About Austin

Austin, Texas. You always hear of the city but never really understood what the city has to offer. Well, that is all going to change. From Austin's history, to music, shopping and eating, this will explain it all. The city of Austin, Texas, had its start in the 1800s. The town was originally called Waterloo, which was just a city that set up shop in the middle of the wilderness. Austin had its first buildings in 1850. There were several building booms after that. One building boom happened because of the railroad coming to town. With the addition of the college, Austin became a college town, which caused yet another building boom. The last building boom recently occurred because of the technology boom. The arts of Austin also added to the building booms throughout the years.

Austin, Texas became the live music capital of the world in 1991. It is proven that the city has more live music venues per capita than any other city. Thousands of musicians take up residence in Austin. This all means that at any time of the day, every day there is always a live concert somewhere in the city. There are also several shopping districts. One is South Congress Street. There you can find antiques, clothes, shoes, jewelry, artwork, and much more. Another shopping district is the Domain. The Domain encircles 700,000 square feet of designer boutiques. As for eating in Austin, there is everything that one could imagine. From barbecue, to seafood, Austin has it all. There is fine dinning side by side with food carts. All you have to do is take your pick.

Want to spend a lot of time outdoors? Austin, can accommodate with more than 300 days of sun on average. The Lady Bird Lake is found directly in the center of town. Throughout and around the city there are miles and miles of hiking and biking trails. Austin has over 200 parks for its people to enjoy. Austin annually hosts the Austin Marathon & Half Marathon. In the race more that 11,000 runners participate from around the country. Austin is now also the number one golf destination. Clearly, Austin has a wide variety of activities for every spirit. Austin's history, as well as its shopping, music, eating, and outdoor activities all make Austin's experience that much more wonderful.

Written by Lyndsey Morgan