Community Insight

Overview

World Famous SXSW Festival

With vibrant entertainment and culture, inspiring cuisine and stunning outdoor settings, Austin lets you create a soundtrack all your own.

We’re home to more than 250 music venues, free outdoor concert series such as Unplugged at the Grove and the Congress Avenue Bridge Bats. So take a look around, and put Live Music Capital of the World® on your playlist. Austin is the capital of Texas and the seat of Travis County.

Located in Central Texas and the American Southwest, it is the 11th-largest city in the United States of America and the fourth-largest city in state of Texas. It was the third-fastest-growing large city in the nation from 2000 to 2006. Austin is also the second largest state capital in the United States. Austin has a population of 885,400 (2013 estimate). The city is the cultural and economic center of the five-county Austin–Round Rock metropolitan area, which had an estimated population 1,834,303 (2012 U.S. Census).

Overview

Christmas in Georgetown

Located on IH 35 at the northern edge of the Austin Metro area, Georgetown is a beautiful City nestled between the clear waters of the North and South San Gabriel Rivers. As the county seat of Williamson County, one of the fastest growing counties in the nation, Georgetown is experiencing tremendous growth in both residential and commercial sectors. Between 1990 and 2000 an average 3.7 people moved to Georgetown every day almost doubling the population from 14,842 to 28,339.

Georgetown is a vibrant and active community for everyone from the students at Southwestern University to the retirees at Sun City, Texas. Georgetown citizens enjoy an excellent quality of life that has been noticed and celebrated with a variety of awards and recognition. Just a few of these awards include: 2008 Fortune Magazine named Georgetown the #2 place in the U.S. to “Live and Launch”; 2008 Texas Trails Network Partnership Award for San Gabriel River Trails; 2007 Retirement Places Rated, a Frommer’s publication, named Georgetown the Number 1 place to retire in the U.S; and 2007 Texas Economic Development Council, Community Economic Development Award for Community of the Year.

Overview

Community Street Fair

Pflugerville is at the center of a booming region that has fared very well economically during the past few years—even while the national economy slowed. The city is a suburb of Austin, which is the Travis County seat and capital of Texas, and is part of the Austin-Round Rock Metropolitan Statistical Area. According to the U.S. Census, the Austin-Round Rock MSA was the fastest growing in the state from 1998-2008. The area is projected to be the third fastest growing MSA in Texas from 2000-2020. California-based companies are flocking to Central Texas because of the low cost of doing business, affordable real estate, accessibility regionally, nationally and internationally, and the area’s desirability as a place to live.

Pflugerville has more than 5,000 prime acres of land available for development along State Highways 130 and 45. A new million sq. ft. light industrial park has availability for office or warehouse space, and several new shopping centers are underway with new stores, restaurants and business tenants being added almost daily.

Overview

Muir Lake

Cedar Park, Texas is a city that espouses the core values of community, service, innovation, professionalism, integrity, leadership, and fiscal responsibility. These standards are at the heart of daily life for Cedar Park citizens, City leaders, City staff, and business leaders.

Cedar Park is one of the fastest-growing suburbs in America according to Forbes Magazine, and it’s no wonder why. Located just 17 minutes from downtown Austin, Texas, this city has grown by more than 400% in the last decade. Cedar Park is well-established, founded in 1887 and incorporated as a city in 1973. Now the third largest city in the Austin area with a population exceeding 60,000 within its city limits, the City of Cedar Park attracts residents from all over the globe because of its unique charm, close proximity to Austin and the Texas Hill Country, and the beauty surrounding the Lower Colorado River Lake System.

Cedar Park has 860 acres of park space and has been named one of the “Top Ten Places to Raise a Family” by Family Circle magazine. Cedar Park has great job opportunities- with two Fortune 500 companies (Dana Corporation and National Oilwell Varco), and a variety of large software and technological companies: Firefly Space Systems, Fallbrook, LiveOps, Tolteg, and Corvalent. There is truly something for everyone here. If you like hiking, bicycling, water sports, live music, fine wine, great food, shopping, or any other activity, you will find in or very close to Cedar Park.

