Austin’s rare combination of affordability, year-long summer weather, low taxes, and well-paying jobs helped make it America’s fastest-growing big city last year.

Now, still reeling with no clear end in sight, the city may serve as a crash test dummy. http://read.medium.com/Sr8Q4fS ">https://read.medium.com/Sr8Q4fS&q...

In 2019, four of the big five tech companies — Apple, Google, Facebook, and Amazon — all expanded their footprints in Austin, joining the ranks of the city’s mega-employers, including global brands like Samsung, Oracle, IBM, Intel, AMD as well as made-in-Austin companies.

While cash was flowing in from Silicon Valley and other tech hubs, the oil fields of West Texas were also booming.

Then, in early March, Covid-19 began tearing across the globe. http://read.medium.com/Sr8Q4fS ">https://read.medium.com/Sr8Q4fS&q...

A surge of layoffs hit many of Austin’s most well-funded and well-known companies.

All of this was on the heels of the cancellation of the city’s most important and prominent event, South by Southwest. http://read.medium.com/Sr8Q4fS ">https://read.medium.com/Sr8Q4fS&q...

Austin’s commercial building boom has been driven by a combination of local business growth and an influx of out-of-town companies building second, or third, offices.

As the market cools and corporate WFH arrangements get extended, this is a big problem. http://read.medium.com/Dm4hsu9 ">https://read.medium.com/Dm4hsu9&q...

But what *could* make the city actually *more* resilient than others in the U.S. is the likely possibility that it becomes a big winner in the new work-from-home game.

As workers flee expensive coastal cities, Austin could find itself inheriting an entirely new class of workers who don’t actually work here.

Read more. https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="👇" title="Rückhand Zeigefinger nach unten" aria-label="Emoji: Rückhand Zeigefinger nach unten"> http://read.medium.com/Sr8Q4fS ">https://read.medium.com/Sr8Q4fS&q...