Work is now remote. Offices are going extinct.

Housing Square footage is minimal at best and you can't leave your house when locked down.

Crime is way up.

Murder rates are way up

Police are shot daily

Taxes are ridiculous

Schools are horrendous

Sickness and disease not only starts there but spreads more rapidly.

Restaurants closed or have no staff

Bars are closed or have no staff

Zero middle class jobs. Just janitors and the rich.


It really boggles the mind why anyone with a choice would "choose" to take that on.

What's the benefit?

Can't you read?

Work is now remote. Offices are going extinct.

No one goes into office anymore. Too crowded!

jobs

I think he's secretly trying to buy inner city property on the cheap.

Agree with the general sentiment tho.

I wish my job would go to remote only permanently. I'd move somewhere beautiful with good internet.

I wish I had the 50% WFH option. Would absolutely make my weekly life so much better.

But to answer the OP, yes, work. Commute. More jobs in the city.

If it wasn't for work, I'd never go to Austin city limits again. Would spend all of my time in Liberty Hill, Burnet, Marble Falls / Kingsland area, and the closest I'd get to Austin would be Leander/Cedar Park.

Im Gipper said:

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Can't you read?

Work is now remote. Offices are going extinct.

No one goes into office anymore. Too crowded!

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Don't tell that to the developers dumping a couple billion on new high rises in Austin please. I make my money off of them and run out of the city every night.

Best place to find victims

I don't know many people who are truly 100% remote working.

In my personal network I would say full remote is less than 10%. Hybrid with majority remote is probably 1/3, hybrid with majority in the office is another 1/3, and I'd say the remaining 24% is full time on location.

There are plenty of other reasons - living in the city has some great positives.

Rockdale Texas is now my nearest big city!

There are plenty of positives to counter balance the negatives of living in or out of the city.

Why do people question the motivations of others? It's almost as if you're looking for own decisions to be validated by the actions of others.

FrioAg 00 said:

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I don't know many people who are truly 100% remote working.

In my personal network I would say full remote is less than 10%. Hybrid with majority remote is probably 1/3, hybrid with majority in the office is another 1/3, and I'd say the remaining 24% is full time on location.

There are plenty of other reasons - living in the city has some great positives.

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I think this idealistic dream has been or will be shattered for most people. There are few companies that can survive long-term with everyone just scattered everywhere and not seeing one another.

One reason and one reason only. My girls go to private school. Very hard to find a decent private school in a small town. Once they're done, I'm out.

Simple inertia plays a big part. Not making a decision to move is the easiest path.

I can only speak to Downtown/West Austin. It is not nearly as bad as OP thinks. The bums have been greatly reduced (don't know where they've been sent) and I've yet to encounter violent crime. What is dramatically on the rise is petty crime. I suspect that so many of the bums that came here when the camping ban was lifted have found a way to stay and have realized there are no consequences to petty theft.

Also, restaurants and bars are open and masks not required.

Small towns are greatly romanticized by the Right. They're dying for a reason. The corruption of local government is something no one anywhere discusses.

True rural living has some appeal for sure; I think people getting tired of suburban life will move out to the true country. But for many people, its just too foreign of an idea to pursue in earnest (especially without huge funds to build out the infrastructure to live conveniently).

PascalsWager said:

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Small towns are greatly romanticized by the Right. They're dying for a reason. The corruption of local government is something no one anywhere discusses.

True rural living has some appeal for sure; I think people getting tired of suburban life will move out to the true country. But for many people, its just too foreign of an idea to pursue in earnest (especially without huge funds to build out the infrastructure to live conveniently).

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Would generally agree but you have seen significant population moves to rural areas. Some small towns are now thriving when they weren't before.

Mostly by people who could afford to cut ties with urban living, of course.

I don't like going into my downtown because of large homeless groups but our neighborhood, though quite blue, is supportive of police. They learned during the 2020 unrest that effective law enforcement is vital to supporting a strong local economy.

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Small towns are greatly romanticized by the Right. They're dying for a reason. The corruption of local government is something no one anywhere discusses.

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True - but that's government in general. Power corrupts.

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Would generally agree but you have seen significant population moves to rural areas. Some small towns are now thriving when they weren't before.

Mostly by people who could afford to cut ties with urban living, of course.

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Small towns in central TX have exploded with growth over the last 25 years.

mulch said:

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Work is now remote. Offices are going extinct.

Housing Square footage is minimal at best and you can't leave your house when locked down.

Crime is way up.

Murder rates are way up

Police are shot daily

Taxes are ridiculous

Schools are horrendous

Sickness and disease not only starts there but spreads more rapidly.

Restaurants closed or have no staff

Bars are closed or have no staff

Zero middle class jobs. Just janitors and the rich.


It really boggles the mind why anyone with a choice would "choose" to take that on.

What's the benefit?

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Have you been to the hill country lately? There are too many people moving there as is.

Jobs.

93MarineHorn said:

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Quote:

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Would generally agree but you have seen significant population moves to rural areas. Some small towns are now thriving when they weren't before.

Mostly by people who could afford to cut ties with urban living, of course.

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Small towns in central TX have exploded with growth over the last 25 years.

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They certainly have nice schools. Every time we drive through these 1 and 2 light towns we see high schools that rival junior colleges.

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Small towns in central TX have exploded with growth over the last 25 years.

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Making them no longer small towns!

responding point by point

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Housing Square footage is minimal at best and you can't leave your house when locked down.

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Yes you can. Unless you live in NZ or some European countries and the year is 2020.

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Crime is way up.

Murder rates are way up

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Unfortunately true in many major cities

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Police are shot daily

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Depends on the city but yes a troubling trend

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Taxes are ridiculous

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yup, and in Texas property taxes are backbreaking

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Schools are horrendous

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what city do you live in? schools in major cities are by and large better than those in small towns.

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Sickness and disease not only starts there but spreads more rapidly.

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natural consequences of densely populated areas.

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Restaurants closed or have no staff

Bars are closed or have no staff

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Maybe if you live in SF or DC. but otherwise not true for the vast majority of cities.

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Zero middle class jobs. Just janitors and the rich.

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I wouldn't say "zero" but yes this is a major problem.