Austin, Texas
The Greater Austin metropolitan statistical area had a gross domestic product (GDP) of $86 billion in 2010. Austin is considered to be a major center for high tech. Thousands of graduates each year from the engineering and computer science programs at the University of Texas at Austin provide a steady source of employees that help to fuel Austin's technology and defense industry sectors. The region's rapid growth has led "Forbes" to rank the Austin metropolitan area number one among all big cities for jobs for 2012 in their annual survey and WSJ Marketwatch to rank the area number one for growing businesses. By 2013, Austin was ranked No. 14 on "Forbes"' list of the Best Places for Business and Careers (directly below Dallas, No. 13 on the list). As a result of the high concentration of high-tech companies in the region, Austin was strongly affected by the dot-com boom in the late 1990s and subsequent bust. Austin's largest employers include the Austin Independent School District, the City of Austin, Dell, the U.S. Federal Government, NXP Semiconductors, IBM, St. David's Healthcare Partnership, Seton Family of Hospitals, the State of Texas, the Texas State University, and the University of Texas at Austin.
Downtown Austin
The Seaholm District is a formerly industrial section of southwest downtown Austin that the city wants to transform into a vibrant urban neighborhood. The city of Austin has designated the area from Lady Bird Lake to 5th Street and from Lamar Boulevard to San Antonio Street as the Seaholm District. At the core of the district is the decommissioned Seaholm Power Plant, which will be redeveloped into a landmark residential and retail destination. After several years of delays and false starts due in part to a recession-based setback, the mixed-use development accommodates nine distinct retail businesses as of January 2019: including ToothBar (dentistry), Trader Joe’s, The Baked Bear Ice Cream Shoppe, Dallas-based Malibu Poke, local Merit Coffee Co., vegetarian restaurant True Food Kitchen, American restaurant Boiler Nine, Fleet Feet (shoe store), and Nekter Juice Bar. Austin-based Southwest Strategies Group, the project's lead developer, announced plans to begin work on the 450,000 square feet of development to be built on the 7.8 acre site. The project is situated adjacent to the Seaholm Condominiums tower, and is intended to create a “live, work, play” urban neighborhood encompassed around a turf square for music venues, bringing many tourists and “Austinites” to the Seaholm District.