Austin, Texas

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City of Austin
Flag of City of Austin
Flag
Official seal of City of Austin
Seal
Nickname(s): 
Live Music Capital of the World[1], The Cap City, ATX
Location in the state of Texas
Location in the state of Texas
CountryUnited States
StateTexas
CountiesTravis County
Government
 • MayorWill Wynn
Population
 (2006)[2]
 • City709,893
 • Metro
1,513,565
Time zoneUTC-6 (CST)
 • Summer (DST)UTC-5 (CDT)
ZIP code
78701-78705, 78708-78728, 78730-78739, 78741-78742, 78744-78769
Area code512
Websitewww.ci.austin.tx.us

Austin is the capital of the U.S. state of Texas and the county seat of Travis County. Situated in Central Texas, it is the fourth-largest city in Texas and the 16th largest in the United States. It is also home to the University of Texas at Austin. And according to the U.S. Census Bureau's 2006 population estimates, the city's population stands at 709,893.[2] The city is the cultural and economic center of the Austin-Round Rock Metropolitan Area with a population of over 1.5 million. Please refer to the List of Texas metropolitan areas.


Austin was selected as the #2 Best Big City in "Best Places to Live" by Money magazine in 2006, and the "Greenest City in America" by MSN.[3][4]


Residents of Austin are known as "Austinites," and include a mix of university professors, students, politicians, lobbyists, musicians, state employees, high-tech workers, blue-collar workers, and white-collar workers. The city is home to enough large sites of major technology corporations to have earned it the nickname "Silicon Hills." Austin's official slogan promotes the city as "The Live Music Capital of the World", a reference to its status as home to many musicians and music venues.[1] In recent years, many Austinites have also adopted the unofficial slogan "Keep Austin Weird"; this refers partly to the eclectic and progressive lifestyle of many Austin residents, but is also the slogan for a campaign to preserve smaller local businesses and resist excessive commercialization.

History

Main article: History of Austin, Texas

Before the arrival of settlers from the United States, the area that later became Austin was inhabited by a variety of nomadic Native American tribes, including the Tonkawa tribe, the Comanches, and the Lipan Apaches.

In the early 1830's the village of Waterloo was established. In 1839, the village of Waterloo was chosen to be the capital of the Republic of Texas. It quickly grew and was renamed in honor of Stephen F. Austin.

The Texas state capitol building was completed in 1888 advertised as the 7th largest building in the world. Funded by the famous XIT ranch, the building still remains part of the Austin skyline.

In September of 1881, Austin public schools held their first classes. The same year, Huston-Tillotson College opened its doors.

In the 1950's, Austin's first research labs and think tanks were first built. As Austin's economy prospered, several movie theaters, public pools, and a local library system were opened.

The Austin music scene was born in the 70's when artists such as David Rodriguez and Willie Nelson brought national attention.

Today, Austin is known as much for its cultural life as its high-tech innovations. It is also known for the senators and schoolteachers who shaped its beginnings. The same success that has gained the city a national reputation has brought with it many difficult choices.

Geography

Hill Country

Austin is located at 30°16′N 97°45′W / 30.267°N 97.750°W / 30.267; -97.750Invalid arguments have been passed to the {{#coordinates:}} function Template:GR and is approximately 541 ft (165 m) above sea level. According to the 2000 census, the city has a total area of 258.4 mi² (669.3 km²). 251.5 mi² (651.4 km²) of it is land and 6.9 mi² (17.9 km²) (2.67%) is water.

Austin is situated on the Colorado River, with three man-made (artificial) lakes wholly within the city limits: Town Lake, Lake Austin, and Lake Walter E. Long. Additionally, the foot of Lake Travis, including Mansfield Dam, is located within the city's limits. Town Lake, Lake Austin, and Lake Travis are each on the Colorado River. The city is also situated on the Balcones Fault, which, in much of Austin, runs roughly the same route as the State Highway Loop 1 (Texas) or Mo-Pac Expressway. The eastern part of the city is relatively flat, whereas the western part and western suburbs consist of scenic rolling hills on the edge of the Texas Hill Country. Because the hills to the west are primarily limestone rock with a thin covering of topsoil, portions of the city are frequently subjected to flash floods from the runoff caused by thunderstorms. To help control this runoff and to generate hydroelectric power, the Lower Colorado River Authority operates a series of dams that form the Texas Highland Lakes. The lakes also provide venues for boating, swimming, and other forms of recreation within several parks located on the lake shores.

