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City in Focus: Austin, Texas

Posted February 13, 2009 by Kate Dickman

The Texas’ capital is attracting a lot from the Happy Hearts Club.

From this year on, there’ll be more to high-tech, biotech and pharmaceutical companies that the city of Austin should be proud of. We’ve discovered three things that the city loves meet ups, green living and lifestyle.

Recently, Sperling’s Best Places named this Central Texas metropolis as the country’s best city for dating. Dating is a billion dollar contributor to the American market. Topping a list of 80 cities, Austin was judged in a set of criteria that included percentage of singles, number of dating venues, frequency of hooking up and population density. The report states, “Austin scores relatively high in everything, from frequency of dating partners to the number of establishments to meet people. Austin also has the highest percentage of 18-24-year-olds and knows how to have fun as they spent more money out socializing than any other area. Austin residents also had the highest expenditures on alcohol purchased away from home.”

Austin has also come a long way in its real estate development. Last year, it has introduced its first ever eco-friendly neighborhood in the southwest . The area is composed of 20 single-family homes equipped with the latest state of the art environmentally conscious home systems. Mueller , an urban village three miles from Austin, was chosen also last year by Natural Home magazine as one of America’s best green housing developments. The redevelopment project was cited for its sustainable efforts through the use of tankless water heaters, solar panels and programmable thermostats in the constructed homes.

Finally, the city is regarded by Money magazine as one of the Best Big Cities in the country in their annual Best Places to Live survey in 2006. Back then, home values in Austin were below than the average of the 100 cities’ home prices. It also did well in the air quality index, number of restaurants, bars, and public libraries – all scored higher than the average. Many regard it indeed as one of the best places to raise a family or start a business. Among the most popular transactions include the Austin Children’s Museum, Austin Museum of Art, the Texas State Capitol, and the George Washington Carver Museum.

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