to dig more into it and see if the validity held up when compared to the facts.
The conversation of Californians jumping ship last year has been a hot one in the media as of late. According to The New York Times, the 0.46 decline in population, or 182,083 people, was the first time in over a century that the state had actually lost residents. The reasons for this are hard to necessarily attribute to one factor but generally revolve around high tax and housing costs, COVID-19, and overpopulation.
With the phenomenon of the “California Exodus,” many eyes have turned to the state of Texas as being one of the main destinations for those fleeing. Most notably, famous billionaire and CEO of Tesla Motors, Elon Musk. According to Los Angeles Magazine, Tesla announced their plans to build a factory in Austin in 2020 (a project that I pass by on my interstate venture to and from the airport every time I visit Austin.) Musk also moved to Texas despite still having business dealings in California and accused Silicon Valley of being “complacent.”
Notorious podcaster/influencer Joe Rogan also made the move from California to Texas in 2020. Allegedly his move was prompted by a desire to relocate to somewhere more accessible by travel, but many suspect it was also due to financial reasons specifically relating to taxes.
When comparing the actual atmosphere of the two cities, the parallels are evident. Both are hot weather climates with a young population and a large art/music scene. Although Austin in its own respect holds different cultural influences and has more of – for lack of a better word – a “yeehaw” vibe, the two are strikingly similar.
The effect of such migration into Austin, not only by Californians but in general, is already being seen. Austin’s housing market is booming, according to Austin Monitor, “Home prices in Austin rose $100,000 in six months.” This insane surge is observed by economists to be an “unsustainable level of growth” that they hope will dissipate in the next year. Experts are also commenting on the “narrative that Austinites love to hate,” in reference to the idea that rich Californians are ruining Texas. According to an analysis done by Zillow, people moving to Austin in 2020 were most often coming from San Francisco, San Jose, or Los Angeles.
Although original Austinites don’t seem too on board with the idea of an L.A. invasion, the fiction doesn’t seem too far from fact. I also must apologize to Pele for spilling the beans on Austin, as I have to admit it might be one of my favorite places on earth as well.
