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106-457: Austin is a city in and the county seat of Mower County , Minnesota , United States. The population was 26,174 at the 2020 census . The town was originally settled along the Cedar River and has two artificial lakes, East Side Lake and Mill Pond. It was named for Austin R. Nichols, the area's first European settler. Hormel Foods Corporation is Austin's largest employer, and the city

212-679: A North American Hockey League team that began play during the 2010–11 season. The team finished 1st in the Central Division in the 2012–13, 2013–14, and 2014–15 seasons, and advanced to the Robertson Cup Finals in 2014 and 2015, though ultimately losing the championship both times. The Bruins play their home games at Riverside Arena . Austin previously was represented in Junior hockey by the Austin Mavericks ,

318-577: A central area containing buildings with special economic, political, and religious significance. Archaeologists refer to this area by the Greek term temenos or if fortified as a citadel . These spaces historically reflect and amplify the city's centrality and importance to its wider sphere of influence . Today cities have a city center or downtown , sometimes coincident with a central business district . Cities typically have public spaces where anyone can go. These include privately owned spaces open to

424-665: A central authority. The term can also refer either to the physical streets and buildings of the city or to the collection of people who dwell there and can be used in a general sense to mean urban rather than rural territory . National censuses use a variety of definitions – invoking factors such as population , population density , number of dwellings , economic function, and infrastructure – to classify populations as urban. Typical working definitions for small-city populations start at around 100,000 people. Common population definitions for an urban area (city or town) range between 1,500 and 50,000 people, with most U.S. states using

530-461: A central point. This form could evolve from successive growth over a long time, with concentric traces of town walls and citadels marking older city boundaries. In more recent history, such forms were supplemented by ring roads moving traffic around the outskirts of a town. Dutch cities such as Amsterdam and Haarlem are structured as a central square surrounded by concentric canals marking every expansion. In cities such as Moscow , this pattern

636-552: A combination of these. Societies that live in cities are often called civilizations . The degree of urbanization is a modern metric to help define what comprises a city: "a population of at least 50,000 inhabitants in contiguous dense grid cells (>1,500 inhabitants per square kilometer)". This metric was "devised over years by the European Commission , OECD , World Bank and others, and endorsed in March [2021] by

742-997: A community choir (Northwestern Singers) and several community bands (Austin Community Band, Austin Community Jazz Band, and the Austin Big Band). Austin has produced many professional musicians of regional and national acclaim, including John Maus , Trace Bundy , Charlie Parr , Martin Zellar , Matthew Griswold , and Molly Kate Kestner . In 2015 the MacPhail Center for Music , based in Minneapolis, Minnesota , opened its first outstate location in Austin, at Riverland Community College. MacPhail's Austin campus provides individual instruction on nearly

848-620: A continuous urban landscape called urban agglomeration , conurbation , or megalopolis (exemplified by the BosWash corridor of the Northeastern United States .) The emergence of cities from proto-urban settlements , such as Çatalhöyük , is a non-linear development that demonstrates the varied experiences of early urbanization . The cities of Jericho , Aleppo , Byblos , Faiyum , Yerevan , Athens , Matera , Damascus , and Argos are among those laying claim to

954-430: A distinctive elite social class, but it should indeed be considered a city based on a functional redefinition of urban development. In particular, Jenné-Jeno featured settlement mounds arranged according to a horizontal, rather than vertical, power hierarchy, and served as a center of specialized production and exhibited functional interdependence with the surrounding hinterland. More recently, scholars have concluded that

1060-650: A dozen musical instruments for adults and children, as well as large ensembles and early childhood music instruction. Theater The Frank W. Bridges Theatre is home to an active theatre program at Riverland Community College, while Matchbox Children's Theatre, established in 1975, provides shows year-round for both adults and children. Summerset Theatre, a community theater company organized in 1968, also presents several shows per year. ArtWorks Center The Austin ArtWorks Center, established in 2014, hosts gallery exhibits, educational classes, performance space, and

1166-477: A grid plan with specialized districts used across the Hellenistic Mediterranean . The urban-type settlement extends far beyond the traditional boundaries of the city proper in a form of development sometimes described critically as urban sprawl . Decentralization and dispersal of city functions (commercial, industrial, residential, cultural, political) has transformed the very meaning of

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1272-403: A household in the city was $ 33,750, and the median income for a family was $ 42,691. Males had a median income of $ 31,787 versus $ 23,158 for females. The per capita income for the city was $ 20,651. About 7.5% of families and 10.9% of the population were below the poverty line . With Hormel 's corporate headquarters and main production facility in Austin, food processing plays a dominant role in

1378-511: A key role in both the economy and government. Late antique cities in the East were also undergoing intense transformations, with increased political participation of the crowds and demographical fluctuations. Christian communities and their doctrinal differences increasingly shaped the urban fabric. The locus of power shifted to Constantinople and to the ascendant Islamic civilization with its major cities Baghdad , Cairo , and Córdoba . From

1484-587: A major flood mitigation program. This involved the purchase and demolition of buildings within the floodplain, converting low-lying areas of town to parks, and the installation of a flood wall to protect downtown. After two major floods in July 1978, city officials and local residents decided to take action. Locals organized the Floodway Action Citizens Task Source (FACTS), which met with local and state leaders, as well as members of

