July 2008

According to the Dallas Business Journal, the Austin City Council has made its decision about developing the Green Water Treatment Plant area.  In a unanimous decision, the Council selected partnership through Trammell Crow Co to complete the amazing transformation.

This redevelopment initiative will be the largest one to ever take place in the downtown Austin area and is expected to have quite an impact on the Austin economy.  In fact, the development is expected to offer numerous employment opportunities and will bring in up to $700 million in taxes.

The new development, which can be seen in the rendering above, will include lodging, retail space, apartments, condos, and offices.  In all, the development will comprise of 2.6 million square feet of

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Although the housing market has slowed down a bit in Austin when compared to last year’s market, the city still continues to go strong when compared to other cities around the country.  In fact, according to the Austin Business Journal, the construction of new homes in the area actually went up by 22% when comparing the first and second quarters of 2008.

According to Residential Strategies Inc, which is located in Dallas, area builders started construction on 2,814 homes during the second quarter this year.  Despite being 19% less than the number of homes started in the first quarter of 2007, that is still significantly more than the 2,303 homes that were started during the first quarter of 2008.  In addition, while the annual number of new home

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Although Austin’s housing market has managed to remain strong when compared to other markets throughout the country, the city has seen a little trouble when it comes to the office space market.  In fact, many landlords have been looking at the possibility of having to lower rent in order to draw in and retain tenants.  While this may be good news for businesses looking to save some money on office rental, it is not particularly good for landlords.

Fortunately, some experts believe that Austin may be on its way to bouncing back from its minor stumble.  In fact, the Austin Business Journal reports that vacancies within the central business district went from 16.1% in the first quarter to 15.5% in the second quarter.  In addition, the average rent for

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Austin is known for being on the cutting edge in a variety of ways, and this is certainly true when it comes to the medical practice within the city.  In fact, Austin doctors are teaching other doctors around the world about an innovative new technology that allows them to perform surgery without even needing to be in the same room as their patients.

With the help of this technology, surgeons can save time by performing delicate procedures on patients without having to actually travel to where they are located.  According to KEYE TV, the Heart Hospital of Austin is one of just five hospitals in the entire world that are able to transmit live surgery to other doctors in order to help them improve their medical knowledge.  In fact, one of the hospitals

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If you are a fan of tap dancing, you will be thrilled to learn that the International Tap Association has recently moved its headquarters to Austin.  In the process, it also named Acia Gray as its new president.  Gray, who was the co-founder and Artistic Director of Tapestry Dance Company, is well-known within the tap dancing community and is viewed as one of the most innovative tap dancers in the industry.

It is quite an honor for the City of Austin to become the new headquarters for the International Tap Association, which has over 1000 members located throughout 28 different countries.  The goal of the association is to promote a greater understanding of tap while also preserving the art form and further developing the special type of dance.  Another

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Newsweek recently listed Austin as among the “Hot New Tech Cities.”  According to the magazine, many new places around the country are popping up and giving Silicon Valley a challenge for the title of tech headquarters of the country – and Austin is among the cities leading the pack.

Of course, the fact that Austin is home to Michael Dell has certainly helped Austin snag this recognition, but the honor wasn’t bestowed upon Austin simply because of Dell’s presence.  Rather, the fact that nearly 2,000  high tech companies can be found in the region and that nearly 20% of the areas workforce is employed in the high-tech field certainly has something to do with it. 

“It takes an entrepreneur to think there’s life outside of Silicon Valley,” Joseph

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The sixth annual Keep Austin Weird 5k recently took place, and it was certainly a grand celebration and tribute to the weirdness of the city that was enjoyed by many.  In fact, according to Statesman.com, 3,000 runners participated in the mini-marathon and they were decked out in a wide variety of fun, interesting and, well, weird costumes.

Despite the 100 degree heat, the runners came out to Auditorium Shores to let loose and have a little fun.  Of course, there were some serious competitors as well. One of these was this year’s winner, Derek Yorek, who wore nothing but a race bib and a green Speedo.

Yorek, whose best 5k time is 14:22, was on his way to completing the run at under 15 minutes once again until a spectator got in his way.

"This lady

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Austin is the proud home of the Lake Austin Spa Resort, which was recently ranked as the number one destination spa in all of North America.  The special designation was awarded to the spa based on the results of a reader’s poll in the Conde Nast Traveler.  Of course, the fact that the people chose the resort as the number one destination spa makes the recognition even more special.

Conde Nast readers aren’t the only ones that adore the spa resort.  In fact, it also received recognition as one of the best vacation spas in Allure last month. 

The resort has earned this recognition for many reasons.  In part, it is due to the simple charm and elegance of the buildings as well as the antique fixtures and décor found throughout the resort.  The spa also

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This past Saturday, the Austin Police Department held a special Police Fair in North Central Austin.  The point of the fair was to give officers the opportunity to reach out to residents and to let them know they are there to help.  The fair was also organized as a way to help residents better understand the services that are available through the police department as well as other related agencies.  The primary goal of the fair, however, was simply to create an open line of communication between the police department and its residents.

"They're a wealth of information. If we can break through the barrier that there's really a lot of communication that can take place and we can help each other. They can help us with things that are going on in their

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As part of its effort to make Austin more eco-friendly, the City of Austin is working toward making all of its vehicles “carbon neutral.”  In fact, the city plans to have all 4,400 of its vehicles “green” by the year 2020.

By utilizing vehicles that are carbon neutral, the city hopes to dramatically reduce its carbon emissions.  Of course, going green with their vehicles is only one component of this eco-friendly plan, as the city also intends to plant trees in order to help absorb the carbon that is in the air.

"We need to be serious about this issue and take action," Jake Stewart, who is the manager of Austin’s Climate Protection Plan, told Statesman.com. "We want to set an example that this is not something we should sit on our hands about.

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