Austin, Texas is a city of diversity, from politics and football to high technology and live music, at once a burgeoning capital of the Lone Star State and on the other hand, a laid-back town that delights in eccentricities and alternative lifestyles. Originally known as Waterloo, the city was renamed in 1839 to honor Stephen F. Austin, the leader of the American settlers who poured into the then-Mexican State of Tejas in the 1830s. A river city, with the Colorado River flowing through downtown, Austin today is a center for education, politics, high technology, filmmaking and popular music.

Before the coming of settlers, the area around the present-day city was populated by Tonkawa, Comanche and Lipan Apache indian tribes who hunted and fished along the streams that lace the limestone hills and gulleys. With the arrival of settlers led by Austin, "the father of Texas," the indians faded into obscurity after agreeing to stop killing the newcomers. Austin signed a treaty with them at the site of the present-day Treaty Oak. The little village of Waterloo, along the banks of the Colorado, was purchased by the new Republic of Texas as a site for the capital, and renamed Austin after their leader.

There followed more than 160 years of growth and development, although always with an eye toward keeping Austin's unique qualities of geography, location and human spirit in the forefront, rather than the gleam and glitz of skyscrapers and the mad jumble that affects so many other American cities. There is even a restriction on the height of buildings in the downtown, in order to preserve views of the Texas Capital building, and the tallest building in town, the Frost Bank Tower, stands only 515 feet high.

Today, Austin is a city of nearly 700,000, with a metropolitan area of surrounding counties totaling more than 1.4 million people. It is one of the largest American cities without a major professional sports team. But Austin more than compensates as the home of the University of Texas. In 2005, the Longhorns topped the nation's college football and baseball ranks winning national championships in both. But what Austin lacks in professional sports it more than makes up for with rivers, creeks, springs and lakes. In 1900, a great storm drove the Colorado River to destroy the Great Granite Dam just above the city. A wall of water crashed into Austin, killing 47 people. Now, after years of work by the Lower Colorado River Authority, a chain of seven dams and reservoirs control the Colorado as it flows through Austin, creating water venues for boating, swimming and beautiful homes. The eastern half of Austin is mostly flat, while the western half, set apart by the Balcones Fault, has the rolling hills and valleys of Texas' famed Hill Country. The Hill Country stretches north and west of the city onto the Edwards plateau, an escarpment of limestone cut deeply by many rivers and streams. It is said that Austin has the same light and air qualities as that found along the Mediterranean shore of Southwestern France. It very well may be true, since the creative community of artists, sculptors and musicians seem to find much inspiration from the region.

In the 1970s, Austin became the place for musicians to come and escape the dominance of Nashville's music corporations. Led by Willie Nelson, the iconic country and western singer, the pack of "outlaw" musicians found solace in Austin. Struggling musicians found they could play their music and build their careers before Austin's live audiences. Mainstream music acts also found Austin the place to come and further hone their skills before enthusiastic followers. In fact, there are so many live music places in Austin that it has earned the sobriquet "Live music capital of the world."

Following close behind the musicians, a wave of high technology companies poured into Austin in the 1990s. It became a focus of dot-com boom and bust, but today, fueled by the presence of Dell Computers, IBM and others, Austin has gained prominence in the high-tech world. Known as "the silicon hills," Austin nurtures high-tech entrepreneurs as much as it shepherds musicians. It is also a center for video and computer game development and motion pictures. And, true to their eccentric spirit, Austinites have rallied against the influx of large corporate retailing companies by launching the "Keep Austin Weird" campaign to support small, local businesses against the giants of commerce.

And, every two years, Austin becomes the focus for slam-bang Texas politics when the state legislature gathers. Government fuels the job market in Austin with the largest number of employees, followed closely by high-tech manufacturing, retailing, professional and business services, education and leisure and hospitality.

Residential development has spread outward from central Austin, with the greatest growth in the northern suburbs toward Pflugerville, and on into such cities as Cedar Park, Leander, Georgetown, Hutto and Taylor in nearby Williamson County. A median priced home in the Austin area will cost around $154,000, while median household income is approximately $54,000. Reasonably-priced housing and excellent income levels combined with the culture and quality of lifestyle makes Austin a unique opportunity for living, working and playing.