by Sunny Smith


Have you or anyone you know ever been to Austin, TX? Are you or have you considered paying the city a visit? If Austin is not that familiar to you, then you've come to the right place. Austin, TX is a large city in the state of Texas, which is itself found in the USA. It is, in fact, the capital of the state of Texas.

Texas itself is quite large (when measured purely by land mass), which is perhaps, where the phrase "Don't Mess with Texas" came from. In fact, Texas is the second largest state in the U.S by both physical area and population numbers.

Austin itself sits right in the middle of Travis County. It is ranked the 35th largest city in the United States of America by population size. The climate of Austin is humid and subtropical characterized by hot summers and mild winters. The hottest recorded temperature was 112 degrees fahrenheit in the year 2000, during September. It goes without saying -- this was a hot month!

Austin has become known for its liberal politics in what is normally perceived-to-be a mostly conservative populous. This is often alluded to jokingly by those of more conservative leanings by calling the city by the name of "The People's Republic of Austin", entertainingly enough.

The high-tech sector is very important to the economy in Austin. Austin is known as a hub for both the technology and defense industry sectors, which is mostly fueled by the engineering and science programs of the University of Texas at Austin. Additionally, Austin, Texas is considered a hub for drug and biotechnology companies. There are about 85 companies from the biotechnology and pharmaceutical industry in Austin, TX.

A famous local saying in Austin is "Keep Austin Weird." You can see this printed on stickers and on shirts throughout the city. The "weird" part which Austinites are referring to are the arts, and Austin's well-known love of music.

Perhaps it is these things that helped Austin achieve second place in the 2006 "Best Places to Live" list compiled by Money magazine. Austin's music and night life center around the nightclubs on 6th street and the music & film festival that has become popular in the area known as South by Southwest. South by Southwest occurs once a year.




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