1590-413: A major redevelopment project at the site of the former Oak Park Mall. The city is embarking on a community development project, Vision 2020. This grassroots movement was chartered in 2011 to implement ten major new community initiatives that could be completed by 2020. It includes a variety of projects related to economic development, heath and wellness, education, and tourism. A community recreation center

1696-531: A minimum between 1,500 and 5,000 inhabitants. Some jurisdictions set no such minima. In the United Kingdom , city status is awarded by the Crown and then remains permanent. (Historically, the qualifying factor was the presence of a cathedral , resulting in some very small cities such as Wells , with a population of 12,000 as of 2018 , and St Davids , with a population of 1,841 as of 2011 .) According to

1802-657: A new round of buyouts took place through the Hazard Mitigation Grant Program (HMGP). The worst flooding on record came when the Cedar River crested at 23.4 feet (7.1 m) in the spring of 2000. Many of the worst-hit parts of town were now void of homes and businesses, but there was still damage and extensive clean-up was required. Flooding came again in September 2004, resulting in two fatalities. Additional protection (dikes) were added along

1908-703: A privileged elite among towns having won self-governance from their local lord or having been granted self-governance by the emperor and being placed under his immediate protection. By 1480, these cities, as far as still part of the empire, became part of the Imperial Estates governing the empire with the emperor through the Imperial Diet . By the 13th and 14th centuries, some cities become powerful states, taking surrounding areas under their control or establishing extensive maritime empires. In Italy, medieval communes developed into city-states including

2014-468: A reputation for colorful behavior. At one point while governor, he donated his $ 25,000 pay raise to help promote bocce . He also pitched an idea for a chopstick factory to be built in northern Minnesota, and proposed selling the governor's mansion in Saint Paul as a cost-saving measure. Newsweek brought Perpich national attention by bestowing on him the nickname "Governor Goofy", crystallizing

2120-779: A retail gallery. It is operated by the Austin Area Commission for the Arts, which also sponsors the Austin ArtWorks Festival, an annual celebration of visual, performing, and literary arts. The center is in the First National Bank Building, which opened in 1896. Architecture Austin has several historically and architecturally significant buildings, including Austin High School, St. Augustine's Church , Roosevelt Bridge,

2226-495: A rule cannot produce their own food and therefore must develop some relationship with a hinterland that sustains them. Only in special cases such as mining towns which play a vital role in long-distance trade, are cities disconnected from the countryside which feeds them. Thus, centrality within a productive region influences siting, as economic forces would, in theory, favor the creation of marketplaces in optimal mutually reachable locations. The vast majority of cities have

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2332-452: A small proportion of humanity overall, but following two centuries of unprecedented and rapid urbanization , more than half of the world population now lives in cities, which has had profound consequences for global sustainability . Present-day cities usually form the core of larger metropolitan areas and urban areas —creating numerous commuters traveling toward city centres for employment, entertainment, and education. However, in

2438-549: A super-wealthy elite living in gated communities and large masses of people living in substandard housing with inadequate infrastructure and otherwise poor conditions. Cities around the world have expanded physically as they grow in population, with increases in their surface extent, with the creation of high-rise buildings for residential and commercial use, and with development underground. Urbanization can create rapid demand for water resources management , as formerly good sources of freshwater become overused and polluted, and

2544-724: A team that first participated in the Midwest Junior Hockey League from 1974 to 1977 and following a league merger competed in the United States Hockey League from 1977 to 1985. Austin is home to two amateur baseball clubs, the Austin Blue Sox and Austin Greyhounds. The Riverland Community College Blue Devils field six intercollegiate athletic teams. Several other teams, clubs, and activities are prominent in Austin, including

2650-423: A temple. A minority viewpoint considers that cities may have arisen without agriculture, due to alternative means of subsistence (fishing), to use as communal seasonal shelters, to their value as bases for defensive and offensive military organization, or to their inherent economic function. Cities played a crucial role in the establishment of political power over an area, and ancient leaders such as Alexander

2756-567: A workers' town associated with the pyramid of Senusret II , and the religious city Amarna built by Akhenaten and abandoned. These sites appear planned in a highly regimented and stratified fashion, with a minimalistic grid of rooms for the workers and increasingly more elaborate housing available for higher classes. In Mesopotamia, the civilization of Sumer , followed by Assyria and Babylon , gave rise to numerous cities, governed by kings and fostered multiple languages written in cuneiform . The Phoenician trading empire, flourishing around

2862-471: A world of intensifying globalization , all cities are to varying degrees also connected globally beyond these regions. This increased influence means that cities also have significant influences on global issues , such as sustainable development , climate change , and global health . Because of these major influences on global issues, the international community has prioritized investment in sustainable cities through Sustainable Development Goal 11 . Due to

2968-520: Is approximately 1,200 ft (370 m). The Cedar River , a tributary of the Iowa River , flows southward through the east side of the city. Tributaries within the city include Turtle Creek from the west and Dobbins Creek from the east. Austin has a humid continental climate typical of the Upper Midwest . Winters are cold and snowy; summers are warm with moderate to high humidity. On

