Austin, Texas

Sam Houston, one of the founding fathers of the Republic of Texas, called the location of the new capital city the most unfortunate site on earth for the seat of government. Despite the misgivings of Houston and others, the city of Austin remained the capital of Texas following the state's entry into the union and has grown into one of the largest and most prosperous cities in the United States. Austin is the center of Texas government and politics and is also the location of one of the largest public universities in the United States. The city's residents are intensely proud of Austin's abundance of art, music, and other cultural activities.

Landscape

Austin, with an area of around 300 square miles, is located beside the Colorado River, along the border of the hill country region in central Texas. The city is in a picturesque wooded area with several large hills and abundant sources of water. Austin is 236 miles from the Mexican border and roughly 200 miles west of Houston and 200 miles south of Dallas. Smaller cities that have become part of the Austin metropolitan area include Round Rock, Georgetown, and Cedar Park to the north and San Marcos to the south. A number of smaller towns also fall into the orbit of Austin and are suburbs of the capital city.

One of the reasons Austin was chosen as the capital of Texas was its healthful climate, which is dramatically different from the swampy climate of coastal Houston. The weather in Austin is temperate, with long, hot summers and short, mildly cold winters. The city's average annual rainfall is approximately 33.4 inches. Daytime high temperatures during the summer are usually between 90 and 100 degrees Fahrenheit, making the climate uncomfortably hot for many people. Winter temperatures can vary greatly, with mild winters being the norm. However, because of global warming, the temperature in Austin has increased 2 degrees since the 1970s. The 2023 summer was the hottest on record, Eighty days had a temperature above 100 degrees and forty-two days had a temperature at of above 105 degrees.

People

The population of Austin was estimated to be 974,447 in 2022, with more than 2 million in the Austin metropolitan area. The racial and ethnic composition of Austin reflects trends across Texas and the southwest. According to 2022 estimates by the US Census Bureau, the White majority represents 47.7 percent of the population, and the largest minority group is the growing Hispanic community at 32.5 percent. African Americans account for about 7.9 percent of the population, with Asians at 8.4 percent and American Indians, Pacific Islanders, and members of other or multiple races making up the remainder.

The highest household income levels in the city are found in the neighborhoods in western and southwestern Austin. Westlake Hills, Rollingwood, and the adjoining suburbs are the wealthiest sections of the Austin metro area. In contrast, the city north of the Colorado River and east of Interstate Highway 35 is the poorest part of the city by all economic measures.

Culturally, Austin has been influenced by the local population groups as well as outsiders who come to the city to attend the university. Austin has been at times a destination for wandering musicians, hippies, and other nonconformist individuals and groups, with the city often embracing these eclectic and eccentric influences. Over time, Austin has grown somewhat out of step with the rest of Texas, as the city is far more liberal, politically and culturally, than the rest of the state.

Economy

Austin has many attractive qualities that have drawn people to the city since it was founded in 1839. Natural beauty, an overall favorable climate, and one of the premier educational institutions in the state have kept many people in Austin after their initial visit. The city's social elite traditionally resisted efforts to grow business and attract employers, and as a result Austin lagged behind other large cities in Texas economically until the 1970s.

True to its origin, Austin remains a capital city dominated by government activity, and government is one of the city's largest employment sectors. Government jobs include positions in state and local agencies, capitol employees, and local educators at all levels. Other large sectors include education and health care.

The high-technology business sector had a profound effect on Austin beginning in the early 1990s. Until that time, the city had been dominated by relatively low-wage jobs in government and education, and housing costs skyrocketed in the desirable neighborhoods as the technology firms brought more high-paying jobs to Austin. More than 90,000 new computer and high-tech jobs were created, until the boom went bust in 2001. At the peak of the tech boom, approximately two-thirds of the nongovernment, private-sector earnings came from high-tech employment. Due to a nationwide recession, overseas competition, and the transfer of many jobs from the Austin area, the city lost over 25,000 jobs by March 2003. In the years since, Austin has largely recovered from the downturn of the early 2000s, experiencing rapid growth even following the global recession that began late in the decade. The 2010s saw Austin's population growing by 23 percent per year as tech giants like Amazon, Apple, Facebook, and Google built campuses in and around the city. The situation mostly improved in the 2020s as Austin's population and gross national product (GDP) increased. While the number of layoffs in 2023 was 2,074 (greater than the previous two years combined), this was largely due to market uncertainty in the tech sector and increased interest rates.

