Austin News

General Austin Area News

Found 110 blog entries about Austin News.

While the employment opportunities available within the energy industry in Texas have garnered a great deal of attention, a recent report has found that technology jobs are also growing at a surprisingly fast rate in Texas.

The news about the growth in technology jobs in Texas became apparent after Dice.com, which is a technology job search website, created a list of those states with the fastest-growing percentage of jobs within the technology sector. The final list was compiled after looking at the percentage growth within the technology field over the first half of 2013.

Texas, which has seen its technology jobs increase by 3.2 percent over the first half of 2013, was ranked fourth on the list of states with the fastest-growing number of

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The Austin Board of Realtors (ABOR) has announced plans to construct a brand new headquarters. The building, which is tentatively planned to measure somewhere between 30,000 and 33,000 square feet, will be located in Northwest Austin in an area overlooking the Great Hills neighborhood.

Cathy Coneway, who is the Chairman of the Austin Board of Realtors, estimates the construction cost of the new building will be between $11 million and $13 million. Coneway has not disclosed the sales price of the 5.2 acres of land upon which the building will be built. Although ABOR has been purchasing several parcels of hillside land over the past several months in preparation for the new building, it did not notify its members about the pending move until after the

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HITS Inc, which hosts running festivals and triathlons acrossed the nation, will soon be staging its first Austin event. The event, which will take at the Circuit of the Americas on December 14, will include a Friends and Family Mile, a 5k, a 10k, a half marathon, a marathon and a sprint duathlon. The event will also include a health, wellness and fitness expo.

Registration for the even tis currently open, with registration online forms and additional information available at HITSRunning.com. Registration fees for events are as follows:

• Friends and Family Mile: $10
• 5k: $20
• 10k: $25
• Half Marathon: $65
• Marathon: $75
• Spring Duathlon: $60

These prices are good until September 13. If you register after September 13, the prices are as

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Starting in March 2014, British Airways will begin offering direct flights from Austin to London. Not only will this provide Austin residents with a convenient way to visit Europe, but the new route will also have a significant economic impact on the Capital City. This partially due to the fact that the new flight route will make it easier for Austin companies to expand to Europe.

The new Austin to London route will become the first transatlantic flight available from Austin. During the first year alone, the change is expected to add $70 million to the city's economy.

The new flight plan is tied into the proposed expansion to the Austin-Bergstrom International Airport, which is expected to add six or seven additional gates to the airport. According

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According to a report released by Metrostudy, Austin home sales continue to rise. With mortgage rates remaining low, the study shows a supportive climate for continual improvement in the Austin housing market.

Eldon Rude, who is the director of Metrostudy’s Austin market, indicated that prospective buyers should expect home prices to continue to rise in the Austin area. At the same time, the city is expected to continue to improve in the areas of housing starts, employment and the Housing Price Index, which is a measurement of residential home prices.

From November 2011 to November 2012, Austin saw a significant increase in new jobs, with approximately 35,000 jobs added to the city. In its study of 40 housing markets throughout the United States, the

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The Eanes school district has announced plans to issue iPads to each of its students from kindergarten through 12th grade, making it one of the first in the state to take advantage of the changes made by the Texas legislature two years ago.

Prior to an important change in legislation, issuing technology such as iPads or laptops would have been difficult for any school district. Thanks to changes that now allow Texas schools to purchase digital learning materials with textbook money, however, Texas schools can now afford to provide students with advanced technology options. Still, each school is required to purchase its own technology. Therefore, the Eanes school board will be investing $1.2 million of its money to purchase iPad 2s for each of its students.

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Forbes has named Austin the fastest growing city in the country. After analyzing 100 of the largest U.S. metropolitan statistical areas for its list of “America’s 20 Fastest Growing Cities,” Forbes placed Austin at the top of the list for the third year in a row.

In creating its list, Forbes used data from the U.S. Census Bureau and other resources to examine six metrics. These included 2012 population growth, 2013 estimated population growth, job growth, unemployment, Gross Metro Product and the median salary of college-educated workers living in the area. According to Forbes, Austin’s low unemployment, healthy job market and business-friendly regulations all contributed to its number one spot on the list.

In general, Texas has enjoyed a significant

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While West Lake Hills and Rollingwood have been engaged in some major projects, the work has been well organized and developed with the help of mayors and city councils who volunteer their time to the two small cities.

Among the projects that have been underway in 2013 include replacement of the outdated water lines and the addition of a continuous center turn lane on Bee Caves Road. The West Lake Hills City Council is also working on installing a camera system to assist with wildfire prevention. The camera system will likely be located on a radio communications tower at the top of Mount Larsen. Meanwhile, the Rollingwood City Council is also working on a five-year agreement for single-stream recycling and waste disposal.

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A recent study released by Portfolio.com found that Austin residents are the fourth least stressed out of the 50 largest metropolitan areas in the country. According to the researchers, Austin residents enjoy a low level of stress primarily due to the relatively low unemployment rates coupled with the good health of the city’s residents.

When determining the overall level of stress within each city, the researchers considered a number of different factors. These included:

•    Crime rates
•    Environmental factors
•    Health risks
•    Living standards
•    Local unemployment rates
•    Personal financial data

On the other end of the spectrum, the researchers found that Detroit residents were the most stressed. This was largely due to the city’s

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According to Site Selection magazine, the state of Texas currently has the best business climate in the country. In being placed in the number one spot, Texas effectively ousted North Carolina from the position, which it has held for the past 10 years.

Atlas Van Lines’ annual study of corporate relocations in 2010, Texas saw more than 7,200 inbound relocations compared to just 5,300 outbound relocations. In all, 58 percent of inbound corporate relocations went to Texas. Furthermore, more than 40 percent of the new jobs created in the United States since June 2009 were created in Texas.

Despite these impressive figures, Site Selection analyzed a number of different factors in order to determine its 2011 rankings. Half of the total score was based on

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