Austin, Texas routinely rates at the top of various national surveys as one of the best cities in the nation to live, and for good reasons.  Known as the Live Music Capital of the World, due as much to the diversity as the frequency of live music in the area, Austin has much to offer in terms of culture, living standards, and just plain fun.  Located in the Hill Country of Texas, Austin is almost as well known for its natural beauty as for its live music scene. 

For most of its history, Austin’s main industries and employment opportunities were based around politics and education.  The Texas State Capital presides over the downtown area and the largest university in the state, UT Austin, dominates the center of the city.  In the past couple of decades, however, the computer industry set up camp, drawing residents from around the state and nation to live and work in this growing industry and creating a population explosion throughout the Central Texas region.  Bustling with youthful energy, Austin has also become a cultural mecca of the South, drawing in creative types, and establishing a healthy scene in filmmaking, music, and the arts.  Despite the expected rise in property values due to all the attention paid the city, Austin is still relatively affordable to live in compared to other hotspot cities like San Francisco or Seattle. 

There’s always something happening in Austin.  On top of the year-round lively music scene, there is the annual South By Southwest music festival in March, the largest music festival in the country, and the outdoor Austin City Limits music festival in September.  On top of this, there are two major film festivals a year, the Austin Film Festival and the South By Southwest film festival, alongside a handful of minor ones.  Austin is also home to the Alamo Drafthouse, a theater chain that perfected the art of combining dinner and movies into one experience.  With the brand new Blanton Art Museum to round out the city’s offerings, living in Austin provides the full array of cultural experiences. 

For fans of the outdoors, living is Austin is a good bet.  A long term parks preservation project has resulted in the creation of a string of parks, pools, and hiking trails called the Green Belt along the Colorado river, alongside an array of other parks and recreation areas throughout the city.  For a low key experience, drive up to Mount Bonnell and enjoy the peace of looking over the city.  Drive a small while out of the city in any direction into the Hill Country for outdoor activities of any kind, from rock climbing at Enchanted Rock to tubing down the Guadalupe River.  Or stay right in town and see the bats fly out from underneath the Congress Bridge. 

More than anything, Austin is known for its people, who manage to pull off a combination of intelligent, hip, and unassuming all at once.  (The trick is good humor.)  The population growth hasn’t diminished the enthusiasm for a localized culture or the appreciation for the local eccentrics.