Austin

Austin, Texas, the state capitol and county seat of Travis County, is located in Central Texas, on the Colorado River. The eastern portion of Austin is flat land, whereas the western portion of the city and the western suburbs consist of scenic rolling hills on the edge of the Texas Hill Country.

Austin, originally called Waterloo, was settled in the 1830s on the banks of the Colorado River. In 1839, Waterloo was chosen to become the capital of the newly independent Republic of Texas by the Republic of Texas Vice President Mirabeau B. Lamar, who saw the incredible landscape while on a hunting trip to Central Texas. The city was renamed after Stephen F. Austin, known as the father of Texas.

The U.S. Census Bureau estimated Austin's 2007 population at 725,306 residents, up from 656,562 residents in 2000. There were 295,000 households in Austin city and the average household size was 2.4 people. Families made up 52 percent of the households in Austin.

Austin is considered a major high-tech center. The University of Texas in Austin produces thousands of engineering and computer science graduates each year, which provide a steady workforce for Austin's technology and defense industry sectors. IBM, Texas Instruments, 3M, Motorola, Advanced Micro Devices, Samsung and Dell all have a presence in Austin.
At night, parts of Austin are aglow with artificial moonlight. Several 165-foot moonlight towers, built in the late 19th century and recognized as historic landmarks, illuminate the central part of the city. Seventeen of the 31 actual original towers remain standing.

There are numerous transportation and transit options in Austin, Texas. The Austin-Bergstrom International Airportis located five miles southeast of the city. Capital Metropolitan Transportation Authority (Capital Metro) provides public transportation and I-35, US Highway 183 and State Highway 71 are the major roadways in the area.

Most of Austin is served by the Austin Independent School District. Austin is home to the University of Texas at Austin. Other institutions of higher learning include Austin Community College, Concordia University, Huston-Tillotson University, St. Edward's University, the Episcopal Theological Seminary of the Southwest, the Acton School of Business, Austin Graduate School of Theology, and the Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary. Nearly 84 percent of people aged 25 years and older in Austin are high school graduates and 43 percent have a bachelor's degree or higher.

Austin's official slogan is "The Live Music Capital of the World," a reference to the many musicians and music venues that call Austin home. Music and other culturally-related sectors accounted for over $2.2 billion in annual economic activity and almost 44,000 permanent jobs in Austin in 2005.

Austin is administered by a city council of seven members, each of them elected on an at-large basis by all voters, as opposed to elections by districts. The council is composed of six council members and an elected mayor. Council and mayoral elections are non-partisan in Austin. Law enforcement in Austin is provided by the Austin Police Department, except for state government buildings, which are patrolled by the Texas Department of Public Safety.

The City of Austin Municipal Court is responsible for cases that are class “C" misdemeanor violations including parking, traffic, state code, and city ordinances. The City of Austin Municipal Court has three locations: Downtown at 700 East 7th Street; the North Service Center at 12425 Lamplight Village Avenue; and the South Service Center at 5700 Manchaca Road.
The Downtown Austin Community Court is a new version of the current Municipal Court. The Community Court deals with quality of life misdemeanors such as public intoxication, possession of drug paraphernalia, disorderly conduct, simple assault and aggressive panhandling.