The view from Mount Bonnell

A popular point of prominence in Austin is Mount Bonnell. At about 780 feet above sea level, it is a natural limestone formation overlooking Lake Austin on the Colorado River, approximately 200 feet below its summit. From the observation deck, many fine homes are visible.

The soils of Austin range from shallow gravelly clay loams over limestone in the western outskirts to deep fine sandy loams, silty clay loams, silty clays or clays in the city's eastern part. Some of the clays have pronounced shrink-swell properties and are difficult to work under most moisture conditions. Many of Austin's soils, especially the clay-rich types, are slightly to moderately alkaline and have free calcium carbonate.

See also: List of Austin Neighborhoods

Climate

Austin has a humid subtropical climate, characterized by hot summers and mild winters.[5] On average, Austin receives 33.6 inches (853.4 mm) of rain per year, with most of the precipitation coming in the spring, and a secondary maximum in the fall.[6] During the springtime, severe thunderstorms sometimes occur, and tornadoes are not uncommon in the region.

Summer in Austin is hot and typically humid, with average temperatures above 90 degrees Fahrenheit (32 Celsius) from June until September. Temperatures above 100 °F (38 °C) are common. The highest recorded temperature was 112 °F on September 5, 2000.[5][7][8] For the entire year there is an average of 111 days above 90 °F (32 °C) and 198 days above 80 °F (27 °C).[5]

Winter in Austin is mild and dry relative to the rest of the year. For the entire year, Austin averages 88 days when the temperature drops below 45 °F (7 °C) and only 24 days when the minimum temperature falls below freezing. The lowest recorded temperature was -2 °F on January 31, 1949.[5] Snowfall is rare in Austin, but once every year or two Austin is hit with an ice storm that freezes roads over and shuts down much of the city for around a day.[5]

