When and where did the Austin “big lie” start?

I’ve been amazed by the fact that during the course of my one year living in Kyle I have seen speaker after speaker appear before the city council to say something along the lines of "We don’t want to turn Kyle into another Austin. Why do you think all those people are leaving Austin and moving to Kyle?" (Another one of these made an appearance last night during the council’s meeting.)

I’m not saying some folks who used to live in Austin are now living in Kyle and the reason most of them give for the move is affordability. I’ll grant you that. Although Austin’s property taxes are much lower than they are in Kyle (and got even lower after the Kyle City Council voted to raise property taxes here last night), property in Austin is far more valuable than it is in Kyle. Why? Because far more people desire property in Austin than they do in Kyle and that desirability factor drives up the price of Austin real estate. So the idea that droves and droves are forsaking Austin as though it were a sinking ship is simply not true.

The truth is, according to the U.S. Census Bureau, Austin was, by far, the fastest growing big city in the United States between July 1, 2013 and July 1, 2014. That finding came out just three months ago. If you look at the numbers, no other big city came even close to Austin’s rate of expansion.

So the next time you hear someone talking about the multitudes leaving Austin, ask that person two questions: (1) What are they smoking; and (2) Are they willing to share?