Austin By Numbers

By: Dane Smith Posted on: 2007-11-07 Downloads: 49 ** Print Article ** ** Copy Article ** Please Rate this Article 5 out of 54 out of 53 out of 52 out of 51 out of 5  Not yet Rated

Article Summary: Austin, Texas is drawing people from both coasts and around the US. It's not just the rolling hills and charming neighborhoods that are attracting the population growth. In this article, we talk numbers and facts that are making Austin an appealing place to call home.

Austin is one of America's hot list cities. The housing is affordable. The landscape is pretty with rolling hills to the west and fields to the east. The weather is pleasant in the spring, fall, and winter, with summer being bearable, even welcomed by heat-lovers. The music, art, and film scenes are thriving and growing with new festivals like Austin City Limits and those established like the worldwide conference South By Southwest, otherwise known as SXSW. There's something for everyone from rockabilly to folk music and cycling clubs to marathon teams. So, in short, it's a cool place to hang your hat. But what are the facts? Let's talk about some of Austin's numbers regarding education, jobs, and other random numbers.

39.1 have graduate degrees. A large part of this is that one of the largest universities (if not the largest now) is located in the heart of the city, just north of downtown. With almost 50,000 students, the University of Texas at Austin supplies the city with all kinds of top talent, being a top school for many of its divisions like computer science, business, nursing, pharmacy, architecture, and engineering.

Also due to the large university, Austin has a high number of research and development firms. There 4.9 R&D employees per capita, which is 120, and of the 100 largest economic cities in the nation, Austin came in at 39 for the number of total jobs. The unemployment rate is 4 of the total Texas GDP and 0.5 renewable energy. Austin is known for its green incentives. They pay for over half of your solar panels, if you are willing and your home qualifies for enough sun. Free low-flow toilets are available. And rebates are given out to those who get higher energy efficient A/Cs and washers / dryers. There are 2.5 airplane boardings per capita. Austin's new international airport provides the city with more than enough services with room to grow. There is 79.8 miles of public transit per capita, which is quite less than half the national average. Austin does have a bit of traffic woes at 8am and 5pm, but nothing like 5 hour commutes. The city aims to absorb growth vertically rather than sprawl to help relieve the traffic issues. 75.2% of the population lives in high-broadband areas. This fact is probably roots from UT being part of the pre-cursor to the internet, attracting high-tech businesses and starting Austin on its tech track.

There is no doubt that Austin has become one of the most livable and attractive cities to move to over the past couple years. The secret is out. Not only is Austin a great place to live because of the hills, lake, and pretty sunsets, but there are numbers to back it up.

Article Source: http://www.upublish.info

About the Author:
Dane Smith
Ki Gray is a real estate agent for Austin real estate properties.