Fun Austin Info

Austin is the capital of the U.S. state of Texas and the seat of Travis County. Austin is situated in Central Texas and part of the American Southwest, Austin is the fourth-largest city in Texas and the 16th-largest in the United States of America, as well as the 3rd fastest growing large city in the nation from 2000-2006. As of the 2006 U.S. Census estimate, Austin has a population of 709,893. Austin is the cultural and economic center of the Austin–Round Rock metropolitan area with a population of more than 1.5 million.

Austin was selected as the No. 2 Best Big City in "Best Places to Live" by Money magazine in 2006, and the "Greenest City in America" by MSN ("Greenest" referring to a commitment to sustainable living).

Residents of Austin include a mix of university professors, students, politicians, lobbyists, musicians, state employees, high-tech workers, blue-collar workers, and white-collar workers. Austin is home to enough large sites of major technology corporations to have earned it the nickname "Silicon Hills." Austin's official slogan promotes the city as "The Live Music Capital of the World", a reference to Austins status as home to many musicians and music venues. In recent years, many Austinites have also adopted the unofficial slogan "Keep Austin Weird"; this refers partly to the eclectic and progressive lifestyle of many Austin residents, but is also the slogan for a campaign to preserve smaller local businesses and resist excessive commercialization.