Progressives who have descended upon Austin, Texas in recent years are starting to reverse course amid a state-wide shift towards conservatism, NY Mag reports.
"It was easy to just be in Never Neverland, floating with a bunch of other transplants having a good time," said John Stettin, who relocated from Dallas to Austin five years ago and is now leaving for Massachusetts because of 'too many Republicans,' as one friend described the situation during Stettin's going-away party.
Austin has been a predominantly Democratic city full of 'liberal expats' who seek progressive politics and an urban lifestyle 'at a red-state cost-of-living discount,' according to the report.
Then the pandemic hit - and mean Governor Greg Abbott banned municipalities - including Austin - from implementing various COVID measures, such as mask mandates. Then, Abbott codified permitless carry into law and, according to liberals, 'further restricted voting access.'
Then, this past February, Abbott ordered child abuse investigations into parents of trans children - who, according to the report, began fleeing texas months ago.
"I’ve always said, ‘I’m gonna stay and fight until they try to take my kids away,;" said 'Karen' (name withheld), who has a trans child and says she did not want to risk being separated from her children. Karen has 'fled from Austin to Portland, Oregon,' causing her Republican father to 'burst into tears.'
Karen says she has PTSD and survivor's guilt for not staying behind.
By June, when the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, Texas was 10 months into implementing an abortion ban with no exceptions for rape or incest, and a $10,000 reward for informants.
The overturning of Roe seemed to remove the last obstacle in the state’s march to the far right, which is likely to be cemented in the upcoming election where Beto O’Rourke is way behind Abbott. While the Democratic mayor and the liberal city council institute token measures such as decriminalizing abortion, it’s cold comfort. One 25-year-old woman said she had her tubes tied, fearing the consequences of an unwanted pregnancy. One couple may relocate to the Northeast to carry out their pregnancy. Some job candidates are refusing to relocate. At Stettin’s party, his friend Jeff swiped open his phone to a note entitled “New Austin Cities” — a list of places that are what Austin used to be to him before he moved here from New York. It read, “Pittsburgh, Durham, Boise, Columbus, Jackson Hole, Chattanooga. Factors: Climate change, demographics, economy, location, taxes, nature, weather.” He plans to stick it out at least for now. “Global warming in the next ten years,” he said. “That’s gonna be fucking real.” -NY Mag
"It’s like how a frog boils one degree at a time," said Stettin. "They trigger-banned all abortion and they’re offering a bounty! What more do you need if you are a remotely liberal person to get the fuck out of here?"
"At least if I’m going to get into an argument with a guy in Boston, he’s probably not carrying an AR-15 in his trunk," he said, referring to his upcoming move.
Good call John?
That said, while liberals are leaving Austin, it was ranked the fastest-growing metro in the US in February, which has seen its population grow by 33% over the past decade thanks to the draw of 'hippie-cowboy capital' tech jobs.
In the past year, rents in Austin have soared over 20%, while the media home price rose around the same percent over the same period, with companies such as Tesla acting as a primary driver of migration with the construction of a $1.1 billion "gigafactory" nearby.
If you thought the blue exodus was big now, just wait until after midterms...
via zerohedge