3074-763: Is in progress, as is a tourism and visitor center. One goal is to make the downtown business district more of a destination, aided in part by the Spam Museum's relocation to Main Street in 2016. In 2015 the National Association of Realtors named Austin one of the "Top 10 Affordable Small Towns Where You'd Actually Want to Live." Austin has a long history of flooding. The Cedar River, along with Dobbins Creek and Turtle Creek , flow through Austin, and many homes and businesses were constructed in floodplains . A series of floods between 1978 and 2010 resulted in

3180-672: Is sometimes called "SPAM Town USA". Austin is home to Hormel's corporate headquarters, a factory that makes most of North America's SPAM tinned meat, and the Spam Museum . Austin is also home to the Hormel Institute , a leading cancer research institution operated by the University of Minnesota with significant support from the Mayo Clinic . Fertile land, trapping , and ease of access brought first trappers and then

3286-517: Is still clearly visible. A system of rectilinear city streets and land plots, known as the grid plan , has been used for millennia in Asia, Europe, and the Americas. The Indus Valley Civilization built Mohenjo-Daro , Harappa , and other cities on a grid pattern, using ancient principles described by Kautilya , and aligned with the compass points . The ancient Greek city of Priene exemplifies

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3392-420: Is the most urban continent, with four-fifths of its population living in cities, including one-fifth of the population said to live in shantytowns ( favelas , poblaciones callampas , etc.). Batam , Indonesia , Mogadishu , Somalia , Xiamen , China , and Niamey , Niger , are considered among the world's fastest-growing cities, with annual growth rates of 5–8%. In general, the more developed countries of

3498-580: The Great Recession , including the demise of the Oak Park Mall. As of 2017 the business climate had improved, including a major redevelopment of the former mall site. Downtown remains vibrant as well, including construction of a new SPAM Museum in 2016. According to Austin's Comprehensive Annual Financial Report (2022), the top employers in the city are: Music Austin is home to several long-standing performing arts organizations, including

3604-668: The Iowa border. The city is bordered to the south by Austin Township , to the east by Windom and Red Rock townships, and to the north by Lansing Township and the city of Mapleview . Austin is bordered to the west by Oakland Township in Freeborn County . According to the U.S. Census Bureau , Austin has a total area of 13.39 square miles (34.68 km), of which 13.29 square miles (34.42 km) are land and 0.11 square miles (0.28 km), or 0.79%, are water. Its elevation

3710-528: The Köppen climate classification , Austin falls in the humid continental climate zone ( Dfa ) and is in USDA plant hardiness zone 4b. Below is a table of average high and low temperatures in Austin. As of the census of 2020 there were 26,174 people, 10,980 households, and 10,181 families residing in the city. As of the census of 2010 there were 24,718 people, 10,131 households, and 6,114 families residing in

3816-762: The Mall of America in Bloomington . Additionally, he worked to promote Minnesota on the international stage by traveling to 17 countries in 1984, and bringing the foreign leaders Mikhail Gorbachev of the Soviet Union and Dr. Franjo Tuđman of Croatia to the state in 1990. Perpich opposed the Reagan proxy war against Nicaragua in the 1980s and was one of several governors who objected to sending their National Guard units to train in U.S. bases in Honduras , where

3922-603: The Republic of Venice and the Republic of Genoa . In Northern Europe, cities including Lübeck and Bruges formed the Hanseatic League for collective defense and commerce. Their power was later challenged and eclipsed by the Dutch commercial cities of Ghent , Ypres , and Amsterdam . Similar phenomena existed elsewhere, as in the case of Sakai , which enjoyed considerable autonomy in late medieval Japan. In

4028-814: The Southern Minnesota Normal College and Austin School of Commerce. It closed in 1925, and the city was without an institution of higher education until Austin Junior College opened in 1940. In 1964 it became part of the State College and University System and is now Riverland Community College . In 1913 the Minnesota Legislature made a 50-acre (20 ha) parcel of land into Horace Austin State Park. At

4134-734: The Subsistence Homesteads Division of the Department of the Interior . The Austin Parks Board was formed in the 1940s to oversee the growing number of green spaces within the city. In 1971 the Jay C. Hormel Nature Center , a 500-acre (200 ha) nature preserve also including the 60-acre (24 ha) Hormel Arboretum, was purchased from Geordie Hormel with a state grant. In 1973 the city opened Riverside Arena ,

4240-947: The United Nations ... largely for the purpose of international statistical comparison". The word city and the related civilization come from the Latin root civitas , originally meaning 'citizenship' or 'community member' and eventually coming to correspond with urbs , meaning 'city' in a more physical sense. The Roman civitas was closely linked with the Greek polis —another common root appearing in English words such as metropolis . In toponymic terminology, names of individual cities and towns are called astionyms (from Ancient Greek ἄστυ 'city or town' and ὄνομα 'name'). Urban geography deals both with cities in their larger context and with their internal structure. Cities are estimated to cover about 3% of

4346-505: The Uruk period . In the fourth and third millennium BC , complex civilizations flourished in the river valleys of Mesopotamia , India , China , and Egypt . Excavations in these areas have found the ruins of cities geared variously towards trade, politics, or religion. Some had large, dense populations , but others carried out urban activities in the realms of politics or religion without having large associated populations. Among

