Austin’s Identity Crisis in the Age of Musk

Once known as a laid-back college town built around the State Capitol, Austin is now in the throes of an identity crisis. Its transformation into a booming tech hub has reshaped not only the city’s skyline but also its culture, politics, and demographics, much of it influenced by the growing presence of Elon Musk.

Musk, whose company Tesla is now one of the city’s largest private employers, has built a massive manufacturing plant on Austin’s outskirts and continues to expand in nearby Bastrop County with ventures like a Starlink satellite facility. His arrival marked a new era of economic growth, but one that has also sparked tension and unease among longtime residents, as first reported by The New York Times.

In 2023, for the first time in years, more people moved out of Austin’s Travis County than moved in. The city’s demographic makeup is shifting: the share of Hispanic residents has declined, even as the Hispanic population has grown statewide to become the largest ethnic group in Texas. Black families, too, are leaving the city, according to Lila Valencia, Austin’s demographer.

Among Austin’s newcomers, not everyone has embraced the city’s progressive politics. Discontent over policies related to homelessness and policing has led some, including Musk, to actively oppose local leadership. In 2023, Musk supported a primary challenger to Democratic District Attorney José Garza, even urging Tesla employees via companywide email to vote against Garza.

Musk’s popularity has dropped to the point where criticism can be found in unexpected places, such as a local romantic advice column or a banner flown over downtown. On the other hand, Tesla’s recent struggles, including a sharp drop in profits since Musk’s public support for Trump intensified, may directly impact Austin’s economy, and at the same time, the city is poised to host the next big experiment in Musk’s portfolio: self-driving Tesla taxis, which he has promised will launch this June.

“The city attracts people that are on all sides of issues,” Joshua Baer, founder of the Capital Factory, which supports local startups, told The New York Times. “My world is generally Elon fans and supporters.”

Still, opposition remains vocal. On a recent evening, more than two dozen Austinites gathered in a church meeting room decorated with inclusive messages for a meeting of Resist Austin, a group that organizes peaceful protests against Musk and Trump at local Tesla dealerships.

“Our mission is lawful nonviolent resistance of authoritarians,” said organizer Ian Crowl. “If you want to throw a rock at a Tesla, that’s not what we’re doing here.”

As Austin continues to evolve, the debate over Elon Musk’s influence, and what the city is becoming, remains far from settled.