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Austin's secret sauce… it's the WHY
Austin has been the fastest growing city in the country for a decade and recent events seem to be causing it to accelerate even further. What about Austin is drawing people in and keeping them here?
It's not just about taxes - there are plenty of other cities and states with similar advantages. Why does it feel different here than other cities?
People are moving to Austin from all over the US and all over the world. They are coming from the East coast and West, from London and China and Tel Aviv.
COVID-19 has caused global acceleration of many trends that were already happening before the pandemic and the immigration to Texas and especially Austin are no exception.
When anyone can work from anywhere, they don't evenly distribute across the country. There will be some big winners who attract more and higher quality talent than others. Austin is positioned to be the biggest winner of them all.
Everyone comes for different reasons. Some are running away from skyrocketing tax rates, disfunctional government, and devastating wildfires. Others are running towards a new opportunity - a new job, a new lifestyle, or a new love.
Everyone comes for the same reason. They are creating a new tomorrow. For themselves, for their families, for their companies, for their country, for their world.
Austin is the aspirational city. It's a city that other cities want to be when they grow up. It's a place where people go when they aspire for more.
I was recently talking with someone who moved here from Silicon Valley and he pointed out something that really resonated with me. Silicon Valley is a transitional home for many who are not born there and don't retire there.
They come to Silicon Valley from all over the world with grand plans for world domination… but after their grand plans succeed or fail they "go back home" to where their family is from or go to a beach somewhere.
As a result, he thought that many people in Silicon Valley aren't as invested in the community or focused on making it better for their children and their neighbors. How different than the feeling in Austin!
It's great to see people like @DavidSacks and @jeffiel rallying to stay and commit to the bay area and help to make it better. It certainly isn't going away or anything. But they seem to be more the exception than the rule…
People who are coming to Austin are different. They are leaving somewhere like that because they want more. They want to have it all. A great job is the start, but also a great home, a great neighborhood, a great community their feel part of.
People who move to Austin immediately want to get involved and help make it better. They want to have a voice in Austin's future. Many want to make sure it doesn't end up looking like San Francisco. Many want to address systemic racism that has left a stain on Austin's past.
We have great role models to look up to. Leaders who have left indelible marks on Austin like George Kozmetsky, @MichaelDell & Susan, Tom & Lynn Meredith, and @KirkPWatson.
That's how we ended up with the @DellMedSchool and the soon-to-be-unveiled @WaterlooGW Park downtown.
When @armyfutures was searching for the location to launch their new headquarters, there were also focused on talent… but they knew they didn't want to be in Silicon Valley. After an exhaustive search, they narrowed it down to three finalist cities: Austin, Boston & Raleigh.
Why did Austin win @armyfutures over the other cities? @SecArmy Ryan McCarthy told me that was the people of Austin that differentiated us from the other cities. @CFDefense
Austin asked how we could help them be successful, talked about how they would be part of the community, and shared a vision of what we could build together instead of just focusing on how much funding or jobs the Army would bring.