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4452-730: The civilization of Djenne-Djenno was likely established by the Mande progenitors of the Bozo people . Their habitation of the site spanned the period from 3rd century BCE to 13th century CE. Archaeological evidence from Jenné-Jeno, specifically the presence of non-West African glass beads dated from the third century BCE to the fourth century CE, indicates that pre-Arabic trade contacts probably existed between Jenné-Jeno and North Africa. Additionally, other early urban centers in West Africa, dated to around 500 CE, include Awdaghust , Kumbi Saleh ,

4558-615: The commune ( in France and Chile ; or comune in Italy). Rudy Perpich Rudolph George Perpich Sr. (born Rudolph George Prpić ; June 27, 1928 – September 21, 1995) was an American politician who served as the governor of Minnesota from 1976 to 1979 and again from 1983 to 1991. A member of the Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party , he is labeled as Minnesota's 34th and 36th governor. He

4664-427: The government workers . (This arrangement contrasts with the more typically horizontal relationships in a tribe or village accomplishing common goals through informal agreements between neighbors, or the leadership of a chief.) The governments may be based on heredity, religion, military power, work systems such as canal-building, food distribution, land-ownership, agriculture, commerce, manufacturing, finance, or

4770-538: The knowledge economy . A new smart city paradigm, supported by institutions such as the RAND Corporation and IBM , is bringing computerized surveillance , data analysis, and governance to bear on cities and city dwellers. Some companies are building brand-new master-planned cities from scratch on greenfield sites. Urbanization is the process of migration from rural to urban areas, driven by various political, economic, and cultural factors. Until

4876-469: The primary . (After Carlson's surprise primary defeat, a bipartisan, grassroots group, Minnesotans for the WRITE Choice, launched a noisy, media-intensive campaign urging Carlson to re-challenge Grunseth.) Grunseth was forced to withdraw amid allegations of a sex scandal just two weeks before the election. Perpich was Minnesota's last DFL governor until Mark Dayton took office in 2011. Perpich had

4982-564: The service economy and public-private partnerships , with concomitant gentrification , uneven revitalization efforts , and selective cultural development. Under the Great Leap Forward and subsequent five-year plans continuing today, China has undergone concomitant urbanization and industrialization and become the world's leading manufacturer . Amidst these economic changes, high technology and instantaneous telecommunication enable select cities to become centers of

5088-535: The " Global North " remain more urbanized than the less developed countries of the " Global South "—but the difference continues to shrink because urbanization is happening faster in the latter group. Asia is home to by far the greatest absolute number of city-dwellers: over two billion and counting. The UN predicts an additional 2.5 billion city dwellers (and 300 million fewer country dwellers) worldwide by 2050, with 90% of urban population expansion occurring in Asia and Africa. Megacities , cities with populations in

5194-539: The "functional definition", a city is not distinguished by size alone, but also by the role it plays within a larger political context. Cities serve as administrative, commercial, religious, and cultural hubs for their larger surrounding areas. The presence of a literate elite is often associated with cities because of the cultural diversities present in a city. A typical city has professional administrators , regulations, and some form of taxation (food and other necessities or means to trade for them) to support

5300-532: The 18th century), Ile-Ifẹ̀ (70,000 to 105,000 inhabitants in the 14th and 15th centuries), Niani (50,000 inhabitants in 1400 AD) and Timbuktu (100,000 inhabitants in 1450 AD). In the West, nation-states became the dominant unit of political organization following the Peace of Westphalia in the seventeenth century. Western Europe's larger capitals (London and Paris) benefited from the growth of commerce following

5406-420: The 18th century, an equilibrium existed between the rural agricultural population and towns featuring markets and small-scale manufacturing. With the agricultural and industrial revolutions urban population began its unprecedented growth, both through migration and demographic expansion . In England , the proportion of the population living in cities jumped from 17% in 1801 to 72% in 1891. In 1900, 15% of

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5512-718: The 30th and 18th centuries BC. Mesoamerica saw the rise of early urbanism in several cultural regions, beginning with the Olmec and spreading to the Preclassic Maya , the Zapotec of Oaxaca, and Teotihuacan in central Mexico. Later cultures such as the Aztec , Andean civilizations , Mayan , Mississippians , and Pueblo peoples drew on these earlier urban traditions. Many of their ancient cities continue to be inhabited, including major metropolitan cities such as Mexico City , in

5618-533: The 63rd Annual Academy Awards . Dave Pirner of the Minneapolis band Soul Asylum wrote a song about the strike, "P-9". It is on the band's 1989 album Clam Dip & Other Delights . Hormel never gave in to the workers' demands, and when the strike ended in June 1986, 700 employees were left without work. Austin completed a new $ 28 million courthouse and jail in 2010, a new intermediate school in 2013, and has

5724-750: The 9th through the end of the 12th century, Constantinople , the capital of the Eastern Roman Empire , was the largest and wealthiest city in Europe, with a population approaching 1 million. The Ottoman Empire gradually gained control over many cities in the Mediterranean area, including Constantinople in 1453 . In the Holy Roman Empire , beginning in the 12th century, free imperial cities such as Nuremberg , Strasbourg , Frankfurt , Basel , Zürich , and Nijmegen became

