78 Facts About Austin Texas

1.

Austin Texas is the southernmost state capital in the contiguous United States and is considered a "Beta -" global city as categorized by the Globalization and World Cities Research Network.

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2.

Since the late 19th century, Austin Texas has been known as the "City of the Violet Crown", because of the colorful glow of light across the hills just after sunset.

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3.

In 1987, Austin Texas originated and remains the site for South by Southwest, an annual conglomeration of parallel film, interactive media, and music festivals and conferences that take place in mid-March.

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4.

The technology roots in Austin Texas can be traced back to the 1960s when Tracor, a major defense electronics contractor, began operation in the city in 1962.

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5.

In 2021, Austin Texas became home to the Austin Texas FC, the first major professional sports league in the city.

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6.

In 1730, three Catholic missions from East Texas were combined and reestablished as one mission on the south side of the Colorado River, in what is Zilker Park, in Austin.

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7.

Austin Texas thus became an independent country with its own president, congress, and monetary system.

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8.

In 1839, the Austin Texas Congress formed a commission to seek a site for a new capital of the Republic of Austin Texas to replace Houston.

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9.

Austin Texas advised the commissioners to consider the area on the north bank of the Colorado River, noting the area's hills, waterways, and pleasant surroundings.

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10.

However, as the war progressed and fears of attack by Union forces increased, Austin Texas contributed hundreds of men to the Confederate forces.

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11.

Austin Texas was the terminus of the southernmost leg of the Chisholm Trail, and "drovers" pushed cattle north to the railroad.

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12.

However, as other new railroads were built through the region in the 1870s, Austin Texas began to lose its primacy in trade to the surrounding communities.

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13.

The University of Austin Texas held its first classes in 1883, although classes had been held in the original wooden state capitol for four years before.

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14.

Austin Texas is 146 miles northwest of Houston, 182 miles south of Dallas and 74 miles northeast of San Antonio.

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15.

Austin Texas is located at the intersection of four major ecological regions, and is consequently a temperate-to-hot green oasis with a highly variable climate having some characteristics of the desert, the tropics, and a wetter climate.

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16.

At night, parts of Austin Texas are lit by "artificial moonlight" from moonlight towers built to illuminate the central part of the city.

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17.

Central business district of Austin Texas is home to the tallest condo towers in the state, with The Independent and The Austonian .

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18.

Austin Texas is located within the middle of a unique, narrow transitional zone between the dry deserts of the American Southwest and the lush, green, more humid regions of the American Southeast.

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19.

An uncommon characteristic of Austin Texas's climate is its highly variable humidity, which fluctuates frequently depending on the shifting patterns of air flow and wind direction.

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20.

Winters in Austin Texas are mild, although occasional short-lived bursts of cold weather known as "Blue Northers" can occur.

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21.

Typical of Central Texas, severe weather in Austin is a threat that can strike during any season.

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22.

In November 2019, the State of Austin Texas opened a temporary homeless encampment on a former vehicle storage yard owned by the Austin Texas Department of Transportation.

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23.

Thousands of graduates each year from the engineering and computer science programs at the University of Texas at Austin provide a steady source of employees that help to fuel Austin's technology and defense industry sectors.

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24.

Austin Texas is emerging as a hub for pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies; the city is home to about 85 of them.

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25.

Austin Texas has a long history of vocal citizen resistance to development projects perceived to degrade the environment, or to threaten the natural and cultural landscapes.

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26.

In 2013, Austin Texas was the most active city on Reddit, having the largest number of views per capita.

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27.

Austin Texas was selected as the No 2 Best Big City in "Best Places to Live" by Money magazine in 2006, and No 3 in 2009, and the "Greenest City in America" by MSN.

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28.

Rainey Street Historic District is a neighborhood in Downtown Austin Texas formerly consisting of bungalow style homes built in the early 20th century.

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29.

Austin Texas has been part of the UNESCO Creative Cities Network under Media Arts the category.

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30.

The term "Old Austin Texas" refers to a time when the city was smaller and more bohemian with a considerably lower cost of living and better known for its lack of traffic, hipsters, and urban sprawl.

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31.

Growth and popularity of Austin Texas can be seen by the expansive development taking place in its downtown landscape.

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32.

Austin Texas's Zilker Park Tree is a Christmas display made of lights strung from the top of a Moonlight tower in Zilker Park.

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33.

The Oasis Restaurant is the largest outdoor restaurant in Austin Texas, which promotes itself as the "Sunset Capital of Austin Texas" with its terraced views looking West over Lake Travis.

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34.

Some other Austin Texas-based chain restaurants include Amy's Ice Creams, Bush's Chicken, Chuy's, DoubleDave's Pizzaworks, and Schlotzky's.

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35.

The city of Austin Texas has the second-largest number of food trucks per capita in the United States.

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36.

Austin Texas has a large craft beer scene, with over 50 microbreweries in the metro area.

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37.

Projects that have used facilities at Austin Texas Studios include music videos by The Flaming Lips and feature films such as 25th Hour and Sin City.

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38.

Austin Texas has a strong theater culture, with dozens of itinerant and resident companies producing a variety of work.

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39.

Ballet Austin Texas is among the fifteen largest ballet academies in the country.

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40.

Museums in Austin include the Texas Memorial Museum, the George Washington Carver Museum and Cultural Center, Thinkery, the Blanton Museum of Art, the Bob Bullock Texas State History Museum across the street, The Contemporary Austin, the Elisabet Ney Museum and the galleries at the Harry Ransom Center.

