Moscow on the Colorado (Austin nickname)

The city of Austin is located on the Colorado River and is home to the University of Texas. The city (and university) has been attributed to have such liberal and anti-American leanings that some have called Austin “Moscow on the Colorado.” The nickname is a nod to the 1984 Robin Williams film, Moscow on the Hudson.
 
Other nicknames or slogans for Austin include Moscow-on-the-Brazos, The Peoples Republic of Austin and “Keep Austin Weird.”
 
   
Wikipedia: Austin, Texas
Austin is the capital of the U.S. state of Texas and the seat of Travis County. Situated in Central Texas and part of the American South, it is the fourth-largest city in Texas and the 16th-largest in the United States of America, as well as the 3rd fastest growing large city in the nation from 2000 to 2006. As of the 2006 U.S. Census estimate, Austin has a population of 709,893. The city is the cultural and economic center of the Greater Austin metropolitan area with a population of more than 1.5 million people.
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Austin is situated on the Colorado River, with three man-made (artificial) lakes wholly within the city limits: Lady Bird Lake, Lake Austin, and Lake Walter E. Long. Additionally, the foot of Lake Travis, including Mansfield Dam, is located within the city’s limits. Lady Bird Lake, Lake Austin, and Lake Travis are each on the Colorado River. The city is also situated on the Balcones Fault, which, in much of Austin, runs roughly the same route as the State Highway Loop 1 (Texas) or Mo-Pac Expressway. The eastern part of the city is relatively flat, whereas the western part and western suburbs consist of scenic rolling hills on the edge of the Texas Hill Country. Because the hills to the west are primarily limestone rock with a thin covering of topsoil, portions of the city are frequently subjected to flash floods from the runoff caused by thunderstorms. To help control this runoff and to generate hydroelectric power, the Lower Colorado River Authority operates a series of dams that form the Texas Highland Lakes. The lakes also provide venues for boating, swimming, and other forms of recreation within several parks located on the lake shores.
   
Wikipedia: Moscow on the Hudson
Moscow on the Hudson is a 1984 comedy drama starring Robin Williams, and directed by Paul Mazursky. Williams plays a Russian circus musician who defects from the Soviet Union while on a visit to the United States.

Williams’ co-stars in this film were Maria Conchita Alonso, Elya Baskin, Savely Kramarov, Alejandro Rey and Cleavant Derricks.
 
Google Groups: austin.general
Newsgroups: austin.general
Followup-To: austin.general
From: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) (Lane Wimberley)
Date: 1996/12/02
Subject: Re: t.u. behavior - never fail’s to fall below your expectations, no matter how low you set them (was: Aggie Behavior on Thanksgiving
 
> college here in Moscow on the
> Colorado.
 
My wife’s from Moscow.  I’ve been to Moscow.  This place is nothing like Moscow.
   
Google Groups: austin.general
Newsgroups: austin.general
From: Chuck Herrick
Date: 1997/01/16
Subject: Re: Moving the airport
 
Ask some of the old-time Travis County Republicans sometime why Austin is called “little Moscow on the Colorado” elsewhere in Texas… 
 
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Newsgroups: rec.motorcycles
From: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) (William Harvey)
Date: 2000/03/11
Subject: Re: MSF, just a question
 
>> Most of the state is fairly conservative. Austin is liberal
>> and often refered to as Moscow on the Colorado.
 
>Haven’t heard that one before, I have heard it referred to as San
>Francisco on the Colorado.
 
The Moscow on the Colorado comes from tx.guns.  What with UT, San Francisco also fits. 
   
AUstin (TX) American-Statesman (June 25, 2000)
“I’ve heard Austin referred to as ‘Moscow on the Colorado’ by a few good ol’ boys,” said Austin gay-rights advocate Eugene Sepulveda.
     
Google Groups: tx.guns
Newsgroups: tx.guns
From: Johnny Johnson
Date: Sun, 26 May 2002 19:13:34 -0500
Local: Sun, May 26 2002 7:13 pm
Subject: Re: FS Massad Ayoob Police Survival Shooting video
   
Naa: though that’d be applicable to the Occupied Territory known as “The People’s Socialist Republik of Travis County” (aka: Austin; or, “Moscow on the Colorado”).
 
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Newsgroups: tx.guns
From: “Trenton G. Twining”

Date: Thu, 21 Nov 2002 20:55:17 -0600
Local: Thurs, Nov 21 2002 9:55 pm
Subject: Re: Carrollton
 
But even in Austin, variously:  “Moscow on the Colorado” and “San Fransisco, TX”, an ordinance that outlawed plastic toy guns or much other of the nonsense in that one would smear the city council with thick beauty masks of egg.
 
Holly’s Hystrionics
Thursday, October 26, 2006
Forestalling gbro’s Scathing Comment  
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Many of my friends have long called Austin “Moscow on the Colorado” and I would just let them say that because it’s a free country and everyone is entitled to speak their mind, no matter how misguided they may be. I just thought it was a little too liberal for their taste, and kept my own counsel.
 
Bear Meat (Baylor University)
Friday, March 09, 2007
Around the Quad: We Bow Before Our Okie Overlords
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Tonight, we face the Roman Empire: Texas University at Moscow-on-the-Colorado. Can we compete? Yes. Can we win? Well, what do the bones say?
   
Democratic Underground
SteveM
Wed Feb-27-08 05:56 PM
The University of Texas (50,000 students) and the “counter-culture” of Austin are strong left-of-center presences in Texas. (Austin is variously called the “Athens of Texas,” “Moscow on the Colorado,” “Retirement community for young people,” etc.) 
 
Pajamas Media
Will Texas Hispanics Abandon Hillary for Obama?
February 29, 2008 12:16 AM
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And, speaking of the debate in Austin, one must acknowledge that Austin is the single most liberal city in Texas and is sometimes so left leaning it is called “Moscow on the Colorado.”