Austin

Austin, mostly in Travis County, is the capital of Texas, in the United States of America. It is located on the Colorado River¹ east and south of the state's center. There are several man-made lakes including Lake Travis northwest of the city, a reservoir, and Lady Bird Lake nearer the city center. The city grew rapidly after World War II, a period in which the spread of air conditioning made the hot summers more enjoyable. Tourists enjoy the city for diverse reasons: architecture, creek-side walks, live music, a presidential library and a sunset bat swarm.² The metropolitan area has a population of 1.939 million,³ with 885 thousand within the city limits.⁴ The tallest building as of late spring 2018 is the Independent (685 feet, topped out in May, 2018). Before that the tallest buildings were the Austonian (683 feet, 2010); 360 Condominums (563 feet, 2008); the Frost Bank Tower (515 feet, 2004), which has a tin cross embedded in each floor's concrete; and One American Center (424 feet, 1984). The tallest from 1888 to 1972 was the Texas State Capitol (311 feet), which when built also claimed to be the seventh largest building in the world (8-1/2 acres of floor space).⁵

Map

External references

Skyline of Austin seen from Lady Bird Lake, Texas, United States of America

Footnotes

1. The one that flows into the Gulf of Mexico just north of Matagordo Bay, not the same-named longer one that is further west. The Gulf of Mexico is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean.
2. http://www.touropia.com/best-places-to-visit-in-texas/, accessed May 15, 2018.
3. 2012 metropolitan figure from world-gazetteer.com, accessed February 6, 2013. A much lower 2012 figure of 1.514 million is from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Texas_statistical_areas, accessed May 15, 2018.
4. 2013 figure https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_cities_in_Texas#100_largest_cities_in_Texas_by_population, accessed May 15, 2018.
5. Information about buildings comes from emporis.com, accessed June 13, 2018. Numerous wired masts and one framed mast are taller than the skyscrapers; the tallest reaches 1308 feet and dates to 1982. The Dobie Center (328 feet, 1972) was the first building to be taller than the Texas State Capitol.