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41.

The Austin Texas State Capitol itself is a major tourist attraction.

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42.

Austin Texas is home to the Lyndon Baines Johnson Library and Museum, which houses documents and artifacts related to the Johnson administration, including LBJ's limousine and a re-creation of the Oval Office.

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43.

Austin Texas is home to the O Henry House Museum, which served as the residence of O Henry from 1893 to 1895.

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44.

Austin Texas Zoo, located in unincorporated western Travis County, is a rescue zoo that provides sanctuary to displaced animals from a variety of situations, including those involving neglect.

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45.

Austin Texas was the most populous city in the United States without a major-league professional sports team, which changed in 2021 with Austin Texas FC's entry to MLS.

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46.

The Austin Texas Marathon has been run in the city every year since 1992.

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47.

Additionally, the city is home to the largest 5 mile race in Austin Texas, named the Turkey Trot as it is run annually on thanksgiving.

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48.

Austin Texas-founded American Swimming Association hosts several swim races around town.

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49.

Austin Texas is the hometown of several cycling groups and the disgraced cyclist Lance Armstrong.

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50.

Austin Texas is home to the Circuit of the Americas, a grade 1 Federation Internationale de l'Automobile specification 3.

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51.

The Austin Texas Aces played their matches at the Cedar Park Center northwest of Austin Texas, and featured former professionals Andy Roddick and Marion Bartoli, as well as current WTA tour player Vera Zvonareva.

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52.

Some well known naturally forming swimming holes along Austin Texas's greenbelt include Twin Falls, Sculpture Falls, Gus Fruh Pool, and Campbell's Hole.

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53.

Austin Texas is home to more than 50 public pools and swimming holes.

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54.

The pool, located about 23 miles west of Austin Texas, is a popular summer swimming spot for visitors and residents.

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55.

The Emma Long Metropolitan Park is a municipal park along the shores of Lake Austin Texas, originally constructed by the Civilian Conservation Corps.

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56.

Austin Texas Country Club is a private golf club located along the shores of the Colorado River, right next to the Pennybacker Bridge.

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57.

In 2020, Austin was the victim of a cyberattack by the Russian group Berserk Bear, possibly related to the U S federal government data breach earlier that year.

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58.

The Federal government had forced San Antonio and Dallas to abandon at-large systems before 1987; however, the court could not show a racist pattern in Austin Texas and upheld the city's at-large system during a 1984 lawsuit.

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59.

Austin Texas formerly operated its city hall at 128 West 8th Street.

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60.

Law enforcement in Austin is provided by the Austin Police Department, except for state government buildings, which are patrolled by the Texas Department of Public Safety.

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61.

Austin Texas is the county seat of Travis County and hosts the Heman Marion Sweatt Travis County Courthouse downtown, as well as other county government offices.

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62.

Since redistricting following the 2010 United States census, Austin has been divided between six congressional districts at the federal level: Texas's 35th, Texas's 25th, Texas's 10th, Texas's 21st, Texas's 17th, and Texas's 31st.

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63.

Travis County was the only county in Austin Texas to reject Austin Texas Constitutional Amendment Proposition 2 that effectively outlawed gay marriage and status equal or similar to it and did so by a wide margin .

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64.

Austin Texas hosted one of the last presidential debates between Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton during their heated race for the Democratic nomination in 2008.

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65.

The remaining portion of Austin Texas is served by adjoining school districts, including Round Rock ISD, Pflugerville ISD, Leander ISD, Manor ISD, Del Valle ISD, Lake Travis ISD, Hays, and Eanes ISD.

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66.

Austin Texas has a large network of private and alternative education institutions for children in PreK–12th grade exists.

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67.

The Austin Chronicle is Austin's alternative weekly, while The Daily Texan is the student newspaper of the University of Texas at Austin.

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68.

The Austin Texas Monitor is an online outlet that specializes in insider reporting on City Hall, Travis County Commissioners Court, AISD, and other related local civics beats.

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69.

Austin Texas has numerous smaller special interest or sub-regional newspapers such as the Oak Hill Gazette, Westlake Picayune, Hill Country News, Round Rock Leader, NOKOA, and The Villager among others.

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70.

The city of Austin Texas has a lower than average percentage of households without a car.

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71.

In mid-2019, TomTom ranked Austin as having the worst traffic congestion in Texas, as well as 19th nationally and 179th globally.

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72.

Austin Texas is the largest city in the United States to be served by only one Interstate Highway.

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73.

The iconic Pennybacker Bridge, known as the "360 Bridge, " crosses Lake Austin Texas to connect the northern and southern portions of Loop 360.

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74.

Amtrak's Austin station is located in west downtown and is served by the Texas Eagle which runs daily between Chicago and San Antonio, continuing on to Los Angeles several times a week.

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75.

Austin Texas is served by several ride-sharing companies including Uber and Lyft.

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76.

Austin Texas is served by Electric Cab of North America's six-passenger electric cabs that operate on a flexible route from the Kramer MetroRail Station to Domain Northside and from the Downtown MetroRail station and MetroRapid stops to locations between the Austin Texas Convention Center and near Sixth and Bowie streets by Whole Foods.

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77.

Downtown Austin Texas scored 88 points out of a possible 100, with the West Campus neighborhood scoring 87, and East Austin Texas scoring 81.

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78.

Austin Texas has two types of relationships with other cities, sister and friendship.

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