[offtop5]

The big difference is Texas isn't ran by morons who make it impossible to build homes.

The anti building laws of California are by far the biggest reasons housing is so expensive. Even if Austin gets pricey, you can always drive into the city.

As someone who left California, I will say no one in their right mind should live there. No matter how much you earn, you'll never realistically out earn the cost of living. I found myself quickly deep in credit card debt trying to be cool in California. It's just a horrible place to live, I had to estrange myself from my family to move, and it was absolutely worth it. Anyone who tries to make you live in such a horrible place does not care about you at all.

People are also phenomenally nicer in other cities, I was shocked at how easy it was to meet my girlfriend once I got to Chicago. It's as if Chicago's this amazing City where people understand you need to work to get things you want instead of thinking you're entitled to everything.

Anyway, with remote work now being seen as viable I can see the idea of having expensive big offices becoming antiquated.