Austin is Underrated

I recently read an article that claimed Austin is overrated. That same article also said “Go to Houston instead.” I won’t do the internet community a disservice by linking to that hack. You’ll just have to take my word on it. I’m just not that good of a writer.

The Barton Springs Greenbelt is a great example of how Austin is underrated. That’s right. I said it. Underrated. How can that be? Good writers say Austin is a great town for food, sports, live music, politics, festivals, drafthouses, and races among other things.

They usually still say it’s a city and most people outside of Austin probably think of it as a city. It’s really so much more.

McKinney Falls State Park, Bull Creek Park, Zilker Park, Northwest Hills, well the list goes on and on of great places to hike and enjoy the outdoors. And they’re all within the city limits. It’s amazing when you think about it and even greater to experience it.

Think about Austin right now. Session is going strong and it’s crazy around the capitol.

Multiple giants of industry are opening new offices or expanding (VISA, Google, GM, Samsung, Apple, etc). Movies are being filmed all over the place. There’s an F1 track in case you haven’t heard. I’ll admit that the track is not actually in Austin, but everyone in town felt the effect of the race going on that week. Every week there is a major event of some kind. It’s just crazy around here. Yet a few blocks from the capital you can escape and find yourself out in the middle of nowhere it seems. You go from the pictures above to this:

This picture was taken less than two miles from the Texas State Capitol. Overrated? No way. I can only begin to paint the picture for you. You have to experience this city to understand why many Austinites feel the way they do. I’ve been here almost 9 years now and I’ve only just begun on my Austin adventure.