What have Californians done to Austin politics?
Spoiler: I don't know.
OK folks ... last newsletter of the week. The post below is a bit of a ramble that lacks a meaningful conclusion, but I hope you enjoy the journey.
If there's one thing that two Austinites on opposite ends of the political spectrum might agree on, it's that Californians have ruined their city. But they probably won't agree on exactly how they've ruined it.
One narrative assumes that newcomers are to blame for a new strain of strident progressive politics that is turning Austin into San Francisco. High taxes, homelessness, mass transit –– this is obviously the work of coastal refugees replicating the failures which they fled.
The other narrative views Californians as wealthy colonizers, driving up the cost of housing and replacing Austin's eclectic, progressive culture with tech bro douchiness. A decade ago, the narrative wasn't that these newcomers were necessarily conservative (probably just bland moderates), but Elon Musk and several other cartoonishly obnoxious Silicon Valley Trumpers have given liberal Austinites yet another reason to be suspicious of affluent transplants.
