Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of Texas, as well as the seat and most populous city of Travis County, with portions extending into Hays and Williamson counties. Incorporated on December 27, 1839, it is the 10th-most-populous city in the United States, the fourth-most-populous city in Texas, and the second-most-populous state capital city. It has been one of the fastest growing large cities in the United States since 2010. Downtown Austin and Downtown San Antonio are approximately 80 miles (129 km) apart, and both fall along the Interstate 35 corridor. Austin is the southernmost state capital in the contiguous United States and is considered a Beta-level global city as categorized by the Globalization and World Cities Research Network.
Christmas lights are lights often used for decoration in celebration of Christmas, often on display throughout the Christmas season including Advent and Christmastide. The custom goes back to when Christmas trees were decorated with candles, which symbolized Christ being the light of the world. The Christmas trees were brought by Christians into their homes in early modern Germany.
The history of street lighting in the United States is closely linked to the urbanization of America. Artificial illumination has stimulated commercial activity at night, and has been tied to the country's economic development, including major innovations in transportation, particularly the growth in automobile use. In the two and a half centuries before LED lighting emerged as the new "gold standard", cities and towns across America relied on oil, coal gas, carbon arc, incandescent, and high-intensity gas discharge lamps for street lighting.
A superstreet, also known as a restricted crossing U-turn (RCUT), J-turn, or reduced conflict intersection (RCI), is a type of road intersection that is a variation of the Michigan left. In this configuration, in contrast to the Michigan left, traffic on the minor road is not permitted to proceed straight across the major road or highway. Drivers on the minor road wishing to turn left or go straight must turn right onto the major road, then, a short distance away, queue (wait) into a designated U-turn lane in the median. When traffic clears, they complete the U-turn and then either go straight or make a right turn when they intersect the other half of the minor road.
Albert Leslie Cochran was an American homeless man, peace activist, cross-dresser, urban outdoorsman, and outspoken critic of police treatment of the homeless. Cochran was known in Austin as Leslie.
KVUE is a television station in Austin, Texas, United States, affiliated with ABC and owned by Tegna Inc. The station's studios are located on Steck Avenue just east of Loop 1 in northwest Austin, and its transmitter is located on the West Austin Antenna Farm northwest of downtown.
A moonlight tower or moontower is a lighting structure designed to illuminate areas of a town or city at night.
The Capital Metropolitan Transportation Authority, officially stylized as CapMetro, is a public transportation provider located in Austin, Texas. It operates bus, paratransit services and a commuter rail system known as the Capital MetroRail in Austin and several suburbs in Travis and Williamson counties. In 2022, the system had a ridership of 21,145,300, or about 75,900 per weekday as of the first quarter of 2023.
Capital MetroRail is a hybrid rail system that serves the Greater Austin area in Texas and is owned by Capital Metro, Austin's primary public transportation provider. The Red Line is Capital Metro's first and currently only rail line, and connects Downtown Austin with Austin's northwestern suburbs. The line operates on 32 miles (51 km) of existing freight tracks, and serves nine stations. After a series of delays, Capital MetroRail was inaugurated in March 2010. Capital Metro added Friday evening and Saturday afternoon and evening regularly scheduled service on March 23, 2012. In 2022, the line had a ridership of 466,800, or about 1,500 per weekday as of the first quarter of 2023.
The Woodland Heights neighborhood is one of the oldest and most historic in Houston, Texas. It encompasses approximately 2000 homes in the 77009 ZIP code and is bounded on the north by Pecore Street, on the west by Studewood Street, on the east by I-45, and on the south by I-10.
The Frost Bank Tower is a skyscraper in Austin, Texas, United States. Standing 515 feet (157 m) tall with 33 floors, it is the fifth tallest building in Austin, behind The Independent, The Austonian, Fairmont Austin, and the 360 Condominiums. It was developed by Cousins Properties from November 2001 to December 2003 as a class A office building with 525,000 sq ft (48,774 m2) of leasable space. It was the first high-rise building to be constructed in the United States after the 9/11 attacks. The building was officially dedicated in January 2004.
In Baltimore, Maryland, Miracle on 34th Street is a display of holiday lights that takes place annually on the 700 block of 34th Street (between Chestnut Avenue and Keswick Road in Baltimore's Hampden community. The display, which involves the residents of most of the houses on the block, started in 1947, and takes place between late November and late December. The location becomes a major attraction for visitors from all over the area.
Spamarama (SPAMARAMA) is a long-time annual festival and competitive cookoff held in Austin, Texas, during 1978–2007 and in 2019 and 2022 to celebrate Spam, the branded canned pork product. The festival includes a Spam cook-off, Spam themed competitive activities, and live music.
The Bright Light Social Hour is an American psychedelic rock band from Austin, Texas. The band is composed of Jackie O'Brien on bass and vocals, Curtis Roush on guitar and vocals, Zac Catanzaro on drums, Mia Carruthers on keys and vocals, and Juan Alfredo Ríos on percussion.
Occupy Austin was a collaboration that began on October 6, 2011 at City Hall in Austin, Texas as an occupation and peaceful protest. It is affiliated with the Occupy Wall Street movement that began in New York City, and also with the "Occupy" protests in the United States and around the world. At the center of the occupation is the General Assembly, where the community comes out and tries to come to consensus on proposals for action.
The Zilker Holiday Tree is a 155 foot Christmas tree made from lights draped from a moonlight tower located in Zilker Park. During the Christmas season the tree is lit by over 3000 colored lights. The lighting of the tree has been an annual tradition in Austin since 1967. On December 26, 2010, a five-kilometer run named after the tree took place.
The Bay Lights were a site-specific monumental light sculpture and generative art installation on the western span of the San Francisco–Oakland Bay Bridge, designed to commemorate the 75th anniversary of its opening. The installation by light artist Leo Villareal included 25,000 individual white LEDs along 1.8 miles (2.9 km) of the cables on the north side of the suspension span of the bridge between Yerba Buena Island and San Francisco. The installation was controlled via a computer and displayed changing patterns that were not meant to repeat. The opening ceremony was held on March 5, 2013.
Gregorio Eduardo Casar is an American politician who is the member for Texas's 35th congressional district in the United States Congress since 2023. He served as a member of the Austin City Council from the 4th district from 2015 to 2022. Casar is a member of the Democratic Party and was endorsed by the Working Families Party in his run for Congress. Casar is a member of the Democratic Socialists of America. He was first elected to the Austin City Council in 2014, and reelected in 2016 and 2020. He was elected to Congress in 2022.
Austin, Texas, reportedly confirmed its first cases on March 13, 2020, with the related onset of symptoms occurring as early as March 2, 2020. However, the disease may have reached the Austin area earlier. In an unconfirmed case, a 67 year old man in Bastrop, Tx, traveled to Clovis ,NM on December 21st. He was hospitalized in Clovis on December 23, 2019, then transported via ambulance to Lubbock where he was placed on a ventilator. He declined rapidly and passed away on January 2, 2020. Though there was no testing available at the time, he exhibited classic symptoms of COVID-19. The first fatality associated with the disease was reported on March 27, 2020. As of January 21, 2021, the City of Austin has reported over 50,000 cases of COVID-19, with 573 deaths associated with the disease.
