About the City of Austin

Chartered in 1839 as the capital of the Republic of Texas, Austin became the state capital when Texas was admitted to the Union in 1846 as the twenty-eighth state. Austin is now the fourth largest city in the state and the eighteenth largest in the nation.

Austin is in Travis County. The Austin-San Marcos Metropolitan Statistical Area includes Bastrop, Caldwell, Hays, Travis, and Williamson Counties.

Located in the Central Texas Hill Country, Austin is approximately 230 miles from Mexico and less than 200 miles from 3 of the 10 largest U.S. cities (192 miles from Dallas to its north, 79 miles from San Antonio to its south, and 162 miles from Houston to its southeast).

To learn more about Austin, visit Austin City Connection.

Entertainment

If there's one thing Austin is known for (other than the University), it's live music. For a complete listing of what's playing now, go to http://www.austin360.com/music/content/music.

For a list of entertainment and food recommendations from the staff members at TACC, visit TACC Recommends. TACC staff provided a list of places around town that they like to frequent to help make your stay in Austin a good one. While this list is not exhaustive, hopefully it will help get you started. All of the establishments listed are either within walking distance from downtown or a short cab ride away.

Weather

When most people think of Texas, they think of the desert. Austin, however, has a more tropical climate with lush vegetation and rolling hills. The winter months have an average low temperature of 40° F and highs of 61° F, while the spring lows are around 51° F and the highs around 72° F. Things heat up in Austin in the summer with lows averaging 73° F and highs 93° F. But Fall is beautiful with lows of 60° F and highs averaging 81° F.

For today's weather, visit the The Weather Channel on Yahoo.