Talk:Austin, Texas

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# January 2002–February 2007

[edit] Demographics Info

The racial breakdown of the population of Austin, TX on the Demographics Page does not add up. It adds up to over 120%. I don't know where to go to get the proper information to fix this. I just thought someone should know.

Someone merged the Hispanic / Latino statistics in with the rest. That's not how the Census does it: this is a separate notion from race. I'm sure that some disagree with this way of calculating things, but that's how they did it, so that's how it should be reported. Deh 14:10, 7 June 2007 (UTC)

• Yes, the Census Bureau considers Hispanic persons to be an ethnic group, not a race. At first this seems wrong, but when you consider that there are both Black and White Hispanics (for example, people from Haiti and other Caribbean islands are often Black Hispanics), their logic makes more sense. TheMindsEye 15:54, 7 June 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Addition to Culture Section: Volunteerism & Nonprofits

It would be informative to mention Austin's altruistic culture. The city has more nonprofit orgs per capita than most US cities (ranking 4th) and ranks 3rd (behind Minneapolis and Salt Lake City) in the nation for per capita volunteer hours given. Here are some references: http://www.dailytexanonline.com/home/index.cfm?event=displayArticlePrinterFriendly&uStory_id=541326f6-cef6-433a-b881-5566c1d5d84a http://www.nationalservice.gov/about/volunteering/cities.asp http://www.nationalservice.gov/pdf/VIA_CITIES/VIA_cities_austin.pdf Thanks! 70.124.64.228 18:12, 21 July 2007 (UTC)leftymama

[edit] Comparison to the Twin Cities

This analogy are rather daft. My hometown is Minneapolis but I've lived in Austin for quite awhile and Minneapolis:St. Paul IS NOT San Antonio:Austin or anywhere close. While Austin and San Antonio are very different cities separated by some areas with very little population (all the spaces between Buda, San Marcos, and New Braunfels), the Twin CIties are connected by relatively dense suburbs like Crystal. Also, the economies of the Twin Cities are highly interconnected, while the economies of Austin and San Antonio aren't integrated to any remarkable extent.

Agreed. Why not fix it? Also, please sign your comments by typing four tildes ~~~~. adamrice 14:23, 30 July 2007 (UTC)

My read of that sentence was simply that the combined population of Austin and San Antonio is similar to that of the Twin Cities, not that the cities were similar. To avoid confusion, however, I fixed the sentence. TheMindsEye 14:54, 30 July 2007 (UTC)

[edit] "An Island of Blue in a Sea of Red"

Austin is often referred to as "An Island of Blue in a Sea of Red" with regards to the 2004 presidential race.

I am removing this sentence -- there are 174 hits on google for "An Island of Blue in a Sea of Red", and of those only 8 mention Austin (one of which is this page). Jkraybill 04:07, 22 August 2007 (UTC)

Thanks. I was going to slap it with a fact tag, but since you did the research and found that the phrase was mostly original research then deleting it was the right thing to do. Dabomb87 13:33, 22 August 2007 (UTC)

If you search for "liberal oasis of Texas" on Google, however, all of the hits refer to Austin. I'm pretty sure the phrase was even used in National Geographic’s cover story some years ago, so it's even quotable to a reliable source if anyone wants to dig through the back issues to find it. —Angr/talk 16:55, 25 August 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Name that building

I've uploaded the Flickr image to Commons now. No idea if it's useful for anything in this article, though

Can anyone identify this building for me? I'd like to upload the photo to Commons, but I need to know what I'm uploading a picture of. It looks very familiar, but I haven't lived in Austin in 17 years, so I can't remember what it's called or even where it is. Thanks! —Angr/talk 00:18, 25 August 2007 (UTC)

Its the historic John Bremond, Jr. home. It currently houses the Texas Classroom Teachers Association. Their webpage with a photo tour of the house is at [1]. TheMindsEye 01:23, 25 August 2007 (UTC)

