Toyota moving out of CA to TX

[flyer]

Don’t forget that for some, moving for a job isn’t a choice. I’m sure there are lots of people who have had to leave San Diego or other locations in CA that would like to have stayed, and others who are glad they left.

We’ve known many young people in our kids age group who, after college, have not been able to stay here because they couldn’t find great jobs that matched their qualifications. None of them wanted to leave, but it was either move, or waste that very expensive degree.

There are lots of places I wouldn’t personally care to live, but–as EP said–to each his or her own.

[svelte]

I think the real reason they are doing it is they are trying to break into the truck market. They need their employees to understand how Midwesterners think about trucks, so that’s where they are moving. Didn’t hurt that their truck factory is also in Texas.

While the coasts, especially the west coast, set the pace for the car market, the Midwest sets the pace for the truck market.

Then have Perry through boatloads of cash at them and the decision was pretty straight-forward. As Jalopnik points out, pity the poor LGTB staff members who are now being asked to move to a pretty darn intolerant state.

I don’t blame Perry, I don’t blame Toyota. I say good riddance because, as has come out time and time again on here, I like pretty much like all car companies except the big T which I loathe. Funny too cuz in my teen years I had a Toyota poster on my wall. Action by action, year by year, my opinion changed.

(my prediction: they will continue to find it exceedingly difficult to get Midwesterners to buy their product, especially trucks. Even today most Midwesterners buy American cars. Use Google Street View and see for yourself)

[spdrun]

That would be a silly reason to make a wholesale move to TX, when they could just set up a satellite design office there. Besides, not as if there isn’t a market for trucks in rural parts of the West Coast.

I wouldn’t mind some Toyota products. Namely Prius (with the exception that it has a long, low front overhang that I kept scraping even on San Diego roads when I had a rental) and the Toyota/Subaru BR-Z.

[Coronita]

http://www.latimes.com/business/autos/la-fi-toyota-economy-20140502,0,5344246,full.story#axzz30Z7j9s6h

[paramount]

Gov. Jerry Brown had no comment of course (on the Toyota move), but to him all these job losses “barely amount to even a fart.”

But then Gov Brown only represents govt workers, so why would he care anyway.

[svelte]

[quote=spdrun]That would be a silly reason to make a wholesale move to TX, when they could just set up a satellite design office there. Besides, not as if there isn’t a market for trucks in rural parts of the West Coast.
.[/quote]

Not silly, but expensive. Why do you think many of the car companies opened design studios / satellite HQs in SoCal a couple decades back? So they could be in tune with the trendsetting market. Turns out running a satellite office in SoCal is an expense not many car companies can maintain.

Some have left (Lincoln-Mercury in Irvine 98-02, Carlsbad Chrysler design studio 83-08 ) but some remain (Nissan Design Studio in San Diego, Honda USA in Torrance, Mazda USA in Irvine).

Flu, interesting article that I agree with for the most part. And the reasons given by the Toyota rep in that article probably did play in to the decision. But I also think the reasons I gave were a big part of the decision also…they just don’t want to come out and say it. There are public and private reasons for everything… 🙂

[spdrun]

Toyota is maintaining some design offices in CA even after the move to Texas. If the move was mostly appealing to the truck-drivin’ crowd, they could as well have opened an office in TX. Since they didn’t do that, I suspect that other reasons are behind the move.

[joec]

Another point is that homes in Plano would be a lot cheaper so for a younger workforce wanting to start a family, TX isn’t the worst thing in the world…

[svelte]

[quote=spdrun]Toyota is maintaining some design offices in CA even after the move to Texas. If the move was mostly appealing to the truck-drivin’ crowd, they could as well have opened an office in TX. Since they didn’t do that, I suspect that other reasons are behind the move.[/quote]

You could be right. Neither of can prove anything…

[FlyerInHi]

[quote=spdrun]Not quite $200k — there are acceptable units that have sold in the $140-160k range recently, in areas where you can drive to the beach in 10-15 min. And what’s wrong with a wall heater + through-wall A/C if you have to use each one a few days out of the year?[/quote]

You have a lot of tolerance for subpar housing. Most people don’t.

The old 1 bed in San Diego are old crap built cheaply. All else being equal, with the same salary, I’d rather have a new 3 bed townhouse in Plano or Frisco, TX.

No everyone makes enough to even buy a $500k house in San Diego, which would be like an old house in Clairemont or Mira Mesa.

If you’re an accounting clerk working at Toyota North America, I think your standard of living is better in TX.

I’ve been to Dallas many times and it’s not bad in terms of the suburban lifestyle Americans are accustomed to. But in terms of city life, the closest you’d get is a condo by the Galleria mall.

[SD Realtor]

A few facts about the move. First off Texas ponied up 40 million to Toyota for the move. The original move was supposed to go to Dallas but Toyota did not like the DISD. So they ended up relocating to Plano. Plano is the equivalent of the Poway school district 4-S Ranch lifestyle in San Diego (with the exception of the weather). Lots of good schools, gated communities, and a ton of engineers who work at Texas Instruments and other engineering firms in North Dallas. Other surrounding communities in the area include Frisco, Allen and Prosper which are also middle/upper class. Pretty nice median salaries in all those areas that are competitive with the 4S Ranchers and a little higher.

[paramount]

Not to mention better air quality; the AQ in So Cal is generally pretty bad (even on the coast).

[spdrun]

The old 1 bed in San Diego are old crap built cheaply.

Most property built in the past 40 years is junque, built cheaply. I know someone who bought a 90s tract house in Phoenix and had to jackhammer the slab because they had run water pipes through it without any conduit or easy means of replacing them, and a pipe started leaking after 10 years. Fun times.

If anything, the older properties in SD are less complex and are thus easier to maintain than a newer condo with multiple baths and appliance hookups. And a lot of the initial defects like brittle PEX plumbing were fixed 15 years ago, since they showed up and they practically had to fix them.

[flyer]

Have some extended family members who moved from San Diego to TX for some great jobs. For them, it’s been great financially, but they’d much rather be here, and are already making plans to come back. They leased out their homes here when they left, so that helps. Guess it’s different for everyone.

[FlyerInHi]

spdrun, construction quality is the same anywhere in the usa. San Diego actually has comparatively worse quality construction because of the mild weather.

Wall heater and window AC in the cheap condos is cheesy, not aesthetically pleasing and not comfortable.

Since 2000 construction has improved a lot.

But, anyway, you’re not comparing apples to apples. For the same price, in Dallas metro, you’re getting newer, better and more comfortable housing than in San Diego. Housing wise, Dallas is superior. Arguably what would make So Cal more desirable than Dallas is what you can do outside the house.

Those cheap condos you might like in Pacific Beach or North Park? They would be considered ghetto in Dallas. That type of rental might go for $500/mo over there.

[Author]

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