About Austin, TX"Live Music Capital of the World"
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Austin is the Best Place for Business in the U.S.Austin is the best place for business in the U.S., according to Moody's Economy.com Inc. Moody's, an independent economic research firm, reported that the Austin -Round Rock Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA) earned the top spot over almost 400 metropolitan areas tracked by the company's economic vitality index. In the last index, published in March 2007, Austin -Round Rock MSA ranked seventh. Austin Accolades
Austin Large Businesses
What They Are Saying About Austin Austin again makes Men's Journal's list of '50 Best Places to live'- this time at number 35. The city also received the 'Best Nightlife' accolade, beating out New York City; was third on the city with the 'Best Women'; fourth 'Fastest Growing Cities' and fifth 'Smartest' city. American Style magazine chooses Austin eighth as a 'Top 25 US Arts Destination'. Austin-based companies, Whole Foods Market (ranked 30) and National Instruments (ranked 40) make Fortune magazine's list of '100 Best Companies to Work For.' Austin came in sixth in a study by Silicon Valley naming the nation's top tech hubs. The study compared business and quality-of-life issues, claiming Austin has affordable housing electricity and state taxes. The Austin area ranked third on Forbes magazine's 'Best Places' for business and careers, giving the Capital City high marks for education attainment, net migration to the area and the cost of doing business in the region. Austin again makes an appearance on Forbes magazine's 'The Top 10 Places for Business' - this time ranking third. Visa USA Inc.'s 2004 'Innovation Index' names Austin first on the 'Top 10 Places Where Ideas Happen'. According to Dog Fancy, Austin is one of the top 10 cities to be a dog. Each year, Intel ranks the top 100 U.S. Cities and regions with the greatest number of commercial and public wireless Internet access points and Austin ranks third. Austin earns the number two spot on Vegetarian Times' 'Ten Greenest Cities' list. Austin is number one for the second consecutive year on Hispanic magazine's, 'Top 10 Cities for Hispanics to Live In' list. Runner's World names Austin11th of the '25 Best Running Cities in America'. (July 2005) and 'the Coolest Host City' for the annual Motorola Marathon. The American Hiking Society named the Barton Creek Greenbelt number two on its 'top 10 walking trails'. Each of the trails named can be completed in 60 to 90 minutes and are within 10 to 15 miles of a major metro area. The city proves it's a world-class destination for 'fat-tire fun', when Men's Journal makes Austin's trails #2 on its list of 'The Ten Best Fall Mountain Bike Rides'. Austin ranks eighth of 'America's CLeanest Cities,' according to Reader's Digest. MovieMaker magazine names Austin as number two in its 'Top 10 Cities for MovieMakers,' an annual ranking of the 'best cities for independents to live and make movies.' The Capital City has appeared on this notable list for five consecutive years. Austin ranks Highest in Home buyer Satisfaction. Customer satisfaction is based on 10 factors, including warranty and customer services, home readiness, sales staff, construction manager, quality of workmanship and materials, price and value, physical design elements, builder's design center, recreational facilities, and location. For the third straight year, Austin ranks in the top three places among the 150 metro area ranked by Forbes magazine on such criteria as Business Costs, Living Costs, Number of Engineers, Crime Rates, Job Growth, and Employment Rates. Austin ranked #2 Large Market for Families to Relocate. Among criteria considered were cost of living, taxes, home costs/appreciation, schools, climate, commute times, out-of-state tuition rules at local universities, and regulation of long-term care facilities. Only Washington D.C. rated higher than Austin. Austin comes in #6 in Sustainable US Cities Rating. SustainLane.com based its sustainability ratings on a survey of 25 cities in 12 major categories. Among t items examined were clean air, clean water, local foods, and city revitalization employing green building techniques as well as ways cities were addressing such global issues as climate change, loss of bio diversity and environmental toxins. Kiplinger's Your Money named Austin one of 'seven locations that are perfect for young professionals'. These cities all have a healthy head count of people under 30 and a solid or improving job market. Manpower ranked Austin #10 in its Four Quarter 2005 Employment Outlook Survey. The recruiting company's survey of employers showed that 41 percent of Austin area companies planned to hire more employees and none expected to reduce their payrolls. Yahoo HotJobs Lists Austin in Top Ten cities for work-life balance. The online recruiter compiled its list using its own research and data from the U.S. Census Bureau and the U.S. Bureau of Labor and Statistics comparing population growth, cost of living, access to medical care, average commute times, and availability of recreational activities. According to Forbes magazine, only Virginia is a better place to conduct business than Texas. The Lone Star State was rated among the best in population growth, transportation, tort climate and cost of living. It also has the largest number of companies with $1 billion in sales. Austin Nature SceneAustin considers itself to be the "gateway to the hill country" with many natural parks, lush landscape, and water throughout. The focus of outdoor activity in Austin centers on the Townlake area which sets along the western edge of the city, separating the flat prairies from the rolling hills. Three lakes surround the city, with Town Lake bisecting downtown. Some 10 miles of hike-and-bike trails border the lake.