Climate data for Camp Mabry, Austin, Texas (1991–2020 normals,[a] extremes 1891–present)[b]
Month Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Year
Record high °F (°C) 90
(32) 		99
(37) 		98
(37) 		99
(37) 		104
(40) 		109
(43) 		109
(43) 		112
(44) 		112
(44) 		100
(38) 		91
(33) 		90
(32) 		112
(44)
Mean maximum °F (°C) 80.1
(26.7) 		84.2
(29.0) 		87.7
(30.9) 		91.8
(33.2) 		95.5
(35.3) 		99.5
(37.5) 		102.3
(39.1) 		103.9
(39.9) 		99.9
(37.7) 		93.7
(34.3) 		85.3
(29.6) 		80.5
(26.9) 		105.3
(40.7)
Mean daily maximum °F (°C) 62.5
(16.9) 		66.5
(19.2) 		73.3
(22.9) 		80.3
(26.8) 		86.9
(30.5) 		93.2
(34.0) 		96.6
(35.9) 		97.8
(36.6) 		91.4
(33.0) 		82.5
(28.1) 		71.5
(21.9) 		63.9
(17.7) 		80.5
(26.9)
Daily mean °F (°C) 52.2
(11.2) 		56.1
(13.4) 		62.8
(17.1) 		69.6
(20.9) 		76.8
(24.9) 		83.0
(28.3) 		85.8
(29.9) 		86.5
(30.3) 		80.8
(27.1) 		71.6
(22.0) 		61.0
(16.1) 		53.6
(12.0) 		70.0
(21.1)
Mean daily minimum °F (°C) 41.8
(5.4) 		45.8
(7.7) 		52.2
(11.2) 		58.9
(14.9) 		66.8
(19.3) 		72.9
(22.7) 		75.0
(23.9) 		75.1
(23.9) 		70.1
(21.2) 		60.8
(16.0) 		50.5
(10.3) 		43.4
(6.3) 		59.4
(15.2)
Mean minimum °F (°C) 27.1
(−2.7) 		30.3
(−0.9) 		34.8
(1.6) 		42.8
(6.0) 		53.4
(11.9) 		65.0
(18.3) 		70.1
(21.2) 		69.3
(20.7) 		58.5
(14.7) 		43.7
(6.5) 		33.8
(1.0) 		28.6
(−1.9) 		24.2
(−4.3)
Record low °F (°C) −2
(−19) 		−1
(−18) 		18
(−8) 		30
(−1) 		40
(4) 		51
(11) 		57
(14) 		58
(14) 		41
(5) 		30
(−1) 		20
(−7) 		4
(−16) 		−2
(−19)
Average precipitation inches (mm) 2.64
(67) 		1.89
(48) 		2.88
(73) 		2.42
(61) 		5.04
(128) 		3.68
(93) 		1.96
(50) 		2.74
(70) 		3.45
(88) 		3.91
(99) 		2.92
(74) 		2.72
(69) 		36.25
(921)
Average snowfall inches (cm) 0.0
(0.0) 		0.2
(0.51) 		0.0
(0.0) 		0.0
(0.0) 		0.0
(0.0) 		0.0
(0.0) 		0.0
(0.0) 		0.0
(0.0) 		0.0
(0.0) 		0.0
(0.0) 		0.0
(0.0) 		0.0
(0.0) 		0.2
(0.51)
Average precipitation days (≥ 0.01 in) 7.6 7.7 8.9 7.1 8.9 7.4 4.9 4.8 7.1 7.0 6.9 7.5 85.8
Average snowy days (≥ 0.1 in) 0.2 0.3 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.1 0.6
Average relative humidity (%) 67.2 66.0 64.2 66.4 71.4 69.5 65.1 63.8 68.4 67.1 68.7 67.6 67.1
Average dew point °F (°C) 36.1
(2.3) 		39.6
(4.2) 		46.2
(7.9) 		55.0
(12.8) 		63.3
(17.4) 		68.2
(20.1) 		68.9
(20.5) 		68.4
(20.2) 		65.5
(18.6) 		56.5
(13.6) 		47.7
(8.7) 		39.4
(4.1) 		54.6
(12.5)
Mean monthly sunshine hours 163.8 169.3 205.9 205.8 227.1 285.5 317.2 297.9 233.8 215.6 168.3 153.5 2,643.7
Percent possible sunshine 51 54 55 53 54 68 74 73 63 61 53 48 60
Average ultraviolet index 4 6 8 9 10 11 11 10 9 7 5 4 8
Source 1: NOAA (relative humidity and sun 1961–1990),[9][10][11]
Source 2: Weather Atlas [12] (UV index)
Averages are from the 30 year average from 1971–2000 at Camp Mabry, and records are from Camp Mabry and from previous climate sites, spanning from 1897 to present.[6][8]

Government and politics

Law and government

View of Downtown Austin and Texas State Capitol from south Congress Avenue

Austin is administered by a city council of seven members, each of them elected by the entire city, and by an elected mayor under the mayor-council government system of municipal governance. Council and mayoral elections are non-partisan (although most Austin mayors and council members are Democrats[citation needed]), with a runoff in case there is no majority winner. Austin remains an anomaly among large Texas cities in that council members are elected on an "at large" basis by all voters, as opposed to elections by districts.

The current mayor of Austin is Will Wynn. His second term ends in 2009.

Wynn is a member of the Mayors Against Illegal Guns Coalition[13], a bi-partisan group with a stated goal of "making the public safer by getting illegal guns off the streets." The Coalition is co-chaired by by Boston Mayor Thomas Menino and New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg.

Austin is located in Travis County, Texas.

See also: List of current and former capital cities in the United States

Politics

The main political actors in Austin city politics are interest groups such as the pro-environmental Save Our Springs Alliance, the Austin Police Association, Austin Toll Party, and the Austin Business Council. Additionally, the Travis County Democratic Party is an active, well-established organization whose get out the vote operations generally make the difference in close elections.

The controversy that dominated Austin politics during the 1990s was the conflict between environmentalists, strong in the city center, and advocates of urban growth, who tend to live in the outlying areas. The city council has in the past tried to mitigate the controversy by advocating smart growth, but growth and environmental protection are still the most divisive issues in city politics. Today conservatives in Austin argue that the city's various highway traffic problems are rooted in the denial of past highway/infrastructure development by political action committees who do not support highway expansion. Progressives counter that environmentalists' efforts contributed to the city's large green spaces, which many Austinites enjoy. Progressives also maintain that unlike several other cities in Texas, Austin's smart growth policies have contributed to a rapidly-increasing population density in and around the downtown area.

