Austin (Texas)

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Austin
Nickname : ATX, Live Music Capital of the World
Downtown Austin, Texas
Downtown Austin, Texas
Austin flag
flag
Location in Texas
Austin (Texas)
Austin
Austin
Basic data
Foundation : 1835
State : United States
State : Texas
Counties : Travis County
Williamson County
Coordinates : 30 ° 16 ′  N , 97 ° 46 ′  W Coordinates: 30 ° 16 ′  N , 97 ° 46 ′  W
Time zone : Central ( UTC − 6 / −5 )
Inhabitants :
-  Metropolitan Area :		 947,890 (as of 2016)
2,056,405
Population density : 1,455.2 inhabitants per km 2
Area : 767.28 km 2  (about 296 mi 2 ) of
which 651.4 km 2  (about 252 mi 2 ) are land
Height : 149 m
Postcodes : 78701-78705, 78708-78728, 78730-78739, 78741-78742, 78744-78769
Area code : +1 512, 737
FIPS : 48-05000
GNIS ID : 1384879
Website : www.austintexas.gov
Mayor : Steve Adler ( D )
TexasStateCapitol-2010-03.JPG
Texas State Capitol
Lake Austin

Austin [ ˈɔːstɪn ] is the capital and fourth largest city of the US state Texas . It is on the Colorado River . The slogan "Keep Austin Weird", which is present everywhere, is a particularly appropriate motto for the city's student atmosphere. Austin is also known as the American capital of live music: no other city in the USA has a comparable density of music clubs and concerts.

growth of population
Census Residents ± in%
1850 629 -
1860 3494 455.5%
1870 4428 26.7%
1880 11.013 148.7%
1890 14,575 32.3%
1900 22,258 52.7%
1910 29,860 34.2%
1920 34,876 16.8%
1930 53,120 52.3%
1940 87,930 65.5%
1950 132,459 50.6%
1960 186,545 40.8%
1970 251,808 35%
1980 345,496 37.2%
1990 472.020 36.6%
2000 656,562 39.1%
2010 790.390 20.4%
2014 estimate 865.504 9.5%
1850-2000 2010-2012

history

In 1835 the city was founded under the name Waterloo ([ ˈwɔːtəɹˌluː ]), but in 1838 it was renamed in honor of Stephen F. Austin , the founder of the then independent Republic of Texas . Austin has been the capital of Texas since 1839 . The Texas State Capitol was built from 1882 to 1888 and was considered the seventh largest building in the world at the time. It's six meters taller than the Washington, DC Capitol

Governor's Mansion (2014)

The National Park Service has two National Historic Landmarks for Austin (as of December 2016), the Texas State Capitol and the Governor's Mansion . 187 buildings and sites in the city are listed on the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) (as of November 12, 2018).

Demographics

According to the 2010 census, the population was 48.7 percent white and 8.1 percent African-American; 6.3 percent were of Asian origin. 35.1 percent of the population were Hispanics . The median income per household in 2015 was 57,689 US dollars . 18.0 percent of the population lived below the poverty line.

Economy and Infrastructure

Major employers in the city are Dell , Facebook , Google , AMD , Freescale Semiconductor (a Motorola spin-off ), IBM , Wincor Nixdorf , Apple , National Instruments , Hewlett-Packard , Samsung and eBay .

Because of this accumulation, Austin is called Silicon Hills , referring to Silicon Valley and alluding to the hilly landscape . There are also many video game developers in the vicinity such as Electronic Arts and Blizzard Entertainment .

The largest airport in Austin is Austin-Bergstrom International Airport , which opened in 1999 and is located about eight kilometers southeast of the city center.

Austin is considered a very young and dynamic city that has one of the highest growth rates in the USA. The Austin metropolitan area achieved a gross domestic product of 135.0 billion US dollars in 2016, making it 27th among the metropolitan areas of the United States. The unemployment rate in the metropolitan region was 2.8 percent and was thus far below the national average of 3.8 percent (as of March 2018).

Science and Research

The University of Texas is best known . With around 50,000 students on campus, it is one of the largest universities in the United States and one of the best public universities in the country. A number of smaller private universities are also located in Austin, including Concordia University and Saint Edward’s , both Christian colleges.

media

The daily newspaper for Austin is the Austin-American Statesman . The student newspaper The Daily Texan is also published on the University of Texas campus . The local events magazine is the weekly Austin Chronicle . Public projects are also critically examined here.

Austin is also home to right-wing radio host and conspiracy theorist Alex Jones , who broadcasts his radio program The Alex Jones Show from here .

leisure

Popular summer activities include visiting Barton Springs , an outdoor swimming pool that is fed by a natural spring. In the city center, Sixth Street (6th Street) is one of the main attractions for younger people due to its numerous (music) bars. The Fourth Street (4th Street) rather provides entertainment for the somewhat older. The places mentioned are so close together that everything is within walking distance - a specialty for an American city.

The biggest attraction in Austin is a natural spectacle that takes place almost every evening in the summer months at the Congress Bridge: around 1.5 million bats suddenly start to hunt insects from inside the bridge at sunset and darken the sky. The colony is the largest urban bat population in the world, and thousands of spectators enjoy the sight.

Several lakes in the vicinity offer bathing opportunities and opportunities for water sports. Right in the city this is Lady Bird Lake, elongated right in the city center. The Lake Austin is significantly larger. Oyster Landing is near the dam on Lake Austin Blvd. There are various eateries and cafes here.

