What was the catalyst that made Austin grow to be the city it is today?

[eileenkeeney]

Tax incentives played a huge role, both those offered by the state of Texas and those offered by the city of Austin.
My employer moved me (and several of my co-workers) to Austin, based on Tax breaks.

The Texas leadership would talk about how great of a job they were doing, creating jobs in Texas. Really they were taking jobs from other states, and moving them to Texas. The results I saw in Austin, were NOT to the benefit of the typical Austin resident. It benefited those who wanted to sell property. But those who just wanted to stay put in the house they were already living in, or rented, the impact was to raise their taxes and/or rent. Several were pushed out of the neighborhoods they had lived in, forced to seek out cheaper rent.

[madrone2k]

Good points from everyone. However, I don't think its reasonable to say that it was just one company or one event.

When I lived in Austin in the 70s, I seem to recall that the tech company Tracor (has anyone heard of that?) and Glastron (a pleasure boat manufacturer) were the prominent companies based there.

It was often said that UT graduates loved Austin, but there were no job opportunities to keep them there.

My perception is that locating MCC in Austin was part of the early development of Austin as a tech center. However, there are a lot of "moving parts" in that development. Part of it is being able to attract and/or retain a qualified workforce. That benefited from being able to offer an environment that was attractive to young, recent college graduates. Another part, which might be less appreciated, is being able to attract visionary entrepreneurs that start companies. E.g., Mike Dell and John Mackey, who interestingly are both from Houston originally ... but went to Austin to create Dell and Whole Foods.

[hitpausebutton2]

Originally Posted by eileenkeeney

Tax incentives played a huge role, both those offered by the state of Texas and those offered by the city of Austin.
My employer moved me (and several of my co-workers) to Austin, based on Tax breaks.

The Texas leadership would talk about how great of a job they were doing, creating jobs in Texas. Really they were taking jobs from other states, and moving them to Texas. The results I saw in Austin, were NOT to the benefit of the typical Austin resident. It benefited those who wanted to sell property. But those who just wanted to stay put in the house they were already living in, or rented, the impact was to raise their taxes and/or rent. Several were pushed out of the neighborhoods they had lived in, forced to seek out cheaper rent.

Yep.. this I got push way the eff out of town. even on a $22 hour salary still hard to pay rent and car/insurance when they keep jacking it up 100+ every 6 months. and ya wages doesnt.

[Austin97]

Originally Posted by hitpausebutton2

Yep.. this I got push way the eff out of town. even on a $22 hour salary still hard to pay rent and car/insurance when they keep jacking it up 100+ every 6 months. and ya wages doesnt.

22/hour is very low wages.

To compare

We pay our nanny $20/hour

We pay our daughters chinese tutor 20/hour

We pay admins fresh out of college 22/hour

Amazon will 1) have all kinds of new jobs. They wont necessarily import all 50K 2) causing other employers to have to pay more

[madrone2k]

I recall that some of the press reports mentioned Amazon creating ~50,000 jobs with an average salary of over $100,000.

As big as Austin is now, I think adding that additional level of disposable income would have a transformative effect.