[pxlpshr]

Austin has a high volume of both young and smarter hackers but many of those are absorbed out of the city by big business thanks to a school curriculum heavily influenced by the aforementioned. And this has always been Austin's problem since UT became a major player...

However, that does not detract from the able and educated talent pool that spends 4-6 years in Austin before moving on and fresh talent cycles in. The school, city government, and local funds are somewhat involved but it's not enough and that's what we're trying to change -- slowly but surely.

We're getting premature news coverage of the idea(s) as much of this is still in planning, but is being shared at social events to sample interest and demand. However, the co-working space is very close to being secured. There was early discussion that the space itself would operate as non-profit, but later felt that it would slow us down reaching our goal of an affordable and accessible co-working space.

The idea of a Startup District is still very much just that, an idea. Let's not get hung up misinterpreting preliminary planning, or insulting local Austin-ites trying to make a difference for the city and it's people.

We encourage any Austinites to reach out if they're interested in helping/sponsoring.