Summer Splish Splash

Sizzling summer events are nonstop at this hip Austin hotel pool

When it's summer in Texas, there's only one place to be: the pool. In Austin, more specifically, it's the WET Deck at the W Austin, where hot events are on the schedule all summer long.

Work on your bikini bod every Wednesday in June with Detox. Retox. Repeat. Bring your own mat for a 6 pm poolside workout led by MOD Fitness for the remainder of June and Stretch Yoga Studio in July, followed by happy hour with beats by DJ Kurupt and a complimentary cocktail made with juice provided by Snap Kitchen. Classes are free for hotel guests and $20 for visitors.

That could be considered a warm-up for Thursday evenings, when Night Swim takes over. Live poolside performances start at 5 pm, and it's free to attend with an RSVP (though you must be 21 and up). Americana artist EmJae Ross is set to perform on June 22.

Soundwave Sundays close out the weekend with a noon-to-sundown party led by DJ Bird Peterson and special guests. Tickets are $20, and cabanas and kasbahs are also available to rent. On holiday weekends such as Labor Day and Fourth of July, extend your holiday weekend into Monday at a Soundwave Weekender. Be sure to show up for W Austin’s Soundwave Weekender on July 3-4 for an incredible time.

If that's still not enough to indulge your mermaid tendencies, WET Deck day passes for non-hotel guests are available for $15 a person. That gets you entry to the pool any day Monday through Friday from 11 am-9 pm, with complimentary access to the WET deck after 5 pm.

If you're not at the WET Deck this summer, you're missing out.

Photo courtesy of W Austin

If you're not at the WET Deck this summer, you're missing out.

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Where the 1 percent live

2 Austin suburbs cash in among the richest places in Texas for 2023

Photo courtesy of Spaces and Faces Photography

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Central Texans wanting a glimpse into the lives of the 1 percent won't have to travel far to get a peek. Lakewayhas been renamed the fifth richest place in Texas for 2023 in a recent study. Southlake, in the DFW, took the top spot, reprising its past success.

HomeSnacks.com has been ranking cities, neighborhoods, counties, and states across America for more than five years, using data from the Census Bureau, OpenStreetMaps, the FBI, and other sources. For this year's study, released January 18, the website compared 355 cities with populations of at least 5,000 people to determine where "the richest of the rich" live.

With a median income of $239,833, and an unemployment rate of just 2.2 percent, it's no surprise to see Southlake flashing cash around. HomeSnacks shows the median home price for Southlake at $697,000, but as of this writing, Realtor.com lists the city's median home price listing at $1.3 million.

Lakeway came in fifth, with a median home price of $481,900 and a median income of $142,566. Bee Cave, where the median income is $100,179, moved up four spots from 13th last year to ninth this year. Unfortunately, although both cost a pretty penny to stick around, neither made the site's Top 10 Best Places To Live In Texas, which several of the cities in other metro areas did, ostensibly getting more bang for their buck.

It appears that wealth is not only moving into Texas, but moving around, as well. Heath is up 8 spots from last year, breaking into the Top 10 at No. 7, followed by Highland Village at No. 8, up a huge 17 rankings.

Elsewhere in Texas ...

The Houston suburb of Bellaire came in at No. 2 with a whopping median income of $211,202 and other signifiers of affluence, moving up two spots from last year's rankings. Pearland, with a median income of $107,941 is the only other Houston-area city to rank in the top 20, squeaking in at number 20.

San Antonio's top spot was Alamo Heights. Ranked third, the area had a median income of $147,475 and an even lower unemployment rate than Southlake and Bellaire at 1.4 percent. The median home price on the list was similar to the cities that beat it, too, despite the very different income bracket, at $614,000. Bexar and Comal county cities Fair Oaks Ranch and Bulverde came in 16th and 17th. Median income in Fair Oaks Ranch is $127,917, while it's just $100,419 in Bulverde.

Dallas-Fort Worth suburbs dominated the list overall; a total of 13 cities in the area cashed in with a top-20 ranking. Lucas, a Collin County suburb with a population of 7,612 in the 2020 census, came in fourth, moving up from fifth place last year. With a poverty rate of just 1.1 percent and a median income of $159,563, the (comparatively) tiny little town is a haven for the well-heeled. Falling into the "more than comfortable" range are Coppell (No. 6), Heath (No. 7), and Highland Village (No. 8). HomeSnacks' 10th through 15th places are occupied by Keller, Royse City, Corinth, Krum, Rockwall, and Roanoke, in that order.

Texas' top 10 richest cities for 2023 are:

1. Southlake
2. Bellaire
3. Alamo Heights
4. Lucas
5. Lakeway
6. Coppell
7. Heath
8. Highland Village
9. Bee Cave
10. Keller

Visit HomeSnacks' website to see the top 100 richest cities in Texas, download the full list and rankings, or search to see where your city came in on the list.

HomeSnacks North Texans Southlake Tarrant County rankings

Summer Splish Splash

Sizzling summer events are nonstop at this hip Austin hotel pool

If you're not at the WET Deck this summer, you're missing out.

Where the 1 percent live

2 Austin suburbs cash in among the richest places in Texas for 2023

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