Forget Tinder

Exclusive dating app called 'Tinder for elites' launches in Austin

Austin singles will need to join a waiting list for this app.

A dating app that’s been called the “Tinder for elites” is coming to Austin. The League is set to debut in mid-June in the Capital City.

Austin is one of 10 cities, including Dallas and Houston, where the app is being introduced this summer.

Founder and CEO Amanda Bradford has referred to The League as “a community for high-achieving singles.” She bristles at criticism of The League as catering to the elite crowd and says The League’s “heavily scrutinized admissions-based model” is designed to create a selective community of accomplished, diverse, and influential members.

“The media has slammed The League for our ‘exclusive’ model and labeled us an elitist app for trust fund kids and Ivy League grads. These stereotypes make my blood boil and couldn’t be more wrong,” Bradford wrote.

The League isn’t as simple as downloading the app, according to Business Insider. You’ve got to apply to a long waiting list or snag a VIP pass from someone who’s already a member. The League vets each person who wants to join.

The launch party for Austin is scheduled for June 15, with Houston’s party planned for June 20 and Dallas’ on June 22. If you’re interested in attending one of the parties, you’ll need to sign up here.

The app, which launched in 2015, already is available in New York, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Chicago, Boston, London, and Washington.

“You’ll never have to wonder if that Harvard hottie is too good to be true on The League,” according to the app’s website. “We all do ‘research’ via social media, we’ll just show you their bio up front.”

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More Foraging

Free 'food forest' in East Austin expands with thousands of new plants

Angelina Alanis at Festival Beach Food Forest

Photo courtesy of KVUE

Angelina Alanis gives a tour of the garden, which is open to anyone.

In East Austin, there is an edible forest garden called Festival Beach Food Forest where anyone can walk around and harvest free produce, nuts, medicinal plant leaves and herbs. And over the summer, it grew to several times its size.

The forest has fig trees, peach trees, grapevines, asparagus and more that's not in season right now. You can grab passionfruit and plants like yaupon holly, with leaves that can make a caffeinated tea, rosemary and lemon balm.

"[Lemon balm] is part of the mint family," said Angelina Alanis, communication and partnership coordinator for Festival Beach Food Forest. "It has a lemony taste but it's good for a nervous stomach. I'm prone to anxiety so I always grab a hunk."

The food forest is located right next to Interstate 35 and Lady Bird Lake on 29 Waller St., near a part of town that's known for being a food desert, lacking grocery stores.

"There's as much as a 20-year life expectancy difference between parts of East and West Austin, and a lot of that comes down to food access, health care access and also access to nature."

Alanis said for the past nine years, the volunteer-based grassroots project been helping with the issue and just recently expanded in the summer from two-thirds of an acre of city parkland to over 3.5 acres.

"We're going to have hundreds of new trees," said Alanis. "We've already planted 150 new trees in the area and then thousands of plants on the ground."

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They also plan to add a community kitchen and a pavilion to do things like cooking classes or informational sessions.

Read the full story at KVUE.com.

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