5830-404: The Andes, the first urban centers developed in the Norte Chico civilization , Chavin and Moche cultures, followed by major cities in the Huari , Chimu , and Inca cultures. The Norte Chico civilization included as many as 30 major population centers in what is now the Norte Chico region of north-central coastal Peru . It is the oldest known civilization in the Americas, flourishing between

5936-470: The Army Corps of Engineers, but it was decided that major flood prevention measures would not be cost-effective. A Community Development Block Grant was won from the Department of Housing and Urban Development, allowing for the buyout of homes lying in the flood plain. City planners also vowed to no longer build new structures in the existing flood plains. In 1983 and 1993 major floods again damaged many Austin homes and businesses. Over 400 homes were affected and

6042-403: The Austin Symphony Orchestra, which was established in 1957. The Austin Artist Series, one of the Midwest's largest and longest-running concert and performance series, was established in 1945. The Historic Paramount Theatre hosts a variety of local and regional performances, and Austin High School 's music programs have been recognized for decades as among the state's best. Austin is also home to

6148-411: The Cedar River as a result. The most recent round of serious flooding came in 2010, after which a plan was developed for a permanent flood wall to protect downtown from the floodwaters of the Cedar River and Mill Pond. The wall was completed in 2014. On Monday, August 20, 1928, an F-2 sized tornado touched down on Winona Street (1st Avenue). The damage ran from the southern edge of Austin High School to

6254-478: The DFL Party's endorsed candidate for governor, Warren Spannaus , in the primary election, and won. He then defeated Independent-Republican nominee Wheelock Whitney in the general election. Perpich served as the Chairman of the Midwestern Governors Association in 1984. Perpich was reelected in 1986, but lost to Arne Carlson in 1990, a bizarre campaign in which Carlson replaced the Independent-Republican Party's candidate Jon Grunseth , who had beaten Carlson in

6360-417: The Great founded and created them with zeal. Jericho and Çatalhöyük , dated to the eighth millennium BC , are among the earliest proto-cities known to archaeologists. However, the Mesopotamian city of Uruk from the mid-fourth millennium BC (ancient Iraq) is considered by most archaeologists to be the first true city, innovating many characteristics for cities to follow, with its name attributed to

6466-404: The Hibbing school board in 1955–1956. The board gained notability for instituting equal pay for male and female workers. In 1962, he was elected to the Minnesota Senate , representing the old 63rd District, which included portions of Saint Louis County in the northeastern part of the state. He was reelected in 1966. In 1970, Perpich was elected the 39th lieutenant governor of Minnesota . He

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6572-444: The Historic Paramount Theatre, the Hormel Historic Home , the Arthur W. Wright House, and several blocks of buildings on Main Street. The S. P. Elam Residence (1950) was designed by Frank Lloyd Wright , and is the second largest example of his Usonian style of architecture. Literature Austin is the setting of Allen Eskens' novel The Life We Bury, published in 2014 by Seventh Street Books in New York. The Austin Bruins are

6678-502: The Milwaukee Road railyards on the city's east side. St. Olaf Lutheran Church, Carnegie Library, Main Street, the spire on Austin's former courthouse, Grand Theatre (replaced in 1929 by the Paramount Theatre), Austin Utilities, Lincoln School, and several boxcars at the Milwaukee railyards were damaged or destroyed. Austin residents noticed debris raining out of the sky, such as straw and laundry. Another F-2 touched down in August 1961, at 808 18th Street SW. It quickly gained strength once on

6784-443: The Southern Minnesota Bicycling Club, the Austin Curling Club, the Minnesota Southbound Rollers (female roller derby), and the Southeast Minnesota Warhawks of the Southern Plains Football League. The Riverside Arena is a 2,500-seat multipurpose arena which opened in 1973. It is home to the Austin High School Packers boys' and girls' ice hockey teams as well as the Austin Bruins. City Historically, city dwellers have been

6890-512: The U.S.-backed Contras were based. The Contras carried out atrocities in Nicaragua to topple the leftist government there. Perpich was the plaintiff in the 1990 U.S. Supreme Court case Perpich v. Department of Defense , which established that the U.S. Department of Defense could send state National Guard units overseas over the governor's objection. After leaving office in 1991, Perpich went to Zagreb , Croatia, to assist its post-communist government. In 1992 he moved to Paris , France, for

6996-475: The ancient capital of Ghana, and Maranda , a center located on a trade route between Egypt and Gao. The dissolution of the Roman Empire in the West was connected with profound changes in urban fabric of western Europe. In places where Roman administration quickly weakened urbanism went through a profound crisis, even if it continued to remain an important symbolic factor. In regions like Italy or Spain cities diminished in size but nevertheless continued to play

7102-413: The athletic, artistic, spiritual, and political life of the polis. Rome was the first city that surpassed one million inhabitants. Under the authority of its empire , Rome transformed and founded many cities ( Colonia ), and with them brought its principles of urban architecture, design, and society. In the ancient Americas , early urban traditions developed in the Andes and Mesoamerica . In

