Content about Austin, Texas
As more people and businesses move to Austin, the city will encounter challenges and opportunities that come with an increasingly dense urban environment, say business leaders and academics.
Forbes magazine recently ranked the Austin metro area as the fastest growing city in the United States for the second year in a row. The publication rated cities using economic and population growth projections from Moody’s, an economic analysis agency.
Almost a century after it was first built, the Paramount Theatre remains a staple in downtown Austin. The theater is one of the many movie houses featured in a local exhibit.
Laborers and activists around the world, including in Austin, acknowledged the first day of May through political demonstrations on Tuesday.
International Workers Day, or May Day, developed from rallies in Chicago in the early 1900s that called for eight-hour workdays. The event is now a global holiday recognizing workers and labor unions.
A program created to educate and keep youth out of jail is aiming to improve job prospects in East Austin and is relying on local feedback to expand educational services for adults.
Foodies and downtown residents alike cheered last week when Trader Joe’s announced that it would open its first Austin store adjacent to the Seaholm Power Plant, only blocks away from competitor Whole Foods Market’s flagship store and headquarters.
Students should make sure to exercise their hefty political potential by voting in city elections, as early voting begins today. All of the incumbents — Mayor Lee Leffingwell and city council members Mike Martinez, Bill Spelman and Sheryl Cole — should be re-elected.
As mayor, Leffingwell has successfully guided Austin through three years of tremendous growth during a devastating global recession. In the past year, Austin’s unemployment rate has stayed below 6 percent, lower than both the state and national average.
The City of Austin’s music division allocated $750,000 in order to discover creative, affordable sound mitigation approaches for local outdoor music venues, said City of Austin’s music program manager Don Pitts.
If you happen to pass by inexplicable red swings or pieces of inflatable furniture scattered across town within the next 11 days, don’t be too baffled. These installations are some of the many artworks that will be showcased throughout Austin as part of the eighth annual Fusebox Festival.
On Sunday, the Austin American-Statesman reported that the Seton Family of Hospitals pledged up to $250 million for a new Austin hospital to replace the University Medical Center at Brackenridge. Brackenridge is operated by Seton under a lease from its publicly-funded owner, Central Health. This new hospital could serve as a teaching hospital and offer support for an Austin-based medical school operated by the UT System.
Cyclists in West Campus received a new route that’s green, both environmentally and in color, that should help raise cycling’s profile in the city.
After years of planning, the Green Lane along Rio Grande Street in West Campus officially opened Monday, offering bikers their own two-way lane to protect them while cycling.
In February, Austin’s Charter Revision Committee approved a “10-1” proposal for City Council representation — with 10 geographic, single-member districts and one at-large mayor — which, though imperfect, would likely increase student representation at the city level. Now, more than two months later, the council has yet to agree on or fully discuss the plan, according to the Austin American-Statesman.
Editor's note: This article has been changed in order to clarify that this proposal is for a new Urban Rail and is not an extension of the current MetroRail.
Austin’s City Council may vote on a new Urban Rail line, which could potentially connect to MetroRail and will include routes serving UT campus and downtown Austin.
A Capital Metro bus ran over and a student over the weekend near University Estates apartments.
Willie Nelson and supporting fans sang together at the unveiling of a monument dedicated to the Austin resident and country music legend on April 20, a counterculture holiday nationally associated with marijuana use.
Friends of the late Austin icon Leslie Cochran are planning a fundraiser to help the hospice facility that saw the homeless hero through his last days.
Segregation within schools in early East Austin affected the way the community developed into what it is today, Eliot Tretter, a geography and urban studies lecturer, said at a tour yesterday.
Pouring rain did not stop the Jane Jacobs East Austin Walk and Talk tour Sunday morning. About 20 members of the Austin community, ranging from UT students to preservationists, came to Metz Elementary School to learn about the history of East Austin residents and urban planning.
Hot topics at Monday afternoon’s mayoral debate included the addition of a medical school to the UT campus and solutions for traffic congestion throughout the city.
Far West student commuters may be saying goodbye to sitting in traffic for hours on MoPac Boulevard.
“Keep Austin Weird” is a phrase anyone who has lived in the city long enough is familiar with. Over the years, it’s been used as a rallying cry whenever people feel that one of Austin’s cultural eccentricities is threatened. Although the phrase has grown to encapsulate multiple aspects of the city’s identity, it started as a campaign by the Austin Independent Business Alliance to promote local businesses back in the early 2000s.
The Blanton Museum of Art was filled with Old West spirit Thursday as museum patrons took part in various cowboy-themed activities.
Editor’s note: From redistricting to the state’s B-On-Time loan program, these are among our favorite quotes from the past several days.
“There would be very little time before November to advertise, ‘here’s what the districts look like,’ and more important, there would be relatively very little time for the public to weigh in on what those districts ought to look like with the commission.”
A steadily recovering Central Texas labor market may mean improved job opportunities for this year’s graduating class.
According to a report issued last week by the Texas Workforce Commission, more than 20,000 jobs have been created in the Austin area since this time last year.
Unemployment rates have also continued to fall from 6.8 percent last February to 6.1 percent, well below the national unemployment rate of 8.3 percent.
The temperatures are getting high, and we are lucky to live in a city overflowing with outdoor activities. Here’s The Daily Texan’s guide to the best swimming holes in and around Austin for some quality chill time as spring unfolds.
The land bridge
Apple Inc. has announced it will create a $304 million operations center in Austin after being attracted by the “new Silicon Valley” of Central Texas and acquiring funding from the city and state.
A surge in requests by commuters has led Capital Metro to increase its availability of rail service to weekend riders.
In partnership with the city of Austin, Capital Metro has expanded their running hours until midnight on Friday nights and is now providing service on Saturdays from 4 p.m. until midnight, said Erica McKewen, a spokeswoman for Capital Metro.
