It's sad, but I don't really plan on staying. If anything, I'll take irate left wing politics over low IQ pickup truck road rage any day. Austin used to be something special (maybe it's just the way I remember it) and now most of the charm I remember is gone or has been fully commercialized.
Having lived in NYC, I appreciate different attributes of Austin than I did before, but above all as a native I have no understanding why people think austin is cool - IMO it's pretty mid and the weather and allergies are horrible. Also, if you own a home, property taxes quickly erase any illusion of the state being cheaper than other significantly better cities.
Unfortunately, as soon as remote employment wanes a bit I'm probably leaving - but living here for the past few years has been an interesting lesson in how quickly a place can change.
For me, the weather is mainly bad in the peak of summer. 9-10 months of the year or so, it's great. The cedar pollen is pretty bad though, so if you have allergies I can understand.
NYC has less housing stock now than it did 2 decades ago, despite the population having grown by several Austins in that time.
The pandemic seems to have spurred a lot of political will to increase housing fairly significantly. We will need to see if this will translate into actual changes.
Also, the lack of housing is largely a result of landlords just not listing about 40% of their properties. Corporate landlords are just as guilty of this. It is genuinely more corrupt and rigged than the jewelry / diamond industry.
One thing I feel about Austin, is that people are super friendly. A lot of people are transplants, and they're usually more than willing to make new friends. Sometimes you'll meet some Austin veterans or natives there. They'll tell you that the east side used to be very crime-ridden (I'm guessing in the 90s and early 00s). They'll bemoan all the growth, but a lot of them will also say that they haven't grown tired of the city because of the constant change.
I do think the author's anecdote about the people being more "libertarian"-ish is kinda true. A lot of my Democrat friends in ATX tend to be very pro-gun rights, for example. I do think you get a lot of more moderate Democrats and moderate Republicans in Austin and that is a political culture you won't really find in most tech hubs.
I would say my only major complaint about ATX is that it's right smack in the middle of Texas. Nothing wrong with Texas, but it's a very large state and if you want to take a road trip to the mountains or the beach or somewhere different, it's a long haul.