> Progressive islands in conservative states are almost worse. They just get diced up and have no voice in state or federal government

Not always. If it's a small area, sure it may get split apart, except packing is a thing as well and just as big of a deal. But Austin proper has nearly a million people. The metro area is more than two million. You'd need to split it into 6-8 districts even to have a shot at creating solid Republican representation for Austin. There are 4 districts covering the city, and you'd need at least 2 for equal representation.

I'm not saying gerrymandering isn't an issue, I'm just saying that any implication the people of a city like Austin have no voice at the state or federal level is flatly wrong.