AUSTIN | Economic Development - Page 21

paul78701 · #**401** Posted **May 15, 2020, 7:26 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by The ATX

CNBC is reporting that the next Tesla Gigafactory will be in Austin!!!

https://electrek.co/2020/05/15/tesla...-austin-texas/

freerover · #**402** Posted **May 15, 2020, 7:30 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by paul78701

https://electrek.co/2020/05/15/tesla...-austin-texas/

In the austin metro. My money is the hutto lot.

The ATX · #**403** Posted **May 15, 2020, 7:34 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by freerover

In the austin metro. My money is the hutto lot.

Wilco for sure. They are much more business friendly than Travis.

StoOgE · #**404** Posted **May 15, 2020, 7:41 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by The ATX

Wilco for sure. They are much more business friendly than Travis.

That and you can play 2-3 cities off of one another to get a better deal. If a deal isn't already inked I would assume you would see some moves from Hays county cities as well. Lots of cheap land near the dump but not sure about rail connections.

Hutto is pretty obviously going to be the destination.

JoninATX · #**405** Posted **May 15, 2020, 8:38 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by The ATX

CNBC is reporting that the next Tesla Gigafactory will be in Austin!!!

My money is that it will be in Hutto.

The ATX · #**406** Posted **May 15, 2020, 9:00 PM**

HOLD on. The Statesman is reporting that Austin is only a finalist. Tulsa is still in the running.

EDIT: CNBC also corrected their earlier source and said both Tulsa and Austin are the finalists.

JoninATX · #**407** Posted **May 15, 2020, 9:43 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by The ATX

HOLD on. The Statesman is reporting that Austin is only a finalist. Tulsa is still in the running.

EDIT: CNBC also corrected their earlier source and said both Tulsa and Austin are the finalists.

My money still on Austin. Elon Musk has been tweeting alot about building a plant in Texas.

The ATX · #**408** Posted **May 15, 2020, 9:50 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by JoninATX

My money still on Austin. Elon Musk has been tweeting alot about building a plant in Texas.

The original source that said Austin got it may have more inside info than the AP report that states both cities. But we'll just have to wait and see. I wouldn't be surprised if Dallas became the Tesla HQ location in the future.

deerhoof · #**409** Posted **May 15, 2020, 10:01 PM**

I’d be surprised if Tulsa is picked over Austin. Would be really quite amazing if Austin also landed the HQ somehow.

The ATX · #**410** Posted **May 15, 2020, 10:04 PM**

The original source that picked Austin seems to be standing by his report on his Twitter account: https://twitter.com/FredericLambert

the Genral · #**411** Posted **May 15, 2020, 11:50 PM**

In my expert opinion, Musk's star would shine much brighter in Austin than Tulsa. His ego makes Austin a no brainer. Austin is sexy and cool, Tulsa is....not so much. It all comes down to curb appeal, and Austin has that. Better airport, better nightlife, better city.

BG918 · #**412** Posted **May 16, 2020, 12:01 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by the Genral

In my expert opinion, Musk's star would shine much brighter in Austin than Tulsa. His ego makes Austin a no brainer. Austin is sexy and cool, Tulsa is....not so much. It all comes down to curb appeal, and Austin has that. Better airport, better nightlife, better city.

Have you been to Tulsa? It is very similar to Austin. Tulsa has a better workforce for manufacturing than Austin and is more centrally located with access to a river port.

undergroundman · #**413** Posted **May 16, 2020, 12:35 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by The ATX

Wilco for sure. They are much more business friendly than Travis.

For sure, but I was thinking wouldn't it be interesting if he did it by COTA. Maybe with frontage on 71 and Kellam. Kellam is one of the main arteries to COTA. Marketing exposure to visiting race fans as well as a convenient nearby proving ground. Unfortunately no rail tracks anywhere near.

The former site that they were looking at in Hutto is not in a federal Opportunity Zone. Interestingly the zone starts on the other side of 3349, literally across the street. On the other hand, I think the entirety of Del Valle is an Opportunity Zone. However it's also in Travis and the COA ETJ.

Edit: Correction I don't know which site in Hutto Tesla was looking at before. I misread one of freeover's earlier post and thought that was the actual site that Tesla scouted, but having reread it, it appears that the site he posted was just his speculation of where Tesla was looking.

the Genral · #**414** Posted **May 16, 2020, 12:42 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by BG918

Have you been to Tulsa? It is very similar to Austin. Tulsa has a better workforce for manufacturing than Austin and is more centrally located with access to a river port.

