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Featured Location

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Austin

"It's Not Texas"

Texas' capital is a city of contradictions. Austin's culture is down home, yet sophisticated. Laid back, but bustling with energy. Traditional and avant garde at the same time.

During the past decade, Austin also has merited its share of superlatives as the second fastest growing city in the United States and the third best place to live in the country.

"It's not Texas, it's Austin" is both a motto and a mantra among the citizenry, a way of distinguishing the city geographically and culturally from Dallas and Houston.

Business Is Booming

For a long time, about all Austin had going for it economically was the University of Texas and state government, since it's the capital. That is not an issue today.

Austin's economy has taken off like its most famous homegrown success story, Dell Computer, whose stock has increased a Texas-sized 82-fold since 1994. Now the region's largest private employer--adding a staggering 100 to 200 jobs each week--Dell has irreversibly altered the Austin scene from sleepy college town to booming technology hub.

Concurrently, the number of software firms in Austin has ballooned from 177 in 1989 to more than 600 in 1998.

Clearly, technical opportunities abound in Austin. But, other thriving and emerging industries have also created a growing demand for college graduates in many disciplines, from biosciences and film to telecommunications and transaction services.

Get Smart(er)

Austin offers many opportunities for you to get ahead in your chosen field, or in a brand new one.

You can enhance or develop new skills through continuing education and training programs offered by the University of Texas, Concordia University, St. Edward's University, Southwest Texas State University, and Austin Community College.

Pursuing certification in your field or an advanced degree offers a side benefit. It can help you fit effortlessly into Austin's well-educated work force.

Living in the City

If you plan to relocate to Austin, you'll want to know how far your paycheck will stretch once you're here.

You need only compare Austin to cities like Portland, Raleigh/Durham, Phoenix, Boston and Richmond, which also are developing high-tech industries. In Austin, you'll find yourself almost always paying less for transportation, utilities, healthcare, and other goods and services. Austin also trumps the others with comparatively lower prices for food and housing.

In fact, compared to many major cities across the country, Austin's cost of living index (98.4) is surprisingly low. A high quality of life coupled with a reasonable cost of living equals an enticing new location in which to live, work, and unwind.

Fun in (and Out of ) the Sun

With the sun shining down 300 days a year on its rolling hills and chain of lakes, Austin and the surrounding Texas Hill country offer innumerable recreational opportunities: hike-and-bike trails, swimming holes, acres of parks, and a whopping 26 area golf courses.,/p>

Austinites also have plenty to choose from among spectator sports.

The University of Texas and the Big 12 Conference offer collegiate sports with nationally ranked programs in football, basketball, baseball, swimming, track and field, volleyball and more.

Then there's the city's home teams, including the Austin Ice Bats, a WPHL professional hockey team; the Round Rock Express, the Houston Astros' Double A affiliate named; and the Lone Stars, Austin's semi-pro soccer team.

For diehards, of course, it's not that long a road trip to catch the Houston Astros, San Antonio Spurs, or Texas Rangers in action.

The View From Here

Where else would restaurant patrons and staff pay homage to the setting sun with the clanging of a bell and a standing ovation? Or turn out by the thousands on shore and aboard riverboats to watch a million Mexican free-tail bats take flight at dusk? Only in Austin at "The Oasis," an internationally famous eatery west of town, and at the Congress Avenue Bridge over the Colorado River where the largest urban bat colony soars in pursuit of mosquitoes.

Austin is blessed with outstanding vantage points from which to watch Mother Nature at her best or to take in the city skyline and prominent landmarks. On Loop 360, one can enjoy a breathtaking view of the city from an overlook near Wild Basin or climb to the pinnacle of Mount Bonnell that rises above the winding Colorado River. Austin's love affair with nature manifests itself in numerous ways from the city's beloved Barton Springs, a popular swimming hole for generations, to Lady Bird Johnson's internationally renowned, nonprofit National Wildflower Research Center.

Landmarks, Festivals, and Food Reflect Cultural Diversity

Historic structures, cultural festivals, and ethnic foods serve as vivid reminders of Austin's multicultural makeup. Predominant influences upon the local culture are Hispanic, African-American, Asian, German, and French ethnicities.

Visitors can get a good feel for the city's heritage with a visit to cultural landmarks such as the Amado Peña Art Gallery, the George Washington Carver Museum, French Legation Museum, and the Lorenzo de Zavala State Archives and Library.

A number of Austin festivals also have links to the city's ethnic heritage and international holidays. Among these annual events are Carnaval Brasileiro, the Cinco de Mayo Festival, the Juneteenth Freedom Festival, and Bastille Day. Dozens of other unique festivals and events are held throughout the year, including a tribute to the famous 19th century short-story writer and Austin native, William Sydney Porter, otherwise known as O. Henry.

The Hispanic culture has made a major mark on Austin cuisine as reflected by the immense popularity of Tex-Mex restaurants. The city is also known for specialties like pit barbecue (ribs, brisket, German sausage, and pork), chicken-fried steak, and increasingly popular vegetarian dishes. In recent years, microbreweries and award-winning wineries have popped up in and around the city, merely adding to an already long list of places to go and things to see in Austin.

Arts and Entertainment

Austin's claim to more artists per capita than any other Texas city speaks volumes about the city's thriving arts scene. That more than $100 million in arts projects are currently on the drawing board says even more.

In the year 2000, the long-awaited Austin Museum of Art (AMOA) will open in downtown Austin. Future city projects include a Mexican-American Cultural Center, a $1 million expansion of the George Washington Carver Museum, the state's first neighborhood Black history and cultural museum, and renovation of the Mexic-Arte Museum.

A stroll or drive through this river city reveals more than 100 compelling sculptures that inform the cityscape, including Texas-themed and exquisite neoclassical works. Austin is also home to two outstanding sculpture museums: the Elisabeth Ney Museum and the Umlauf Sculpture Garden & Museum Sculpture.

For art enthusiasts, the Archer M. Huntington Gallery at The University of Texas has much to recommend it. The gallery is one of the nation's top 10 university art museums with more than 10,000 permanent artworks by major figures such as Rembrandt and Degas. It also houses the prestigious James A. Michener Collection of 20th century American painters and an impressive collection of contemporary Latin American art.

Although the Huntington Gallery is considered Austin's flagship of fine arts museums, the city boasts more than 30 other outstanding galleries and museums.

A lively performing arts scene keeps Austinites and visitors alike entertained with hundreds of performances by local talent and regional, national and international singers, dancers, musicians and thespians. In fact, Austin is one of only 14 U.S. cities that boasts its own ballet, symphony, and opera. Premiere entertainment is also offered throughout the year by more than a dozen local fine arts organizations.

Dance enthusiasts can choose from an eclectic tapestry of classical and contemporary dance styles offered by local and national touring companies.

In such a music-rich city, melodies come in all keys from symphonic productions and full-scale operas, to more intimate performances by local chorales and chamber musicians. While local performers can captivate audiences on any given night, touring acts book Austin frequently enough to keep music lovers content.

Austin also boasts a dazzling array of theatrical offerings at its 35 independent theater companies that encompass everything from Shakespearean productions to a children's troupe.

Austin Has It All

Rolling hills and a chain of lakes. A vibrant economy and high quality of life. Academic and professional development opportunities. College and pro sports. Multiethnic food and festivals. Fine and performing arts. All of these elements combine to make the dynamic city that is Austin, or what the locals proudly refer to as "the center of the known universe."