Here's why it's fun to be a photographer or a video producer in Austin, Texas: There are over 4,000 high technology companies currently located here. There are major offices here for Apple, Google, IBM, Dell (HQ), Silicon Labs, Intel, AMD and a zillion more. These business are currently expanding, growing, spinning off more companies and most importantly----spending money.
More metrics: 70 people per day are moving here. Over half the people who move here have four year college degrees. Of the adult population already here 38% have four year college degrees. It's a nice place to live but mostly talent attracts talent.
The building in the foreground (photo above) is another high rise, luxury condominium tower. Within a square mile radius there are already eight such buildings with four others under construction. And that's just in a small area of downtown.
It's fun to be a photographer here because people are highly creative and they are into collaboration. And everyone is busy starting a company.
The downside of all this success is that of the 70 people who move here everyday probably half of them are photographers---- (insert smiley face). Every one of those 70 people has a car and wants to drive it instead of riding on a bus or light rail. That ten minute drive across town is now an hour. If the roads ice up be sure to take along a good book. With ice any drive is a four hour drive...
And we haven't talked about Summer yet. One apocryphal story: The reason why people keep moving around in Austin in the Summer is that we all live in fear that if we stand in one place for too long the soles of our shoes will melt into the asphalt on the roads or parking lots and we'll get stuck and burn up in the sun....
But right now I wouldn't trade it for any other big city in the country.
2 comments:
Fastest growing city in the USA and soon to have some of the fastest internet service with Google fiber.
Lucky you, our cable internet service here slows down way to often.
In many ways what is happening in Austin has been and is still occuring in my hometown, Vancouver BC, Canada. Those new highrises you have been posting photos of look very similar to the ones going up in Vancouver. You could state most of them were shot in Vancouver, and most Vancouverites would believe you.
We don't get the intense heat you do in Austin, but we do get plenty of clouds and rain throughout the Fall, Winter, and Spring. And, occasionally, some snow. We do, however, have roads that have been getting more and more congested as the population of the city increases. In spite of this, like you, I have no intention of living in any other city.
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