7208-407: The benefit of mitigating the urban heat island effect, especially in cities that are in warmer climates. These spaces prevent carbon imbalances, extreme habitat losses, electricity and water consumption, and human health risks. The urban structure generally follows one or more basic patterns: geomorphic, radial, concentric, rectilinear, and curvilinear. The physical environment generally constrains

7314-418: The city was 92.6% White , 0.81% African American , 0.18% Native American , 2.22% Asian , 0.02% Pacific Islander , 3.09% from other races , and 1.09% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race was 6.12% of the population. There were 9,897 households, out of which 27.2% had children under the age of 18. The average household size was 2.29; the average family size was 2.90. The median income for

7420-584: The city's economy. Hormel and Quality Pork Processors, a contract food processing firm serving Hormel, are by far the city's largest private employers. Though most famous for SPAM, Hormel also produces many other brands, such as Jennie-O turkey, Muscle Milk, Skippy peanut butter, and Dinty Moore beef stew. The government, education, hospitality, and retail sectors comprise much of the remainder of Austin's employment base. Hormel's consistent and steady growth have resulted in below-average unemployment rates for Austin and Mower County in recent years. As of February 2016

7526-827: The city's first indoor ice arena, now home to a variety of ice activities including the Austin Bruins junior hockey team. In August 1985, 1,500 Hormel meatpackers went on strike at the Austin plant after management demanded a 23% cut in wages. In the early 1980s, recession had impacted several meatpacking companies, decreasing demand and increasing competition which led smaller and less-efficient companies to go out of business. In an effort to keep plants from closing, many instituted wage cuts. Wilson Food Company declared bankruptcy in 1983, allowing them to cut wages from $ 10.69 to $ 6.50 and significantly reduce benefits. Hormel Foods had avoided such drastic action, but by 1985, pressure to stay competitive remained. A protracted battle between union employees and Hormel continued until June 1986, one of

7632-421: The city. The population density was 2,096.5 inhabitants per square mile (809.5/km). There were 10,870 housing units at an average density of 922.0 per square mile (356.0/km). The racial makeup of the city was 86.8% White , 3.0% African American , 0.3% Native American , 2.4% Asian , 0.2% Pacific Islander , 4.8% from other races , and 2.4% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 15.4% of

7738-618: The combination of affection and resentment his habits elicited. During his last years in office, commentators wondered whether he would shoot to stardom as a presidential hopeful or, as governor, sour Minnesota voters on the DFL party with questionable public relations. But Perpich's activist vision of the governor's role was later cited as an important contribution to the Minnesota economy, even by such unlikely admirers as his 1990 rival and successor Arne Carlson , who said in 2005 that Perpich "was

7844-542: The early Old World cities, Mohenjo-daro of the Indus Valley civilization in present-day Pakistan , existing from about 2600 BC, was one of the largest, with a population of 50,000 or more and a sophisticated sanitation system . China's planned cities were constructed according to sacred principles to act as celestial microcosms . The Ancient Egyptian cities known physically by archaeologists are not extensive. They include (known by their Arab names) El Lahun ,

7950-455: The early pioneers to this region. The rich gameland attracted Austin Nichols, a trapper who built the first log cabin in 1853. At that time there were "about twenty families in the area." More settlers began to arrive by wagon train in 1855, and by 1856 enough people were present to organize Mower County. In 1856 the settlement adopted the name "Austin", in honor of its first settler. That year

8056-671: The efficiency of transportation and the smaller land consumption , dense cities hold the potential to have a smaller ecological footprint per inhabitant than more sparsely populated areas. Therefore, compact cities are often referred to as a crucial element in fighting climate change. However, this concentration can also have some significant negative consequences, such as forming urban heat islands , concentrating pollution , and stressing water supplies and other resources. A city can be distinguished from other human settlements by its relatively great size, but also by its functions and its special symbolic status , which may be conferred by

8162-484: The emergence of an Atlantic trade. However, most towns remained small. During the Spanish colonization of the Americas, the old Roman city concept was extensively used. Cities were founded in the middle of the newly conquered territories and were bound to several laws regarding administration, finances, and urbanism. The growth of the modern industry from the late 18th century onward led to massive urbanization and

8268-613: The first grade of elementary school. At 14, he began working for the Great Northern Railway . He graduated from Hibbing High School in 1946 and served two years in the United States Army . He then attended Marquette University in Milwaukee, Wisconsin and graduated from Marquette University Dental School in 1954, and returned to Hibbing to practice dentistry. Perpich first entered politics by serving on

8374-591: The first hotel opened to travelers and the first physician, Dr. Ormanzo Allen, moved to town. The first newspaper, the Mower County Mirror , was started in 1858. Mills, powered by the Cedar River, were the first industries in Austin. They provided much-needed flour and lumber. Growth was slow during the first two decades, but the Chicago, Milwaukee, and St. Paul Railroad arrived in the late 1860s, hastening economic development. The town's first schoolhouse