No, never been to Tulsa, it looks like a pretty nice city. But not having been there, its hard to compare Tulsa to Austin. Curious to know how Tulsa has a better workforce for manufacturing than Austin. Manufacturing is a very trainable profession where only the support groups, engineering, execs, maintenance workers require a higher level of education. We have plenty of qualifiers here in all aspects. Have you been to Austin?

eskimo33 · #**415** Posted **May 16, 2020, 12:45 AM**

A long time ago, in a land far away I used to live in Tulsa. In fact, my in-laws still live there.
The workforce in Tulsa (as a whole), is much less educated than Austin (as you would expect, it is mainly oil and gas-focused). I am by no means an expert on the Tulsa workforce; but from my empirical observations, I do not see a lot of automotive traditional manufacturing there (outside a random school bus facility). They do have the AA maintenance facility though... But outside of that, I think it is mainly oil/gas and said industry-related jobs. The cost of living is cheaper (the inlaws always remind me of this when I visit), but there is a state income tax. The schools there are crap; the state went to a four day school week last year because the state government cut taxes so much they could not pay the teachers. Also, the Tulsa Port of Catoosa's main focus is oil and grain.
However, they do have a low cost of living and the quality of life is improving due to the old oil money that is prevalent throughout town. Call me biased; however, as a quasi-tech company, it would not attract the most qualified applicants.
As an added point, last year, Tulsa was paying people 10K a year to move there but work elsewhere.
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/tulsa-o...heres-a-catch/
They both have their benefits, but there is a stark difference between the two.

BG918 · #**416** Posted **May 16, 2020, 2:11 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by the Genral

No, never been to Tulsa, it looks like a pretty nice city. But not having been there, its hard to compare Tulsa to Austin. Curious to know how Tulsa has a better workforce for manufacturing than Austin. Manufacturing is a very trainable profession where only the support groups, engineering, execs, maintenance workers require a higher level of education. We have plenty of qualifiers here in all aspects. Have you been to Austin?

Yes been to Austin plenty of times, it reminds me a lot of a larger Tulsa. Tulsa has a lot of oil & gas and aerospace manufacturing and expertise which translate easily to automotive manufacturing. Not saying they should necessarily choose Tulsa over Austin (I live in Denver after all) but that Tulsa would be a better choice.

Also according to Rolling Stone Tulsa might be the next Austin so Elon would just be getting ahead of the game https://www.rollingstone.com/music/m...-scene-938316/

The ATX · #**417** Posted **May 16, 2020, 3:48 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by BG918

Also according to Rolling Stone Tulsa might be the next Austin

If I had a nickle for every time I heard some place being called the next Austin - I would probably have 50-60 cents.

clubtokyo · #**418** Posted **May 16, 2020, 2:23 PM**

Lol. Also I don’t get the comparison. Anyway lets get back to Austin Economy, how did the solar farm that Austin electric built go? I don’t ever hear anyone talk about it? Has it saved the city money?

Novacek · #**419** Posted **May 16, 2020, 2:35 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by BG918

Yes been to Austin plenty of times, it reminds me a lot of a larger Tulsa. Tulsa has a lot of oil & gas and aerospace manufacturing and expertise which translate easily to automotive manufacturing. Not saying they should necessarily choose Tulsa over Austin (I live in Denver after all) but that Tulsa would be a better choice.

Also according to Rolling Stone Tulsa might be the next Austin so Elon would just be getting ahead of the game https://www.rollingstone.com/music/m...-scene-938316/

Tulsa picked the wrong time to attempt to leverage live music into becoming “the next Austin “.

Oil and gas and aerospace is also going to be tough for a while.

I think it was always going to be a stretch because U Tulsa isn’t UT. I think people underestimate sometimes the huge effect UT has had on Austin’s high tech development.

Since it won’t be in Austin limits, I think both local and state incentives are still on the table. I feel pretty good about Texas’s coffers vs Oklahoma’s, even in the current situation.

freerover · #**420** Posted **May 16, 2020, 2:38 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by clubtokyo

Lol. Also I don’t get the comparison. Anyway lets get back to Austin Economy, how did the solar farm that Austin electric built go? I don’t ever hear anyone talk about it? Has it saved the city money?

What solar project?