Austin drivers are the worst in Texas, according to a new report from Allstate Insurance Co. Their recent analysis found that Austinites, on average, enjoy about 7.4 years between collisions, and are over 35% likelier than other Americans to get in an accident. El Paso and Fort Worth, on the other hand, were repeatedly among the top ten cities with the best drivers, when ranked according to gender and age. [Data]......

Yesterday the EarthLab Foundation announced its annual list of the top 10 greenest cities in America. Austin ranked 9th in this year's list. The list is compiled by sampling the one million plus users of the website's carbon and lifestyle calculator that has been featured in Leonardo DiCaprio's documentary The Eleventh Hour, at the 2007 Emmy Awards, and by Al Gore's Alliance for Climate Protection....

At least that's according to Travel + Leisure magazine, which just released its annual rankings of America's Favorite Cities, as based on a survey taken by over 60,000 people. Austinites are ranked as the fourth Most Attractive, and first in "Overall" characteristics. The results, presented from both the visitor and resident's perspective, also give a pretty accurate general indication of how we feel about the state of things here, from what we're most jazzed about......

Austin and Round Rock bested nearly 400 metropolitan areas to be named the number one place for business in the country, according to results recently released by independent research firm Economy.com. Since 2001, Economy.com has published the Economic Vitality Index, a closely-watched ranking of the nation's largest metropolitan areas based on current economic conditions, future trends, and potential risks. The Index also takes into consideration such factors as employment growth (Austin's job market grew by......

A recently released survey by the Corporation for National & Community Service ranks Austin as having the third highest rate of volunteerism in the nation, bested only by Minneapolis-St Paul and Salt Lake City. Based on census data collected between 2004-2006, the report indicates that over 38% of Austinites—roughly 482,000 folks—are involved in some kind of volunteer work. This percentage is considerably larger than our statewide figure, which hovers at just below 28%. Most Austinites......

According to the 2007 Allstate America’s Best Drivers Report™, Austinites get into more crashes than drivers in any of the 20 other Texas cities on the list. Austin ranked 179 out of 197 cities nationwide and Austin drivers are 31% more likely to get into a crash than the average American driver. Motor vehicle traffic crashes are the leading cause of death for Americans aged 4 to 34. Why is Austin so bad? Sorority......

Kiplinger released their picks for the top 5 cities for young singles, and Austin is among them. D.C. is their first pick; we actually place in the middle of the rankings (between Denver, CO and Raleigh, NC). Kiplingers views folks ages 25 - 29 as "young singles," and places Austin on the higher end of their Bohemian Indicator (which means we have a larger amount of people involved in the arts than the national......

We all know that Austin is a great city for kids looking to date around or have a drink, but according to a new study, it's also among the top ten job markets for college grads. Bizjournals, the national publisher of metropolitan business newspapers with branches in over forty cities, reports that current economic conditions couldn't be better for the million-plus college seniors entering the workforce this year. "The outlook this year is very good,"......

We realize that we often harp on about street-level retail, but it looks like we're justified in doing so: Austin recently ranked second in Prevention magazine's list of the top 10 "most walkable" American cities. Citing each city's use of mass transit, the percentage of folks who walked for exercise, parks and points of interest per square mile, climate, and (oddly enough) how many athletic shoes were sold, the list was heavily skewed towards states......

Despite lackluster sales growth and a stock price that plummeted nearly 40% last year, Whole Foods Market was again rated highly among Fortune Magazine's 100 Best Companies to Work For. The annual rankings puts the organic food mecca in fifth place overall, and number two among large companies. Tech firm National Instruments was the only other Austin-based company making it onto Fortune's list, coming in at 86th place. Meanwhile, you have until this Sunday to......

Hot on the heels of Emo's being listed as one of Playboy.com's top rock clubs, Nightclub & Bar magazine today published their annual Editors' Choice Top 100 rankings of bars and clubs in the country. VICCI and Stubb's BBQ both made the list. The two venues couldn't be more different: the former is a ritzy, bleached-blonde dance club in the swanky Warehouse District, while the latter serves up Texas-sized helpings of rock and roll......