8480-812: The first millennium AD, the Khmer capital of Angkor in Cambodia grew into the most extensive preindustrial settlement in the world by area, covering over 1,000 km and possibly supporting up to one million people. West Africa already had cities before the Common Era , but the consolidation of Trans-Saharan trade in the Middle Ages multiplied the number of cities in the region, as well as making some of them very populous, notably Gao (72,000 inhabitants in 800 AD), Oyo-Ile (50,000 inhabitants in 1400 AD, and may have reached up to 140,000 inhabitants in

8586-782: The first person that I was aware of to focus on the international role that states are going to have to play." Perpich's legacy of projects in Minnesota include the Minnesota World Trade Center in Saint Paul , the Perpich Center for Arts Education in Golden Valley , the Center for Victims of Torture in Minneapolis, the University of Minnesota Duluth Natural Resources Research Institute , and

8692-440: The form in which a city is built. If located on a mountainside, urban structures may rely on terraces and winding roads. It may be adapted to its means of subsistence (e.g. agriculture or fishing). And it may be set up for optimal defense given the surrounding landscape. Beyond these "geomorphic" features, cities can develop internal patterns, due to natural growth or to city planning . In a radial structure, main roads converge on

8798-864: The ground, becoming an F-3 at 17th Street SW, where it destroyed a garage. The twister lifted briefly, touching down in the city fairgrounds and hitting the grandstand roof, tearing off parts and damaging beams. In the summer of 1984, a tornado destroyed Echo Lanes Bowling Alley as it swept through southeast Austin. Neighboring Bo-Dee Campers also suffered considerable damage, and Schmidt TV was destroyed. A tornado or straight-line winds took down massive amounts of branches and trees on Saturday, June 27, 1998, uprooting smaller trees and knocking large branches across streets. Several side streets in northwest Austin became impassable, including 8th Avenue NW (near Sumner Elementary School) and 14th Street NW (between I-90 and 8th Avenue). The event caused disruption in Sunday church services

8904-472: The land surface of the Earth. Town siting has varied through history according to natural, technological, economic, and military contexts. Access to water has long been a major factor in city placement and growth, and despite exceptions enabled by the advent of rail transport in the nineteenth century, through the present most of the world's urban population lives near the coast or on a river. Urban areas as

9010-475: The longest continual inhabitation . Cities, characterized by population density , symbolic function, and urban planning , have existed for thousands of years. In the conventional view, civilization and the city were both followed by the development of agriculture , which enabled the production of surplus food and thus a social division of labor (with concomitant social stratification ) and trade . Early cities often featured granaries , sometimes within

9116-480: The longest labor struggles of the 1980s. In January 1986 some workers crossed the picket lines, leading to riots; the conflict escalated to such a point that Governor Rudy Perpich called in the National Guard to keep the peace. The strike received national attention and a documentary, American Dream , was filmed during the 10-month conflict. The movie was released in 1990 and won Best Documentary Feature at

9222-497: The multi-millions, have proliferated into the dozens, arising especially in Asia, Africa, and Latin America. Economic globalization fuels the growth of these cities, as new torrents of foreign capital arrange for rapid industrialization, as well as the relocation of major businesses from Europe and North America, attracting immigrants from near and far. A deep gulf divides the rich and poor in these cities, which usually contain

9328-464: The next morning, and many congregations organized cleanup activities instead of regularly scheduled events. A tornado touched down in Glenville on May 1, 2001, gaining strength before it turned into a F-3 headed for Austin. The twister dissipated shortly after hitting town, but did notable damage in both cities. On Wednesday, June 17, 2009, an EF2 tornado touched down outside Austin and moved across

9434-576: The northwest and northern parts of the city, gradually weakening as it moved east. The worst damage in Austin was about 3 miles (5 km) north of downtown. The visitors center at the Jay C. Hormel Nature Center sustained damage, losing 300 trees. There were a few minor injuries. Austin is in western Mower County in southeastern Minnesota. It is 20 miles (32 km) east of Albert Lea , 41 miles (66 km) southwest of Rochester , 100 miles (160 km) south of Minneapolis , and 12 miles (19 km) north of

9540-565: The office. Most of the statewide DFL Party ticket was defeated in 1978 ; the defeated candidates included Perpich, the candidates for both U.S. Senate seats, and Auditor Robert Mattson. Anderson's arrangement to have himself appointed to the Senate and Perpich's role in that appointment were deemed major factors in those defeats. Perpich worked at Control Data Corporation in New York and Austria for several years. In 1982 , he challenged

9646-443: The population. There were 10,131 households, of which 30.2% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 43.9% were married couples living together, 11.1% had a female householder with no husband present, 5.3% had a male householder with no wife present, and 39.7% were non-families. 33.4% of all households were made up of individuals, and 15.9% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size

9752-500: The public as well as forms of public land such as public domain and the commons . Western philosophy since the time of the Greek agora has considered physical public space as the substrate of the symbolic public sphere . Public art adorns (or disfigures) public spaces. Parks and other natural sites within cities provide residents with relief from the hardness and regularity of typical built environments . Urban green spaces are another component of public space that provides

