Content about Austin-Round Rock metropolitan area
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.”
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.
UT students heading to the San Marcos River may have to leave beer and other alcoholic beverages out of their coolers if San Marcos city officials pass a proposal banning alcohol in public parks.
The San Marcos City Council granted preliminary approval for an ordinance proposal that would ban the public display and consumption of alcohol in city parks on Tuesday. If implemented, the ban would include parks that line the San Marcos River, a prominent tubing tourist attraction.
Horns up: Austin bans single-use bags from retail stores
Austin showed its affinity for donating by jumping three ranks from its 2010 position to the 12th most generous city in Convio’s poll, based on data gathered from 1,500 nonprofit organizations that use their fundraising software.
Deep in the heart of UT Austin’s West Campus neighborhood, there is a locally-based music festival that hopes to introduce newly-converted Austinites and veterans to the city’s home-grown music scene. Celebrating its third year, the annual West By West Campus Music Festival (WXWC), happening this Saturday, prides itself in showcasing some of Austin’s most talented musicians, featuring more than 40 bands performing on five different stages.
University Democrats and members of the Central Austin Democrats met Saturday to co-endorse candidates for the 2012 election season.
City officials welcomed Code for America to Austin yesterday, an organization that helps make government work better for everyone with the efforts of people and the power of the Web.
Funding combinations and proper budgeting have enabled Austin Energy to finance Austin’s most expensive public art project to date.
Austin is showing some love for nonprofit organizations this week as part of the first Love Austin Week created by Snoball.com, starting Monday with dog treat sales for the Austin Pets Alive! organization.
“Rail is the future of Austin, as it is the future of every great city in the United States.” This is how Austin Mayor Lee Leffingwell characterized his support for the city’s proposed urban rail system during a Twitter Town Hall event hosted by the University Democrats last week. Though Leffingwell made future rail service within the urban core part of his campaign message in 2009, just how far into the future students and other city residents must wait until benefitting from the service remains unclear.
Social media and politics combined Wednesday when the University Democrats hosted a Twitter town hall meeting with Austin mayor Lee Leffingwell.
Editor’s note: From developments in the Occupy movement to Willie Nelson’s endorsement of Mayor Lee Leffingwell, the following quotes are among the best from the last few days.
ZACH Theatre presents: Next to Normal
WHEN: Thursday, Feb. 2nd — Saturday, Feb. 4th, 8 p.m.
WHERE: ZACH Theatre
1510 Toomey Road
Austin, TX 78704
HOW MUCH: $35 - $55, Student tickets for $18 one hour before show with ID
The acclaimed rock musical Next to Normal, which deals with dysfunctional families and bipolar disorder, comes to ZACH Theatre.
After golf-ball-sized hail and periodic rain spattered Austin all day Tuesday, the city could experience relief from the nasty weather as early as this afternoon.
After months of debate, the city of Austin’s 2012 Charter Revision Committee is poised to hold a final vote on a proposal that has the potential to create single-member districts for city council elections.
