Riding On

Austin's new urban rail route finds a city divided

Downtown Austin skyline in the evening across from Lady Bird Lake

Austin's urban rail has its fair share of supporters — and detractors.

KVUE — On Wednesday, city and transportation leaders showed off the 9.5-mile route for the proposed Urban Rail Bond Package on the Austin City Council's November ballot.

The rail line would feature 16 stops and travel at an average of 22 miles per hour. It would begin in Southeast Austin, near the Ruiz Library on Grove Boulevard and East Riverside Drive. The rail line would travel west along Riverside Drive and head north on Trinity Street, Red River Street and Airport Boulevard. It would end at the Austin Community College Highland Campus.

"This is when people really need to take a look at the future of what we want," said Kyle Keahey, the city's lead on the Urban Rail Project.

Many support an urban rail system, but the route has the city divided. "I am 100 percent confident," said Austin Mayor Lee Leffingwell. "We went through [a] years-long data-driven process to find the best possible route."

"I think Austin voters need to decide whether it's really worth putting that staggering amount of money, a billion-dollar bond issue, to pay for a corridor, essentially, where nothing exists and where there are hopes and dreams by these planners, " said Lyndon Henry, a member of Light Rail Now and the Our Rail Political Action Committee.

Some students at the University of Texas at Austin say the proposed route that goes up San Jacinto Boulevard on campus would serve them best. "I think it would be better actually on campus than Guadalupe [Street]," said Travis Peeler.

"I think it would be better if it was on [San Jacinto Boulevard] just because Guadalupe is already pretty crowded, and you don't need to crowd it any more than it already is," said UT junior Rachel Hattemer.

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To read the full story and to see the video, please visit KVUE.

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Study This

Austin is the No. 7 most educated city in the country, says Forbes

Photo by Dan Dennis on Unsplash

UT Austin gets a lot of praise, but this study includes degrees from everywhere — as long as the recipient lives in Texas.

Austin and San Antonio don't get all the same opportunities as the even larger cities in Texas, but in a recent study they prove they're prepared. Both made the top 10 in Forbes Advisor's "Most Educated Cities In The U.S." list: San Antonio was No. 4, and Austin was No. 7.

Other Texas cities made the list of 100, but some fell surprisingly far behind. Dallas made No. 20, followed by Houston at No. 79 and Fort Worth at No. 93. In some even more surprising twists, the smaller city of Garland was the fourth in Texas at No. 26, and El Paso, Corpus Christi, and Laredo all beat Houston.

This study compared the 100 largest cities in the country as of the 2021 census, using metrics like high school dropout rate, percentage of adults age 25 and older with some college, but no degree, undergraduate college completion rate, and percentage of adults age 25 and older with an advanced degree. There were also some lower-weighted metrics about equity, studying racial and gender college completion gaps.

Although many education studies fall into praising the University of Texas, this one considers education as a whole — while still mentioning the university once.

In San Antonio, the bachelor’s completion rate for people 25 and up was 67.30 percent, and 29.56 percent of people in that age group have advanced degrees. The study doesn't have much to say about educational opportunities in the city, focusing instead of its tourist potential. But it did note that the city had one of the smallest racial gaps for higher ed, which was only -5.49 percent. Its gender gap was 0.97 percent, and its high school dropout rate was 4.53 percent.

San Antonio's Trinity University did great in a Niche study that came out in early September. It was the No. 18 best small college in America, and topped the list entirely in Texas. Among bigger fish, it was also the No. 20 best liberal arts college in the country (and again the best in Texas), and made No. 4 in general for best colleges in Texas.

In Austin, 59.89 of people 25 or older completed Bachelor's degrees, and 22.76 percent completed advanced degrees. The racial gap was much worse at -10.87 percent. Its gender gap was a bit less than San Antonio's, at 0.69 percent, and its high school dropout rate was more at 7.56 percent.

Of course, this is where the study mentions UT, which is based in Austin. It made WalletHub's 2024 ranking of the best colleges and universities in Texas and earned the No. 2 spot; clinched the No. 6 spot in Niche's ranking of the best public universities in the country; and earned No. 2 in a list of best undergraduate programs for entrepreneurs by the Princeton Review, among other accolades.

Just breaking into the top 20, Dallas' Bachelor's degree completion rate was 57.05 percent, with 21.37 percent attaining advanced degrees. The racial and gender gaps were −14.99 percent and 1.64 percent, respectively. Much further down the list, Houston's Bachelor's degree completion rate was only 32.99 percent, and only 10.97% achieved advanced degrees. High school dropouts were at 8.90 percent, and the racial and gender gaps were −4.99 and 2.10 percent respectively.

Here are all the Texas cities on the list of 100, in order from most to least educated:

4. San Antonio
7. Austin
20. Dallas
26. Garland
49. El Paso
59. Corpus Christi
76. Laredo
79. Houston
81. Arlington
83. Irving

More information on the study by Forbes advisor, including full city rankings and expanded methodology, is available at forbes.com.

education universities