Landmarks

Austin's capitol building is an imposing structure that houses the Texas state legislature. Begun in 1882 and completed in 1888, the capitol is a splendid example of nineteenth-century architecture. The exterior is made of Sunset Red granite, quarried from Marble Falls, Texas. The 302-foot-tall building is capped with a dome that supports a statue called the Goddess of Liberty.

One of the most popular attractions in Austin is Zilker Metropolitan Park, located in the central part of the city. The park's centerpiece is the Barton Springs natural limestone pool, which is about one thousand feet long and is fed by an underground river. The water temperature is a constant 68 degrees, and Austin citizens and visitors enjoy the clean water and pleasant setting.

Austin is proud of the diversity of its cultural attractions. The city boasts professional symphony, opera, ballet, and theater companies, along with many art galleries and museums, including the Lyndon Baines Johnson (LBJ) Library and Museum and the Bob Bullock Texas State History Museum. The LBJ Library and Museum is located on the campus of the University of Texas.

Austin has officially promoted itself as the Live Music Capital of the World since 1991. The city supports the music scene with a local live music television channel, citywide promotion of local bands, and frequent city park performances to encourage music and music tourism. The long-running Austin City Limits public television show also supports the image of Austin as a live music mecca. Even city council meetings have been known to begin with live music performances.

A landmark of a different sort is the popular 6th Street nightclub and bar district. Many citywide events are hosted in this area, and on certain occasions the partying spills out into the street. Thousands of college students and others frequent the nightclubs for drinking, dancing, and live music.

History

Austin owes its establishment to the dreams and ambitions of Mirabeau Bonaparte Lamar, president of the Republic of Texas during the nineteenth century. Lamar visited Waterloo, a small settlement on the site of present-day Austin, during a buffalo hunt and was greatly impressed by its physical beauty and frontier location. He had wanted to expand the Republic of Texas farther west and wished to establish the capital city in this soon-to-be-settled region. Upon his return to Houston, he persuaded the government to purchase the Waterloo area and build the capital on that land.

Lamar's imperial dreams for the Republic of Texas ended in 1845, when Texas joined the United States. Austin was such a small and unpopular city that an election was held in 1850 to determine whether it would remain the state capital. Political infighting between those backing Houston and those backing any city but Houston led to an alliance between Austin and other smaller cities, with the final vote confirming Austin as the capital city for good.

Austin remained a small town throughout the remainder of the nineteenth century, with some growth coming from the city's location along the Chisholm Trail cattle route and the arrival of the railroad in 1871. However, the local economy still depended heavily on government employees and small businesses. By 1880, the population had grown to around 11,000 people, and economic growth was stagnant. The only bright spot was the establishment of the University of Texas at Austin in 1883, which boosted the city's population and improved the economy.

During the first part of the twentieth century, Austin focused on civic improvements and the development of utilities and infrastructure. City planners worked to improve the quality of city services and make Austin a desirable place to live. Street paving and lighting, as well as the creation of public parks, took place during the early 1900s. Electricity was provided by a dam erected across the Colorado River, with the added benefit of controlling the periodic flooding that had damaged Austin in the past.

Austin's African American population struggled for civil rights and fair treatment with limited success until the 1960s. Black citizens resisted segregation by boycotting local streetcars due to the practice of separate seating based on race. City officials created "black-only" schools and parks on the east side of town, in effect forcing African Americans to segregate themselves. Due to the unscrupulous maneuvering of city leaders, the minority population has remained concentrated in east Austin.

Resistance to unequal treatment finally met with some success in 1956, when the University of Texas became the first major university in the South to admit black students. Discrimination in restaurants and movie theaters remained the norm until the Civil Rights Act of 1964 finally outlawed racial discrimination in public accommodations. The legacy of mistreatment has affected the African American population to this day.

Due in part to the efforts of the Austin chamber of commerce to take advantage of the graduates coming from the University of Texas, high-technology companies began coming to Austin in the 1970s. Texas Instruments, IBM, and Dell, among many other companies, set up research, manufacturing, and distribution locations in Austin. During the 1990s, the economy grew to depend on these new businesses, and Austin prospered as it never had before. The good times ended when the nationwide recession of 2000 severely affected high-tech companies, resulting in thousands of layoffs. Many more jobs were lost to overseas markets, as companies tried to lower costs. Throughout the following decades, Austin has worked with great success to recover from the high-tech slowdown. The foundation of the economy remains government and educational jobs, but technology, tourism, and small business are increasingly important sectors.

Bibliography

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