Austin is well known as a center for liberal politics in a generally conservative state, leading some Texas conservatives to deride the city as "The People's Republic of Austin" or "the blueberry in the tomato soup." Suburban neighborhoods in Austin, especially to the west and north, and several satellite municipalities, however, tend toward political conservatism.

As a result of the major party realignment that began in the 1970s, central Austin became a stronghold of the Democratic Party while the suburbs tend to vote Republican. One consequence of this is that in the most recent redistricting plan, formulated by former U.S. Rep. Tom DeLay and enacted by the Republican-majority legislature, the central city has been split among multiple, sprawling districts. Opponents characterized the resulting districting layout as excessively partisan gerrymandering, and the plan was challenged in court on this basis by Democratic and minority activists; of note, the Supreme Court of the United States has never struck down a redistricting plan for being excessively partisan. The plan was subsequently upheld by a three-judge federal panel in late 2003, and on June 28, 2006, the matter was largely settled when the Supreme Court in a 7-2 decision upheld the entire congressional redistricting plan with the exception of a Hispanic-majority district in southwest Texas. This may later affect Austin's districting, as U.S. Rep. Lloyd Doggett's district was found not to be sufficiently compact to compensate for the reduced minority influence in the southwest district.[1]

Overall, the city is a blend of downtown liberalism and suburb conservatism, but leans strongly to the political left. In the 2004 presidential election, Senator John Kerry won a substantial majority of the votes in Travis County as illustrated in this pictorial of votes by-county. Of Austin's six state legislative districts, three are strongly Democratic and three are swing districts all of which are held by Democrats. However, two of its three congressional districts are presently held by Republicans; this is largely due to the 2003 redistricting, which left downtown Austin without an exclusive congressional seat of its own. Travis County was also the only county in Texas to reject Texas Constitutional Amendment Proposition 2 — effectively outlawing gay marriage and status equal or similar to it — and did so by a wide margin (40% for, 60% against).

Vista of Austin's riverfront from Auditorium Shores Park.

Austin is also an active area for the Libertarian Party. Although the Libertarians remain a third party, they occasionally garner substantial votes when running against an otherwise unopposed Republican, and one of the past Libertarian presidential candidates, Michael Badnarik comes from Austin, while another, Ron Paul represented a congressional district that includes part of the greater Austin area.

Two of the candidates for President in the 2004 race call Austin home. Michael Badnarik, mentioned above as the Libertarian Party candidate, and David Cobb of the Green Party both have lived in Austin. During the runup to the election in November, a presidential debate was held at the University of Texas student union involving the two minor party candidates. While the Commission on Presidential Debates only invites Democrats and Republicans to participate in televised debates, the debate at UT was open to all presidential candidates.

Austin is often referred to as "Blue in a Sea of Red" with regards to the 2004 presidential race

Sister cities

List of sister cities of Austin, Texas, designated by Sister Cities International. [14]

Economy

File:View south 11th.JPG
Southward view of downtown Austin from The Capitol Grounds on 11th Street.

Thousands of graduates each year from the engineering and computer science programs at The University of Texas at Austin provide a steady source of young, talented, and driven employees that help to fuel Austin's technology and defense industry sectors. The metro Austin area has much lower housing costs than Silicon Valley, but much higher housing costs than many parts of rural Texas. As a result of the relatively high concentration of high-tech companies in the region, Austin was strongly affected by the dot-com boom in the late 1990s and subsequent bust. The general consensus is that high-tech recovery is proceeding rapidly. Austin's biggest employers include the State of Texas, The University of Texas, the SETON Healthcare Network, Dell, IBM and Freescale Semiconductor (spun off from Motorola in 2004). Other high-tech companies in Austin include Apple Inc., Vignette, AMD, Applied Materials, Cirrus Logic, Hoover's, Inc., Intel, Motive Inc, National Instruments, Samsung, Silicon Laboratories, Sun Microsystems, United Devices, and Textron. The proliferation of technology companies has led to the region's nickname, "the Silicon Hills," (Austin was originally "Silicon Gulch", but San Jose, California already had that distinction) and has spurred rapid development that has greatly expanded the city to the north, south, east, and west. Not only is Austin home to many high-tech companies, it is also headquarters for Gatti's Pizza, a pizza buffet chain.

