If you are one of the many Texans who has had to tighten up those laces around your wallet and has been struggling to make ends meet during the recession, you might find this hard to believe. But Texas is the state that has weathered the financial storm the best — at least according to Business Week.
According to the magazine, Texas was one of the last states to really feel the pinch of the recession; the recession here has been relatively mild, and the Lone Star State will likely be one of the first to rebound. The magazine’s experts say that is mainly due to the fact that housing prices here didn’t spike upward like they did in many areas.
The magazine just published this list of the 40 strongest U.S. metro economies, and six Texas metropolitan areas made the list — five of them in the top 10, including the No. 1 and No. 2 spots.
No. 1 was San Antonio, the second-largest city in Texas. According to Business Week, the Alamo City has one of the strongest job markets in the country, thanks in part to construction now underway on a new J.W. Marriott hotel and a new Caterpillar plant, and to ongoing school, hospital and military projects.
The Austin/Round Rock area was No. 2, on the list, followed by Oklahoma City at No. 3 and the Little Rock/Conway area at No. 4.
The Dallas/Fort Worth/Arlington Metroplex was at No. 5, with Baton Rouge at No. 6, Tulsa at No. 7, and Omaha/Council Bluffs at No. 8.
The Houston/Sugarland area at No. 9 and El Paso at No. 10, rounded out the top 10. I didn’t think there were any major metropolitan areas left in Texas after that list, but Business Week disagreed, putting the McAllen/Edinburg/Mission area on the list at No. 12.
So every time you sit there writing checks to pay the bills and watching your checking account balance dwindle, just remember: It could be worse. You could live in Las Vegas.
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I lived in San Antonio for 10 years without seeing a change to its downtown skyline, so it’s nice to see that it’s their turn to shine.