Overview

Leander Metrorail

As one of the fastest growing cities in Central Texas, Leander has experienced tremendous development with major retail shopping hubs, expansion of residential developments, Transit Oriented Development (TOD) progress, population reaching more than 32,000 as well as additional schools, restaurants and small businesses. Leander is also a jurisdiction member of the Capital Metropolitan Transportation Authority (Capital Metro).

Leander is proud to have:

• The third largest H-E-B’s store in Texas, the Leander H-E-B Plus, is part of a 225,000 square foot shopping center.
• Lowe’s anchors The Gateway at Leander; a 300,000 square foot retail center.
• Expansion of Dennis Steel, Suncoast Post- Tension and the relocation of One Source Manufacturing and Joule Unlimited.
• In the coming year, roads will be widened, water and wastewater lines extended and overall power service and telecommunications will be improved throughout the city. This combination of private and public sector investment will improve Leander’s competitive advantages, leading to the ultimate goal of increasing the community’s appeal as a destination of choice to live, work and play.

Overview

The Hutto High School Hippo

Hutto, Texas has undergone a transformation over the past decade from a sleepy, rural Texas farm town of 1,250 to Austin’s fastest growing suburb. The impetus for Hutto’s exponential growth has been quality, affordable housing and quality public schools coupled with the opening of SH-130 on the new Central Texas turnpike System. Low crime, quality schools, moderate taxes, and convenient access to the Austin region and state have resulted in honors such as Hutto being named one of the “Top 100 Places in Major Markets to Locate Your Business” by Southern Business & Development as well as a host of other accolades. During the past 10 years, Hutto ISD has increased from over 1,000 students in K-12 on one campus, to over 6,200 students at eight campuses. Enrollment grows by 300 students a year.

All the growth and change has not eroded a strong sense of community pride that has permeated Hutto since it was first settled in the mid 1800’s. Swedish and German immigrants came to this area to farm and ranch and begin their new lives in America. However, a slave, Adam Orgain, was actually the first person to live in the immediate Hutto vicinity having been placed out on the black land prairie by his owner to watch after the cattle and livestock holdings.

Hutto is perhaps most widely known for its high school mascot-the hippo. According to local historian Mike Fowler, there are several alternate stories about the beginnings of the unique Hutto mascot. One is, the big Swedish and German boys of Hutto were playing their smaller foes in football, and the visiting coach exclaimed “We can’t beat those boys, they’re big as hippos!” Another story, also based on gridiron lore, is that the Hutto football team in the early twenties had no real jerseys and used feed sacks as their uniforms. The opposing coach allegedly said that the football team looked like a bunch of hippos in their makeshift outfits.

Overview

Downtown Community Car Show

Taylor is well-known worldwide for its barbecue and historic downtown. It’s also well known for its rich culture and progressive leadership. Recently, there has been a lot of media buzz about the opportunities in Taylor, Texas. So, what’s the buzz all about? Since 2009, more than 20 companies have expanded or relocated to Taylor, announcing and creating almost 250 jobs along the way… during one of the worst national economies on record. Why? It’s the small-business-friendly attitude and low-costs in the Austin region that welcomes the drivers of the federal, state and local economies.

For many years, the Taylor economy has been largely based in agriculture and manufacturing. The hard working spirit of these industries stay in Taylor today. Actively recruiting companies that add to the diversity of the local industry while providing it’s residents with good employment keeps Taylor striding forward. Materials manufacturing to support the region’s surging construction market, communications equipment manufacturing, in-bound call centers, and remote data centers all find that affordable real estate and labor make it possible to save money while still being located in a large metropolitan area.

Taylor also seeks to increase businesses associated with value-added agriculture; logistics and distribution; hospitality and tourism; design (e.g. arts and crafts, software, film production, professional services); healthcare; and retail.