Thanks! It isn't the house I was thinking it was though -- I was thinking it was the Littlefield House, but the name wasn't coming to me last night. I have a second question about buildings in Austin. There used to be a skyscraper in downtown Austin made of reflective gold glass. When I look at recent photos of the Austin skyline, I don't see it. What was it called? Did it stand where the Frost Bank Tower now is? —Angr/talk 09:47, 25 August 2007 (UTC)

No, the Frost bldg is on Congress. The former gold building still stands, but it is now silver and is 5 or 6 blocks west of Congress. I think the story is that the reflectivity of the glass was causing problems, so they scrapped the gold off and put on a darker silver. Its also a bank. I think the building's name is Banc One. TheMindsEye 15:19, 25 August 2007 (UTC)

Is this the one? If so, it's much more attractive now. I always thought that gold thing was an eyesore. —Angr/talk 16:20, 25 August 2007 (UTC)

Yes, thats it. Curiously, they didn't change the window film on the lower, attached garage building - it still has 3-5 floors of offices with gold tint. I visited one of the offices and everything you see out the window has a goulhish green tint. TheMindsEye 16:33, 25 August 2007 (UTC)

Maybe the gold tint isn't bad on shorter buildings. There is (or used to be, as I said I haven't lived there in 17 years) a medical building somewhere near Seton in the Shoal Creek/38th Street/Medical Parkway vicinity that was also gold-tinted but not nearly as tall as the Bank One Tower. My orthodontist when I was a kid had his office in that building, so I was there a lot, but I can't say I remember a ghoulish green tint looking out the window. —Angr/talk 16:45, 25 August 2007 (UTC)

[edit] "Basically, anyone who wants a job can get one".

I'll see your unsourced generalization and raise you some anecdotal evidence... my brother-in-law, MBA from Duke, went without a job for two years before finally taking a job in San Antonio. Myself, a long-time software developer, jobless for nine months (and lucky to be hired) and then relocated to another city. People in a similar situation -- an IT manager, two other professional programmers -- whom I met while temping. Lots of people were laid off during the dot-com bust, and a lot of them had to leave Austin. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 75.111.197.14 (talk) 04:48, 21 September 2007 (UTC)

[edit] POV/unsourced issues ahoy

There are lots and lots and lots of jobs for people with degrees and without them. Basically, anyone who wants a job can get one in Austin.

Austin is a safe, free, freedom-loving, young, active, creative, cultural haven.

For better or worse, marijuana is widespread in Austin and many people have a relaxed attitude about it.

Amongst others... CryptoDerk 09:21, 23 September 2007 (UTC)

Si. There seems to have been a rather massive set of pov, uncited additions by 66.68.118.72 (talk · contribs) a few days ago. They all have a sort of essay feel to them. I'm thinking of simply removing them all until it can be referenced. Any objections? Kuru ^talk 14:03, 23 September 2007 (UTC)

You've got my support. jareha ^(comments) 05:11, 26 September 2007 (UTC)

Mine too. I noticed the same issues. Aldango 01:10, 30 September 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Sister Cities

Someone added Edmonton Alberta as one of the "official" sister cities of Austin. I reverted based on the Sister Cities International directory -- see [2] which cites Nashville as the only official sister city of Edmonton, and the current list of cities shown here as the only official ones for Austin. If I am missing something please feel free to fix. Jkraybill 15:55, 30 September 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Unsourced edits

I'm removing the table to the right, which has been tagged as needing a source since last May. If anyone can find a source for this information, feel free to re-add it. —Angr 17:42, 1 October 2007 (UTC)

[edit] How about a peer review?

Would it be a bad idea to request a peer review for this article? We could find out how we can improve this article and take the next step to bring it up to GA status. Dabomb87 16:58, 6 October 2007 (UTC)

Seconded. Derekbd 23:01, 22 October 2007 (UTC)

[edit] austin nickname atx

For some reason adding the nickname of "The ATX" to the austin page is being highly disputed. First, it wasn't accepted as a nickname, even though it is. Now people are saying that only one nickname per city is allowed, yet, any other city america has up to like 5 nicks. Quit removing it. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 66.69.211.96 (talk)

Please provide a reliable source showing that the nickname is in common use. —Angr 05:30, 19 November 2007 (UTC)

