When you think creator capital you are probably thinking of one of the big three... New York, Los Angeles, Wichita... I'm kidding it's Miami. Those three cities dominate the perception of what a creator capital is. However, there is one sleeping giant that few people talk about, but has quickly become one of the leading creator capitals in the US. Austin Texas. Flat land, lakes, intense heat and a thriving creator economy.
What makes a city a creator capital? a city that has become the gravity well for creators, talent, and the businesses serving them.
Throughout this article we're going to delve deep into how Austin has become one of the greatest creator cities in the country, while also pushing back on those naysayers that suggest Austin has peaked.
So... Welcome to The Creator Beat and let’s dive right in!
The Evidence
There is some pretty strong evidence that Austin has become a major creator city. Let's just look at some of the mega creators that call Austin home:
Joe Rogan:
Joe Rogan runs the largest podcast in the world, and it is fully based out of his studio in Austin. Whatever your opinions on Joe Rogan, this is a big deal.
Rogan moved to Austin during the pandemic to escape California's strict Covid-19 lockdowns. He also cited a desire to get away from LA's traffic, and high income taxes.
Joe Rogan continues to operate out of Austin, and is attempting to transform Austin into a major comedy destination akin to New York or Los Angeles.
Lex Fridman:
One of the largest names in the tech sector with possibly the leading tech podcast on this planet. Lex is based primarily out of Austin Texas. Born in the Soviet Union. In 1994 his family moved to Chicago.
In 2021 Lex decided to move to Austin, as he wanted to focus entirely on running the Lex Fridman podcast. Lex chose Austin because of the cities infectious culture of tech optimism, which is obviously heavily influenced by local figures such as Elon Musk and Joe Rogan.
Tim Ferriss
Tim Ferriss is an entrepreneur, author and podcaster. Often most known for his highly successful book "The 4-Hour Workweek". Tim also operates one of the most successful podcasts in the world: The Tim Ferriss show that has 900+ million downloads on Spotify. Tim moved from San Francisco to Austin Texas because he felt professionally stagnated and exhaused by the cultural "echo chamber" of Silicon Valley.
Now yeah... You're probably thinking to yourself, these people all had big established platforms well before they even contemplated moving to Austin, and I will agree with you on that. However, Austin has a proven track record of fostering local creators and allowing them to reach new heights.
Such creators include Gavin Free, Burnie Burns, Matt Hullum, Geoff Ramsey, Gus Sorola, Chase Ridgeway, and the list goes on. I can name these all day but that wouldn't make for a very interesting article now would it?
What I personally really think makes such a big difference is the supportive environment that Austin has become. People aren't afraid to put themselves out there, to let the world see them, without fear of judgement, because Austin has curated a microcosm of supportive creators that don't hate on each other, instead wish for the success of their fellow creators. Don't get me wrong, the creators are highly ambitious, however they're not soulless bots obsessed with their own personal metrics.
The Economics
Now you've made it to the meat and potatoes of the article. This is what everyone loves to talk about when bragging about Austin:
- No State Income Tax
- Lower cost of living vs LA and NYC
- Studio space is abundant and equipment costs are generally lower.
You’re probably thinking to yourself, this is interesting but I still cannot gauge comparatively… Well we’ve got you covered!
Let’s say Austin is the baseline so it’s 100%. The overall cost of living in LA is 35-40% higher in LA, and 80-86% higher in NYC (Manhattan)
1 Bedroom Apartment (City Centre):
A one bedroom apartment in Austin would set you back roughly 1700-1900$, compared to Los Angeles which averages around 2500-2800$, then of course Manhattan is grossly inflated coming in at: 3900-4300$.
Dining Out (Mid Range 2 People)
We’re going to factor in dining out into our economics equation because of course you need to ”live” in these places as well… Austin comes in at an average of 75-85$. Once again LA is higher with an average of 100-115$, then finally New York coming in at 120-150$… Crazy…
State Income Tax
This is probably going to be the most important for a lot of people, and is one of the reasons Texas became such a popular place to live. Austin has a 0% state income tax… Crazy! I know. Los Angeles has a SIT of up to 13.3% while New York is not to far off LA with up to 14.8% SIT.
So yeah…. Cost of living is generally lower in Austin. A lot of people choose to move to Austin because of the lower cost of living, and the greater lifestyle at the same price as their home. There have been a lot of people online running Austin down, saying if you have to live in Austin, you’re just too broke to live in NYC or LA.
However, while I acknowledge that the cost of living is significantly less, nobody should be slaving away in a job to just afford rent like many do in these massive urban centres in the US. Preaching you’re rich just because you have a big salary, that you have to pay most of it towards your landlord isn’t a flex people make it out to be.
