In a recent episode of The Building Texas Show, strategist Michael Shear proposed a radical shift in office infrastructure to tackle Austin's growing commute crisis. Shear, leader of Strategic Office Networks, discussed replacing one 60-floor downtown tower with ten six-floor office buildings sited in suburbs and exurbs like Cedar Park and Luling. This model, part of what he calls Project ION, aims to reduce I-35 congestion and improve quality of life for workers.
Shear argues that the infrastructure decisions made in the next 12 to 24 months will define commuting, housing, and resilience for the next century. He highlights that 22% of land in 316 U.S. metro areas is paved, referencing the book 'Overbuilt: The High Cost and Low Rewards of US Highways,' and warns that regions cannot build their way out of growth. 'We've essentially entombed ourselves in a 20th century model,' Shear said, emphasizing the need for a structural transition beyond remote work.
The distributed office network would rely on a regional fiber backbone and edge computing, moving beyond generic broadband to architect dedicated, secure communications for hospitals, universities, chip manufacturers, and emergency dispatch. This approach pairs with the Texas data center boom to harden communities against climate events, accidents, and geopolitical risks along the high-value I-35 corridor.
Shear also connected workforce strategy to economic resilience, noting that today's three-to-five-year job tenures put homebuying at risk unless networked hubs let workers change employers without changing communities. He referenced Nobel-recognized research by Joel Mokyr on how hardened institutions stall innovation and pointed to Central Texas assets like state government, R&D universities, military complexes, and semiconductor fabs as both competitive advantages and high-value targets.
The discussion touched on emerging technologies, including a recent Christmas-parade live portal linking a Texas town to Ireland as a preview of XR, spatial acoustics, and haptic tools becoming mainstream within three to five years. Shear also confirmed that Google Fiber crews were laying new lines outside his home during the week of taping, signaling growing investment in connectivity.
Host Justin McKenzie noted that the episode, titled 'The Future of Work in Texas: Distributed Offices, Fiber Networks & Ending Commutes,' is available now on podcast platforms and YouTube. The conversation challenges the downtown high-rise model, offering a vision that could reshape how Texans live and work.
