Austin (UK: /ˈɒstɪn, ˈɔːstɪn/, US: /ˈɔːstən/)[5] is the capital city of the U.S.

state of Texas, as well as

the seat and largest city of Travis County, with portions extending
into Hays and Williamson counties. It is the 11th-most populous city in the United States,
the fourth-most-populous city in Texas, and the second-most-populous state capital
city (after Phoenix, Arizona).[6] It is also the fastest growing large city in the United States[7][8] and
the southernmost state capital in the contiguous United States.
As of the U.S. Census Bureau's July 1, 2018 estimate, Austin had a population of 964,254,[9] up
from 790,491 at the 2010 census.[3] The city is the cultural and economic center of the Austin–
Round Rock metropolitan statistical area, which had an estimated population of 2,168,316 as of
July 1, 2018. Located in Central Texas within the greater Texas Hill Country, it is home to
numerous lakes, rivers, and waterways, including Lady Bird Lake and Lake Travis on
the Colorado River, Barton Springs, McKinney Falls, and Lake Walter E. Long.
U.S. News & World Report named Austin the No. 1 place to live in the U.S. for 2017 and
2018.[10][11] In 2016, Forbes ranked Austin No. 1 on its "Cities of the Future" list,[12] then in 2017
placed the city at that same position on its list for the "Next Biggest Boom Town in the
U.S."[13] Also in 2017, Forbes awarded the South River City neighborhood of Austin its #2 ranking
for "Best Cities and Neighborhoods for Millennials".[14] WalletHub named Austin the #6 best place
in the country to live for 2017.[15] The FBI ranked Austin as the #2 safest major city in the U.S. for
2012.[16]
Residents of Austin are known as Austinites.[17] They include a diverse mix of government
employees, college students, musicians, high-tech workers, blue-collar workers, and a
vibrant LGBT community.[18] The city's official slogan promotes Austin as "The Live Music Capital
of the World", a reference to the city's many musicians and live music venues, as well as the
long-running PBS TV concert series Austin City Limits.[19][20] The city also adopted "Silicon Hills"
as a nickname in the 1990s due to a rapid influx of technology and development companies. In
recent years, some Austinites have adopted the unofficial slogan "Keep Austin Weird",[21] which
refers to the desire to protect small, unique, and local businesses from being overrun by large
corporations.[22] Since the late 19th century, Austin has also been known as the "City of the Violet
Crown", because of the colorful glow of light across the hills just after sunset.[23]
By the 1990s, Austin emerged as a center for technology and business.[24] A number of Fortune
500 companies have headquarters or regional offices in Austin
including, 3M, Amazon.com, Apple Inc., Google, IBM, Intel, Oracle Corporation, Texas
Instruments, and Whole Foods Market; Dell's worldwide headquarters is located in the nearby
suburb of Round Rock.[25]

Contents

 1History
 2Geography
o 2.1Cityscape
 2.1.1Downtown
o 2.2Climate
 2.2.12011 drought
 2.2.22018 flooding and water crisis
 3Demographics
o 3.1Religion
o 3.2Homelessness
 4Economy
 5Culture and contemporary life
o 5.1Old Austin
 o 5.2Annual cultural events
o 5.3Cuisine and breweries
o 5.4Music
o 5.5Film
o 5.6Theater
o 5.7Libraries
o 5.8Museums and other points of interest
 6Sports
 7Parks and recreation
o 7.1Lady Bird Lake
o 7.2Barton Creek Greenbelt
o 7.3Swimming holes
o 7.4Other parks and recreation
 8Government
o 8.1Crime
o 8.2City government
o 8.3Other levels of government
o 8.4Politics
 8.4.1Gerrymandering
 8.4.2Environmental movement
 9Education
o 9.1Higher education
o 9.2Public primary and secondary education
o 9.3Private and alternative education
 10Media
 11Transportation
o 11.1Highways
o 11.2Tollways
o 11.3Airports
o 11.4Intercity bus service
o 11.5Intercity rail service
o 11.6Public transportation
o 11.7Ride sharing
o 11.8Cycling and walkability
 12Notable people
 13International relations
o 13.1Sister
o 13.2Friendship
 14See also
 15Notes
 16References
 17Bibliography
 18Further reading
 19External links

