New to Austin? Thinking about coming here? This page is for you. We’ll be adding to it over time, so check back often! All the links are along the left side of the page.

All-around Resources

Metropolitan Austin Interactive Network (MAIN) – Lots of great links to local information.

Austin Relocation Guide – Lots more of the same, plus links to realtors and apartment locators.

Government

City of Austin – Lots of great links to city services and related agencies.

City of Round Rock – Austin’s big neighbor to the north. Home of Dell and lots of other stuff.

City of Cedar Park – Not a sleepy suburb anymore.

City of Leander – Here, neither.

Travis County – Austin is the county seat.

Williamson County – Georgetown is the county seat, but Round Rock, Cedar Park, Pflugerville and Leander have more commuter traffic.

State of Texas – Demographics, services and so on.

Texas Department of Motor Vehicles – If you own a vehicle in Texas, it must be registered with the county treasurer’s office every year!

Texas Department of Public Safety – It must be inspected every year, too!

Texas Workforce Commission – Games are jobs, too! Read up on employment data.

Texas Film Commission – They like games, too! Read about the state tax incentives program.

Public school districts

Austin-Area Independent School Districts – Austin ISD will cover most of the area, with Round Rock and Pflugerville for some of the northern reaches.

Higher education

University of Texas at Austin – Tower Power!

St. Edward’s University – On South Congress.

Austin Community College – Campuses all over, home to the Game Development Institute.

Gemini School of Visual Arts – Based in Cedar Park, with a game concept and production track.

Austin Culinary Arts and Design School – Part of the Art Institutes.

Austin Film School – Programs for all ages, from camera operation to video editing.

Transportation

Capital Metro Austin – Bus service, plus the MetroRail short-line train.

car2go Austin – How you get the rest of the way after you get off the train or the bus. Get a mini-car!

Business and civics

Chambers of Commerce – There are several of them, based on geography and special focus.

6th Street District – The classic downtown bar crawl.

Red River District – Intersecting on the east side.

2nd Street District – Relatively new, near City Hall and the Moody Theatre.

South Congress (SoCo) – The other classics, south of the river.

The Guadalupe Drag – West side of the UT-Austin campus.

The Arboretum – Northwest intersection of U.S. 183 and Loop 360. Offices and shops.

Special interest groups

Austin ACM SIGGRAPH – Local promotion and development of digital media and animation professionals.

Texas Motion Picture Alliance – Lobbying the state for tax incentives for entertainment production. They’ve had some serious success.

Digital Media Council – Working to create Austin’s next generation of digital media pros.

Austin AAUGA – Autodesk 3D Users Group. Organizes 3December showcase every Dec. 3.

Texas Association of Business – Lobbying for Austin and Texas businesses of all sizes in Washington and beyond.

Austin Technology Incubator – Part of UT-Austin’s IC2 Institute, working with students and local business community to grow techie jobs.

Austin Entrepreneur Network – Everything a local entrepreneur needs.

Charities and nonprofits we like

SCARE for a Cure – Haunted house charity that raises money for breast cancer research and prevention, run by our friends Jarrett “The Defuser” and Norma Jean Crippen.

Big Brothers Big Sisters of Central Texas – Watch for the Bowl for Kids’ Sake event every January.

The HeliOS Project – Know Linux? Like fixing old computers? This group gives them to kids who don’t have access to computers at home.

Festivals

SXSW – Biggest, oldest, music/film/interactive festival. Every spring.

GDC Online – Originally Austin Game Development Conference, then GDC Austin. Every fall.

Fantastic Fest – Film festival run by owners of Alamo Drafthouse Cinema. Includes Fantastic Fest Arcade.

Austin City Limits – Outdoor music festival in Zilker Park, every fall.

STAPLE! – Independent media expo, mostly comic books. Every March.

Wizard World Austin – Big-deal comic book, pop culture and all-around nerd prom. Early November.

Austin Convention and Visitors Bureau – Find out where your hotel/motel fees go.

Local media

Austin Media Links – newspapers, magazines, TV stations, radio.stations, publishers and more.

KUT 90.5 FM – Local public radio station. Check out the Get Involved section for local activism.

KLRU-TV – Austin’s PBS station, home to Austin City Limits and more.

channelAustin – Public access community TV.

Entertainment and Sports

Alamo Drafthouse Cinema – A local treasure. Best place to watch movies, anywhere. Four to choose from.

Round Rock Express – Minor league baseball farm team for the Houston Astros. Based at the Dell Diamond.

Austin Toros – Minor league NBA farm team for the San Antonio Spurs. Actually based in Cedar Park.

Austin Texas Rollergirls – Flat-track all-female roller derby. Watch hot girls beat the crap out of each other in a race around the track.

TXRD Lonestar Rollergirls – Like the above, but with a banked track. Hell hath no fury!

Do512 – Great resource for shows all over Austin.

Austin Creative Alliance – Theater and performance art. Includes The Baron’s Men, a local Shakespeare acting troupe we know.

Barony of Bryn Gwlad – also known as the Austin chapter of Society for Creative Anachronism (SCA).

Outdoors and Landmarks

Austin Parks & Recreation – Find all the best places to hike, bike, run with your dogs and play disc golf.

Auditorium Shores – home to the big statue of Stevie Ray Vaughan along the south side of Lady Bird Lake (previously known as Town Lake. It’s really just a wide spot in the Colorado River, but we like it.)

Ann W. Richards Memorial Congress Street Bridge – also known as home to the largest urban bat colony in the world. People like to watch them come out at night. It’s fun! They eat bugs!

Local historical information

Austin History Center – Where the name comes from, and the stories.

UT Videogame Archive – History specific to video games, at the University of Texas at Austin.

Armadillo World Headquarters – How a converted National Guard armory started Austin’s live music and counterculture traditions.

Keep Austin Weird – Stories about why Austin is the way it is.