dzappone

North Loop is a compact and hip retail district that has a bit of everything. In the central area of this district there are a several vintage shops, a middle-eastern restaurant, a bar, two hair salons, a very good car dealership, a bicycle shop, a motor scooter shop, a bookstore, a record store, a convenience store, an herbal salon, several clothing retailers, a music store selling instruments and sheet music, a car wash, a lingerie and adult novelty shop, a modern home decoration store and several other small retail shops whose purpose I can't recall. All of these are within 300 feet of each other and there's still some retail space available. A little to the west is a small shopping plaza that contains a number of other small shops and one of the most popular coffee shops in Austin. And everyone one of these shops is independently owned and operated - there is not a single chain of franchise in the area.

In between the central area of North Loop and the plaza is an interesting historical site, a state cemetery where unknown and indigents have been interred since the beginning of the 20th century.

Austin is a city full of vibrant nightlife, outdoor activity, bustling economy, good schools and friendly people.

It's been said that Austin lacks culture aside from it's famed nightlife and music scene. This is not true at all there are many museums including the Huntington Gallery, The Blanton Museum of Art, The Texas Memorial Museum, Austin Children's Museum, Austin History Museum, Austin Museum of Art, Austin Children's Museumm, Texas State History Museum, Mexic-Arte Museum, LBJ Library and Museum, French Legation Museum, Elisabet Ney Museum, Laguna Gloria, Center for American History and The Ransom Center to name a few. Austinites are strong supporters of the arts and aside from the museums listed Austin also maintains a symphony, and orchestra, a lyric opera and a ballet troop and the city sponsor many cultural and artistic events. Not to mention the many University of Texas sponsored cultural events.

Austin bills itself as the Live Music Capital of the World and this no exaggeration. The sheer amount of live music on any given night is astounding and you can almost certainly find whatever sort of music you are interested in to hear live on any given night.

Austin also seems to have an inordinate number of restaurants. You can find pretty much any type of food you might like ranging from Japanese to Brazilian, German to Indian and of course the extremely popular Tex-mex. There are a limited number of 24-hour eateries but many are open late enough that it scarcely matters. Quality ranges from fast-food to five-star establishments.

While Austin doesn't have some of the things people expect a city of this size to have such as theme parks and water parks who really needs a water park when you have Lake Travis and Lake Austin available.

But if you really need a water park in Austin there's Volente Beach Waterpark. Otherwise Schlitterbahn is only 45 minutes away - takes less time to get there than it does to drive across a lot of larger cities. As for theme parks there are none for adults. But there is Kiddie Acres for young children. And Aquarena Center, Sea World San Antonio, Six Flags Fiesta Texas are all about an hour away. Since they take less time to get to than driving across Houston to get to Astroworld there's not real need to any in Austin proper. There is also the Austin Zoo which is an animal rescue zoo and it is exceptional for the animals they have - granted there are no large grazers such as Rhinos or Elephant but you can get much closer to the bears, and large cats then at any zoo I have ever been to.

Austin is lacking in major league sports but there is such a strong following for the University of Texas that they aren't really needed. Austin does have a number of minor league professional sports though: Austin Ice Bats (hockey), Round Rock Express (baseball), Austin Aztex (soccer), Austin Outlaws (football), Austin Wranglers (arena football), Austin Toros (basketball). In any event Austin is surrounded by larger cities that play host to the likes of the San Antonio Spurs, Houston Rockets, Astros and Texas, Dallas Cowboys and Stars and the Texas Rangers.

Traffic is not bad compared to other cities of similars size though rush hour can see a strangle hold on the North-South flows of traffic on Loop-1 and I-35. Public transportation in Austin has much to be desired, but it's getting better.

The cost of living while higher than the surrounding rural areas of Texas is still reasonable compared to similarly sized cities. At one point it was downright inexpensive for housing in Austin but now it's merely in par with cities of similar size. Even with the nationwide downturn in housing Austin's real estate market has remained markedly unaffected.

Looking to shop? The Domain is pretty much all upscale shopping. Even better though, there are dozens of upscale boutiques in various neighborhoods throughout the city, including the South Congress, The Art's District, North Loop, 35th Street and Burnet Road areas.

Summers can be hot and uncomfortable even in the evenings with the worst being July and August. But you know, air conditioning - it's how the west was won. Autumn and Spring are nice all day and evening and the number of sunny days is exceptional. In any case even in January you can actually go out without having to wear a parka and on many winter days it's nice enough to wear shorts outside.

There is the huge variety of things to do in Austin as in any other large city. Aside from the above mentioned things there are many many cool places to go and things to do like First Thursdays on South Congress, the Alamo Drafthouse, Mount Bonnell, Zilker Park or any of the two hundred other parks in the area, The Pecan Street Festival, Austin City Limits show or music festival, East Austin Studio Tour, Ester's Follies, Zachary Scott Theater, Daugherty Art Center, Austin Lyric Opera, Austin Symphony, Austin Ballet, any of the dozen or so small stage theaters or any of the up and coming comedy improv troops. To name a few various things.

As for the job market, while the tech industry dominates the area there are also hundreds of small businesses from restaurants to clothing shops to salons to arts companies in Austin all exist in substantial quantities and compete with large national and global rivals. Additionally the state government (Austin is the Capital of Texas), numerous non-profits, and schools (28 universities and colleges as well as hundreds of private, public and charter schools) also provide many jobs. Whole Foods, an international grocery chain specializing in organic, local, and natural foods and other goods started in and is based in Austin and provides many job opportunities.

Austin also has a substantial sustainability and green movement. The city itself has Austin Energy's GreenChoice which is the nation's most successful utility-sponsored green energy program. GreenChoice electricity comes from clean, renewable sources primarily wind and hydroelectic sources. The city also offers a variety of rebates for homeowners wishing to make their home more energy efficient. There are also a variety of non-profit organizations dedicated to help Austin become sustainable.

The skyline which is not tallest in the world nor the shortest is not only quite nice but is intentionally restricted by state law that requires certain lines of site be afforded the state capital building. From the river the skyline is quite engaging and due to the landscape of rugged hills to the west and prairie to the east you will often be surprised coming around a bend or over a rise to see a fantastic view of the downtown skyline.

Overall most of the neighborhoods are clean and friendly with access to parks and shopping locally in nearly all of them. The city itself has done a good job of ensuring nearby schools (some are better than others) and libraries. Fire, EMS and police response is generally good lead to a safe and healthy city.

I've lived in or visited hundreds of cities and all of them including Austin have their positives and negatives but Austin is about as good as they get.