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Comment by paulddraper | Hacker News Reader

> I think the parts of Texas and California with tech jobs are... not substitutable for a large part of the tech workforce on political/social grounds.

For some part of the workforce. 15% of software developers in the US work in California. For comparison, CA has 12% of the US population.

Many folks that work in CA are from out of state and do it for career/financial reasons, not for political/social reasons. And they'd be fine with living in a suburb of Austin if it were materially more appealing than some suburb of San Francisco.

[1] https://dqydj.com/number-of-developers-in-america-and-per-st...

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>Many folks that work in CA are from out of state and do it for career/financial reasons, not for political/social reasons. And they'd be fine with living in a suburb of Austin if it were materially more appealing than some suburb of San Francisco.

If I could be paid what I make in San Francisco in almost any other metropolitan city in the US I would move. The weather that people rave about sucks and the politics are rage inducing.

What I was trying to say is that most people have pretty strong preferences for the bay are or for texas. And you can induce some to switch using higher wages/lower CoL... but those preferences remain pretty strong, and for some are almost absolute. For me, I think I'd need to make about 2x the money to live in Texas; and I'm sure there's a lot of people who feel that way about coming to California. (to be clear, I'm not saying either one is better in general, just that many people, perhaps most have strong preferences one way or the other, preferences it would take significant money to overcome.)

>Many folks that work in CA are from out of state and do it for career/financial reasons, not for political/social reasons.

The fact that most folks in CA are from out of state doesn't imply that they would be just as happy in Texas. Something like 40% of our STEM workforce is from outside the country. Do you think an immigrant would be treated as well in Texas as in California? (maybe this is my prejudice showing, but everything I've seen and heard is that they would not.) add to that the developers who aren't heterosexual (or who are but who don't look it) or who aren't white, and I think you have a lot of people who... probably have good reason to stay on this side of the mason-dixon line.

(I feel the need to add a disclaimer; I've not spent a huge amount of time in Texas, and perhaps it isn't so bad, but... this perception is common, and it does mean some people won't take jobs in Texas, just like the perception that California is a nanny state where you will get fired for not being politically correct will keep many Texans out of California.)

> Do you think an immigrant would be treated as well in Texas as in California?

Yes. I would expect an immigrant living in one of Texas' cities to be treated just as well as an immigrant living in one of California's cities and same for the rural areas.

Don't baselessly stereotype an entire state. Having lived in both the bay, LA, Austin, and Dallas, I can tell you that there is no issue for immigrants or homosexuals in either of those locations.

The only difference is the sense of superiority in California echoed in your comment indicating that California is the only place with enlightened people.

Yes, they would be just fine. “Southern hospitality” really is a thing here, and our cities are much more diverse than what one might think if you haven’t visited. On my street where I live in my very affordable single-family home, we have virtually every major ethnicity represented, and everything from blue collar workers to doctors and software engineers.

Texas is different politically than California, but it is just as good a place to live for anyone coming to the Melting Pot. And in the end, both states face many of the same problems, the major cities are very similar, and the rural areas are also very similar.

Disclaimer: I live in Texas, and have lived in many other less cowboyish states, as well as living several places internationally.

I hardly think immigrants avoid Texas. In fact, just the opposite.

16% of Texas residents are immigrants. Non-hispanic whites are a minority in the state.

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