9858-873: The rise of new great cities, first in Europe and then in other regions, as new opportunities brought huge numbers of migrants from rural communities into urban areas. England led the way as London became the capital of a world empire and cities across the country grew in locations strategic for manufacturing . In the United States from 1860 to 1910, the introduction of railroads reduced transportation costs, and large manufacturing centers began to emerge, fueling migration from rural to city areas. Some industrialized cities were confronted with health challenges associated with overcrowding , occupational hazards of industry, contaminated water and air, poor sanitation , and communicable diseases such as typhoid and cholera . Factories and slums emerged as regular features of

9964-698: The same location as Tenochtitlan ; while ancient continuously inhabited Pueblos are near modern urban areas in New Mexico , such as Acoma Pueblo near the Albuquerque metropolitan area and Taos Pueblo near Taos ; while others like Lima are located nearby ancient Peruvian sites such as Pachacamac . From 1600 BC, Dhar Tichitt , in the south of present-day Mauritania , presented characteristics suggestive of an incipient form of urbanism. The second place to show urban characteristics in West Africa

10070-489: The term and has challenged geographers seeking to classify territories according to an urban-rural binary. Metropolitan areas include suburbs and exurbs organized around the needs of commuters , and sometimes edge cities characterized by a degree of economic and political independence. (In the US these are grouped into metropolitan statistical areas for purposes of demography and marketing .) Some cities are now part of

10176-468: The time, the land was "one of the beauty spots of Southern Minnesota, but of late years has not been cared for and in places the banks have been disfigured by dumping along the shore of the stream," according to the bill's author, Senator Charles F. Cook. The park was converted to a state "scenic wayside" in 1937, then transferred to city ownership in 1949. In the 1930s Austin Acres was built with funding from

10282-412: The turn of the first millennium BC , encompassed numerous cities extending from Tyre , Cydon , and Byblos to Carthage and Cádiz . In the following centuries, independent city-states of Greece , especially Athens , developed the polis , an association of male landowning citizens who collectively constituted the city. The agora , meaning "gathering place" or "assembly", was the center of

10388-570: The unemployment rate was 3.7% in Austin and Mower County, below both the state and national average. Austin-area businesses and community actively supported an application to participate as a test community in the Google Fiber project, begun in 2010. Though unsuccessful in their bid, the adoption of high-speed fiber optic and wireless internet throughout Austin is one of the Vision 2020 committee's goals. Austin's retail business struggled during

10494-446: The urban landscape. In the second half of the 20th century, deindustrialization (or " economic restructuring ") in the West led to poverty , homelessness , and urban decay in formerly prosperous cities. America's "Steel Belt" became a " Rust Belt " and cities such as Detroit , Michigan, and Gary, Indiana began to shrink , contrary to the global trend of massive urban expansion. Such cities have shifted with varying success into

10600-589: The volume of sewage begins to exceed manageable levels. The local government of cities takes different forms including prominently the municipality (especially in England , in the United States , India , and other British colonies ; legally, the municipal corporation ; municipio in Spain and Portugal , and, along with municipalidad , in most former parts of the Spanish and Portuguese empires) and

10706-523: The world's population lived in cities. The cultural appeal of cities also plays a role in attracting residents. Urbanization rapidly spread across Europe and the Americas and since the 1950s has taken hold in Asia and Africa as well. The Population Division of the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs reported in 2014 that for the first time, more than half of the world population lives in cities. Latin America

10812-543: Was Dia , in present-day Mali , from 800 BC. Both Dhar Tichitt and Dia were founded by the same people: the Soninke , who would later also found the Ghana Empire . Another ancient site, Jenné-Jeno , in what is today Mali , has been dated to the third century BCE. According to Roderick and Susan McIntosh, Jenné-Jeno did not fit into traditional Western conceptions of urbanity as it lacked monumental architecture and

10918-429: Was 2.39 and the average family size was 3.05. The median age in the city was 37. 25.6% of residents were under 18; 8.8% were between 18 and 24; 24.3% were from 25 to 44; 23.5% were from 45 to 64; and 17.7% were 65 or older. The city was 49.2% male and 50.8% female. As of the census of 2000, there were 23,314 people, 9,897 households, and 6,076 families residing in the city and 10,261 housing units. The racial makeup of

11024-483: Was also the state's only Roman Catholic governor and the only one to serve non-consecutive terms. Rudolph George Prpić was born in Carson Lake, Minnesota, which is now part of Hibbing . His father, Anton Prpić, was a miner who had immigrated to Minnesota's Mesabi Iron Range from Croatia , and his mother, Mary (Vukelich), was an American of Croatian descent . Perpich did not learn to speak English until at least

11130-559: Was constructed in 1865, and the first bank opened the following year. In 1891 George A. Hormel opened a small family-owned butcher shop in Austin, which eventually grew into today's Fortune 500 company, Hormel Foods . By 1896 area doctors, with the help of local Lutheran congregations, formed the Austin Hospital Association, later becoming St. Olaf Hospital, and (since 1995) part of Mayo Clinic Health System . In 1897 Charles Boostrom opened Austin's first college,

11236-479: Was reelected in 1974 on a ticket with Governor Wendell R. Anderson . (Before 1974, the governor and lieutenant governor were elected separately in Minnesota.) He became governor when Anderson resigned in 1976 to accept appointment to the United States Senate seat vacated by Walter Mondale , who had been elected Vice President of the United States . Perpich was the first Iron Range resident to hold

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