About, Austin Texas

About Austin

Austin is the capital of the U.S. state of Texas and
the county seat of Travis County. Situated in the
region of Central Texas and the American
Southwest, it is the fourth-largest city in Texas and
the 16th-largest in the United States. According to
the demographer for Austin, the 2006 population
estimate stood at 718,912. The city is the cultural
and economic center of the Austin–Round Rock
metropolitan area with a population of over 1.5
million. Austin was selected as the #2 Best Big City
in "Best Places to Live" according to Money
magazine in 2006.[1]

The first documented settlement of current-day
Austin occurred in 1835, and the site was named
Waterloo in 1837. In 1839, Mirabeau B. Lamar
renamed the city in honor of Stephen F. Austin. Its
original name is honored by local businesses such
as Waterloo Ice House and Waterloo Records.
Austin is situated on the Colorado River and on
the Balcones Fault, which in much of Austin runs
roughly the same route as the MoPac expressway.

Residents of Austin are known as "Austinites" and
include a mix of university professors, students,
politicians, lobbyists, musicians, state employees,
high-tech workers, and blue collar workers. The
city is home to enough large sites of major
technology corporations to have earned the
nickname "Silicon Hills." Austin's official slogan
promotes the city as "The Live Music Capital of the
World", a reference to its status as home to many
musicians and music venues. In recent years,
several Austinites have also adopted the
unofficial slogan "Keep Austin Weird"; this refers
partly to the eclectic and progressive lifestyle of
many Austin residents, but is also the slogan for a
campaign to preserve smaller local businesses
and resist excessive commercialization.
History of Austin, Texas

Before the arrival of settlers from the United
States, the area that later became Austin was
inhabited by a variety of nomadic Native American
tribes, including the Tonkawa tribe, the
Comanches, and the Lipan Apaches. The first
permanent settlement of the area occurred in
1835, with the founding of the village of Waterloo
in 1837, and the renaming of the town to "Austin"
in 1839. In the late 19th century, the establishment
of several universities in the city (most notably the
University of Texas) made Austin a center of
education.
Country United States
State Texas
Counties Travis County, Williamson County
Government
- Mayor Will Wynn
Area
- City  296.25 sq mi (767.28 km²)
- Metro  4,285.7 sq mi (11,099.9 km²)
Population (2006)
- City 718,912
- Density 2,426.7/sq mi (936.96/km²)
- Metro 1,513,565
Time zone CST (UTC-6)
- Summer (DST) CDT (UTC-5)
Website: www.ci.austin.tx.us
Geography

Austin is located at 30°16′N, 97°45′W (30.266667,
-97.75)GR1 and is approximately 165m (541 ft)
above sea level. According to the 2000 census,
the city has a total area of 669.3 km² (258.4 mi²).
651.4 km² (251.5 mi²) of it is land and 17.9 km² (6.9
mi²) of it (2.67%) is water.

Austin is situated on the Colorado River, with
three man-made (artificial) lakes wholly within the
city limits: Town Lake, Lake Austin, and Lake Walter
E. Long. Additionally, the foot of Lake Travis,
including Mansfield Dam, is located within the
city's limits. Town Lake, Lake Austin, and Lake
Travis are all on the Colorado River. The city is
also situated on the Balcones Fault, which, in
much of Austin, runs roughly the same route as
the MoPac Expressway. The eastern part of the
city is relatively flat, whereas the western part and
western suburbs consist of scenic rolling hills on
the edge of the Texas Hill Country. Because the
hills to the west are primarily limestone rock with a
thin covering of topsoil, the city is subjected to
frequent flash floods from the excessive runoff
caused by thunderstorms. To help control this
runoff and to generate hydroelectric power, the
Lower Colorado River Authority operates a series
of dams that form the Texas Highland Lakes. The
lakes also provide venues for boating, swimming,
and other forms of recreation within several parks
located on the lake shores.


The view from Mount BonnellA popular point of
prominence in Austin is Mount Bonnell. At about
780 feet above sea level, it is a natural limestone
formation overlooking Lake Austin on the
Colorado River, approximately 200 feet below its
summit. From the observation deck, many fine
homes are visible.

The soils of Austin range from shallow gravelly
clay loams over limestone in the western outskirts
to deep fine sandy loams, silty clay loams, silty
clays or clays in the city's eastern part. Some of
the clays have pronounced shrink-swell
properties and are difficult to work under most
moisture conditions. Many of Austin's soils,
especially the clay-rich types, are slightly to
moderately alkaline and have free calcium
carbonate.