Discover Austin

General Information

 

Austin360.com provides links to just about everything you might want to know about Austin. So does austin.about.com, which provides links like "visiting Austin", "living in Austin", "find a home", "arts/entertainment", "recreation", and more. There are about 1,000,000 Austinites. To see maps of the city, from meandering bike lanes to the bustling Warehouse District, visit the city of Austin's website.

 

Community Rankings

 

People do surveys to rank cities against all sorts of standards they feel are important. You might not believe the literal rankings, but even so, we're still sure Austin's great in many ways!

 

In 2001, BestJobsUSA.com called Austin "The best place to live and work." Their article noted that ...

The capital city of Texas deserves a capital "P" for perfection. There's not much to find wrong with this metropolitan area, which is recognized as a center for academic, political, research and technology endeavors. It is also a cultural Mecca, thanks to a thriving artistic and recreational environment. ... [I]t's easy to see why Austin is Employment Review's No. 1 place to live and work in America.

Forbes and The New Economy have also previously ranked Austin one of the top high-tech centers of the nation.

 

Within the past decade, in other rankings that you may or may not want to take at face value, Austin has been labeled:

• the third best place to live in the U.S.
• the second fastest growing city in the U.S.
• the nation's best-read and most computer-literate city
• the live music capital of the world
• the most fit city in the U.S.
• home to more restaurants and bars per capita than any other American city

 

Living Here

 

Many of our current faculty were pleased to discover we have a relatively affordable housing market. The cost of living is moderate for a city this size, too.

 

Austin's safe and friendly atmosphere, combined with its great climate and its many parks, make it a great place to nurture a family. The city is rich in child-friendly activities, and the area has excellent schools. You can get a report card on a specific school that interests you.

 

The combination of a large university, state government offices, and high tech industry attracts large numbers of educated workers. For example, the city is in the top five in the country in terms of the number of college graduates per capita.

 

Relaxing

 

Austin is known as the live music capital of the world with a great nightlife and the world-famous SXSW music and film festival. We have strong programs in classical arts and entertainment as well, and we enjoy a lively independent film scene and a larger-than-average number of first-run theatres for a city our size.

 

The restaurants here are excellent. We look forward to your visit so we have an excuse to visit some of our favorites.

 

Sports and outdoor activities are popular, given our year round temperate climate. You might find yourself hiking and biking, rowing, or just exploring our beautiful state parks. Members of our faculty indulge in trail running, outdoor activities, and waterskiing, to name just a few activities we enjoy away from work. Come join us!