Down-home yet sophisticated. Laid-back and bustling with high energy. Traditional and avant-garde at the same time. These qualities allow Austinites and visitors alike to embrace the city's unique, often quirky, identity and appreciate the traditions that it was founded upon. Over the past two decades, the small university town where Willie Nelson crafted his own unique musical style grew into a big city with a glittering skyline and 1.4 million people in the metropolitan area.