Lifestyle
The lifestyle in Austin is incredible. If you’re in your 20’s/30’s you couldn’t pick a better place to live. You have almost year round heat, parks everywhere, incredible running trails, lakes, rivers, live music, what’s not to love? Let's dive into a few of the big draws…
Barton Springs
You can’t write a piece about Austin Texas without mentioning Barton Springs. You’re probably reading this and rolling your eyes, yeah I know it’s basic, but it actually rocks. It is such a gem to have within the city. Barton Springs is of course a natural spring located near downtown.
If you’re like me and love a long walk, the walk from downtown to Barton Springs is beautiful. Walk along the river the whole way and see everyone just out vibing, fishing and jumping off rope swings. Austin just has that fun, energetic vibe about it.
When you finally get to the springs, you’ll see a large body of water where everyone is just hanging out and having fun. Catching up with friends on the banks, diving on the diving board, and just having fun a great time. The locals say that Barton is “very cold”, as someone born in Ireland and currently living in Vancouver Canada, the water is pretty frickin warm.
The Trails
The trails around Austin are just great. Often shaded with trees running alongside the river, it offers one incredible running/walking track throughout the metro area. The trails allow you to really get some exercise in without having to run through a concrete jungle, and the best part is they go on for miles so you won’t run out of trails to run easily. If you go walk these trails you’ll run into just about every fitness influencer that exists in Austin trying to crank out a PB.
Town Lake / Ladybird Lake
Town Lake / Ladybird Lake… or whatever you want to call it. Is a reservoir that runs through the downtown region of the city. It’s where you can find most of the large apartment buildings, and it seems everyone wants to live near it. Hence why the real-estate on the lake front is exponentially higher than other properties around Austin, as every creator wants the backdrop of their videos being Lady Bird Lake.
Weather
You can’t talk about Austin without mentioning the weather. For some people this is one of the make or break factors of moving to Texas. If you can’t handle heat, maybe you should think about somewhere further north…
The coldest month is January, that still sees an average high of 15 degrees Celsius or 59F. That’s T-Shirt and Shorts weather up north!
The summers are well known to be brutal with an average high of 36 degrees, and 80-100% humidity on top of that!
Austin in the summer feels like someone got a towel, soaked it in boiling hot water and then wrapped it tight around your face.
Nightlife / Live Music
Austin is the live music capital of the world, that is evident just by taking a look around the downtown. You’ll see plenty of venues with live music, and spot most people going to 6th street for a bit of nightlife.
Austin is a real young persons city, perfect for the next generation of creators. It provides the quality of life that LA promises, but doesn’t deliver (unless you make ”fuck you” money).
The Counterargument
Austin is getting a lot of hate recently, from locals and then people just shitting on it in general. All you need to do is open your phone and search Austin to see one of the many articles, tweets etc defaming the city.
One of the major complaints about Austin is that it has lost its soul. And this is partly true, but this can be expected with any city that sees an influx of mass migration.
Basically Austin was once a sleepy college town with a lot of weird shit going on. You had some great dive bars, art collectives, and quirky music venues. However, since the city was basically gentrified in the last couple of years, a lot of that has disappeared and has been replaced by the big chains.
The Yuppie Tech Movement of the pandemic is also a contributing factor. During the pandemic crazy amounts of people chose to live in Austin because of the cheap rent and the high standard of living and abundant tech jobs. This led to a near Silicon Valley style level of growth over a period of a few years, and locals were eventually all priced out of downtown, which led to the downtown being redeveloped thus losing a lot of its soul and character when the buildings are replaced by soulless glass boxes.
However, Austin isn’t alone. This happens quite often in gentrification, and is very hard to control. Austin is still a super young city, like 15 years ago Austin was irrelevant, I still believe it is finding its position in the hierarchy of important cities in the US. Just take a look at what Austin looked like 15 years ago vs today…
At the scale it’s growing, it’s easy to understand how there have been a few problems.
Also one of the big final critiques is that people are leaving Austin in droves… This is my favourite one because it’s just a bullshit negative statement. Yes the city is facing a decline in the influx, but the greater Austin area continues to grow at about 1.5% per year…
Return to Office mandates are forcing a lot of transplants to move back to where they came from. Then of course the AI era that has replaced so many engineers has really hit Austin hard, since tech is one of the biggest sectors in Austin, many are struggling to keep their jobs, or even get jobs in Austin.
So don’t believe the fear mongering online about Austin, it’s just in my opinion a way to gate keep the city. Don’t even believe this article… do the research for yourself, and come to your own conclusions. But yeah we still are under the impression Austin is a pretty great city.
Conclusion
Austin isn’t trying to be Hollywood or New York or Miami, it’s just trying to be itself. It’s an awkward teenager of a city, it’s still trying to find its footing and struggling at embracing itself. There are genuine problems with the city, but what city doesn’t have problems. It has a real charm and swagger to it, and despite all the construction, that Austin charm still exists.
For creators, I still believe Austin is a fantastic city. Yeah New York, and LA are insanely great, I don’t have a bad word to say about either of them, just don’t sleep on Austin.
So what do you think? Has Austin peaked or is it just beginning its second act?
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Thanks - Elliot
