City Beat

Austin overtakes Dallas on ranking of America's best performing cities

"Look at that, honey — it's the third best performing city in the U.S."

Photo courtesy of Austin Art Alliance

A new study into America's best performing cities reveals that, once again, Austin is one of the country's top spots for jobs.

The annual report, which was released on January 24 by the Milken Institute, an independent, California-based think tank, studies economic expansion of 200 American cities who "create jobs and prosperity with their policy choices and their industrial, workforce, and innovation assets."

The study then uses indexes from job creation, wage gains, technological developments, and characteristics unique to each city to rank each region in terms of economic health.

Austin-Round Rock
Austin-Round Rock landed in the No. 3 spot, climbing six places from last year and unseating Dallas-Plano-Irving, which fell to No. 5. As far as its highest performing growth metrics, the Austin region ranked fourth for job growth and fifth for wage growth.

"A remarkably consistent high performer, the Austin-Round Rock region has now claimed a spot in the top five for nine of the last 10 Best-Performing Cities indexes, earning the top honors in 2009 and 2013," said the release.

As the study points out, Austin's technology sector is booming, accounting for more than 103,000 jobs in the region. Those positions — and the wages that come with them — lead to an increase in consumer spending, especially among Austin's booming bar, restaurant, and hospitality sectors.

Another attractive quality, says the study, is Austin's reputation as a university town. Forty-five percent of Austinites over 25 have at least a bachelor's degree, and the presence of graduate schools like The University of Texas at Austin's Dell Medical School point to advances in both the education and innovation sectors.

But, of course, with the sweet comes the sour. This boom has (as we know all too well) led to an increase in housing costs and disproportionate distribution of economic opportunities. As the report points out, the success of City of Austin policies to address these issues will ultimately determine the city's future (and its future ranking).

Dallas-Plano-Irving
As mentioned, the metroplex took a teensy tumble in 2018, falling two spots to No. 5.

"Although the metro did not place in the top 10 for any of our growth metrics, the combination of a robust and diverse high-tech industry and solid growth in jobs and wages across all the one-year, five-year, and short-term job growth measures reveals the broad-based vitality of the Dallas-Plano-Irving regional economy," boasts the report.

And while it didn't nab a top 10 spot for any growth metrics, Dallas did walk away with another important superlative. Between 2012-17, the Big D added 14,000 management positions, the most of any city in the U.S.

Dallas also ranked second for professional, scientific, and technical service jobs added in that same time period.

San Antonio
At No. 32, San Antonio-New Braunfels made a shocking drop in 2018, falling 13 spots from last year.

Like Dallas, San Antonio didn't land in the top 10 for any growth metrics, but the city made good showings in high tech GDP growth (17th), job growth (28th), and wage growth from 2011-16 (31st).

Where the region didn't fare well, however, was in job growth over the past 12 months. The report ranks San Antonio a dismal 125th out of 200.

Elsewhere in Texas
Cities across the Lone Star State popped up throughout this year's list, ranging from Austin and Dallas' high highs to Beaumont-Port Arthur's low lows.

College Station-Bryan, No. 22
Waco, No. 61
McAllen-Edinburg-Mission, No. 68
Fort Worth-Arlington, No. 70
Lubbock, No. 86
El Paso, 113
Houston-The Woodlands-Sugar Land, No. 119
Laredo, No. 136
Killeen-Temple, No. 159
Brownsville-Harlingen, No. 167
Corpus Christi, No. 188
Beaumont-Port Arthur, No. 191

Rounding out America's top five best performing cities were Provo-Orem, Utah (No. 1); San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, California (No. 2); and San Francisco-Redwood City-South San Francisco (No. 4).

reports

SKIN IN THE GAME

Renowned Hill Country tattoo artist inks new sacred geometry app

Photo courtesy of Dillon Forte

Dillion Forte at his "tattoo ranch" in the Texas Hill Country.

In the world of tattooing, there may seem to be few better rat traps left to build, but Dillon Forte aims to change that. In October, the renowned Wimberley-based tattoo artist and entrepreneur introduced a new iPadOS app to bring ancient symbology into the digital age.

Forte has made a worldwide name for his black dot work (a contemporary take on stick-and-poke techniques) and ambitious undertakings like tattooing underwater and opening a “tattoo ranch.” His ink appears on Usher, Chris Hemsworth, and Kehlani.

Still, he is most recognized for his sacred geometry designs, using patterns to convey various meanings. His interest led him to create the Sacred Geometry Drawing App, a convenient way for novices and experts to develop and export their creations.

The app grew out of his own practice. Over the past decade, he has used tablets and freehand techniques to achieve his highly symmetrical artwork but grew to realize existing tools were not always easy to use.

“The app is an attempt and fulfillment of my desire to make sacred geometry accessible and bring the ability to create into the fingertips of as many people as possible,” Forte tells CultureMap via email, adding a tagline: “symmetry made simply.”

He says he wished the app was available when developing his signature style as a tattoo artist, but it was designed with a broad range of users in mind. He hopes that designers, educators, and artists will find a use for it.

A short intro to the app's capabilities is available on YouTube. It looks like a standard drawing app, starting with a blank canvas and some tools like pens, pencils, colors, and of course, straight line and dot makers.

A "symmetry index" anchors the functionality and expands it to something between 2D art and 3D modeling. In addition to generating shapes like repeating patterns and spirals, the app also creates 3D shapes with grids, so that the artist can map their design in real space or even create sculptures. There is also an index for explaining the spiritual meaning of some standard designs.

“Geometry often prompts an intimidating feeling when it comes to making art,” Forte continues. “The fundamentally complex and often academic nature of math-based art can induce a sense of fear in the potential user instead of creating a sense of awe. The purpose of the sacred geometry app is to cultivate the latter."

Creatives interested in constructing their own geometric masterpieces can download the app at the App Store for free, and in-app purchases are available.

technology apps tattoos arts