New to Austin? Here's everything you need to know
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Welcome to Austin.
State of play: Maybe you're among the 116-odd people who move here daily, most likely from another part of Texas or one of the coasts.
- Or perhaps you graduated from McCallum High in the '70s, stuck around to attend the University of Texas on the five-year plan and now find yourself an empty-nester perched up high in a new Rainey Street tower, with one bedroom drawer dedicated exclusively to your old tie-dye tees.
Either way: Howdy!
The big picture: The fact is, Austin has always been a fast-growing outpost, with the greater metro doubling in population every couple of decades since at least the 1960s.
Between the lines: What's shifted is our city's character.
- Once a magnet for hippies and the progressive country rockers known as cosmic cowboys, Austin is now a major landing spot for Silicon Valley tech bros.
- No longer a sleepy college town, Austin now draws far-flung immigrants and entrepreneurs — all following the promise of the Austin dream.
The bottom line: Now that you're here, let's go get a margarita.
What to eat
You'll find no shortage of good food in Austin, but we've rounded up the bites you can't miss when you first arrive.
What to do
Get a feel for our city with these activities.
What to read, watch and hear
Once known as Waterloo, Austin is a college town, a tech town, a music town and, of course, a capital town.
- We've rounded up what to read, listen to and watch to get you acclimated.