Austin, Texas

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Austin
Flag Seal
Nickname: "Live Music Capital of the World"
Location in the state of Texas
Coordinates: 30°16′N 97°45′W
Country	United States
State	Texas
Counties	Travis County, Williamson County
Government
- Mayor	Will Wynn
Area
- City	296.25 sq mi (767.28 km²)
- Metro	4,285.7 sq mi (11,099.9 km²)
Population (2006)
- City	718,912
- Density	2,426.7/sq mi (936.96/km²)
- Metro	1,513,565
Time zone	CST (UTC-6)
- Summer (DST)	CDT (UTC-5)
Website: www.ci.austin.tx.us

Austin is the capital of the U.S. state of Texas and the county seat of Travis County. Situated in the region of Central Texas, it is the fourth-largest city in Texas (behind Houston, San Antonio, and Dallas) and the 16th-largest in the United States. According to the demographer for the City of Austin, the 2006 population estimate stood at 718,912. The city is the cultural and economic center of the Austin–Round Rock metropolitan statistical area with a 2006 population of over 1.5 million (the 4th largest in Texas). In 2006, Austin was selected as the #2 Best Big City in "Best Places to Live" according to Money magazine.[1]

The first documented settlement of current-day Austin occurred in 1835, and the site was named Waterloo in 1837. In 1839, Mirabeau B. Lamar renamed the city in honor of Stephen F. Austin. Its original name is honored by local businesses such as Waterloo Ice House and Waterloo Records. Austin is situated on the Colorado River and on the Balcones Fault, which in much of Austin runs roughly the same route as the MoPac expressway.

Residents of Austin are known as "Austinites" and include a mix of university professors, students, politicians, lobbyists, musicians, state employees, high-tech workers, and blue collar workers. The city is home to enough large sites of major technology corporations to have earned 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. In recent years, several 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.

Contents 1 History 2 Geography 2.1 Climate 3 Government and politics 3.1 Law and government 3.2 Politics 3.3 Sister Cities 4 Economy 5 Demographics 6 Culture 6.1 Media 6.2 Sports 6.3 Tourist Attractions 7 Architectural landmarks 8 Transportation 9 Education 10 See also 11 Notes 12 External links 12.1 Media and entertainment 12.2 Nature and environment 12.3 Resources

[edit] 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. The first permanent settlement of the area occurred in 1835, with the founding of the village of Waterloo in 1837, and the renaming of the town to "Austin" in 1839. In the late 19th century, the establishment of several universities in the city (most notably the University of Texas) made Austin a center of education.

[edit] Geography

Austin is located at 30°16′N 97°45′W (30.266667, -97.75)^GR1 and is approximately 165m (541 ft) above sea level. According to the 2000 census, the city has a total area of 669.3 km² (258.4 mi²). 651.4 km² (251.5 mi²) of it is land and 17.9 km² (6.9 mi²) of it (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 all 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 MoPac 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, the city is subjected to frequent flash floods from the excessive 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.

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

[edit] Climate

Austin has a humid subtropical climate, characterized by hot summers and mild winters.^[1] 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.^[2] 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 degrees Celsius) from June until September. Temperatures above 100°F (38°C) are not uncommon. The highest recorded temperature was 112°F on September 5, 2000.^[1][3][4] For the entire year there is an average of 111 days above 90°F (32°C) and 198 days above 80°F (27°C).^[1]

Winter in Austin is mild and dry relative to the rest of the year. For the entire year, Austin averages 88 days where the temperature drops below 45°F (7°C) and only 24 days where the minimum temperature falls below freezing. The lowest recorded temperature was -2°F on January 31, 1949.^[1] Snowfall is rare in Austin, but once every year or two Austin is typically hit with an ice storm, freezing over roads and shutting down much of the city for typically a day.^[1]

Month	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec	Year
Avg high °F (°C)	60 (16)	65 (18)	73 (23)	79 (26)	85 (29)	91 (33)	95 (35)	96 (36)	90 (32)	81 (27)	70 (21)	62 (17)	79 (26)
Rec high °F (°C) (year)	90 (32) (1971)	99 (37) (1996)	98 (37) (1971)	99 (37) (1939)	104 (40) (1925)	108 (42) (1998)	108 (42) (1925)	110 (43) (2003)	112 (44) (2000)	100 (38) (1938)	91 (33) (1947)	90 (32) (1955)	112 (44) (2000)
Avg low °F (°C)	40 (4)	44 (7)	51 (11)	58 (14)	65 (18)	71 (22)	73 (23)	73 (23)	69 (21)	60 (16)	49 (10)	42 (6)	58 (14)
Rec low °F (°C) (year)	-2 (-19) (1949)	-1 (-18) (1899)	18 (-8) (1948)	30 (-1) (1926)	40 (4) (1925)	51 (11) (1926)	57 (14) (1924)	58 (14) (1915)	41 (5) (1942)	30 (-1) (1993)	20 (-7) (1976)	4 (-16) (1989)	-2 (-19) (1949)
Rainfall in (mm)	1.89 (48)	1.99 (51)	2.14 (54)	2.51 (64)	5.03 (128)	3.81 (97)	1.97 (50)	2.31 (59)	2.91 (74)	3.97 (101)	2.68 (68)	2.44 (62)	33.6 (853)

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.^[2][4]

[edit] Government and politics

[edit] Law and government

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.

