About Austin
How Austin Ranks Among American Cities?
Austin consistently ranks high on lists of best places to live, work, and play. Forbes, Men's Journal, Sperling's BestPlaces, and others regularly publish lists of the best cities to live, best vacation destinations, healthiest cities, and top places for businesses based on research, facts and figures, polls, and surveys.
Why People Are Moving to Austin?
As of the 2006 U.S. Census estimate, Austin has a population of 709893. It is projected to grow in population by about 30% every ten years. Perhaps being one of the biggest universities in the US with about 50,000 students at the University of Texas has leaked the secrets of Austin to the world. Or maybe it was the tech boom in the late 90s that put it on the map as the Silicon Hills and brought a lot of high-tech talent out here. Whatever the reason, Austin has been discovered, and it is growing quite fast.
There is the huge college crowd, which brings a lot of the intellectuals and research projects to the area as well as the funkiness and flavor only a college town can have. 38.8% of the Austin population has college degrees compared to the US average of 27.0%. And 13.2% have graduate degrees compared to the US average of 9.9%. A lot of this has to do with the University. Many students who come to Austin for school end up not wanting to leave their beloved city.
The tech sector, which is mostly huddled around up north, brings another layer to the town. The big players are IBM, Dell, Sun, Intel, NI, and AMD, Samsung. This keeps the programmers and computer people a dominant sector in the Austin landscape. Many startups and entrepreneurs have sprouted from the bringing together of these people, which keeps the industry vibrant.
Then there is the music and film scene, which is extremely vibrant. The music scene became know probably in the 60s when Janis Joplin and the Vaughn brothers became known. Now, Austin has many various festivals. The biggest one is South by South West or SXSW for short.
The art scene in East Austin is growing each year as well, with the East Austin Studio Tour and other various promotions. The film, music, and art in the city keep Austin well-balanced.
With all these different aspects of Austin, there is a good mix of everything. All kinds of people live there, and almost everyone can find a place to be happy. And the best part of it all is that everyone is just fine with each other. It is often that a mix of all these people will be at different tables a t a coffee shop and everyone respects each other, no matter which way you decided to go. They enjoy each other's difference, and that is really what makes Austin a special place.