The countless music bars open in the evening. Traditionally, blues rock and country are offered by the many local and more or less well-known stars. For many years the "Armadillo" was an important visitor location for music events in the USA . There is now a parking lot on the site. The self-proclaimed “ Live Music Capital of the World ” claims that there are more live bands to be seen there than, for example, in Nashville , Memphis , Los Angeles , Las Vegas or New York . As a result, one of the most important annual events in Austin is the South by Southwest ( SXSW ) festival in March.

The Alamo Drafthouse Cinemas , which are spread over several locations, are extremely popular with moviegoers. They mainly show more sophisticated films and often offer special themed evenings. Quentin Tarantino and Richard Linklater are regulars, probably due to the special atmosphere, and hold a film festival here every two years.

The Austin Music Hall , where numerous greats in the music business performed, has since been demolished.

  • Bats leave the Congress Bridge

  • Sixth Street SXSW Festival

Surroundings

Contrary to popular belief, Texas is not dry everywhere. The eastern part is actually quite green and humid, and the Austin area is characterized by many rivers and lakes and a green landscape for most of the year. In your free time you can swim, water sports, canoeing or tubing (drifting down a river on inflated car tires). Since the summer is long and the temperatures are high, this can be done most of the year.

The landscape east of Austin is relatively flat, while the western hinterland is aptly called Hill Country. The 100 meter high hills of this area, mostly overgrown with low trees, are only very sparsely populated and are considered one of the most beautiful areas in Texas. In the heart of the Hill Country, around 160 km west of Austin, is Enchanted Rock , a 150-meter-high, semi-circular granite rock protruding from the landscape - a popular destination.

There are many places in the area whose names indicate German founding, e.g. B. New Braunfels , Luckenbach , Gruene or Fredericksburg . If you stop in the smaller towns in the area, you often find out that the ancestors of the inhabitants actually came from Germany. The German immigrants played a decisive role in shaping the surrounding area and so you can still find numerous references to German culture today.


Average monthly temperatures and rainfall for Austin
Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec
Max. Temperature ( ° C ) 14.9 17.4 22.2 26.3 29.3 32.8 35.0 35.3 32.5 27.8 22.1 16.7 O 26.1
Min. Temperature (° C) 3.7 5.6 10.6 15.4 19.2 21.9 23.3 23.3 21.0 15.6 9.9 5.1 O 14.6
Precipitation ( mm ) 43.4 55.1 47.5 65.0 121.4 94.5 51.8 52.1 83.8 87.1 60.2 47.8 Σ 809.7
Hours of sunshine ( h / d ) 4.8 5.3 6.1 6.9 7.9 10.5 11.8 10.9 8.1 6.9 5.8 5.1 O 7.5
Rainy days ( d ) 5.2 5.1 5.5 4.9 7.3 5.8 4.0 3.8 5.9 5.7 5.1 5.0 Σ 63.3
T
e
m
p
e
r
a
t
u
r
14.9
3.7
17.4
5.6
22.2
10.6
26.3
15.4
29.3
19.2
32.8
21.9
35.0
23.3
35.3
23.3
32.5
21.0
27.8
15.6
22.1
9.9
16.7
5.1
Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec
N
i
e
d
e
r
s
c
h
l
a
g 		43.4
55.1
47.5
65.0
121.4
94.5
51.8
52.1
83.8
87.1
60.2
47.8
  Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec
Source: WMO

Sports

Austin is the most populous city in the US without its own professional team in the major US sports leagues ( NFL , MLB , NBA , NHL and MLS ). For the season 2021 is football - Franchise FC Austin record gaming operations in the MLS. College sport is very popular for this. Mention should be made here of the Texas Longhorns, who play their games at Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium and belong to the University of Texas .

In May 2010, Formula 1 managing director Bernie Ecclestone announced that he had signed a contract with the city of Austin for a Formula 1 race starting in 2012. The race track is the first pure Formula 1 track in the history of US motorsport . The Circuit of The Americas near Austin has been used since 2012 . In addition, the organizer of the motorcycle world championship was able to conclude a ten-year contract with the track operator, so that races for the motorcycle world championship will also take place in Austin from 2013 .

  • Formula 1 track Circuit of The Americas

  • Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium

Twin cities

Austin has partnered with the following cities:

Friendship cities are Austin

sons and daughters of the town

See also

literature

  • Eliot M. Tretter: Shadows of a Sunbelt City: The Environment, Racism, and the Knowledge Economy in Austin. University of Georgia Press, Athens 2015, ISBN 978-0-8203-4488-1 .

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Texas Almanac (PDF; 1.2 MB). Retrieved October 4, 2012
  2. ↑ US Census data for 2012 . Retrieved August 24, 2013
  3. ↑ List of NHL by State . National Park Service , accessed November 12, 2018.
  4. ↑ Search mask database in the National Register Information System. National Park Service , accessed November 12, 2018.
  5. ^ US Department of Commerce, BEA, Bureau of Economic Analysis: Bureau of Economic Analysis. Retrieved July 4, 2018 (American English).
  6. ^ Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos, TX Economy at a Glance. Retrieved July 5, 2018 .
  7. ↑ "Official: US Grand Prix from 2012 in Texas!" Motorsport-Total.com on May 25, 2010
  8. ↑ Motorcycle World Cup will stop in Texas from 2013 ( memento April 15, 2011 in the Internet Archive ), Financial Times Germany
  9. ↑ site Austin: Sisterand Friendship Cities Program , accessed on November 19, 2016

Web links

Commons : Austin  - album with pictures, videos and audio files