This paper had got to be the worst paper in any city I have lived eclipsing New Castle, Indiana and Raleigh, North Carolina.

It is the most inconsistent paper ever. It is as bad as Austin Radio.

Thank you for your letter to the editor. We receive many more letters than we can print, so some must be excluded. We have chosen not to publish yours.

I read with interest your article concerning the Silicon Valley in this past Sunday’s Austin American-Statesman.  As an Austin resident whom was here before the Industry moved here to Austin, then moving to the Silicon Valley to utilize my skills there, I often marveled at the underlying conclusions in the article.

It was implied that Austin would not suffer that much as compared to the Silicon Valley if the market continues to be volatile. I’d be willing to bet that most companies will high tail back to San Jose before they’d leave San Jose to stay here.

You mentioned the average salaries in the mid 50’s +.  Have you lived in San Jose?  With State Income Tax.. home of the 2.00 a gallon gas while it was 1.10 or less everywhere else and 85 cents a gallon in Texas (I know, I visited Texas before moving back).  Groceries and appliances are also much higher. You also mentioned the price of cars. The same thing can be likened to the Auto Industry as with other industries such as Retail in California.  Charge the highest price possible because the salaries are higher. It would have been wise if you also pointed out that Austin is heading the exact same direction with the status issue.  Look at Westlake, all the big trucks that take up two lanes before they cut you off while on their cell phone (not a Silicon Valley problem as in Austin), and look at the rents in Austin.

San Jose was like Austin was before the Internet and dot com companies took off. The only difference is that San Jose’s freeway system while clogged sometimes during rush hour is much more efficient to handle that load than Austin’s freeway (laugh) system is to handle it’s own load. I think before you point the finger at San Jose for all of Austin’s “new” shortcomings, take a look in your own backyard. Interestingly, that’s what Governor Bush was told to do when he complained of Gore’s vote on the 4.5 cent Federal Gas Tax as compared the 20 cents plus gas tax levied by the State of Texas. I owe this to the Energy Secretary.

James Crisp
ja m e sc r is p@int erga te.com
http://come.to/snackwell

This page was last updated on Thursday, 16 March 2006

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