The City That Went From Rags To Tech Riches

24 April 2002 - 6:00am

The City of Austin, Texas and its transformation from a oil and cattle town to a leading technopolis stands as a model for cities looking to strengthen and diversify their economy.

"Not everything is ideal in Austin. Like many fast-growing cities, it struggles with crowded highways and environmental pollution. But, for the most part, as Austin's salaries have soared, life has improved. Money in the pockets of residents, after all, solves many problems. Schools are good. Culture is thriving. All in a city that, just 10 years ago, had the highest vacancy rate of office space in the country, suffering schools and a brain drain as University of Texas residents fled town after they graduated. So what happened? Austin saw that it had problems. And leaders there fixed them."

Source: The Orlando Sentinel, April 23, 2002
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Under the proposal, the government would assign the populace the task of counting and mapping dog droppings as a first step to greater penalties for owners who fail to clean up after their mutts.