The Daily News Record (DNR), an industry magazine for menswear retailers, recently counted Austin's very own FactoryPeople among its list of "America's 50 Most Influential Men's Wear Stores." Austinist's favorite local clothier (and, on occasion, late night locale for downing complimentary vodka tonics) is listed among such well-known boutiques as Santa Monica's Fred Segal, Chicago's Hefjina, and New York City's Jeffrey. The sole other non-department store in Texas recognized by DNR was Dallas' Stanley......

Austin remains the nation's fifth safest large city, according to the latest annual rankings published by Morgan Quitno Press. The Lawrence, Kansas-based research firm placed Dallas and Houston on the other side of the spectrum -- both are among the country's most dangerous, at sixth and tenth, respectively. Meanwhile, our northern neighbors in Round Rock should be happy to know that they're still living in of the overall safest cities, despite dropping to thirteenth......

We all know that "Austin City Limits" is one of the finest television shows in the country. The intimate venue provides an enchanting atmosphere in which musicians can feel at home. Ever since we started watching it as wee ones in the 70s, we've been in love. It seems others share our passion. Paste Magazine's The Best 24 Hours on Television issue has named "Austin City Limits" the best place for music on television. "Austin......

The following is commentary from Austinist contributor Truecraig, and does not necessarily reflect the opinions of Austinist or its staff. Except for the part about Finland. -- The Editors This will not stand. Shame. Shame upon us all. Our fair city is one built by winners. Winners and immigrants. Immigrant winners. And probably some Germans, but whatever. But definitely not the French. Nay, never the French. Regardless of who ISN’T a winner, we here......

The kids returning to UT Austin have something extra special to brag about this year: the university was just named the country's number one party school in a survey of 115,000 college students conducted by the Princeton Review, beating the likes of Penn State University, University of Wisconsin-Madison, and (snicker) Brigham Young University. In addition to dominating the overall list, Longhorn students were ranked: 2nd in the "use of hard liquor" 3rd in beer......

In Money Magazine's annual Top Ten Best Big Cities list, published online yesterday, Austin came out in second place. Oddly enough, we weren't anywhere near the top for their separate rankings of metrics like Job Growth, Skinniest, Youngest, Safest, and Most Singles. According to the magazine's survey, our population of nearly 700,000 (over half of whom are college educated) has a healthy median age of just under 31 and spends almost $7000 a year......

Monarch Breaks Ground [07.07 in Urban Development] Yarrr…Pirates' Oversell Shipping Screw-Up Stymies Excited Fans [07.07 in Movies] They Don't Call It Gastronomic fer Nuthin' [07.07 in Food] Back on Track: This Week in Theatre! [07.07 in Theatre] Stay Cool, Honeybunny [07.07 in Rankings] Best of the Austin Blogs: Week of July 3 [07.07 in Special] Austinist Interview: Loaded Gun Theory [07.07 in Interview] The Bikini Turns 60 (or, 3,607) [07.07 in Fashion+Style] Le Tour......

When we first got geared up to move to Austin, someone told us Austin was "bordering on lazy," which pleased us. Now, we have something to back up such blanket statements: Austin/San Marcos has been named one of the top "Chill Together" cities in the country. Austin ranked 9th on the list put out by Sperling's BestPlaces and Bailey's Irish Cream (who, of course, would like to remind you to drink responsibly). Among Austin's......

SustainLane's annual rankings of America's Most Sustainable Cities came out yesterday. Austin, which was ranked #6 in 2005 in SustainLane's similar "US City Rankings," plummeted to #14 this year. Other Texas cities among the fifty fared worse, including Dallas (24), El Paso (31), Houston (39), and Fort Worth (46). As far as SustainLane.com -- an "online community site for healthy and sustainable living" -- is concerned, most of our -ist brethren cities (SF, Seattle, Philly,......

So, we’re a little late in posting about this, but that’s just because we’re so damn cool we couldn’t be bothered. Forbes magazine has once again released their Official Rankings of the best cities in the U.S. for singles, as calculated by Really Smart People using Highly Scientific Methodology. Overall, Austin was ranked #11, right behind our buddies in Los Angeles, New York, Chicago, and Seattle, respectively. Most impressively, Austin ranked Numero Uno in......