Tech Workers, Businesses Flee San Fran for Austin, Miami

If you are going to San Francisco, you are going to meet fewer and fewer tech people there.

That is because they are bugging out — escaping the high costs, cramped spaces, and California regulations for friendlier environs in Austin, Texas, and Miami, Florida, among other places.

Initially, the long commutes, high crime, and sometimes unfriendly neighbors were worth the tradeoff, SFGate reports. Those in the tech industry were living in the epicenter of the tech world made it worth it.

But during the pandemic, many workers moved out — and learned they could move on. Remote work was actually possible, and locales outside San Francisco offer their own advantages: a lower cost of living, yards for pets, and states such as Texas and Florida that do not have income taxes.

Sahin Boydas had lived in the area for a decade, but he recently noticed his wife and two children were working and doing schoolwork from their cramped Cupertino home that had suffered electrical outages because of wildfires.

They moved to Austin with a larger house for the same price.

It is not just rank-and-file tech workers. Tesla CEO Elon Musk recently announced he is moving to Texas.

And Miami Mayor Francis Suarez told NBC News has been talking to top executives as well.

"There's no secret sauce other than my Twitter account," Suarez said. "There is absolutely no doubt that a big part of the reason why they are moving is that they feel that there is an inhospitable environment for regulation and taxation."

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