One of the most common questions we get time and time again since coming to Halifax is,
“Why did you all decide to leave the US?“
So we decided to share a comprehensive post about what led us to decide to ultimately leave the US:
We first began to consider where we wanted to live back in 2021, pretty much right when we were married. At the time, we were living in Austin, Texas. This wasn’t where either us were from – we actually both were brought there due to our work. Austin was a great experience: it led us to both grow professionally and learn more about what we ultimately wanted to do with our lives.
However, one of the things we recognized was that there was a lack of support for many of the initiatives supporting underserved communities that mattered to us the most. In particular, despite Austin being considered a politically liberal city (the phrase “blueberry in an apple pie” is used quite often), there were specific instances that continued to concern us.
For example, it was hard to not noticed the several instances where Austin’s homeless population continued to be denigrated and derided. In one of the more infamous examples, homeless people were utilized as walking WIFI signals during a major festival so that the more privileged festival goers could connect to their smart devices. In another example, homeless populations were bussed out of the city to local suburbs during a presidential visit to make the city seem more “put together” than it actually was.
For years, people complained that the homeless population should receive more resources, support, and respect. And finally, in response to this, the city of Austin approved budgeting to create housing for this population. Unfortunately, it wasn’t a major priority to locate the housing, and the budget expired before any funds were disbursed.
Other examples continued to appear as well. One of the more ironic scenes was of the mass migration of Black and Brown residents from East Austin (an area they were forced into during city-imposed segregation periods) to other areas as White residents began buying properties in the communities. A familiar scene that dotted the East Austin landscape where freshly built homes with signs in the front yard exclaiming, “Stop Gentrification.”
These events led to strange instances where – in the middle of a state that is one of the most diverse in America – boasting, large swaths of Latino, Black, and Asian populations – a minority would consistently find herself as the only person of color in a bar, at a coffee shop, or in other third spaces.
I grew tired.
It became even more tiring to see so many “liberal” residents openly question what I was capable of. In the earlier years that I resided in Austin, there were countless instances of investors, ride-share drivers, neighbors, and more who would ask me what I did for a living. When I replied I was a startup founder, the normal presumption was that we must not be that far along. The conversation would inevitably continue around our traction (since everyone in Austin is interested in startups from some angle).
Once it would become clear that what I have built is a true company with customers and traction, inevitably they would return back to my original answer, saying something like, “You mean, you are an early employee, right?”
This happened so often that when the question of what I did came up, I’d just tell people that I did “Sales.” I figured it wasn’t worth the insult I’d feel each time by the end. It wasn’t until I met Janna and she heard me respond this way once that I realized how sad this was.
But the final nail in the coffin for us leaving Austin was the final experience for many black people who left America — the George Floyd incident. However, not for the reason that you might think.
During the George Floyd incident and ensuing protests, we noticed that Austin liberals were out in full force, wearing shirts, attending marches, and making all kinds of social media posts in protest. But ironically, at the same time, black Austinites in need in the continued to be treated just as terribly as before.
Terrible comments were made about may people of color who had just been pushed out of their communities with no affordable place to live. Suddenly, people asking for water downtown made the new transplants “feel unsafe”, while they would simultaneously rush out to pamper any dogs with special treats, water, and more. Many allowed these same dogs into their restaurants and more.
Again, we grew tired.
So after much discussion, Janna and I decided we would leave Austin and look for a different location – a location we felt would be a better place for our future children…
(Check out Part 2 for the continuation of our story)