Whether or not this nickname should be included in the infobox or article may be a different debate altogether, but I can confirm that this nickname is in wide use from personal experience. The Google search for Austin+ATX yields quite a few results, including several businesses and a music festival that have adopted the abbreviation. It's used mostly by younger residents and in the hip-hop community, but it is verifiable. Here's a few articles from the Austin Chronicle that use it. [3] [4] [5] Eric (EWS23) 23:10, 21 November 2007 (UTC)

ATX is a very common nickname for Austin Texas if someone is too out of it to realize that, then they don't belong on here editing details about ATX. It's also nicknamed Cap City but I'll let that slide because other capitals might use that too. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 76.3.136.154 (talk) 08:19, 11 March 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Weather stats

I really don't understand where these weather stats are coming from, particularly the average highs. They don't at all match up with the figures cited from the NOAA (nor the Weather.com). Austin my be hot in the summer, but not quite so hot as the table indicates. I am going to change it to fall in line with the NOAA stats, which I find the most credible. Vertigo700 (talk) 07:52, 21 November 2007 (UTC)

[edit] State Capitol v National Capitol

Is the State Capitol larger than the National? This article says yes, but the State Capitol article says no. It has a source, so I've altered this article to match the other. 69.129.145.210 (talk) 09:53, 2 March 2008 (UTC)

[edit] region of the country

Austin and San Antonio are considered to be in the Southwest. Dallas and Houston are in the South. This was correct on the Austin page until someone changed it so it read that Austin was part of the American South. I cahnged it back to the way it should be. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Shanny2 (talk • contribs) 21:56, 16 March 2008 (UTC)

Why don't you look at a map or learn some geography. Austin isn't even in the western half of Texas, It's closer to Louisiana than it is to El Paso. The southwest is all desert, Austin is far from the desert, so is San Antonio. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 76.0.229.192 (talk) 17:52, 31 March 2008 (UTC)

Austin is very Southwestern. You have too also look into the culture of the area and its rich Tex-Mex flavor. To suggest that Austin is in the same region as Mississippi or Alabama is just insane, also the Southwest has a history of cattle and cattle drives, both of which closely relate to Austin. The Southwest was at one time Spanish colonies (with administration in Mexico), Austin and most of Texas falls into that. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Guanako512 (talk • contribs) 03:29, 7 April 2008 (UTC) Houston is considered in the south, so Austin should too, they share a lot of the same culture and Austin is the closest major city to Houston. Austin maybe the border of the south and southwest but it has alot more in common with the south including LOCATION.

Maybe on the whole it's Southern or Southwestern; but it could be transitional, a blend of both, not really either, or it could be more associated with one for some topics and with the other for other. Regardless, the description has changed back & forth in the article a few times without anyone providing a reference or trying to resolve via discussion first, so I've simply removed that particular description from the article. Deh (talk) 12:49, 9 April 2008 (UTC)

I strongly agree with Deh's solution. "but it could be transitional, a blend of both, not really either, or it could be more associated with one for some topics and with the other for other" is, in my experience, a perfect description. But more importantly, no one is providing a source, I doubt anyone can ever provide a definitive "I'm right you're wrong" source, and to top it all off, removing it altogether improves the flow of the first paragraph. --barneca (talk) 14:29, 9 April 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Culture

Why hasn't anybody added Austin's Hispanic Culture to the page. It is very appearent almost everywhere in Austin. The Convetion Center's website has a whole page on it [6]. Hispanics make up well over a third of the city's population and have added countless contributions to the cultural landscape. Together with the San Antonio area Austin marks the beggining to the culture of Latin America, which extends down into the Latin Countries. I am going to add it and anybody who wants to also, can add stuff in. Guanako512 (talk) 03:06, 17 April 2008 (UTC)

[edit] History Merge Proposal

I propose that the History section be summarized and any information not already in the article on the History of Austin, Texas be moved from this section to that article. --Danorton (talk) 18:55, 11 May 2008 (UTC)

I agree, since there is definitely some overlap between the two.EagleAg04 (talk) 20:25, 3 July 2008 (UTC)

I also think that we should merge the articles. Dabomb87 (talk) 22:05, 28 July 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Movie Theaters in Culture:Theaters subsection?