In addition to global companies, Austin features a strong network of independent, locally-owned firms and organizations such as the Austin Independent Business Alliance. The success of these businesses reflects the high level of commitment by the citizens of Austin to preserving the unique spirit of the city, and has been tied to the "Keep Austin Weird" campaign. Small businesses in Austin enjoy a lively existence gained by direct competition with large national and global rivals.

Demographics

City of Austin
Population by decade[citation needed]
1840 850
1870 4,400
1880 11,000
1890 14,500
1910 29,700
1920 34,800
1930 53,000
1940 88,000
1950 132,459
1960 186,545
1970 251,808
1980 345,496
1990 465,622
2000 656,562

As of the censusTemplate:GR of 2000, there were 656,562 people, 265,649 households, and 141,590 families residing in the city (roughly comparable in size to San Francisco or Memphis). The population density was 1,007.9/km² (2,610.4/mi²). There were 276,842 housing units at an average density of 425.0/km² (1,100.7/mi²). The racial makeup of the city was 65.36% White, 10.05% Black or African American, 4.72% Asian, 0.59% Native American, 0.07% Pacific Islander, 16.23% from other races. 2.99% were from two or more races. 30.55% of the population were Hispanic or Latino, who can be of any race.

There were 265,649 households out of which 26.8% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 38.1% were married couples living together, 10.8% had a female householder with no husband present, and 46.7% were non-families. 32.8% of all households were made up of individuals and 4.6% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.40 and the average family size was 3.14.

In the city the population was spread out with 22.5% under the age of 18, 16.6% from 18 to 24, 37.1% from 25 to 44, 17.1% from 45 to 64, and 6.7% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 30 years. For every 100 females there were 105.8 males.

The median income for a household in the city was $42,689, and the median income for a family was $54,091. Males had a median income of $35,545 vs. $30,046 for females. The per capita income for the city was $24,163. About 9.1% of families and 14.4% of the population were below the poverty line, including 16.5% of those under age 18 and 8.7% of those age 65 or over. From the year 2000 to 2005, the median house price in Austin grew 34%.

The Austin-Round Rock metropolitan area had 1,452,529 people as of 2000. Combined with the population of the nearby San Antonio metropolitan area (the two areas together are commonly referred to as South Central Texas), the population was over 3.3 million, comparable to the Minneapolis-St. Paul.

Culture

The sights of Austin's nightlife on 6th Street.

As Austin's official slogan is The Live Music Capital of the World,[1] the city has a vibrant live music scene with more music venues per capita than any other U.S. city. Austin's music revolves around the many nightclubs on 6th Street and an annual film/music/multimedia festival known as South by Southwest. The longest-running concert music program on American television, Austin City Limits, is videotaped on the University of Texas at Austin campus. Austin City Limits and Capital Sports & Entertainment run the Austin City Limits Music Festival, an annual music and art festival held at Zilker Park in Austin. The long-running outdoor musical, the Zilker Park Summer Musical expects to celebrate its 50th anniversary in 2008. The Urban Music Festival is held during the Texas Relays weekend every April. Other annual events include Eeyore's Birthday Party and the Austin Reggae Festival (previously named Bob Marley Festival) in April and Carnaval in February. Halloween, St Patrick's Day, Mardi Gras, July 4th, and Juneteenth (Emancipation Day) are all celebrated.

Austinites take pride in eccentricities and celebrate the differences between themselves and other U.S. cities. "Keep Austin Weird" has become a local motto in recent years, featured on innumerable bumper stickers and t-shirts. This motto has not only been used in promoting Austin's eccentricity and diversity, but is also meant to bolster support of local and independent businesses. This motto has been parodied on bumper stickers making fun of conservative suburbs: "Keep Round Rock mildly unusual" and "Keep Georgetown normal."

