Best of Austin Austin Facts AISD in Numbers
Austin Music Scene Local Game Stores
Table of Contents
Letter From the Editor Contributors Page Austin Music Scene “I Love Local Food” Austin Gaming Austin Growth Future of Austin
pg. 4 pg. 6 pg. 8 pg. 14 pg. 18 pg. 24 pg. 30
Letter From the Editor Hello my name is Lilly Quinn and I am the editor for this magazine on local Austin. I have lived in Austin my whole life and let me tell you, a 48 page magazine cannot cover it all! This city is so unique and beautiful in its own way and sometimes people don’t know all the ins and outs of their city. The diversity in the music scene, local restaurants and game stores, the school system and even how much this city has grown and developed is important to understand and recognize. My team has, over a five month period, created this informational and insightful collection of articles so that local austinites who have lived here their whole lives and people who are new to this city can learn the basics and inner workings of the wonderful city that is Austin. Sincerely,
Lilly Quinn Lilly Quinn, Editor
Meet the Team The whole team: Alexis, Ben, Chance, Lilly, and Zeeshan are all freshman at the Liberal Arts and Science Academy. They are all 15 years old, and have their fair share of hobbies and interests. One interest they all share is their love for their hometown: Austin.
Alexis Villarruel: Alexis is on the football team, but also enjoys playing soccer. He has three older sisters and his favorite color is blue. His favorite part about Austin is the diversity. Alexis shares this diversity through being trilingual. He can speak English, Spanish, and French.
Ben Porter: Ben enjoys running and playing Ultimate Frisbee. He plays Dungeons and Dragons and Magic. He has played Magic the Gathering at regional tournaments. His favorite class is Algebra II. Ben doesn’t have a favorite color. His favorite thing about Austin is that it has a lot of gaming stores.
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Chance Reeve: Chance is on the football team, and also wrestles for LBJ. His favorite class is World Geography, and he has three younger sisters. Chance’s favorite football team is the Kansas City Chiefs. He loves Austin because of the various opportunities present there.
Lilly Quinn: Lilly is in orchestra and can play four instruments. She plays the violin, viola, piano, and harp. Her favorite class is World Geography and her favorite is red. In her free time, Lilly actively helps out in the community with volunteering. She loves the music scene in Austin because it is diverse.
Zeeshan Yazdani: Zeeshan enjoys running and playing basketball. In his free time he plays guitar and building custom PC’s. He also likes to volunteer and currently has about 200 service hours. His favorite color is red and his favorite class is Ezine. Zeeshan’s favorite part of Austin is the local food and diverse culture.
Austin City Limits Festival
Logo for AMF
The austin music scene By: Lilly Quinn
D
O NOT THINK IT IS EASY and GLAMOROUS. Most of being an artist or musician is not pretty - it’s a lot of hard work, sweat and tears. Yet, it is also filled with many highs and rushes of performing and connecting with fellow human beings on such an emotional level,” exclaims Suzanna Choffel, a local Austin musician. There is more to the music industry and even local music in Austin than meets the eye. The music industry is a tough career path but many non profits and musicians are making an impression on a national
level. Austin is one of those towns where musicians can succeed and are supported by the local communities and businesses. Many organizations are specifically devoted to helping bands and artists learn about how to book their own performances and some are devoted to giving them grants. “There are 140 music charities in Austin already. There are only 10 that have over half a million dollars a year in revenue. But it’s been so hard to make a living in the music industry, and musicians have paid attention to the fact that there’s government-sourced funding and
created music charities,” explains Colin Kendrick, the co-founder of Black Fret. It’s difficult for music charities and musicians alike to succeed. This applies on a local and a nation level.
(money, lack of exposure etc).”
Black Fret is a non profit that gives out grants to musicians. Members have to pay a small fee and then receive 30 plus concerts from artists throughout the year. Then members may vote on which band gets funded with a grant. “If it doesn’t have a pop beat and a good looking 17-year-old boy or girl at the front of the band, it’s harder for it to sell,” voices Kendrick. Commercialization is important in today’s music industry and many musicians are feeling this pressure. There’s so much competition with pop and people being famous because of their looks. Musicians strive to succeed in this harsh competitive industry. “Your job is never really done - it can extend well into the night and start early in the morning,” divulges Choffel. “You have to really work hard to keep your goals in focus and not get too down about the pitfalls
“If it doesn’t have a pop beat and a good looking 17-yearold boy or girl at the front of the band, it’s harder for it to sell” Following the career path of a musician is difficult. That’s why these organizations are important and are making an impact on Austin artists. Alex Vallejo, an employee of the Austin Music Foundation (AMF), says he’s been involved with AMF for more
Autin Music Awards
than five years and he has seen the impact it’s had on Austin’s local music community. AMF helps local musicians with their imaginative projects that engage music experts and music organizations inside Austin’s innovative economy. Vallejo says he does this by listening to the needs of musicians and providing them with the tools they need. Austin is a good place for these organizations and musicians because the community here is appreciative of new and alternative music. Everyone here is connected and supportive of local businesses and artists and that’s why Austin is such a diverse city.
Austin at Night
“I can’t see this working in any other city initially. Austin’s not a music industry town. It’s always threatened to be but it’s never been. And so the growth of Austin, the wealth that’s been created in Austin, the fact that it’s a pretty young town, the combination of wealth being generated and youth and an incredible pool of musicians - you could argue that exists in places like Seattle, Nashville too to a lesser degree,” declares Kendrick. This makes it a little simpler for musicians in Austin to succeed. Austinites have more access to music and are immersed in music at a young age. This can change one’s life and that’s why so many great musicians come from Austin and why the music scene is so diverse and influential.
“It works in Austin because there’s no other city like it in the world. Unfortunately, we don’t have the big music companies like the other cities do. But I think it keeps Austin more selfcontained and community-spirited. That makes it a great place to be a musician,” informs Vallejo. Locally-based Austin musicians have been affected by the already thriving music scene and then they contribute to it as well. Young people are in turn impacted by them and the cycle repeats. “You can see 100 different bands a night here. So the fact that playing live music was so easy and accessible at such a young age had a big impact on me,” Choffel remembers.
It’s important that these non profit organizations set themselves apart and how they contribute to the Austin music community. Black Fret helps aspiring artists get grants to help them pay for shows and new instruments. This helps them get a jumping off point and thrive in a supportive environment. Kendrick states that the music industry has limited resources and great demand which makes it not always equitable to musicians. He says, “to set Black Fret Apart from the traditional music industry record label, I think it’s an important statement that we say that we’re not really in this for the profit, we’re in this to help.”
more about the music business and it’s amazing that Austin supports its musicians in town. There’s nothing like AMF in the world, so it’s very unique to the community,” Vallejo divulges. There are many success stories when it comes to musicians that entered these organizations. Suzanna Choffel received a grant from the Black Fret organization and reports on one of her biggest successes. “One of my biggest successes was landing a spot on NBC’s The Voice in 2012. They audition hundreds, perhaps thousands of singers so to make it into the top 50
These nonprofits are different and important in the community. While Black Fret gives grants to new musicians, AMF helps local musicians learn about how to book shows and gives them knowledge about the music industry and how to succeed as an artist. “It’s important because artists on all levels always need help learning
Austin 360 Amphitheater
they select to be on the show is pretty amazing,” she says. “I also feel like just being able to make an okay living as a musician, with all the competition you’re up against, is a big success these days. I have no expectations of being rich. I just want to be able to make a decent living and do what I love.” AMF and Black Fret have changed Austin and local musicians as well. Choffel is an example of success and shows how these organizations have positively affected the community. Hopefully, as Austin continues to grow and evolve, these organizations will continue to help and have a positive impact in Austin
How Music Organizations Have Helped Austin
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This map was recorded in May 2015, and Austin has seen considerable growth since then in regard to musicians and music employment in general. This assists the reader in visualizing how music organizations have helped Austin.
Austin is one of the darker places on the map which means there are more musicians and singers being employed because of organizations like Black Fret and the Austin Music Foundation.
When musicians get funding or learn how to book shows, people hear about it and want to book the bands for shows or events.
It is important to realize the growth for musicians so you can realize how important these organizations are and how they affect the community.
“I love local food!” By: Zeeshan Yazdani
F
Food. It is what keeps us alive. It drives us to do more. So when people have food, they want it to be good. One of the best ways to get good food is to eat local. Austin, Texas has many local restaurants to choose from. Anyone who’s lived in Austin for at least a year can give you a list of great local restaurants to go to. But do they know the stories behind these restaurants? Austin has a diverse population. There’s a multitudinous array of different cultures expressed here. Austin is also a great spot for starting local businesses because the community is accepting and appreciates family-owned businesses. Among these businesses, there are many culturally-significant local restaurants. Every owner has a different background and unique ideas about how their restaurants should run, look, how they run their staff and what kind of food they serve. No matter how someone’s
restaurant turns out, there’s no denying the myriad of time that gets put into thinking about these ideas and then executing them. Many owners give up much of their free time and take little to no vacation days. They are dedicated to serving you, the customer and to make your experience enjoyable. “I try to make and extra effort to make all of our customers feel welcome,” states Raco Al’Hemar, one of the owners of the local Mediterranean restaurant, Arpeggio Grill. A lot of effort gets put in behind the scenes to ensure all the customers have an excellent experience. Chance Reeve, an Austinite, says he likes local restaurants over chain restaurants because the customer service is much more personal and they’re usually more friendly. Most owners can’t read their customers minds so they have to get opinions directly from their customers. Nasim Uddin, a former restaurant owner said
“Well I really started cooking on a grill when I was about nine, maybe ten. I didn’t learn to use a stove or oven, the easier stuff, until I was about twelve.”
that he had a section on his restaurant’s website where customers could give feedback. Al’Hemar also has a survey on his restaurant’s website. Asking the customers directly isn’t the only way to get feedback.When Al’Hemar is cleaning up tables at his restaurant, he’ll look at what his customers left behind. For example, he said people used to not eat the soups as much and they wouldn’t finish it, so he took that into account and worked to improve the soup recipes. Afterwards, the soups became the most popular items on their menu. He can also track sales for individual items to see what customers like to order, and what they don’t order. Using this
information, he can see how he should change his menu, or improve his recipes. Visual and verbal feedback are both efficient ways to get feedback from customers. However, all customer feedback can’t be taken into account. Al’Hemar says that, “Maybe someone’s been eating this type of food back home for 30 years, so when they try your recipes they’re like, ‘Oh, this is wrong!’ But there’s no really right or wrong way to make a certain dish.” People are used to having some
preparations of food, and the way it’s prepared at a restaurant can be different from the way they’ve had it at home. Most of the time, local owners pour most of their life into improving the customer experience. Al’Hemar
says “I work about 70 hours a week, maybe a little more than that. So, when it comes to the social aspect, I definitely did lose a lot of my free time.” He adds, “It’s hard to ask for a day off from the boss when he doesn’t take a day off. And I had, I took a vacation this year for 10 days, but that was the first time in 10 years. I normally don’t have any days off.” Uddin had another job as an engineer along with running his restaurant. In the end, this became too
stressful for him and he had to sell his restaurant. Extra time is something that restaurant owners don’t have a lot of. This is because they spend so much time trying to make the best restaurant for their customers. Restaurant owners must put a lot of time and effort into improving their business for their customers. This is especially evident at local restaurants through the
hard work and dedication to their customers that owners and employees show. Many owners spend a lot of time improving for their customers. Free time is something they do not have a lot of.When someone owns a restaurant, they pour 100 percent effort into it. An enormous amount of work goes into making a restaurant the best it can be.
By: Ben Porter
Local Game Stores
A
ustin is a place of creativity, weirdness, culture, and most of all a community of local businesses. When you think of Austin, you might think of food trucks or music festivals. But game stores are a relatively prominent type of local business in Austin that is virtually unknown to most people and they deserve a turn in the spotlight. Austin is a diverse and uncommon place that has a gaming community
“Austin is the best place to live in my opinion. I could have moved to many different places, but you got your food, you got your music, and it's gorgeous.”
full of unique and distinct game shops. Austin is a supportive town to local stores, which provides a strong base for a flourishing gaming community. There are many people that have never been into a game shop or haven’t heard of one before and this city is an incredible place to feel Austin’s touch on small, tight-knit game stores. A game store is not just a place. It is a building upheld by people’s hopes and dreams that are brought together for a single cause. To some, it is an escape from reality or an
“Race, religion, color, creed, gender, whatever is pretty much non-existent here,” said Akamine. escape from the daily grind.
Lauren Akamine, owner of the game store Mothership, explains that she started hanging out at Mothership and after three months she met a guy here, who ended up becoming her husband. The gaming community is exactly that. They are a community that is friend, family, or at least someone with a common interest. A game store is a place like no other. As Akamine said, “There’s no judgement. It really doesn’t matter what any part of your life is other than this. No one sits here like ‘Oh … you’re not Christian? I’m not going to play Magic with you.’” This is a place that is united by a common interest in an idea or by a passion for a game that eliminates any enmity that may have otherwise have occurred. “Race, religion, color, creed, gender, whatever is pretty much nonexistent here,” said Akamine. This is a very powerful and tangible feeling inside a small local game store gives everyone a non-judgemental place to unwind with friends. Pat Johnson, the owner of Pat’s Games, explains that,“Austin is the best place to live in my opinion. I could have moved to many different places, but you got your food, you got your music, and it’s gorgeous.”Austin is a young city that is riddled with culture that makes local businesses that much more unique with their own sliver of Keep Austin Weird. Randy Lander, the owner of the game store Rogue’s Gallery, explained, “And I think Austin is a place that values local. They value being part of the community, so they’re going to come out and support places like that.” Austin is a city that
is devoted and passionate about its support for local businesses that it is easy to find a hole-in-the-wall shop that you can just fall in love with. Lander said, “I think that what is important to game shops in particular and the kind of businesses we have in Austin in general, is we have to be community builders.” This is the keystone of game stores and cities like Austin.
A game store is a community that is bound by nothing but mutual interest, friendship, and a sense of loyalty instilled by the former two. Both Johnson and Akamine talked about times each of their stores had been robbed and that there was such an
unbelievable outpouring from the gaming community. This support was as little as customers coming in to buy items to help pay for the stolen property, to some of the regulars helping to man the store for the three-day period during when Akamine’s store didn’t have a door. In addition to the support that the community provides, Lander said, game stores are also a friend circle that you can count on. “I’ve befriended a lot of my customers, that’s sort of the nature of it.” With regional tournaments gathering crowds easily reaching 5000 people for Magic the
“I’ve befriended a lot of my customers, that’s sort of the nature of it.” Gathering, local game stores are high in demand and popularity. This has lead to the widespread distribution of this card game, making it a very popular in game stores. Austin is home to many unique local businesses that deserve to be discovered by all. The gaming community is a closeknit group that is the friend to anyone venturing into a game store. According to Johnson, local business is on the rise as the community continues to grow.
Rogue’s Gallery
Mothership
1601 S Interstate 35, Round Rock, TX 78664
2121 W Parmer Ln #119, Austin, TX 78727
(512) 279-8888
(512) 291-7399
Dragon's Lair 2121 W Parmer Ln #119, Austin, TX 78727 (512) 454-2399
Resurrected Games 2025 Guadalupe St #252, Austin, TX 78705 (512) 505-0133
Pat's Games 2308 Hancock Dr, Austin, TX 78756 (512) 451-2223
Game Store Locations Important contact information and the location for visiting these shops
Mothership Rogue’s Gallery Pat’s Games Resurrected Games Dragon’s Lair
Comic Books Boardgames
Magic the Gathering
Austin Growth By: Alexis Villarruel
Recently Austin Texas, has been named the best city to live in the entire country, according to “Today.” On average 110 people move to Austin a day. This city is the fastest growing place in the United States, according to “Forbes.” Austin’s growth is rapid. This helps the economy in many ways. Some will believe this is a great position to be in, but many locals have different opinions. For example, Cyndi Hernandez, she has been living in Austin for 27 years, and is a Boys and Girls Club (BGC) coordinator at
Gus Garcia Young Men’s Leadership Academy (GGYMLA), which is a local middle school. “ I liked Austin 10 years ago when it was just booming and it was a fun place to come and visit and the infrastructure was available for everyone. But it wasn’t too big to compete with Dallas or Houston, about 75,000 people ago,” declared Hernandez. She believes, “Austin is growing in a spectacular rate.” “The future of Austin will be determined by the infrastructure or the transportation, metro, railing,
all of the above. Because if Austin doesn’t have a way to transport people around the city, that will kill them,” Hernandez said. She believes Austin’s infrastructure is in the way of its successes with all the growth it is facing. “Yes. When I say everywhere USA, that’s like a Home Depot, and all does cluster of stores, Home Depot, Best Buy, Staples, Ross or whatever does are everywhere. Think about it. Every corner and there is a Walmart, CVS and a Walgreens everywhere I know about this because my brother-in-
law is in charge of knowing how many there are in state.” She believes that Austin is growing too fast for their infrastructure and the same infrastructure will kill them. Gustavo Garcia, is another local that has been living in Austin for 60 years. He has been involved with the city of Austin, as a former mayor and was the first Hispanic to serve in the school board, had mixed thoughts about the pace of Austin’s growth. Garcia responded, “There are some people that think that yes. It is a matter of how you define too
fast. In some areas we have grown too fast. Let me tell an area that we have grown too fast roads. Our roads have not kept up with the number of vehicles that have arrived to Austin. So what you have in Austin now is to many people on the roads and driving too fast and driving carelessly. I’ve seen more people running red lights because people
San Antonio over here.” He believes that Austin is growing too fast for its infrastructure, which was what Hernandez stated when approached with the same question. Maria Ibar, another Austin local who has been living in the city for 20 years says, “Don’t move to Austin. It is already too packed.” She believes Austin is growing too fast and that
Modern day Austin
are in a hurry. They thought the could get to their job in 15 minutes but now it takes them 30 minutes because of the traffic and they decide that they are going to make it in 15 minutes by driving very fast. In that sense it is growing too fast but in the point of view of becoming a large city which is one of the things that happens because Austin is in the “center of the triangle,” which is an area of Texas which has Dallas/ Fort Worth here, Houston, here, and
too many people are moving into Austin. All in all, it seems that Austin locals believe that Austin is growing too fast for Austin’s infrastructure, but at the same time believe this is good for Austin.
Austin Growth RIF (Random Interesting Facts)
As said in the title, this is just lots of interesting facts about Austin and its population.
11th most populous city in the United States
Population of 2.05 million
AUSTIN, TX.POPULATION 1985 1
417,033
1990 2
465,622
1995 3
526,128
2000 4
YEAR
656,562
2005 5
700,407
6 2010
790,390
7 2015
900,701
8 2016 0
926,426 100,000 200,000 300,000 400,000 500,000 600,000 700,000 800,000 900,000 1,000,000 POPULATION
4th most populous city in Texas
Austin is the fastest growing city
Austin Independent School District The Future of Austin
Austin Independent School District is the fifth largest school district in Texas with 85, 372 students. This should show its importance to Austin, Texas. The children are the city’s future, and the quality of education they receive could change the entire way Austin operates in the next generation.
AISDs Peredez Middle School
“All the schools I’ve been to have a really good curriculum and I’ve learned a lot and the teachers are very good.”
A student of AISD, Zeeshan Yazdani, says “All the schools I’ve been to have a really good curriculum and I’ve learned a lot and the teachers are very good.” Yazdani has great knowledge of the district, as he grew up with it his entire life, and his mother also teaches there. The teachers at AISD vary based on the school as well. Yazdani says “For the most part, the teachers at AISD are very exceptional. Almost all of them are really into their jobs and will go the extra mile for their students. There are some teachers who may not be the nicest people, but they still want to help their students and they work hard to do so.” Jill Giuletti, A teacher who is new to AISD, loves all the opportunities they give to the students. She says, “I think, one of the best things about AISD is that it provides opportunities for students who, are struggling, and provides opportunities for students that need to be challenged. I think they offer like different kinds of programs, like LASA’s magnet program, for kids that might need to get challenged more and at the elementary school my daughter goes to, they offer all kinds of programs for kids that are struggling, they have fluency centers and math centers for kids who are not working at their grade level yet, to help them work up to the place they need to be.”
The atmosphere of AISD is different at every school. According to Yazdani, most of the schools are very positive and most are ready to learn, “All of the schools in AISD that I’ve been to have a positive atmosphere. Although not everyone is enthusiastic to learn, everyone is still super positive and I like the atmosphere”. When asked about the difference between AISD and the school district Giuletti used to work at, she said, “It’s not as big as AISD. But, I had a lot of really good students, a lot of students who really seemed to enjoy the classes. I felt as if maybe they didn’t have as many opportunities as the ones we have here there weren’t as many interesting electives for them to take so the ones that did find something they liked, like the graphic design class I teach, they seemed real excited about it.” Megan Hart, an English teacher at Kealing middle school, agrees with the ready to learn attitude. “I think this goes for individual schools, but I really like Kealing’s atmosphere. Everyone seems ready to learn.” The students of AISD have shown they appreciate the atmosphere. This year, they had their highest graduation rate yet, at 86.3 percent. Overall, AISD does a great job as the fifth largest school district in Texas. The future of Austin is positive.
Jill Giuletti’s Classroom
“All of the schools in AISD that I’ve been to have a positive atmosphere.” Zeeshan Yazdani, AISD Student