Austin in Motion

Exploring the reason and effects for Austin’s Rapid Population Growth

By: Yeshi Dakpa

In 2010 the current population of Austin, Texas was 780,000. In only 10 years the population almost tripled leaving Austin with a population of 2,100,000 in 2019. Population growth like this doesn’t just happen. There is always a reason for everything.

Austin has recently been experiencing massive growth over the recent years. The effects of this growth have been rippling through Austin’s new and old residents. With all these changes Austin has become a different city from what it was 10 years ago. The reason for this growth can be attributed to a butterfly effect whereas as the population grows, more companies come into the city thus making more people come to Austin causing more companies to move in Austin. As the cycle continues it will cause further growth of the Austin area both economically and population wise.

Tenzin Gyaltzen is an immigrant who has been living in Austin for 11 years. Gyaltzen is one of many affected by Austin’s increase in population. He works for the JW Marriott Hotel building in downtown Austin.

“Austin now is a high energy, tourist destination, event destination,” Gyaltzen said. “People host a lot of events here. Hotels are huge right. It is an event city.”

Gyaltzen also expressed his thoughts on his experience in Austin when he first arrived in the city. “Well my experience of Austin was great,” Gyaltzen said. “Since 2010 the city hasn’t been as commercialized and was nice and calm.”

The growth of Austin has changed how Austin feels to its residents whether that be in a positive way or negative way depends on the person.

Vanitha Kannusamy another

An image of Tenzin Gyaltzen taken June 14, 2021. Photo Provided by Tenzin Dakpa

An image of the Hotel JW Marriott mentioned by Tenzin. This image was provided by marriott

immigrant who has been living in Austin for 8 years. She is married to the owner of Asiana Indian Cuisine. She is also another Austin resident that was affected by Austin’s growth in population.

“A person might want to come to Austin because of the rapidly inflating home situation or because of Tesla’s big move,” Kannusamy said. “A person might not want to come to Austin because it could be too expensive, so the home inflation is a double edged sword.”

The cost of living in Austin increasing is one of the effects of Austin’s population increasing and creates a strain on the older.

Kannusamy isn’t the only person to think that the high living cost of Austin deters away potential residents. Gyaltzen also expressed his thoughts on how the high cost of Austin would deter potential residents.

“If you are ending a career I wouldn’t pick Austin because it is really expensive,” Gyaltzen said.

Avyonna Thomas moved to Austin from Oklahoma due to complications with her family and came to Austin to take a break and currently works as a nurse at the Veterans Affairs. “Austin’s beautiful,” Thomas said “There’s a lot of potential. I like Austin. And I don’t think where I am working at the pay matches [from my previous workplace]. I took a huge pay cut to move, but I wouldn’t change it. I’m still happy.”

Austin contains massive amounts of potential and a beautiful environment.It is the perfect place for those trying to make a name for themselves.

“ [Austin is] growing right before my eyes,” Thomas said. “It is a lot of money that can be made. Anything you want to

do, you could do it in Austin. I mean, You can pretty much [do] anything you want to do and you can do it in Austin.”

Austin’s potential has piqued the interest of many companies and is one of the main reasons for the influx of companies moving to Austin.

“It would be easy for anyone else coming here[Austin] to kind of make their way,” Thomas said. “ The only thing is the cost of living is pretty high. So they would definitely have to have a game plan.”

Juli Laurence is an immigrant who came to Austin after living in South Korea for 45 years. She

Lady Bird Lake is a lake that goes through Austin. Image provided by the Austin Texas Government

An image of Vanitha taken around May 26, 2021. Photo provided by Vanitha Kannusamy

moved to Austin a year and a half ago. She came to Austin because her Husband got a job here.

“The outdoor activities are great, and again Austin is pretty green,” Laurence said. “And I think it is a pretty good place to raise your kids. There are alot things to do and it is a pretty safe environment.”

Austin has a big outdoor environment promoting more active activities and it has a suitable environment for raising a family which could also might be a reason Austin seems so enticing for new residents.

“It is hot [and]some of my friends had to leave Austin because of their allergies [acting up].” Laurence said. “If you don’t mind the hot temperature I don’t see any reasons why someone doesn’t want to live in Austin.”

For Thomas, Gyaltzen and Kannusamy the thing that they think might cause some people to not come to Austin is the high price.

The common consensus between all of the interviewees was that Austin Texas was an amazing environment for people who were trying to start their career or people who were raising a family.

“It [Austin] is basically a small silicon city,” Gyaltzen said. “So if you’re a career driven person it is a perfect city [for you]”. Thomas and Kannusamy both have said things similar to how Austin’s potential to make money might entice someone to live here as a resident.

“A person might want to come to Austin because of

the rapidly inflating home situation,” Kannusamy said. “Or because of Tesla’s big move.”

The high cost of living is also a common problem Austonians share. . Kannusamy, Thomas and Gyaltzen all mention how the high living cost of Austin would deter future residents from coming to Austin. Kannusamy mentioned that the high cost of Austin is a double edged sword where the old residents would be able to sell their properties at a much higher price than what they originally paid for. Unlike the others Laurence saw the drastically hot climate and the high amount of allergies would deter someone from coming to Austin.

What is the common consensus on the cause and effects of Austin’s boom? The cause of Austin’s massive growth can be attributed to Austin’s welcoming environment, its booming economical potential, great outdoors activities and Austin’s just getting started with major companies moving to Austin like Tesla. The effects of the massive population growth of Austin on its residents included increasing the cost of living, making Austin more commercialized, and turning Austin into an “event” city.

“Before I came over to Austin, I had no idea about Austin at all, and I was really impressed by how green Austin was,” Laurence said. “And the Austin spirit was a little more liberal than the rest of Texas, and a little bit of a weird city.”

“I came to Austin for a better education for my children,” Kannnusamy said.

“It is a neat little place where people here are really nice and welcoming,” Thomas said. “ I was welcomed here and I made a lot of friends and I’ve made a good little support group.”

The cause of Austin’s growth was caused by Austin’s beautiful environment, Austin’s high potential, big tech companies moving to Austin and Austin’s welcoming community. The massive growth has also left an impact on the residents, not only the city itself. From causing Austin to be more commercialized, increasing the cost of living and turning Austin into more of an “event” city.