Austin is also home to a lot of artists. They can be seen selling their art at the Renaissance Market on Guadalupe, across the street from the University. Every first Thursday of the month, during what is known as First Thursdays, the eclectic shops on South Congress stay open late, artists sell their works on the sidewalks, and musicians play in the streets. This is truly a spectacle of Austin, and exemplifies its cultural side.

Nationally known Austinites include Willie Nelson, Lance Armstrong, Matthew McConaughey, Sandra Bullock , Richard Linklater, Robert Rodriguez, Andy Roddick and Michael Dell. Other well-known Austinites can be found in the List of Austinites.

Media

File:ACL-2004.jpg
Austin City Limits Music Festival with view of stages and Austin skyline.

Austin has been the location for a number of motion pictures, partly due to the influence of The University of Texas at Austin's Department of Radio-Television-Film. Films produced in Austin include Man of the House, Secondhand Lions, Waking Life, Spy Kids, Dazed and Confused, Office Space, The Life of David Gale, Miss Congeniality, Doubting Thomas, Slacker, Idiocracy, A Scanner Darkly,The Wendall Baker Story and most recently, Grindhouse and How To Eat Fried Worms . In order to draw future film projects to the area, the Austin Film Society has converted several airplane hangars from the former Mueller Airport into filmmaking center Austin Studios. Projects that have used facilities at Austin Studios include music videos by The Flaming Lips and feature films such as 25th Hour and Sin City. Austin also hosted the MTV series, The Real World: Austin in 2005.

Austin's main daily newspaper is the Austin American-Statesman. The Austin Chronicle is Austin's alternative weekly, while The Daily Texan is the student newspaper of the University of Texas. Austin also has smaller newspapers such as the Oak Hill Gazette, Austin Business Journal, Texas Family Magazine, and Texas Monthly.

Austin hosts the annual Austin Film Festival, as well as South by Southwest, which draw films of many different types from all over the world. In 2004 the city was first in Moviemaker Magazine's annual top ten cities to live and make movies. The 2007 South by Southwest festival included Pete Townshend, Iggy Pop, Tom Morello, and Rickie Lee Jones.

Austin also hosts the annual Austin City Limits Music Festival, based on its own Austin City Limits television show, which has been produced for over 30 years at their resident PBS affiliate KLRU. The festival and television show alike attracts musical artists from around the world.

Austin also has a strong theater culture, with dozens of itinerant and resident companies producing a wide variety of work. From Esther's Follies on E. 6th Street to Zachary Scott on S. Lamar, live entertainment can be found around the city.

In January 2007, Austin Lyric Opera hosted the American Premiere of the Philip Glass opera, Waiting for the Barbarians. Waiting for the Barbarians is an allegory of oppressor and oppressed based on the novel by John Maxwell Coetzee of South Africa. Coetzee, the Nobel Prize Winner for Literature in 2003, is a University of Texas at Austin graduate and former UT professor.

Sports

Austin is one of the largest cities in the country without a franchise in any of the four major sports leagues. Instead, Austinites enthusiastically support the University of Texas Longhorns' sports programs. The University of Texas football and baseball teams each won their respective 2005 national championships. Minor-league professional sports came to Austin in 1996, when the Austin Ice Bats began playing at the Travis County Expo Center. Since then, they have been joined by many other teams.

Professional Sports Teams

Club Sport Founded League Venue Austin Ice Bats Hockey 1996 Central Hockey League Chaparral Ice Round Rock Express Baseball 1999 Pacific Coast League Dell Diamond Austin Wranglers Arena Football 2004 Arena Football League Frank Erwin Center Austin Toros Basketball 2005 NBA D-League Austin Convention Center

Austin's Deep Eddy Pool is the oldest man-made pool in Texas

In addition to team sports, the combined draws of the bicycle-friendly Texas Hill Country that begins in Northwest Austin, the centrally-located Town Lake Hike and Bike Trail, and local pools like Barton Springs make Austin the home of several endurance and multi-sport races and communities. The venerable Capitol 10,000 is the largest 10 K race in Texas, and approximately fifth largest in the nation. The Austin Marathon has been run in the city every year since 1992. The Austin-founded American Swimming Association hosts the open water swimming event, the Academy Capital 2K, and other closed-course, open water, and cable swim races around town. Austin is also the hometown of several cycling groups and the champion cyclist Lance Armstrong. Combining these three disciplines is a growing crop of triathlons, including the Capital of Texas Triathlon held every Memorial Day on and around Town Lake, Auditorium Shores, and downtown Austin, even crossing 6th Street on several legs of the race.

