> Texas is becoming a hub for educated professionals

Source? It’s been an open secret in academia and medicine that professors [1] and doctors [2] are fleeing Texas’s political climate.

[1] https://www.texastribune.org/2025/09/05/texas-faculty-univer...

[2] https://www.texastribune.org/2024/10/08/Texas-obstetrics-gyn...

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hn_throwaway_99 2 hours ago | parent | next [-]

The interesting thing about living in a big city in Texas (and now basically all the big cities in TX lean left, not just Austin) is that the tension between city governments and the state, while frustrating at times and definitely dangerous for certain populations (I know folks with transgender kids who have moved out of TX solely for that reason), actually provides something of a decent balance that is appealing to a lot of educated professionals. I feel like a lot of the worst impulses of Dem-run cities get moderated in TX compared to west coast, Dem-run states.

For example, you can look at the housing crises in most CA cities brought on by NIMBY liberal policies, and while Austin is still very expensive, they (IMO) took the only sane approach to skyrocketing housing costs by actually building a shit ton of housing over the past few years. Austin passed a plastic bag ban a while back that was eventually overturned by the state legislature, but in the meantime a lot of people still bring their own reusable bags (stores can still charge for bags) and I've noticed much less bag pollution in creaks and streams compared to 15 years ago.

Of course, it remains to be seen what happens in the near future. The Republican party in TX is now fully showing their complete moral bankruptcy by nominating the criminal Ken Paxton for Senate, so we'll see if they fall further down the personality cult or if they eventually break.

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JumpCrisscross 2 hours ago | parent | next [-]

Blue city in red state has been a winning combination for at least a decade. As you say, however, the recent push towards criminalizing random shit has started corrupting that balance. There are simply too many voters who are fine tearing everything down if it hurts the other team more than theirs. Democrats have those in the far left. But in the GOP, that wing controls the party.

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rayiner an hour ago | parent | prev [-]

> actually provides something of a decent balance that is appealing to a lot of educated professionals. I feel like a lot of the worst impulses of Dem-run cities get moderated in TX compared to west coast, Dem-run states.

This is true in Georgia as well. There has generally been a productive working relationship between the Democratic mayor in Atlanta and the typically republican/conservative democrat governor. That includes Kemp and Dickens (corrected) today. Back in 2017, former Mayor Shirley Franklin--who was very popular and highly effective--endorsed independent Mary Norwood for mayor over democrat Keisha Lance-Bottoms.

And in DC, Mayor Muriel Bowser works very well with Trump. They have a common interest in cleanliness and order. She’s done a great job of renovating major parks, cleaning up homeless encampments, cooperating with ICE and the national guard, and making much needed progress on construction projects. It’s been shocking to see projects like the McPherson Square Park renovation completed on time with beautiful results.

Trump is Bowser’s sin eater. She’ll publicly say the national guard isn’t needed in DC, then quietly sign an order extending their deployment. She’ll say ICE is too aggressive, then bury a proposal to end DC’s status as a sanctuary city in a budget proposal: https://www.axios.com/local/washington-dc/2025/05/28/dc-mayo.... By far the best mayor of DC in my lifetime.

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projektfu an hour ago | parent [-]

Andre Dickens; David Dinkins was mayor of NYC in the late 80s.

	▲	rayiner an hour ago \| parent [-]
		Yes, good catch!

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nailer 2 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

[1] is incredibly vague. Professors of what specifically? Computer science? Feminist theory? The second doesn't produce 'educated professionals'.

	▲	JumpCrisscross 2 hours ago \| parent \| next [-]
		> [1] is incrcredibly vague I was just in New York. NYU has been recruiting Texas robotics professors. Political volatility and funding cuts for research aren’t exactly fertile ground for an advanced economy. Right after Covid, both Texas and Florida saw a huge influx of talent. That seems to have stabilized (and caused a political backlash), with both retaining advantages, but Texas retreating back to energy and Florida to tourism. (They both have token tech scenes, with Austin holding ground against Boston and Seattle.)
	▲	kxkdkeisuxbsn 2 hours ago \| parent \| prev [-]
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