Michael Corcoran of the Austin (TX) American-Statesman has called the city of Austin “Riviera on the Range” since 1998. Corcoran covers the film industry in Austin and he was comparing Austin’s beautiful people and film festivals to those of the French Riviera.
 
The Texas Riviera (Texas Culf Coast) is another, unrelated “Riviera.”
 
 
Wikipedia: Riviera
Riviera is usually used in reference to a coastal area popular with tourists. Because of the worldwide popularity of the French Riviera and the Italian Riviera, it has become fashionable to attach the term to many scenic strands of coastland, particularly in warm areas, and usually with an eye to tourism. Places with this designation include:
 
French Riviera, southeastern France bordering Italy and the Ligurian Sea
Italian Riviera, northwestern Italy bordering France and the Ligurian Sea
Austrian Riviera
Budva Riviera, in Montenegro
Bulgarian Riviera
Emerald Coast, a region of Florida near Panama City also called the Redneck Riviera or Emerald Riviera
English Riviera, Torbay in the south of England
Long Beach, New York, once known as The Riviera of the East
Riviera Maya
Mexican Riviera
Miami Beach, Florida, also known as “The American Riviera”
Pondicherry, India, known as La Côte d’Azur de l’Est (“The French Riviera of the East”)
Red Sea Riviera
Rockaway Beach, Queens, once called the “Irish Riviera”
Santa Barbara, California, sometimes called the American Riviera
The South Shore (Massachusetts), also known jocularly as an “Irish Riviera”
Turkish Riviera, also known as the Turquoise Coast
 
14 August 1999, Austin (TX) American-Statesman, “A bit of Aspen on Sixth Street” by Michael Corcoran, pg. D1:
In reference to the influx of beautiful people in and around Austin, I’ve been calling this area “Riviera-on-the-Range,’’ but with the news that yet another chic eatery is expanding to our hot spot, a more fitting tag could be “Aspen-with-Armadillos.’’
   
Austin (TX) American-Statesman
A guide to Smithville for Brad, Angelina and even Sean Penn
By Michael Corcoran
AMERICAN-STATESMAN STAFF
Sunday, March 02, 2008
(...)
I traded Austin, that trendy, starbuzzing “Riviera On the Range,” for the simple life of small-town Texas.