Hands down, without a doubt, absolutely, positively, you could not
possibly find a place anywhere that fits all your criteria more
perfectly than Austin, Texas: http://austin.about.com/
I've lived here for going on 17 years and could regale you for hours
with this city's virtues. Now Austin's a medium-sized city (around a
million with the extended metro area), but for excursions to real
world-class urbania, San Antonio's only 45 min. away, Houston 2-3
hours, and Dallas/Fort Worth 3-4 hours. But believe me, they've got
nothing we don't and the longer you live here, the better you like it,
the more you find to enjoy about it.
Austin is an absolutely unique, wonderful, one-of-a-kind, BEAUTIFUL,
green, environmentally aware, active, educated, lively, artsy,
interesting place. Oh - and did I mention it's also got a lot of
middle-aged folk, including plenty of singles? See, starting years
and years ago, people'd come here to go to school, then fall in love
with the place and just stay, which is why Austin is legendary for
having PhDs pumping gas just for the privilege of being able to live
here. It's listed in many places as one of the most educated cities
in the country, and it's also one of the most 'wired,' with for
example, more WiFi hotspots than just about any other place, as well
as, of course, being the home of Michael Dell and having numerous
high-tech companies here.
Green? Active? Ohh my, just check out the incredible variety of
outdoor activities here, combined with too-many-to-count green and
wild areas, including our gorgeous "hike and bike trail" right through
the middle of downtown, numerous greenbelts, preserves, parks, trails,
lakes, creeks, rivers, lakes, enough places for any amount and kind of
outdoor activity your heart could desire from simple walks to
strenuous rock climbing. Barton Creek country club is a renowned golf
course attracting world-class players, as is the newest tennis complex
in the beautiful hills west of town. But there are plenty of other
paid and free sites as well for these sports. Oh yes - biking? Well,
don't forget 5-time 'Tour de France' winner Lance Armstrong makes his
home here ... so yeah, I'd say we've got a nice-sized biking
community.
And Austin's on its way to becoming legendary in the music and film
industries as well - second only perhaps to Nashville on the music
scene (plus 6th Street, can't forget 6th Street -- in your eye, New
Orleans, Bourbon St.'s got nothin' on us!) and definitely
up-and-coming in Hollywood circles. Did you know Sandra Bullock lives
here? And - well, I can't recall all the names at the moment, but
there're quite a lot of them actually, who have either main or
vacation residences 'round and about here. Oh yes - as for 'serious'
arts, we have our own opera and ballet companies, a symphony and the
University of Texas, not to mention sculpture gardens and art museums
and ........ well gee, read the stuff on the link I gave you, and if
you're palpitating for more after that, just type in Austin Texas in
Google and you'll find plenty! Welcome to our newest citizen! :-) |
