The BrykerWoods Neighborhood at the Center of Austin

Q: Where is the geographic center of the city limits of Austin? Would it be the same as the center of the Austin metropolitan complex?

A: The amoebalike shape of the City of Austin is the result of years of individual annexations — small and sometimes not-so-small pieces added to the periphery, says Ryan Robinson, city demographer. Areas the shapes of thumbs or trapezoids have been annexed. For example, did you know that 20,000 Austinites live in Williamson County? The geographic center of the City of Austin is within the BrykerWoods neighborhood at the intersection of Funston Street and 32nd Street, just a few blocks south of the intersection of MoPac Boulevard (Loop 1) and 35th Street. The Austin Metropolitan Statistical Area consists of five counties — Bastrop, Caldwell, Hays, Travis and Williamson. The geographic center? In southeast Travis County where Walnut Creek empties into the Colorado River, south of the intersection of East Martin Luther King Boulevard and Decker Lane. This is south of the old Travis State School site.