Austin

I was in Austin, Texas, this week. People told me it was a good place to go so I took a couple of hours out to check out downtown. Austin is the state capital of Texas, and has a population of a little under a million (though the greater Austin-San Antonio area has over 3 million), a reputation for being the nicest place in Texas, a liberal centre in a very conservative state, a hi-tech industry and a vibrant music scene; its official slogan is 'The live music captial of the world". MSN selected it as 'The Greenest City in America" (committment to sustainable living) and Money, in 2006, No.2 best big city in 'Best Places' to live category. High anticipation then. Unfortunately, although it seemed ok, a couple of hours walkabout revealed little more than a nice river, some good local coffee shops, and an impressive Capitol building (photo, above). That many Austinites have adopted the unoffical slogan "Keep Austin Weird" alone is a good enough reason to continue my exploration.