Austin is located in Travis County, Texas.

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

[edit] Politics

The main political actors within 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 political controversy that dominated 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 main hot-button 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 large green spaces in the city that are enjoyed by many Austinites. 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 being overly partisan gerrymandering, and the plan was challenged on this basis in court 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.[2]

Overall, the city is almost solidly Democratic; 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 will be held by Democrats when Valinda Bolton assumes control of District 47 this January. However, two of its three congressional districts are presently held by Republicans; this is largely due to the 2003 redistricting, which left Austin with no 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).

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.

[edit] Sister Cities

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

• Adelaide, Australia - since 1983
• Koblenz, Germany- since 1991
• Lima, Peru- since 1981
• Maseru, Lesotho- since 1978
• Oita, Japan - since 1990
• Saltillo, Mexico- since 1968
• Taichung, Taiwan- since 1986
• Edmonton, Canada
• Old Orlu, Nigeria- since 2000
• Kwangmyong, South Korea
• Antalya, Turkey

[edit] Economy

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, Intel, Motive Inc, Cirrus Logic, Samsung, National Instruments, Silicon Laboratories, United Devices, Sun Microsystems, Hoover's, Inc., and Motion Computing. 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.

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.

[edit] Demographics

City of Austin Population by decade
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 census^GR2 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, 30.55% Hispanic, 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.

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, comparable to the San Jose (Silicon Valley) and Dublin (Ireland) metropolitan areas. 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, Montreal, and Melbourne (Australia) metropolitan areas.

[edit] Culture

Austin's official slogan is The Live Music Capital of the World. Austin has a vibrant live music scene boasting 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. Other annual events include Eeyore's Birthday Party and the 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 with enthusiasm, as many Austinites seem to be eager for any excuse for a public party.

Austinites take great pride in being eccentric 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 a conservative suburb, "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, and Michael Dell. Other well-known Austinites can be found in the List of Austinites.

[edit] Media

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 and most recently A Scanner Darkly. 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 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.

Austin also hosts the annual Austin City Limits Music Festival, which attracts musical artists from around the world. The 2006 festival included Tom Petty, Willie Nelson, The Flaming Lips and Van Morrison.

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.

[edit] Sports

Austin is, as of 2006, the largest U.S. city by population not to have a team in one of the four major professional sports leagues (NHL, NBA, NFL, MLB).^{[citation needed]} This is mostly due to the city's smaller metropolitan population in comparison to most other professional sports cities. Austin sports fans enthusiastically support University of Texas Longhorns sports programs. The University of Texas football and baseball teams each won their respective 2005 national championships.

Among the semi-professional sports teams in Austin are the Austin Ice Bats of the Central Hockey League, the Austin Wranglers of the Arena Football League, and the Austin Toros of the NBDL. Another basketball team, the Texas Capital Sounds of the UBL plans to begin play in 2008. The Round Rock Express (affiliated with the Houston Astros) is located in the suburb of Round Rock, Texas and play Triple-A baseball in the Pacific Coast League. Although technically an amateur team, The Austin Lightning are part of the PDL division of United Soccer Leagues, a semi-professional soccer league.

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.

[edit] 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. Sixth Street is a musical hub for the city but also includes annual festivals such as the Pecan Street Festival and Halloween night. Tourists frequently gather on the Congress Avenue bridge at sunset during the summer months to witness Austin's Mexican free-tailed bat population emerge from under the bridge for the night.

[edit] Architectural landmarks

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 going under a skyscraper boom, which includes the 360 Condominiums at 563 feet, The Austonian at 700 feet, and the 5th and Congress Tower at 705 feet tall.

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.

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.

[edit] Transportation

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 tolled extension to Mopac that allows direct access to I-35 (via 45) was also constructed as part of the project.
U.S. Highway 183A 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.

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 being evaluated for a future passenger rail corridor as an alternative to the traffic congestion of Interstate 35.

