About
About ATX Guide
An independent quick-start guide to Austin, Texas — the layout of the city, how to get around, and where to begin, written for the person just trying to get their bearings.
What this site covers
ATX Guide is a plain-language orientation to Austin — the kind of quick-start a friend who already lives here would give you over a taco. We cover how the city is laid out and how to read the map, how the neighborhoods fit together and who each one suits, how to actually get around, and the outdoors, food, music and festivals that give Austin its character. It favors the enduring over the trendy — spring-fed pools, honky-tonks, breakfast tacos, the Hill Country just past the edge of town. It is an editorial guide, not a listings directory.
Why it exists
Austin has grown fast enough that most of what is written about it is either a sales pitch or already out of date. Newcomers and visitors land with a jumble of impressions — weird, expensive, hot, techy, musical — and no frame to hang them on. This site exists to give that frame: a calm, honest read of the city you can get your footing from in an afternoon.
How we work
Every page is built to be useful first — no pop-ups, no paywall, no autoplay. We write our recommendations in our own words from our own read of the city, and we do not republish anyone else’s compiled lists or roundups. When we point you to a source, we link it and move on. Information is kept general and evergreen; confirm hours, reservations and details directly with a venue before you go. Photography is Creative Commons or public-domain work from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each page and in /img/credits.json.
Who publishes it
ATX Guide is part of the WholeTech Network, an independent Austin, Texas publisher that has been building websites since 1996, starting with one of the city’s first online communities. The network spans more than a hundred sites, each focused on a single subject, all running on one server.
The Austin network
If you are sorting out a move or a visit, our sister sites may help: Austin.com.co, Austin Retire, and Austin Hangout. Heading east of town, Lost Pines Guide covers Bastrop County. See the full list at wholetech.com.
Contact
Questions, corrections, or a tip: wholetechtexas@gmail.com.