> where NIMBYism isn't as strong, landlords are less extortionate and governments more friendly.
It's not like Texas is that much better in any of these aspects. NIMBYism is a huge problem in the Austin area, which is seeing massive increases in rents and inability to keep up with housing demand due to entrenched real estate ownership.
The rent problem extends to the commercial side as well, which has seen so many local businesses fold due to rent pressure.
And yes, the government is much more business-friendly in Texas than it is California from a financial perspective, but major failures to govern during situations like the "Winterpocalypse" this year raise serious questions about Texas' long-term business viability. Case in point: according to Texas' own energy grid operator, the state was less than 5 minutes away from total failure during the winter storm, which would have results in statewide power outages lasting on the order of months. Not days, not weeks... months. Imagine for a minute what that would have done to one of the largest economies in the country[0] had it actually happened.
I expect Tesla will generate all or most of its own electricity but your point is very well taken for industry in general. Texas generates more wind energy than any other state (and thus earns more money for that wind) but the governor hates wind and blamed it for the grid failures, which were clearly caused by other mechanisms. Texas government is extremely f'ed up right now.
> I expect Tesla will generate all or most of its own electricity
That's a moot point in a disaster scenario where the grid is down and traffic systems and utilities are disabled, etc. Tesla can't generate its own water, and that was one utility that was knocked out for much of Texas during the storm. There's a lot more that goes into keeping a manufacturing operation like that functional than just energy self-sufficiency.
Of course they could -- in theory they could drill a well and put in their own septic system. That's probably illegal in Austin proper but the Tesla facility is sufficiently far away that it might be legal there.
It's not like Texas is that much better in any of these aspects. NIMBYism is a huge problem in the Austin area, which is seeing massive increases in rents and inability to keep up with housing demand due to entrenched real estate ownership.
The rent problem extends to the commercial side as well, which has seen so many local businesses fold due to rent pressure.
And yes, the government is much more business-friendly in Texas than it is California from a financial perspective, but major failures to govern during situations like the "Winterpocalypse" this year raise serious questions about Texas' long-term business viability. Case in point: according to Texas' own energy grid operator, the state was less than 5 minutes away from total failure during the winter storm, which would have results in statewide power outages lasting on the order of months. Not days, not weeks... months. Imagine for a minute what that would have done to one of the largest economies in the country[0] had it actually happened.
0: https://www.texastribune.org/2021/02/18/texas-power-outages-...