Tourist attractions

Other attractions in Austin include the Blanton Museum of Art, opened in 2006, and the Bob Bullock Texas State History Museum across the street, opened in 2000. The Texas State Capitol itself is also a major tourist attraction. The Driskill Hotel built in 1886, located at 6th and Brazos, was finished just before the construction the Capitol building. Sixth Street is a musical hub for the city but also includes annual festivals such as the Pecan Street Festival and Halloween night.

The Congress Avenue Bridge houses the world's largest urban population of Mexican Free-tailed Bats. Starting in late February, up to 1.5 million bats take up residence inside the bridge's expansion and contraction zones, an environment ideally suited for raising their young. Every evening around sunset, the bats emerge in search of insects, an exit visible on weather radar. Watching the bat emergence is an event that is popular with locals and tourists, with more than 100,000 viewers per year. The bats migrate to Mexico each winter.

Yet, most of the tourists that visit Austin come for its vibrant nightlife scene downtown.

Architectural landmarks

A moonlight tower.

Buildings that comprise Austin's skyline are modest in height and somewhat spread out. The latter characteristic is due to a restriction that preserves the view of the Texas Capitol building from various locations around Austin. Austin's current tallest building, the Frost Bank Tower, opened in 2004 and stands at 515 feet and is located at the corner of Congress Avenue and 4th Street. Austin is currently undergoing a skyscraper boom, which includes the 360 Condominiums at 563 feet, The Austonian at 683 feet, and the 5th and Congress Tower at 705 feet tall. Each of these skyscrapers will be completed around 2007 to 2008.

The iconic Pennybacker Bridge, also known as the "360 Bridge," crosses Lake Austin to connect north and south Loop 360.

At night, parts of Austin are lit with "artificial moonlight." Several 165-foot moonlight towers, built in the late 19th century and recognized as historic landmarks, illuminate the central part of the city. The towers were prominently featured in the film Dazed and Confused. The "Zilker Tree" is a Christmas "tree" made of large lights strung from the top of the Moonlight Tower that stands in Zilker Park. The Zilker Tree is lit in early December along with the "Trail of Lights," an Austin Christmas tradition.

Austin hosts a growing collection of modern architecture. Austin's contemporary architecture has recently gained national and international attention from publications such as Architectural Record and The Architectural Review. Austin firms such as AlterStudio, Bercy Chen Studio, MJ Neal, and Miro Rivera have been have recently won awards for their progressive design work in Austin.

Transportation

Interchange of Interstate 35 and State Highway 45.

Central Austin is bracketed by Interstate 35 to the east and the Mopac Expressway to the west. U.S. Highway 183 runs from northwest to southeast, and State Highway 71 crosses southern part of the city from east to west, completing a rough "box" around the central and north-central city. Austin is the largest major city to be served by only one Interstate Highway.

U.S. Highway 290 enters Austin from the east and dead-ends into I-35. Its highway designation continues south on I-35 and then becomes part of Highway 71, continuing on to the west. Highway 290 becomes its own road again southwest of the city, when it splits from highway 71 in a busy interchange in Oak Hill known as "The Y." Highway 71 continues as far west as Brady, TX, and Highway 290 continues west to intersect Interstate 10 near Junction. Interstate 35 continues south through San Antonio, TX, and continues to its culmination at Laredo, TX, which is on the Texas-Mexico border. Interstate 35 is the highway link to the Dallas-Ft. Worth metroplex in the northern Texas. There are two links to Houston, TX (Highway 290 and State Highway 71/Interstate 10).

In the mid-1980s, Austin completed construction on State Highway Loop 360, a scenic highway that curves through the hill country from near the 71/Mopac interchange in the south to near the 183/Mopac interchange in the north.

