Let’s face it, there are a lot of cities in the US, so for Austin to consistently rate as one of the best to live in, it has to have something the others don’t.
Austin has always been a popular city being the capital, but people are moving there in bucket loads as more and more reports surface of it being the best city in which to live, work and play.
Culture
Technically, Austin is full of students, politicians, lobbyists and business people but Austin also prides itself on its live music and entertainment, which helps to counter balance all the other boring people. They go so far as even calling themselves ‘the live music capital of the world’. Those are some pretty big boots don’t you think?
With due credit though, Austin has become a fighting ground for the minorities, the quirky and the eccentric. The slogan
‘Keep Austin Weird’ was even brandished about in the face of commercial businesses moving into the city, diminishing the amount of home grown and pre- loved businesses already established.
And good on them. No one wants to visit a boring city, so the fact that Austin has fought so valiantly for the title of being a ‘weird city’ is pretty impressive and gets points for all things underdog.
Things to Do
At a glance, Austin is good at music, entertainment, education, politics and e- business. The most notable being music and entertainment because business, education and politics are hardly as fun to do when you’re on holiday.
The central leisure/ entertainment district is around 6th Street (right), which includes a vibrant selection of live theater venues, nightclubs, music bars and food outlets. East 6th Street is for the bars and pubs, West 6th Street is for shopping. The Warehouse District is also grouped with 6th Street and is known for live music venues also. For reference, keep an eye out for your favorite artist at The Backyard, which is always showing someone really famous and worth listening to.
The top selection of things to do in Austin include midnight treks to 6th Street for a cocktail or two or seven, shopping at the European-esque grocer Central Market, and visiting the State Capitol of Texas building which was built in 1888 and stands at 311 feet!
Typically weird are the Congress Avenue Bats, the largest colony of bats (below) in Northern America, which fly through sunset skies in season behind the Austin American Statesman building.
For the best view of the city, go to Mount Bonnell which also looks out over Lake Austin and surrounding Hill Country. Beware, there are 99 steps to climb.
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By Leah Bradicich
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