Lite + Brite’s Guide to Keeping Tabs on What’s Up in Austin

When you’re new in town, obviously you want to know where to get your local news. People move here, and they wonder: How do I find out when a new restaurant is opening? Who will tell me what on God’s green earth is going on with I-35? Where can I turn for the dank Austin memes I crave?

So, here is our recommended starter pack for keeping a finger on the city’s pulse. If you’ve lived here for a bit, all of these sources may already be familiar to you. In that case, do a favor for a newbie and share this list with them. Everyone needs to start somewhere.

Do512 lists so many (most?) events in this city, and they write very useful guides to Austin traditions, locations, products, etc. They are one of the absolute top stops for Austin info. Subscribe to their newsletters and/or follow them on Instagram. 

The Austin Chronicle is everything you could want out of a local alt-weekly. In-depth reporting on local politics, events, restaurant openings—again, everything. Find their print edition in shops and restaurants all around town (new issue out every Thursday), subscribe to their newsletters, and/or follow them on Instagram.

Lite + Brite ATX is our weekly newsletter listing creative, offbeat, and DIY Austin happenings. Plus we write guides (like this one!) to getting the most out of Austin. Subscribe to our newsletter and/or follow us on Instagram.

Austin’s subreddit is incredibly active and boasts an astonishing depth of local info and memes. It has more than 500,000 subscribers, which, for a city with a population of a million, seems staggeringly high.

Evil MoPac is deservedly beloved for making fun of Austin’s bougie neighborhoods, gridlocked roads, right-wing politicians, unpleasant weather, and everything else that deserves mockery. They started as one of Twitter’s finest, and in the current “X” era have brought their content to Substack, Instagram, and Bluesky.

Avery Tomasco is the meteorologist from whom I get all of my weather news and analysis. This man’s genuine love of weather, his delight in poking fun at Austin and himself, and his compassion for those who have suffered extreme weather events all come across very clearly on his Facebook page.

The Austin Business Review is for you if you operate in the ATX milieu of tech / business / start-ups / founders / any realm in which phrases like “venture capital” are meaningful. This for sure does not describe me; however, I subscribe to the Austin Business Review’s weekly newsletter anyway because it’s a good read and I want to know what local entrepreneurs are up to.

When Where What’s iconic blue squares grace the Instagram feeds of basically every Austinite I know. They’re great for targeted event listings. If there is free booze to be had in this town, they will make sure you know about it.

Community Impact is a hyper-local newspaper reporting on neighborhood business openings, new policies, updates in public schools and housing, etc.—the sort of news likely to affect the day-to-day life of you and everyone who lives within a three-miles radius of you. Subscribe to their newsletter.

Eater Austin’s longtime editor, Nadia Chaudhury, moved to the east coast last year. A true loss for us all! But the current Eater team is still hard at work keeping the city abreast of restaurant openings and closings. Follow them on Instagram and/or subscribe to their newsletter.