Everyone says Amazon, Amazon, Amazon but the head tax also would have affected every business doing $20mm/year like grocery, drug stores and even gasp Starbucks! Places where employees are definitely not making six figures on average.
Plus government spending here like many other cities is not well managed. See bike lanes. See the fact that they fired Wells Fargo and then re-hired Wells Fargo because no one else would take their business.
Homelessness is a real problem, but there needs to be more dialogue and better planning before rushing in and taxing growth.
Probably a better idea to look at how the tax system is setup here to favor the wealthy versus low income.
I flew two extra trips to Asia last year to get American Airlines Executive Platinum status.
After a year and getting all the nice lounge access and international long-haul upgrades, I think it's worth it!
Take my girlfriend and family around the world using a combination of miles / money and everything things I'm rich, when really I'm just a wannabe travel hacker.
I just did this for a CheapoAirFlights.co.uk flight to Saigon from London. Booking from a US IP cost a few hundred more, but I fired up the VPN and it worked fine.
After visiting SF / SV earlier this year, I think that a remarkable amount of productivity is gained solely based on the weather. You wake up, it's beautiful outside and you're ready to work. To me it's a major advantage over the Northeast (where I'm from).
I think Austin has to be my #1 city in America that I have left to visit.
I took a cruise earlier this year with my girlfriend and we paid $600 combined. After tips and a lot of boozing, we ended up spending around $1000 combined an average of $100 per day. You can do it for a lot cheaper as well, plus we weren't using the internet.
I'd do it again in a heartbeat and work if there was a steady internet connection.