Population: 657,000 (City only)
Predominant Languages: English, Spanish
Demographics:
30% Hispanic, 10% Black, 45% White
51% Men, 49% Women
15 – 19 7%
20 – 24 13%
25 – 34 21%
Newspaper: Austin American-Statesman
Culture:
If you’re young, like to party, or have a wild artistic personality, Austin is for you. If you’re a techy, an up-and-coming businessman, honors student, or love the outdoors, Austin for you. How is this possible? Austin has something for everyone, and once you’re here, you may not want to leave. There is more to see and do here than you could possibly fit into a day, and just when you think you ‘know” Austin, you’ll hear about somewhere new. It’s impossible to describe just how diverse Austin is. Any new culture or trend is immediately assimilated into the city’s character. The weirder and more far-fetched it is, the more popular it becomes.
Austin grew into its current popularity in the later 60’s during the time of the protests against the Vietnam War. Austin was at the forefront of protests against the US involvement in the war, fueled by the campus of University of Texas. It was for this reason that the hippy movement came to and settled into Austin and the surrounding countryside.
Nowadays, Austin is the equivalent of silicone valley for the central United States, being home to the Dell Headquarters. There are tons of computer-based jobs in and around the city. This is not to say that it has lost any hippy flair. Instead, the hippy culture has assimilated into the business environment and created a unique atmosphere that can only be experienced. This is most evident in South Austin, which is considered the main artistic and musical portion of the city. North Austin has grown into a dose of mainstream reality, having most of the local shopping centers and chain businesses. South Austin promotes local business and unique products instead of big business, mass production, stores. Think of south Austin as boutique shopping, while North is more Wal-Mart. Don’t believe me? Just stop by local head shop The Gas Pipe and get acquainted with the under-culture of South Austin.
With the campus of University of Texas splashed all over downtown, St. Edwards university just south of downtown, and Texas State University just down the road, there is always an abundance of youth in the city, and as I will detail later, that has very beneficial effects on the nightlife and culinary scene in Austin.
Getting There:
Located just north of San Antonio, Austin is near the center of the “Texas-Triangle” that is Dallas, Houston, and San Antonio. So getting there depends on you time and budget constraints. If you’re living outside Texas, don’t fool yourself, pay for the airplane ticket, it’s a big state and you don’t want to drive through North or especially West Texas. . Here are the drive times from some cities around Texas.
San Antonio – 1hr
Houston – 2.75hrs
Dallas – 3hrs
Air -
Southwest Airlines is always a good bet for airline deals in the Southern United States but a recent addition to the Austin airport is JetBlue Airlines, so make sure to check them both out.
Car -
Renting a car to travel around Texas isn’t a bad idea. Driving around isn’t like in the Chainsaw Massacre at all. Most small town people are very friendly and will help you out when you’re in a jam. Once in Austin you might still need the car to get back and forth to the different hotspots located in the Hillcountry and inner city. It totally depends on the type of experience you want to get from your trip. A drive through the unpopulated Texas backcountry really gives you that old-school feeling of what most people think of when they hear Texas. On the other had, once you’re in Austin for one night you’ll forget everything you thought you knew. Hertz
Bus -
If you’re short on cash, this is the best way to get around Texas. It isn’t really a joke when people say that everything is bigger in Texas. As long as you’re down for hanging out with strangers in close proximity for a couple hours, you’ll be fine, and end up with a little more cash on hand for your nights out. Greyhound
Train -
I would only suggest this if a nuclear explosion hit the greyhound bus-yard and all flights were grounded due to global warming. Texas isn’t exactly at the forefront of public transportation. Amtrak is the only major carrier that can get you around by train, but for the sake of time and your sanity, spend a little extra money and take a bus or better yet fly.
Getting Around:
Downtown Austin has a great shuttle system, and everything is so close that you can probably walk wherever you’re going downtown. Outside of that, the metro buses to get out an about to the various locations of interest around the city are a little lacking; I would rent a scooter or small car.
Depending on when you’re going, Austin Metro has plans for a light rail system that will help get you around, but this system isn’t up and running yet. Check their site for updates.
Weather:
Austin has one of the more mild climates in Texas. Though it does still get hot in the summer, and chilly in the winter, the amount of humidity is a lot less than San Antonio or Houston. The summers are just as warm as anywhere else in Texas. You can expect mid to upper 90s, occasionally some low 100s. The winter months are very short, November to January, and even during this time you’ll have days where it’s freezing in the morning and warm by mid-day.
Where to go:
Parks and Outdoor Recreation
Austin is the capital of Texas, but there is a lot more to see while visiting the city than just the capital building, and the good thing is it won’t all cost you money. Austin is home to tons of outdoor activities, parks, hiking trails, and beautiful scenery. The City of Austin Homepage has a full listing of all the outdoor and municipal activities available to the public.
Town Lake
I would strongly suggest that if you are visiting Austin during the warmer months, you rent a kayak and wander around Town Lake. Here is a place I like to use, pretty good prices. At the very least, you should take time to make one lap around the Town Lake trail.
Alamo Drafthouse
Another experience you might enjoy while in Austin is at The Alamo Drafthouse. Here you can watch a movie while eating dinner or having some drinks with friends. The Drafthouse regularly plays foreign films and will publicize different theme nights, like free pizza for the screening of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.
