Friday, July 22, 2011

Texas - Land of Opportunity

by Kevin Surbaugh

Lured to Texas by reports of a resurging economy, law school graduate Ross Fishbein packed his belongings in his 2007 Nissan Sentra last month and headed south from his native New Hampshire to Austin.

- Austin American Statesman

After an unusually hard winter in Kansas I decided that I was tired of it and wanted to make the move to a warmer climate. My fiance at the time wanted to move to Texas to be closer to her son. So I told her what I was thinking. Add to that Texas had lower taxes it seemed like a no brainer; still I had research to do. That is when I started hearing reports of high rankings for Austin, TX in business and jobs. Now a year later Austin still ranks up there in the lists as Forbes releases the latest round of  studies.

 Next Boom Town


What cities are best positioned to grow and prosper in the coming decade? That is the question that Forbes answers in it's article "The Next Big Boom Towns In The U.S."

Texas cities did very well with Austin at No. 1, followed by San Antonio/New Braunfels in 4rth place and Houston sitting at No. 5.

This is no surprise. Austin consistently sits atop Forbes' annual list of the best cities for jobs and scores highly in other demographics rankings. It is the third-fastest-growing city in the nation, attracting large numbers of college grads, immigrants and families with young children.
- Forbes
The top 10 cities are as follows:

  1. Austin, Texas
  2. Raleigh, NC
  3. Nashville, TN
  4. San Antonio, TX
  5. Houston
  6. Washington, D.C.
  7. Dallas, TX
  8. Charlotte, NC
  9. Phoenix, AZ
  10. Orlando, FL
Best Places For Business
Looking for opportunity? Head west to Colorado, Texas and Utah, which all landed multiple locales near the top of Forbes 13th annual list.I know, I know Forbes as so many lists now it is hard to keep them straight. However, we are looking at two (2) of them and wanted see how they compare to each other. While Austin was number one when it came to being one of the next boom towns in the U.S. they were further down the list of Top 10 when it came to businesses relocating there.
Perhaps the reason is found in one paragraph in the Forbes article:
Our look at America’s Best Places for Business showcases the stark contrast between Texas—with its low-cost, pro-business regulatory environment (5 cities among the top 25, led by Austin at No. 7)—and overregulated and wildly expensive California (home to 8 cities that rank in the bottom 25, including No. 200 Merced). Texas was one of the last economies to succumb to the recession and one of the first to bounce back, while California is limping along with an unemployment rate of 11.7% (only Nevada’s is worse).
- Forbes
The top 10 cities are as follows:
  1. Raleigh, NC
  2. Des Moines, IA
  3. Provo, UT
  4. Lexington, KY
  5. Fort Collins, CO
  6. Nashville, TN
  7. Austin, TX
  8. San Antonio, TX
  9. Denver, CO
  10. Dallas, TX

So Texas is still considered one of the best places to be right now. Led by a Governor (and possible Presidential candidate) who seen jobs soar in the state even at a time when other states seen the loss of jobs. Even during a time when the press reporting doom and gloom for the economy. Texas was the last state to feel the effects of it and the first state to recover. So I continue to be happy with my choice of Texas as my home for this new chapter of my life.


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