In November 2006, Austin opened the first segments of its first-ever tollway system: State Highway 130 runs from Georgetown, Hutto, Round Rock, Pflugerville, where it connects with 45, and terminates at US 290, just between the city limits of Austin and Manor. The remaining segments will loop outside Austin to the east and will connected up with Interstate 10 south of Creedmor.

State Highway 45 runs east-west from just west of 183 in Cedar Park to 130 inside Pflugerville (just south of Round Rock). From there it becomes 45 North/South and is cosigned with 130, ending currently where 130 ends.

A toll extension to Mopac that allows direct access to I-35 (via 45) was also constructed as part of the project.

The 183A Toll Road opened as of March 2007, providing a tolled alternative to 183 through the congested cities of Leander and Cedar Park.

Remaining segments of 45 and 130 are scheduled for completion in 2007. A separate segment of 45 still under development (Texas 45 SE) will eventually connect U.S. 183/Texas 130 to I-35, in south Austin.

Austin's airport is Austin-Bergstrom International Airport (IATA code AUS), located 5 miles (8 km) southeast of the city.

A Capital Metro bus designated as a shuttle bus for University of Texas at Austin students and staff.

Capital Metropolitan Transportation Authority (Capital Metro) provides public transportation to the city, primarily by bus. Capital Metro is building a commuter rail system that is scheduled for completion in 2008. The system will be built on existing freight rail lines and will serve downtown Austin, East Austin, Northwest Austin, and Leander in its first phase. An Amtrak Texas Eagle station is located west of downtown. Segments of the Amtrak route between Austin and San Antonio are under evaluation for a future passenger rail corridor as an alternative to the traffic congestion of Interstate 35.

Education

The University of Texas at Austin.

Austin is home to The University of Texas at Austin, one of the largest universities in the country. It is also the flagship institution of The University of Texas System — the largest state system of higher education in Texas. Other institutions of higher learning include Austin Community College, Concordia University, Huston-Tillotson University, St. Edward's University, the Episcopal Theological Seminary of the Southwest, the Acton School of Business, Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary, and a branch of LeTourneau University.

Most of the city is covered by the Austin Independent School District. Parts of Austin are served by other districts, including Round Rock Independent School District, Pflugerville Independent School District, Leander Independent School District, Manor Independent School District, Del Valle Independent School District, and Eanes Independent School District.

Researchers at Central Connecticut State University ranked Austin the 16th most literate city in America for 2005.[15]

See also

Notes

  1. ^ a b c "Live Music Capital of the World". City of Austin. Retrieved 2007-06-12.
  2. ^ a b "Population Estimates for the 25 Largest U.S. Cities based on July 1, 2006 Population Estimates" (PDF). US Census Bureau. Retrieved 2007-6-28. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help)
  3. ^ http://money.cnn.com/magazines/moneymag/bplive/2006/top100/bigcities.html Money.cnn.com
  4. ^ http://cityguides.msn.com/citylife/greenarticle.aspx?cp-documentid=4848625 "The 10 Greenest Cities in America " (MSN City Guide)
  5. ^ a b c d e "Austin Weather & Climate". About.com. Retrieved 2007-03-19.
  6. ^ a b "Austin Climate Summary". NOAA. Retrieved 2006-07-13.
  7. ^ "VERY HOT EARLY SEPTEMBER 2000 WEATHER". National Weather Service. Retrieved 2007-03-19.
  8. ^ a b "Monthly Averages". Weather.com. Retrieved 2006-07-13.
  9. ^ "NowData – NOAA Online Weather Data". National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Retrieved 2021-05-31.
  10. ^ "Station Name: TX Austin-Camp Mabry". U.S. Climate Normals 2020: U.S. Monthly Climate Normals (1991–2020). National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration. Retrieved 2021-05-31.
  11. ^ "WMO Climate Normals for Austin/Municipal AP TX 1961–1990". National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Retrieved 2020-07-25.
  12. ^ "Austin, Texas, USA - Monthly weather forecast and Climate data". Weather Atlas. Retrieved 14 June 2019.
  13. ^ "Mayors Against Illegal Guns: Coalition Members".
  14. ^ http://www.ci.austin.tx.us/siscity/ Austin Sister Cities - general information
  15. ^ Central Connecticut State University study, accessed August 1, 2006

External links

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