Travis County, in south central Texas, is named in honor of William Barret Travis, the commander of the Texas forces at the Alamo; but Travis County is perhaps best known for its county seat, Austin, the capital of Texas.
The city’s unofficial slogan, “Keep Austin Weird,” reflects the dynamics of its friendly and accepting culture, eclectic creative center, and large number of non-mainstream residents. Compared to its conservative home state of Texas, Austin is liberal and progressive politically, socially, in the arts and in music.
Music is not only Austin’s soul, but a major economic driver here.There are more music venues per capita in Austin than in any other US city. The music scene revolves around the nightclubs on Sixth Street, as well as the longest-running concert music program on American television, Austin City Limits.
Austin is also considered to be a major center for high tech. The city’s largest employers include Dell, 3M, Apple Inc., Hewlett-Packard, Google, Cisco Systems, eBay/PayPal and Oracle Corporation.
Austin is also emerging as a hub for pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies; the city is home to about 85 of them. Whole Foods Market was founded and is headquartered in Austin, as well.
SoCo is a shopping district stretching down South Congress Avenue from downtown. This area is home to coffee shops, eccentric stores, restaurants, food trucks, trailers and festivals. It prides itself on “keeping Austin weird,” the message on bumper stickers and t-shirts intended to bolster support of these local independent businesses; it’s also as a symbol for many residents who campaign against rapid growth and irresponsible development.
Weird or not, Austin ranks highly in many areas. According to Travel & Leisure magazine, Austin ranks Number One on the list of cities with the best people, judged by the personalities and attributes of the citizens. According to Nielsen, adults in Austin read and contribute to blogs more than those in any other metro area in the nation. Austin residents have the highest internet usage in all of Texas. The city also boasts the largest urban bat colony in the world, with one and one-half million bats under the Ann W. Richards Congress Avenue Bridge.
Notable residents of Austin include Sandra Bullock, Lance Armstrong and Matthew McConaughey.
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