Austin is the capital 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 in that order) and the 16th-largest in the United States. As of the 2005 U.S. Census estimate, Austin had a population of 690,252. The city is the core cultural and economic center of the Austin-Round Rock metropolitan area with a population of 1.45 million.

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 to the eclectic and progressive lifestyle of many Austin residents, as well as some buildings, businesses, and other institutions.

Climate

Austin has a humid subtropical climate, characterized by hot summers and mild winters. 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.

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, and the highest recorded temperature at Camp Mabry was 112°F in 2000. For the entire year there is an average of 111 days above 90°F (32°C) and 198 days above 80°F (27°C).

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. 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.

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.

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 Austin Reggae 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."

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia