Austin just passed San Francisco as the 13th Largest city in the US.

Between 2010 and 2011, Austin was the 3rd fastest growing city in America,  growing from a population of 790,390 residents to 820,611 people living in Austin city proper.

The whole state is taking on new residents quickly, as Texas claimed 8 of the top 15 fastest growing cities in the nation during the same time period.   Austin grew 3.8 percent, while neighboring Round Rock grew 4.8 percent.  Those impressive growth rates make Austin the number 3 and Round Rock the number 2 fastest growing cities in the country.

This growth comes as no surprise, as studies in years past have shown Austin to be a premier destination for young people and magazines and news agencies have named Austin in too many superlative lists to count.

The change is easy to see in everyday life in Austin.  Just drive down any major street near downtown and the new high rise development will tell you that the growth isn’t anywhere close to being over.  Also, anyone living in Austin knows that rents in Austin are going up due to the influx of new residents.

With a strong Austin jobs outlook for the foreseeable future, we can expect similar high growth rates in future census reports.

Spring has been beautiful this year in Austin, Texas thanks to copious amounts of rain we had during the winter. We had an amazing Spring wildflower season throughout Central Texas, which made for some great photo opportunities!

One of the best places to see wildflowers in Austin is the Ladybird Johnson Wildflower Center. This season, as part of Gardens on Tour at the Ladybird Johnson Wildflower Center, the writer and photographer of the Austin, Texas: A Photographic Portrait Coffee table book (the subject of this blog) will be on hand to sign books.

Join Tiffany and Peter on Saturday, May 12th from 1PM to 4PM to get your books signed and enjoy the beautiful flowers in the gardens.

Here’s the text from the Wildflower Center website:
Mother’s Day weekend favorite, Gardens on Tour this year will include a favorite from past tours among the five private gardens selected as well as the Wildflower Center. It’s your chance to see exquisite small gardens and intimate spaces using native plants. Tiffany Hamburger & Peter Tsai sign Austin, Texas: A Photographic Portrait, 1 to 4 p.m. in the store.

See you there!

Hello Austinites!

After the long, hot and harsh Austin summer that broke the record for the number of 100 degree days, it’s good to know that fall is just around the corner. To celebrate, the Ladybird Johnson Wildflower Center in south Austin is hosting their annual Fall Plant Sale where they will sell plants from “nearly 300 species of hardy Texas natives bred to deal with our Central Texas climate” – like the extreme summer we just went through!

In addition to selling plants, the festival will highlight several books that celebrate Austin and Texas. As part of the the Wildflower Center’s Fall Plant Sale the photographer and writer of “Austin, Texas: A Photographic Portrait” Peter Tsai and Tiffany Hamburger will be signing their book from 1-4 PM pm on Sunday, October 16th, 2011.

Come out to meet the creators of the Austin Photo book! The Wildflower Center will have plenty of copies in the book store, so you can buy a copy there.

For more information about the event, go to http://www.wildflower.org/plantsale/.

A little more than two months after the book launch, things are going great thanks to great support from the Austin community (and kitties too).

To show our appreciation, this post serves as a BIG THANK YOU to everyone that has supported Austin, Texas: A Photographic Portrait. We’ve gotten tons of great feedback in person, on Facebook, and on Twitter! The Testimonials page on the blog shares a sampling of the positive feedback we’ve received.

We’d like to thank all the individuals who have wished us well! We’ve also been recognized in several publications and blogs on the Internet. Please consider checking out the publications and blogs mentioned below.

SPECIAL THANKS to the following Austin supporters:

Austin Monthly Magazine – This long running Austin magazine needs little introduction. In the July 2011 edition, Austin, Texas: A Photographic Portrait was featured in the July Hot List of things to watch (excerpt pictured above).

The Rebeccamendations – Local blogger extraordinaire Rebecca Otis interviewed Peter Tsai, the photographer of Austin, Texas: A Photographic Portrait, on her entertaining blog. They talked about the ins and outs of creating and publishing the book as well as behind the scenes insights about the pictures in the book.

I Live Here: Austin – Annie Lenore’s blog explores the lives of individuals living in Austin, Texas and serves as a platform for them to share what Austin means to them. Annie photographed Peter and featured his Austin essay on in which he mentions the book several times.

N Housing Blog: Austin Corporate Housing – The N Housing blog highlights noteworthy events and attractions in the Austin metropolitan area for newcomers to the city looking for fun things to do. They suggested using the book as a “reference point for things to see & do” in Austin.

Austin Urban Gide – Austin Real Estate Agent Catherine Thomas, who loves Austin as much as anyone, has been a very vocal supporter of the book from the beginning. She specializes in downtown condos, writes her own Austin blog, is active on Twitter, and says that real estate clients love the book as an introduction to Austin.

Austin Globetrekker Joseph Cooke has traveled and blogged about his extensive travels around the world but he loves his home in Austin, Texas and is an all around great guy. On his travel blog he notes that Austin, Texas: A Photographic Portrait “answers the ever looming question… Why do people LOVE Austin so much?”

Thanks again to all – we love that everyone has been super supportive of the book. As always, please leave a comment and if you would like to purchase the Austin, Texas Photo book for yourself, go to our Where To Buy page.