| Austin, Texas is no longer a hidden destination buried | | | | extremely vibrant. The music scene became know |
| in travel books. It is projected to grow in population. | | | | probably in the 60s when Janis Joplin and the Vaughn |
| About 30 of the Austin population has college | | | | brothers became known. Now, Austin has many |
| degrees compared to the US average of 27.0 have | | | | various festivals. The biggest one is South by South |
| graduate degrees compared to the US average of | | | | West or SXSW for short. It began as a music |
| 9.9%. A lot of this has to do with the University. | | | | conference for unknown bands all over the world, |
| Many students who come to Austin for school end | | | | music producers, and record labels to all meet up, |
| up not wanting to leave their beloved city. So, you | | | | hang out, and hopefully make some deals. Now, a lot |
| run into a lot of waiters and book store cashiers with | | | | of bigger bands play the circuit and labels have their |
| college degrees refusing to leave. | | | | showcases mixed in with the to-be-discovered. |
| The University is just north of the Capital of Texas, | | | | SXSW is more recently become a host to a major |
| which is pretty much the opposite vibe of UT. UT | | | | film and interactive festival as those industries are |
| has the young, huge crowd of kids finding | | | | growing more and more in Austin. Another more |
| themselves, and the state government has all the | | | | recent music festival that has become popular is The |
| politically driven players pushing ahead in their careers. | | | | Austin City Limits, which was a well known TV show, |
| This government component of Austin provides the | | | | and has now become a full-fledged 3 day event |
| city with all the various official establishments like the | | | | showcasing many popular bands. The art scene in |
| Texas School for the Deaf, the Texas School for the | | | | East Austin is growing each year as well, with the |
| Blind, the Texas Real Estate Commission, the | | | | East Austin Studio Tour and other various |
| Secretary of State, IRS, etc. The deaf and blind | | | | promotions. The film, music, and art in the city keep |
| schools are interesting in that they provide the city | | | | Austin well-balanced. |
| with a more diverse community of people. | | | | With all these different aspects of Austin, there is a |
| The tech sector, which is mostly huddled around up | | | | good mix of everything. All kinds of people live there, |
| north, brings another layer to the town. The big | | | | and almost everyone can find a place to be happy. |
| players are IBM, Dell, Sun, Intel (which is actually | | | | And the best part of it all is that everyone is just |
| south), NI, and AMD (actually south too). This keeps | | | | fine with each other. It is often that a mix of all |
| the programmers and computer people a dominant | | | | these people will be at different tables a t a coffee |
| sector in the Austin landscape. Many startups and | | | | shop and everyone respects each other, no matter |
| entrepreneurs have sprouted from the bringing | | | | which way you decided to go. They enjoy each |
| together of these people, which keeps the industry | | | | other's difference, and that is really what makes |
| vibrant. | | | | Austin a special place. |
| Then there is the music and film scene, which is | | | | |