South Congress
If you want to wander around, South Congress has some great shops and stands during the weekends. They are all located south of the river, so if you’re staying downtown, you may have to do a little walking. Once you get there, it will be worth it. The local shops are just as outlandish and diverse as some of the restaurants you’ll find. If you happened to see Quentin Tarantino’s Death Proof, this is the stretch of Austin highlighted in the opening scene of the movie, you’ll also find the infamous Guero’s taco bar here.
Nightlife:
For me to tell you exactly where to go in Austin would be very naive. Instead, I’ll suggest some times and areas when you can explore on your own to find a good time. The Austin nightlife scene is huge, way more than could be described in one entry in this blog.
4th - 6th Street
If you haven’t heard of 6th street, it’s arguably the best stretch of partying and nightlife you can find in Texas. The general layout of downtown is a grid with the streets going North and South having names of famous landmarks in Texas, Politicians, Historical figures, you get the point. Alternately, streets running East/West are numbered lowest to highest starting with the Southern most street, 1st Street. This will help you find your way around once downtown.
Clubs are classified into two sections, East and West 6th. 18 and up clubs, as well as some new entrants to the nightlife scene, such as club Pure, are down on the East side of 6th. As you move further West on 6th, the clubs begin having an older crowd. At the furthest Western side of 6th is Union Park, a really nice bar with a rooftop lounge.
While downtown, don’t be surprised if you run into Leslie, either read the linked article to clue yourself in or wait and ask people downtown for a surprise.
In recent years, clubs, bars, and restaurants have been moving into the warehouse district, located just south of the 6th street party scene on 4th and 5th streets. While 5th street has been branded as home to the Gay and Lesbian scene, there are other clubs and bars for the straight crowd.
4th Street has some of my favorite places to go. Expect to spend a little more money here, as the venues are a bit more chic. Again, a little pre-partying goes a long way as far as your wallet is concerned.
Here is a link to a local site that will give you a little more detailed information on where to go while you on 6th.
Remember that as much as you plan on where to go, you won’t really know until you get down there. Austin has such a huge nightlife that it would be silly to think you could know exactly where the night will take you. Just get down there and let the night take you where it will, you’ll have a good time no matter where you are on the strip, and if not, go next door.
ACL
Here is one of the big attractions that Austin has to offer. This is one of the few events I would suggest making an actual trip out of. Austin City Limits is a three-day music festival that highlights some local bands, but has some really good talent from around the nation. Previous headliners have been Tom Petty, John Mayer, and Common, to name a few. The city gets packed around this time with college students from around Texas and surrounding states making the trip down specifically for the festival, so make travel arrangements early. Tickets might be a problem, they can be found cheapest straight from the Austin City Limits official website. If you miss out on the online tickets, one slightly risky alternative would be purchasing tickets at the gates from scalpers. Scalpers will be all over the place when you walk up to Zilker Park, and sometimes you can find decent deals on tickets, but be careful, you never know what you might be buying.
I would strongly suggest getting a bunch of friends together and make this a weekend long party, but if not don’t worry, meeting people at the festival isn’t very hard. The entire city is one huge party for the entire weekend ACL is going on, so rest up before you go down.
SXSW
South by Southwest (SXSW) is another festival Austin is famous for. Unlike ACL, SXSW features musical acts from around the globe, trade shows, highlighted discussions, and film presentations. This festival engulf the entire city in what some locals say is a revival of the, taking Austin back to its hippy beginnings.
Unlike ACL, SXSW is not centered in one specific area, and to try and list the bands that play in Austin during the festival would be exhausting. Just know that this is a great time to visit Austin and once you’re there, pick up some local music guides from any neighborhood music store or bar to find some great places with live music to check out.
Eating:
Austin has some great food, and the restaurants décor is just as diverse as their menus. There is everything from traditional Mexican to Vietnamese, if you can think of it, chances are there is a restaurant that specializes in it. Here are some of my favorites that you may want to try.
Chuy’s – Great Tex-Mex restaurant with some modern spins on traditional Mexican dishes. The owners of Chuy’s also have some other concept restaurants around Austin that are worth checking out. The price isn’t too bad, reasonable for the atmosphere. Defiantly try some margaritas while you’re here.
Dirty Martin’s – Arguably the best cheeseburger in TX, Dirty Martin’s has some good ol’ fashioned Burger and fries combination that will easily make you heart clog a bit, stomach expand, and it wont be long before you take a nap in true Texas fashion. A great meal after a long night.
Austin Java – One of my favorite places to hang out with friends after a late night. Austin Java serves breakfast all day, their migas plate and a cup of coffee will run about $10. Austin Java also has free WiFi, which comes in handy when you’re trying to write blog entries but you’ve got a pestering headache.
Although these are some great restaurants that you probably wont find to far outside of Austin, there are even more that I have never tried. I would strongly suggest making your own way around the city and pop in somewhere that looks interesting.
As far as a price determinant goes, one good local menu item to use when determining the overall price of the restaurant would probably be a margarita. Any price over $5-6 is way to high, unless its top shelf or bigger than the average bear. It’s hard to pick one specific item that will be on most menus, but a margarita is a Texas favorite that should be just about everywhere.
Austin is a great city with tons to do and if you have the chance to visit, I strongly suggest you take it. There is way more to do in the city than what I have outlined, but the only way to experience this city is to walk around and get lost. Austin is truly a unique city, with one of a kind shops, restaurants, and character all its own. Try and make your experience here just as unique as the city. Walk around as much as possible and take in the distinctive vibe of the city, you won’t regret it.