History[edit]
Main article: History of Austin, Texas
See also: Timeline of Austin, Texas
Austin, Travis County and Williamson County have been the site of human habitation since at
least 9200 BC. The area's earliest known inhabitants lived during the late Pleistocene (Ice Age)
and are linked to the Clovis culture around 9200 BC (over 11,200 years ago), based on evidence
found throughout the area and documented at the much-studied Gault Site, midway
between Georgetown and Fort Hood.[26]
When settlers arrived from Europe, the Tonkawa tribe inhabited the area.
The Comanches and Lipan Apaches were also known to travel through the area.[27] Spanish
colonists, including the Espinosa-Olivares-Aguirre expedition, traveled through the area, though
few permanent settlements were created for some time.[28] In 1730, three missions from East
Texas were combined and reestablished as one mission on the south side of the Colorado River,
in what is now Zilker Park, in Austin. The mission was in this area for only about seven months,
and then was moved to San Antonio de Béxar and split into three missions.[29]
During the 1830s, pioneers began to settle the area in central Austin along the Colorado River.
Spanish forts were established in what are now Bastrop and San Marcos.[28][30] Following Mexico's
independence, new settlements were established in Central Texas, but growth in the region was
stagnant because of conflicts with the regional Native Americans.[30][31][32]

Second capitol building in Austin

In 1835–1836, Texans fought and won independence from Mexico. Texas thus became an
independent country with its own president, congress, and monetary system. After Vice
President Mirabeau B. Lamar visited the area during a buffalo-hunting expedition between 1837
and 1838, he proposed that the republic's capital, then in Houston, be relocated to the area
situated on the north bank of the Colorado River (near the present-day Congress Avenue
Bridge). In 1839, the site was chosen to replace Houston as the capital of the Republic of
Texas and was incorporated under the name "Waterloo". Shortly afterward, the name was
changed to Austin in honor of Stephen F. Austin, the "Father of Texas" and the republic's first
secretary of state. The city grew throughout the 19th century and became a center for
government and education with the construction of the Texas State Capitol and the University of
Texas at Austin.[33] After a severe lull in economic growth from the Great Depression, Austin
resumed its steady development.
In 1839, the Texas Congress formed a commission to seek a site for a new capital to be named
for Stephen F. Austin.[34] Mirabeau B. Lamar, second president of the newly formed Republic of
Texas, advised the commissioners to investigate the area named Waterloo, noting the area's
hills, waterways, and pleasant surroundings.[35] Waterloo was selected, and "Austin" was chosen
as the town's new name.[36] The location was seen as a convenient crossroads for trade routes
between Santa Fe and Galveston Bay, as well as routes between northern Mexico and the Red
River.[37]
Edwin Waller was picked by Lamar to survey the village and draft a plan laying out the new
capital.[34] The original site was narrowed to 640 acres (260 ha) that fronted the Colorado River
between two creeks, Shoal Creek and Waller Creek, which was later named in his honor. The
14-block grid plan was bisected by a broad north-south thoroughfare, Congress Avenue, running
up from the river to Capital Square, where the new Texas State Capitol was to be constructed. A
temporary one-story capitol was erected on the corner of Colorado and 8th Streets. On August 1,
1839, the first auction of 217 out of 306 lots total was held.[34][37] The grid plan Waller designed
and surveyed now forms the basis of downtown Austin.
In 1840, a series of conflicts between the Texas Rangers and the Comanches, known as
the Council House Fight and the Battle of Plum Creek, pushed the Comanches westward, mostly
ending conflicts in Central Texas.[38] Settlement in the area began to expand quickly. Travis
County was established in 1840, and the surrounding counties were mostly established within
the next two decades.[32]