[edit] Education

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 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.^[5]

[edit] See also

• List of Austinites
• Music of Austin
• List of radio stations in Austin
• List of mayors of Austin, Texas

[edit] Notes

[edit] External links

• City of Austin

[edit] Media and entertainment

• Austin American-Statesman
• Austin Business Journal
• Austin Chronicle (alt-weekly)
• Austin Museum of Art
• Austin Museum of Digital Art
• Austin Music
• Austin Independent Media Center
• Austinist (blog)
• [http://www.agliff.org/ Austin Gay/Lesbian Film Festival
• Burnt Orange Report (blog)
• The Daily Texan (UT's student newspaper)
• 107.1 KGSR (focused on Austin's unique musical mix)
• KLRU (PBS member TV station)
• KMFA Classical 89.5FM (listener-supported, non-commercial, all-classical radio)
• KOOP 91.7FM Community Radio for Austin
• KUT 90.5FM (Eclectic music and NPR News)
• KVR News 9 (UT's broadcast news show)
• KVRX 91.7FM (UT's student radio)
• News 8 Austin (24-hour local cable news channel)
• The Texas Travesty (UT's student humor magazine; monthly during the fall and spring semesters)
• Texas Family Magazine
• Texas Monthly
• That Other Paper (online alt-weekly)
• Old Settler's Music Festival

[edit] Nature and environment

• Hornsby Bend Bird Observatory
• Bat Conservation International page on the Congress Avenue Bats
• Austin chapter of the Native Plant Society of Texas
• Maps and aerial photos Coordinates: 30.266667° -97.75°
  • Street map from Google Maps, or Yahoo! Maps, or Windows Live Local
  • Satellite image from Google Maps, Windows Live Local, WikiMapia
  • Topographic map from TopoZone
  • Aerial image or topographic map from TerraServer-USA
• The Austin Map Project
• Current Austin weather

[edit] Resources

• University of Texas at Austin
• Austin Public Library
• Travis County Law Library
• Austin TX at About.com - Living in, Moving to, Visiting the City of Austin. Retrieved 16 May 2006
• Austin Independent Business Alliance- Network of locally-owned, independent businesses in Austin.
• Austin History Center. Retrieved 16 May 2006
• Historic photographs from the Austin History Center, hosted by the Portal to Texas History
• AustinPostcards.com - Postcards, photographs and ephemera of historic significance to Austin. Retrieved 16 May 2006
• Memoirs of old Austin - From MemoryWiki. Retrieved 16 May 2006
• Austin Convention & Visitors Bureau. Retrieved 16 May 2006
• Austin Area Parks. Retrieved 16 May 2006
• Austin City Data – Demographic and geographic info, crime data, housing, businesses and other research material.
• Capital Metro - Public transportation in Austin. Retrieved 16 May 2006
• Greater Austin Chamber of Commerce. Retrieved 16 May 2006
• KLRU: Brief History of Austin. Retrieved 16 May 2006
• Austin House Statistics. Retrieved 16 May 2006
• Austin - Best Place to Live - How Austin Ranks Among US Cities. Retrieved 16 May 2006
• Urban Austin - Information about architecture and urban design in Austin
• Austin Skyscraper Forum - Discusssion forum about skyscrapers, transportation and urban development in Austin
• [3] - Keeping Austin Dog Friendly
• Emporis database of Austin skyscrapers - Skyscraper database of facts and information about Austin's skyscrapers
• Austin from the Handbook of Texas Online
• Population Estimates for Metropolitan, Micropolitan, and Combined Statistical Areas

v • d • e United States state capitals

Alabama · Alaska · Arizona · Arkansas · California · Colorado · Connecticut · Delaware · Florida · Georgia · Hawaii · Idaho · Illinois · Indiana · Iowa · Kansas · Kentucky · Louisiana · Maine · Maryland · Massachusetts · Michigan · Minnesota · Mississippi · Missouri · Montana · Nebraska · Nevada · New Hampshire · New Jersey · New Mexico · New York · North Carolina · North Dakota · Ohio · Oklahoma · Oregon · Pennsylvania · Rhode Island · South Carolina · South Dakota · Tennessee · Texas · Utah · Vermont · Virginia · Washington · West Virginia · Wisconsin · Wyoming

v • d • e 50 largest cities of the United States by population

New York · Los Angeles · Chicago · Houston · Philadelphia · Phoenix · San Antonio · San Diego · Dallas · San Jose · Detroit · Indianapolis · Jacksonville · San Francisco · Columbus · Austin · Memphis · Baltimore · Fort Worth · Charlotte · El Paso · Milwaukee · Seattle · Boston · Denver · Washington · Louisville · Nashville · Las Vegas · Portland · Oklahoma City · Tucson · Albuquerque · Long Beach · Atlanta · Fresno · Sacramento · New Orleans · Cleveland · Kansas City · Mesa · Virginia Beach · Omaha · Oakland · Tulsa · Miami · Honolulu · Minneapolis · Colorado Springs · Arlington