The Culture:Theaters subsection starts with "Austin also has a strong theater culture, with dozens of itinerant and resident companies producing a wide variety of work." This suggests to me that the subsection is about stage theater, generally, not just about buildings, and certainly not about media, so I felt that the mention of the Alamo Drafthouse in this section was inappropriate. Furthermore, it lacked specificity (there are five in Austin, five more in Texas and at least one more in another state), it was not of encylopedic notability and it did not indicate how it might be considered notable. I deleted the paragraph and my deletion was reverted. I'd like to discuss what belongs in that section and what doesn't and/or if reorganizing might help. Here's some of the history

• 2008-03-14T01:36:07 - Alamo Drafthouse paragraph added to "Media" section
• 2008-03-14T09:18:22 - Alamo Drafthouse paragraph moved to new "Theaters" section
• 2008-05-12T18:37:14 - User:Danorton (talk) removed Alamo Drafthouse paragraph
• 2008-05-12T22:02:30 - Reverted, restoring Alamo Drafthouse paragraph to "Theaters" section

--Danorton (talk) 02:57, 13 May 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Transportation - freeways

The section mentioning that it is the largest city in the US served by only one interstate highway is somewhat misleading. The entire San Francisco Bay Area is served only by one interstate highway - I-80. However, there are also auxiliary highways that loop around the bay area. (280, 680, 580, 880, etc.) These are extensions of I-80 and do not extend outside of the Bay area, so would definately not be 'interstates'. San Francisco itself is larger than Austin, and is only served by I-80 and 280. I-80 is barely in San Francisco (just the brief section fo the bay bridge in the Austin city limits.) 280 travels a slightly further distance in San Francisco and almost connects to 80.

12.161.86.130 (talk) 04:55, 21 June 2008 (UTC)

San Francisco's page on Wikipedia gives an area that shows the city itself is smaller than the city of Austin. Therefore, the comment is correct.

Kristiansr (talk) 07:02, 26 June 2008 (UTC)kristiansr (talk) 1:59, 26 June 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Helpful links

I think it would be helpful to add links to sites that give an overview of Austin for people looking to move here. I just recently moved here and after not finding anything here searched Google, and eventually found something. Since this is the first place many people look to for information it would be great if there were a link to a site that gives an overview of these things.Jesper.White (talk) 05:05, 9 July 2008 (UTC)

• Welcome to Wikipedia, Jesper! Sorry that you weren't able to easily find what you were looking for. An link to The Greater Austin Chamber of Commerce was given in the External Links section of the article, which contains information about moving to Austin. What type of information were you be interested in? Wikipedia is not a travel guide, but the information can be added if it is appropriate. EagleAg04 (talk) 13:28, 9 July 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Lead image

FYI, a release has been secured from original photographer for Image:Austin TX skyline from Lou Neff Point.jpg, which was added by User:Sedsa1 in this edit, in case you want to put it back in the infobox. Not being familiar with Austin, I didn't feel comfortable with replacing the infobox image. Thanks. howcheng {chat} 17:50, 16 July 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Page Protection from Unregistered Users

I don't know about you, but I'm fed up with the vandalism from shared IP addresses. I propose we request page protection so that this article can only be edited by registered (logged-in) users.

Comments? --Danorton (talk) 23:12, 2 September 2008 (UTC)

Sure, why not? Dabomb87 (talk) 23:24, 2 September 2008 (UTC)

You can put in a request if you want, but it will probably be denied. This is a fairly high profile article, and the recent levels of IP vandalism (one or two incidents a day) aren't really that unusual. As a comparison, I just put in a request for semi-protection of the George Washington article, it had been hit with vandalism about 30 times in the last day and a half. AlexiusHoratius 23:35, 2 September 2008 (UTC)

Speculation aside on what others might do, what are your thoughts and feelings about it? --Danorton (talk) 00:24, 3 September 2008 (UTC)

Four incidents of vandalism in the last two weeks probably does not warrant protection. EagleAg04 (talk) 02:52, 3 September 2008 (UTC)