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 Seats for Forklifts Austin - The capital of the U.S. state of Texas and seat of Travis County, Austin is located within Central Texas on the eastern portion of the American Southwest. It has a population of around 800,000, and is the fourth biggest city within the nation (2000-2006). In 2006, Austin was selected as the 2nd Best Big City in "Best Places to Live" by Money magazine and 3rd in the year 2009. MSN even dubbed it the "Greenest City in America." It ranks number two on the list of cities with the best residents, based on CNN Headline News and Travel & Leisure magazine. In 2009, the city of Austin was chosen as the least stressful big metro area by Forbes magazine.
People from Austine take great pride in their individuality and eccentricities in their way of life, character and beliefs; never taking themselves very seriously. This particular city is the only one in the state which enables women to appear in public topless. One of its local motto is "Keep Austin Weird," and this statement not only encourages diversity but is likewise meant to improve and support local and independent businesses. SoCo, a shopping district which stretches down South Congress Avenue from Downtown, is filled with various restaurants, coffee shops, as well as cultural events. Some of the yearly events consist of the O. Henry House Museum, that hosts the yearly O. Henry Pun Off - a pun contest where contestants show amazing wit. Various events comprise Carnaval Brasileiro during February, Austin Reggae Festival and Art City Austin during the month of April, Eeyore's Birthday Party and Spamarama. The city, that is called The Live Music Capital of the World, has a dynamic music scene that revolves around the various nightclubs on 6th Street and annual film/music/interactive festivals known as South by Southwest (SXSW). Zilker Park is also the home of the three-day Austin City Limits Music Festival (the longest-running concert music program on American television,) each and every year. The television show and festival both attract musical artists from around the globe.
The city boasts over fifty public swimming pools, which are spread out all over the city. The more popular pools within the city comprise the Deep Eddy Pool, Texas' oldest man-made swimming pool, and Barton Springs Pool, which is the largest urban area natural swimming pool within the nation. In the year 2004, The Austin Parks and Recreation Department received Excellence in Aquatics award in the year 1999 and the Gold Medal Awards in 2004 from the National Recreation and Park Association. For parks, the Hippie Hollow Park is the only officially sanctioned clothing-optional public park within Texas. It could also be a great location for everybody to go rockclimbing, kayaking, swimming, exploring, and hiking along the greenbelt. Zilker Park forms part of the greenbelt along the Colorado River.
Amongst the largest employers within Austin include the United States Federal Government, Freescale Semiconductor (spun off from Motorola in 2004), St. David's Healthcare Partnership, IBM, the State of Texas, Seton Healthcare Network, the Austin Independent School District, the City of Austin, Texas State University-San Marcos, Dell, and the University of Texas at Austin, The University of Texas. At the core of Austin City's financial system is High Technology. Every year, there are thousands of graduates from the engineering and computer science programs at the University of Texas at Austin. These graduates often work at technology and defense industry sectors. Amongst the high-tech companies that employ them are: Hewlett-Packard, Google, Cisco Systems, Intel Corporation, National Instruments, Samsung Group, Cirrus Logic, Applied Materials,3M, AMD, Apple Inc., eBay/PayPal, Hoover's, Silicon Laboratories, United Devices and Sun Microsystems.
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