Apple announces new $1 billion Austin campus as part of big US expansion

[Dugg]

Directly across the street from this pin appears to be the site.

I would have thought a tad more North where Anderson Mill deadends would make more sense. You get closer to the rail line, avoid the traffic on the intersection which is already bad due to the high school and are closer to the toll roads.

 

[TCUHorns]

I feel like Austin is going to be the size of Houston in 10 years.

 

[hrpuffinstuff]

I'm a bit surprised they are going into Williamson county. I remember hearing the first campus was moved from Williamson county further south into Travis county due to Williamson county position on extending spousal benefits to same sex couples.

 

[aglassdarkly]

I work on the campus. Apple has a huge wfh population in Austin and around the country.
Easy to criticize the big dog. I get the traffic concerns they are real - but already here. Maybe they’ll consider buses like in Bay Area.
Huge win for Austin.

 

[Patrick Batemann]

The jobs will mainly be filled by people not from Austin, so not really all that thrilled.

How could you possibly “know” that. I’m sure that one of the factors in picking Austin was the availability of talent to be able to make local hires. I would venture to guess that when they are fully staffed, the majority, vast majority, will be with locals.

I don’t know that for certain, but just based off of trends by apple’s previous hiring practices in Austin, as well as google, Facebook and other tech companies, an overwhelming majority of their hires are of people not from Austin.

 

[942 others]

I get the concerns over traffic - especially if you live near the proposed campus. But I don't see how you can't be excited about this overall. Engineering, research and development, operations, finance, sales and customer support...that's a lot of jobs that encompass a wide variety of skills. That kind of job diversity is nothing but a good thing. Oh, and the fact that Apple pays so well will only drive up salaries in those areas at other companies in Austin as well since they'll have to compete with Apple for new talent.

This is how it is bad for Austin:

The vast majority of employers are small businesses. While large employers moving and expanding in the area will create new, high paying jobs, it will also increase the cost of living in the city as those new, highly paid workers begin to buy homes and consume services. This will drive up property taxes and employees across all business sectors will need to earn higher wages to keep up with the costs. The young and the unskilled, including children of existing Austinites who are newly entering the workforce, will be forced farther and farther out into the surrounding areas, increasing traffic congestion, commute times, and lowering quality of life and the amount of time able to be spent with family and friends. Existing Austin employers, who are already having a difficult time finding workers, will now have to pay even more in wages and benefits, squeezing profit margins at a time when other costs, such as rents, will be rising. While it may be good for some local businesses that serve primarily the local economy, the inflation will hurt those that operate in Austin but sell their goods and services elsewhere.

The lack of affordable housing is already one of the largest issues facing the city. The people that work in the restaurants and grocery stores, or the teachers that educate our children will be further displaced, as they won't be able to afford to live near the areas in which they work. We will start to see more movements around the "fight for $15" and other initiatives to provide a living wage for these types of workers. Living in Austin will become like living in Seattle or San Francisco. Small, cramped spaces for enormous rents.

Lastly, where is all the water going to come from? Our ground-water supply is not an inexhaustible resource. The aquifers are not recharging as quickly as we are depleting them. Water shortages and rationing could become a part of our daily lives if we don't take action and start building the necessary infrastructure.

Pandora's box has been opened and there is no going back at this point. The least we can do is try to be thoughtful as a city and community about planning and gating the growth of our hometown, including the incentives and timelines we offer to major employers such as Apple.

 

[coocs]

to all new Apple employees:

If you leave for work now, you should make it through traffic and to the site by the time it opens.

 

[mulligan30]

This is how it is bad for Austin:

The vast majority of employers are small businesses. While large employers moving and expanding in the area will create new, high paying jobs, it will also increase the cost of living in the city as those new, highly paid workers begin to buy homes and consume services. This will drive up property taxes and employees across all business sectors will need to earn higher wages to keep up with the costs. The young and the unskilled, including children of existing Austinites who are newly entering the workforce, will be forced farther and farther out into the surrounding areas, increasing traffic congestion, commute times, and lowering quality of life and the amount of time able to be spent with family and friends. Existing Austin employers, who are already having a difficult time finding workers, will now have to pay even more in wages and benefits, squeezing profit margins at a time when other costs, such as rents, will be rising. While it may be good for some local businesses that serve primarily the local economy, the inflation will hurt those that operate in Austin but sell their goods and services elsewhere.

The lack of affordable housing is already one of the largest issues facing the city. The people that work in the restaurants and grocery stores, or the teachers that educate our children will be further displaced, as they won't be able to afford to live near the areas in which they work. We will start to see more movements around the "fight for $15" and other initiatives to provide a living wage for these types of workers. Living in Austin will become like living in Seattle or San Francisco. Small, cramped spaces for enormous rents.

Lastly, where is all the water going to come from? Our ground-water supply is not an inexhaustible resource. The aquifers are not recharging as quickly as we are depleting them. Water shortages and rationing could become a part of our daily lives if we don't take action and start building the necessary infrastructure.

Pandora's box has been opened and there is no going back at this point. The least we can do is try to be thoughtful as a city and community about planning and gating the growth of our hometown, including the incentives and timelines we offer to major employers such as Apple.

Let the free market play out. If Austin gets too expensive, companies will go elsewhere and benefit those areas. There’s a reason Apple is in north Austin, closer to a more affordable Williamson County, but still close enough to the rest of Austin including the airport.

I’m not too worried about the living wage movements as those have proven to be a failure.

Btw, Austin gets its drinking water from reservoirs, not aquifers.

 

[memhorn]

Pretty sure the new site is in Williamson County, and the county is ponying up $$$ to Apple.

Still in City of Austin, though -- not sure about their water supply.

 

[johnnystranger]

Some of you are acting like Austin is the first city to face this problem.

There are answers, but the “more roads” answer will only not be the only answer.

“I am will to commute 2 hrs a day!!!” Ok, but not everyone is.

With every new complex the state gets bluer and bluer.

 

[HornEsch]

The People’s Republic of Travis County is growing .......

It's in Williamson county. Being built on Robinson Ranch.

 

[LongHorn2021]

View embedded media

The tech giant based in Cupertino, California, says the new campus in Austin will start with 5,000 employees and provide jobs covering engineering, research and development, operations, finance, sales and customer support. It will be less than a mile from existing Apple facilities.

Austin already is home to more than 6,000 Apple employees, representing the largest population of its workers outside of its headquarters.

“Apple has been a vital part of the Austin community for a quarter century, and we are thrilled that they are deepening their investment in our people and the city we love,” said Austin Mayor Steve Adler in the statement.

awesome, more liberals to the state

 

[chastok]

Makes you wonder if the city should upgrade it's transportation infrastructure to a London or New York style metro system. I actually think that would be kind of cool.

In what possible way is the density of London or new York similar to Austin? Austin is in the ballpark of either size wise and less than 1/10 the population.