June 2008

The Fourth of July is right around the corner and, if you live in Austin or if you are planning to visit the area during the holiday, you certainly want to know about the many different fireworks displays and other forms of celebration that are taking place in the area. 

Every year, the city of Austin used to put on a fantastic fireworks display over Lady Bird Lake (Which used to be called Town Lake), but the annual celebration now takes place at Zilker Park.  Not only can you enjoy some amazing pyrotechnics at the celebration, the Austin Symphony Orchestra is also planning to perform at the event.

More than 100,000 people usually attend this event each year, which officially begins at 8:30 pm.  If you are planning to join in the celebration, you

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According to bizjournals.com, Austin has the third highest high-tech salaries of all cities in the United States.  In fact, the average person employed in the high-tech field in Austin earned a very attractive salary of $100,500 in 2006.  This rate is equivalent to 113% of what those working in the private sector are earning within the metro area.  In all, those working within the tech field earned a total of $6.9 billion in 2006.

The report, which was published by the American Electronics Association, used a number of factors to rank the top 60 cities in the country.  Among the criteria considered included wages, employment concentration, payroll, and wage differential among the largest cities in the country.  When it came to employment concentration

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If you are looking for a place to cool down in Austin, you will be happy to know that there are plenty of public swimming pools available for your enjoyment.  Here is a look at just a few:

• Barton Springs Pool – located near Barton Hills, this pool can be found on 3 acres of hillside land.  It features a shallow end for children as well as a deep end where floats are permitted to be used.  The average temperature of this pool, which is fed by a natural spring, is 68 degrees throughout the year.
• Clarksville Wading Pool – a small wading pool located in Clarksville.
• Deep Eddy Pool – part of the Deep Eddy Bathing Beach, this pool is large enough to swim laps or to simply relax in the wading

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Back in 2005, Advanced Micro Devices Inc. drew some negative attention when it announced that it would be opening a new campus over the Edwards Aquifer.  At the time, environmental organizations were quite upset at the thought of creating the $270 million campus, primarily because of the environmental sensitivity of the area.

The Sunnyvale, California-based company managed to silence nay-sayers, however, by implementing a few initiatives.  First, the company used environmentally-friendly materials in order to build the campus.  In addition, they built the facility utilizing what is known as a sustainable design.  The company has also developed plans to limit its impact on the quality of water and is working toward receiving Gold certification from the

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The Community Impact Newspaper reports that ground was recently broken on the new Cedar Park Events Center to be located on New Hope Drive. The new facility will cost an estimated $55 million to complete, with the city providing $43 million of the necessary funding.

The new facility, which will be the new home for the Texas Stars Hockey Club will encompass a total of 181,000 square feet of space.  The 16 acre development will include 91,000 square feet of commercial development as well as 91,000 square feet of retail space.  In all, the facility will offer 6,800 seats and will be utilized for a number of different events in addition to hockey.  Some of these include tennis, basketball, ice shows, boxing, and even community events such as meetings and

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If you are someone that is interested in pursuing a career in art, you will be happy to hear that the Art Institute of Austin has officially opened its doors.  Located near Toll 45 and IH 35, the institute opened on March 31 and has over 100 students enrolled in its programs.

The 38,000 square foot Art Institute of Austin used to house office space, but now contains an audio production booth, a computer lab, and several classrooms for burgeoning artists to learn more about their craft.  In fact, the new facility offers bachelor’s degrees in a number of different areas within the art field, including:

• Animation
• Audio Production
• Fashion Retail Management
• Graphic Design
• Interactive Media
• Interior

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According to Biz Journals, the Austin City Council recently approved a new ordinance that may make it easier for some developers to create new housing units in the area. 

Prior to the changes, all new construction had to meet compatibility standards that were established in order to make certain new construction was compatible with the other structures in the area.  As such, new high rise developments could not be built near homes located in certain parts of downtown Austin.  In addition, the compatibility standards restricted the height of buildings in areas that have homes located anywhere within a two and a half block radius.

Due to the compatibility standards, many development projects could not be initiated and developers had to redo their

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According to a story reported by KXAN news, the Green Water Treatment Plant in Austin will soon be transformed into a new $55 million development project. 

Five different development teams have presented their development plans to the Austin City Council, all with the desire to transform the area into housing and shopping opportunities.  The Council has set a few guidelines, however, including requiring the developer to offer 10% of the rental units to families with incomes of less than $57,000 per year.

The Green Water Treatment Plant was originally opened in 1925.  The plant is set to be decommissioned at the beginning of next year, however, and developers are excited to transform the area into living space.  Each of the five plans presented to the

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According to a recent study that was completed by graduate students at St. Edward’s University, business owners in South Austin do not like the thought of being referred to as “weird.” 

While the study itself sounds a little weird at first, it is actually quite interesting.  Apparently, the students wanted to know how much small business owners identified with the current “Keep Austin Weird” slogan that has been being used throughout the city.   The MBA students managed to uncover some interesting findings – namely, they found that South Austin small business owners aren’t weird.  Rather, they are unorganized.

According to the findings, over 70% of the business owners in South Austin did not have a marketing plan in place.  In addition, they found that

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Anyone that has been to Austin knows that there are always plenty of opportunities available for enjoying live music.  Similarly, Austin is well known for being a melting pot of cultures in which a wide variety of cultures are embraced and celebrated on a regular basis.  The first Pachanga (which means “party” in Spanish) Latino Music Festival took place in Waterloo Park this past Saturday – and it was a great success.

Over 20 different Latin rock groups from various parts of the country took place in the festival.  Of course, some Austin-based bands were also part of the festivities, including the rock ‘n roll band Vallejo, hip-hoppers Los Bad Apples, and Grupo Fantasma, which is a funk orchestra.  The organizer of the event, Rich Garza, hoped to

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