U.S. News & World Report recently ranked Austin as the best place to live in the United States. With an overall score of 7.8 out of 10, Austin beat out other top metro areas such as Denver in second place with a score of 7.5, and San Jose in third place with a score of 7.4.

U.S. News & World Report analyzed 100 metro areas across the United States based on people's desire to live in the area, the perceived value of living in the area, the job market, the quality of life available to residents, and the net population.

Here's how Austin ranked on the scorecard:

• Desirability: 8.4
• Value: 7.3
• Job Market: 7.5
• Quality of Life: 7.3
• Net Migration: 9.8

What Makes Austin The Best Place To Live

Desirability

Austin is known as

If you've ever thought about selling your home at all—whether you're trying to sell now or further down the road—renovating to add value to the home has probably crossed your mind. Cost-effective home renovations are a common practice for anyone in the seller's market, but what are the best home renovations for resale value?

It's important to weigh cost vs. value when it comes to home renovations and it's also important to research your own real estate market. For example, the renovation projects that result in the biggest return on your investment in the Austin real estate market aren't necessarily the same as other American cities. We're not just referring to the resale value of adding pools to Austin homes for sale vs. homes in a city in the

It looks as though the Texas real estate market— and in particular, the Austin real estate market—is going to once again break records in all facets in 2016. The latest reports from the Texas Association of REALTORS® and the Austin Board of REALTORS® show records in both home sales and prices, which could be good news, but it may also cause questions about the future of the market for potential buyers and sellers.

A staggering 247,931 homes were sold across the state in the first three quarters of 2016, with the median home price currently at $214,000 (a seven percent increase from this time last year). These statistics increase when it comes to Austin homes for sale. The median home price in the Austin-Round Rock area is at $279,900 (a 7.7 percent

Let's face it, sometimes holiday shopping can be a beast. Crowded malls and tight budgets will often drive a person to madness. Even if you've been smart enough to head out early in the shopping season—and if you're reading this, then chances are you haven't—there's always the difficulty of picking just the right present for those very important people on your list. The trick to a more effective holiday shopping experience is preparedness: it turns out that you'll have a much better time Christmas shopping in Austin by carefully considering the type of people on your list before you head out.

With that in mind, here are just a few of the people you might find on your shopping list this year, along with some helpful suggestions about how you can make

With average winter temperatures in Austin sitting around 17°F, for the most part, preparing for winter is about rotating all of the shorts and tank tops to the back of your closet and bringing all the cozy sweaters and heavy scarves to the front. But once that winter chill sets in, there's no doubt you'll have to do a few things around your Austin home to beat the cold.

Here are four ways to winterize your Austin home:

1. Keep Your Windows Airtight

Drafty windows are a quick and easy way to lose hot air. Especially if your Austin home features plenty of big single-pane picture windows, you can expect to lose a lot of heat to these uninsulated spots in your home.

Fortunately, there are lots of solutions. If you place your hand on the

Despite Austin's bustling city streets and urban landscape, it is surrounded by hundreds of acres of farmland, many of which are home to quality produce farms. A day trip to a u-pick Texas farm can be a great weekend activity for Austinites with a passion for fresh, local, and organic produce. An additional perk of harvesting yourself is the fact that there's no shipping! U-pick fruits and veggies are allowed to ripen on the vine for a longer period of time, which often leads to more pronounced flavors. This makes them delicious snacks to munch raw or excellent as part of your favorite recipe.

The Austin area has a wealth of local farms to choose from, but here are a few interesting ones to start you off:

1. Pumpkin Patches

Pumpkin patches are a

Three Austin Schools have made Newsweek's list of America's Top High Schools 2016. In conjunction with Westat, Newsweek compiled the list of the country's best public high schools using the following criteria:

• Students' performance on standardized tests such as state-wide assessments, SATs, and ACTs
• College acceptance and enrollment rates
• Existence of AP, IB, and AICE programs
• Students enrolled in both high school and college courses (dual enrollments)

Here are the three top Austin public high schools that ranked in the country's top 500 schools, as well as information on where to live if you'd like your children to attend these schools!

Westwood High School (#48)

Westwood High School earned the ranking as the country's 48th

The Dell Medical School is set to revolutionize healthcare in Austin, and Central Texas as a whole. With initial plans to locate a medical campus at UT Austin approved in 2008, the plan was finally brought to life when Travis County voters approved allocating $35 million of annual taxpayer money for the new medical school. Thanks to additional funding from the University of Texas and $50 million in funding from the Michael and Susan Dell Foundation, after whom the school was named, construction began on the new medical school in April 2014.

June 2016 marked the opening of the project's first building, making the Dell Medical School the first medical school in the country to be built completely from scratch at a top tier research university since

Austin has built a reputation as a major technology hub, earning a ranking as one of the country's top 5 tech cities. Austin's tech-savvy population is open to experimenting with the latest tech innovations, including the recent tidal wave of potentially life-changing apps.

Here's our list of 6 can't-miss Austin apps to get the most out of your city.

1. Favor

Favor is part of the recent wave of on-demand service apps reminiscent of Uber. This app has become an Austin favorite for the delivery of just about anything. Through the app, you can browse lists of specially curated restaurants and have their food delivered at the press of a button. But hold on—this sounds like every other food delivery app, right?

Wrong! Favor goes the extra mile