Austin Top 10 Lists10 BEST BIG CITIES1. Colorado Springs, CO 50 SMART PLACES TO LIVE1. Nashville, TN TOP 50 SMARTEST CITIES1. Seattle, WA TOP 10 CITIES FOR WALKING1. Portland, OR TOP 10 CITIES FOR MOVIEMAKERS1. New York, NY THE 50 CLEANEST CITIES IN AMERICA1. Portland, OR TOP 10 HEALTHIEST CITIES IN AMERICA1. San Jose, CA TOP 10 WIRELESS CITIES1. Seattle-Bellvuew-Everett-Tacoma, WA TOP 10 HOT CITIES FOR ENTREPRENEURS1. Phoenix-Mesa, AZ TOP 10 METROS FOR FUTURE BUSINESS1. Austin-Round Rock, TX Austin '5 Best Places to Sell a HomeHome sales are in a slump, but not everywhere. These five cities, because of lack of room to overbuild or a population influx, are still seller's markets. By Matt Woolsey, Forbes.com Forbes.com slide show: Top seller's markets Housing crunch makes moving workers rough Don't let your yard sabotage home sale If you've got property for sale, chances are you're in a bind: On top of that, the fallout from subprime lending, the subsequent tightening of credit and lending standards and the recent rise in long-term Treasury yields have shrunk the pool of eligible buyers. Yet, not every market follows national trends, and despite the industry's overall problems, there are still cities where sellers have the upper hand. The best way to judge a buyer's versus a seller's market is a simple supply-demand analysis of housing The top tierMoody's Economy.com chief economist Mark Zandi points out that the best-performing markets are those that had barriers to overproduction during the housing boom. In the case of San Francisco, which ranked second on our list, it's an issue of geography: There is little space for growth or new development, and the local government doesn't do much to encourage new construction. Strong in-migration stemming from local economic strength is another factor keeping demand high. New houses being built isn't a problem if new people are moving to town. This scenario is playing out in Raleigh, N.C., the No. 1 city on our list. Moderate growth and disciplined building over the past five years prevented the market from developing a significant glut. Additionally, a strong local economy has helped contribute to the city's healthy 1.6% vacancy rate. What's more, the rate of home sales against home inventory was healthy in Raleigh; in this category, it ranked fifth best of big cities, according to Moody's metrics. Even though the market has low vacancy to begin with and displayed strong construction restraint during the housing boom, Raleigh still has the eighth-best rate of tightening. Similarly, strong in-migration and local economic pop make Austin, Texas, a seller's market. It finished fourth overall in sales rate to inventory size and has the fifth-best home-price appreciation figures of the large markets Moody's measured. Its mediocre 14th-best market-tightening ranking can be attributed, in large part, to its small inventory excess. Austin's vacancy rate is 1.5%, which is also where the national average stood during the most recent housing boom. In other words, that low a vacancy rate indicates a housing market at close to full capacity. While the market isn't going gangbusters for investment, sellers in these markets are faring much better than their counterparts across the country. Top cities for home sellers:
Website: www.Forbes.com
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Nestled along the rolling hills and lakes of Central Texas, Austin serves as the the capital of Texas. This great city has many things to offer from it's educational facilities and world-renowned entertainment complexes offering live music, the arts, culture and outdoor adventure. Austin's population of 1.4 million people are considered to consist of a highly trained workforce in areas of technology, manufacturing and research. Companies flock to the area for Austin's excellent quality of life, moderate cost of living and vast resources and the laid-back
lifestyle. Austin is hip and trendy, yet in a vintage sort of way. It's high-tech and laid-back. It's politically charged and culturally rich. It's eclectic by nature and creative by design. Most of all, it's a place where people like to have a good time