JEFFERSON

between Austin and San Antonio could have the look and feel of a megalopolis in a few decades.

Among other things, that’s potentially great news for NFL fans in the region who’ve had to look to Dallas or Houston for something to give meaning to their bereft, provincial lives. How long could the league’s overlords resist such a big, money-dripping market?

And then there’s the mother of all benefits: jobs.

“There are greater degrees of possibilities in terms of job growth,” Sáenz said.

He’s totally credible — I mean, he’s got a doctorate — but you don’t have to take his word for it. An example of the opportunity he’s talking about is playing out in real time.

First, though, an aside about

Californians.

They love Texas — some of them, at any rate. More Californians move here than residents of any other state, according to Saenz. Between 2014 and 2018, the Texas counties attracting the most Golden State refugees were, in descending order: Harris, Dallas, Travis, Tarrant, Collin and Bexar.

Why, you might ask, is Bexar County lagging, snagging only 7 percent of incoming Californians? The answer probably lies in their schooling; among the ones 25 and older, 43 percent have at least a bachelor’s degree.

With its surplus of low-wage jobs in the service and tourism industries, Bexar County lacks the allure of its urban cousins. Not even relatively low housing costs do much to make the county more inviting.

Back to the potential opportunity for San Antonio-Austin. It centers on a Californian.

Elon Musk, the Twitter abuser and founder of electric car maker Tesla, threw a snit over coronavirus-related restrictions on the company’s Fremont, Calif., plant. On May 9, the billionaire tweeted: “Frankly, this is the final straw. Tesla will now move its HQ and future programs to Texas/Nevada immediately.”

Gov. Greg Abbott took the bait, reportedly following up with a conversation with Musk — the details of which remain between the two of them.

It appears now there’s a contest underway between the Austin and Tulsa, Okla., metro areas for Tesla’s next so-called gigafactory. The plant would produce the company’s Model Y SUV and the sleek yet ugly Cybertruck, an electric pickup.

San Antonio’s interest: aroused.

We know a little something about automotive manufacturing.

Toyota builds Tacoma and

Tundra pickups on the South Side, employing about 3,000 workers, and its nearby suppliers account for another 4,000 or so jobs. San Antonio also captured Illinois-based Navistar’s attention. It’s planning to build a $250 million heavy-duty truck plant, also on the South Side. And then there’s Caterpillar’s sprawling engine factory in Seguin.

Not surprisingly, the San Antonio Economic Development Foundation has been talking with Abbott’s office about Tesla.

Jenna Saucedo-Herrera, EDF’s president and CEO, is big on approaching Austin as a potential partner on major projects, not so much as a competitor. So this could be good moment for her and the region, all of the virusinduced economic carnage notwithstanding. (The one good thing about the pandemic is that at least state and local governments don’t have wheelbarrows full of cash incentives to dump at

Musk’s feet.)

“The I-35 corridor anchored by San Antonio and Austin presents a unique opportunity for Tesla to accelerate its administrative, tech, and manufacturing operations,” she said in a statement. “San Antonio’s expertise in cybersecurity and automotive manufacturing strengthens Austin’s value proposition as a technology leader.

“Choosing to locate between the two fast-growing metros,

Tesla would be able to leverage both San Antonio and Austin’s talent pools.”

The San Antonio area, she said, would stand to gain “the supplier network that will be needed to support the cybertruck operations.”

Elon Musk as our perfect match for the Austin-San Antonio region? Well, it is an imperfect world after all.