About The Recession Diaries

From finance to foreclosures, layoffs and lack of opportunity, a daily journal of the economic crisis and its effect on black professionals.

THE BLOG FAMILY

In-your-face observations of art, entertainment and the world at large from someone who cares. Can you handle the truth?

NOVEMBER 30 | NBC Heroes Employee Says There's Too Much Diversity in Hollywood

NOVEMBER 29 | Black Conservative Doesn't Want Oprah to Interview Obama on Christmas

NOVEMBER 28 | Peru Apologizes for Mistreatment of Afro-Peruvians

One man's opinion on very nearly everything. It's hard but it's fair.

DECEMBER 2 | Ten Things You Could Learn from Tiger Woods

DECEMBER 2 | Aunt Jemima and Politics in Darktown

NOVEMBER 24 | Meet The Parents

Manners and mores in modern life? It's about way more than where the fork goes.

DECEMBER 3 | Desiree Rogers' Teachable Moment

NOVEMBER 28 | The Tipping Factor

NOVEMBER 24 | The Turkey Is The Least of It

From finance to foreclosures, layoffs and lack of opportunity, a daily journal of the economic crisis and its effect on black professionals.

NOVEMBER 27 | Making The Most With Less This Christmas

NOVEMBER 25 | Young, Black, and Out of Work

NOVEMBER 24 | Have Blacks Been Shafted By The Stimulus?

Smart, up to the minute takes on politics--from the state house to the White House. Pull up a chair.

FEBRUARY 23 | Social Networks and Saddam Hussein: A Private Matter?

JANUARY 21 | Hillary Clinton Stands Up For Internet Diplomacy

JANUARY 20 | SATISFACTION, PRIDE OR DELIRIUM?

Engaging commentary, interviews, and reviews that delve into and beyond the world of books. Get read.

NOVEMBER 25 | Conversation for the Dinner Table

NOVEMBER 19 | Reading List: The Poetry Edition

NOVEMBER 12 | Publishing with the Stars

A daily conversation on hot topic culture items. From Zora to Zane, True Blood to Tiny & Toya, TEWW covers high art, low-brow culture and everything in between.

MARCH 2 | The Best Gabourey Sidibe Interview So Far

FEBRUARY 17 | Would You Let Serena Williams Do Your Nails?

FEBRUARY 12 | John Mayer's Stupid Mouth

One woman's journey to shed 100 pounds in one year.

MARCH 10 | No, I Would Not Like a $200 Pair of Magic Underwear

MARCH 9 | A Biggest Loser Challenge? Absolutely

MARCH 8 | Walking in a Splinter Wonderland

MICHAEL'S BLOG ROLL

    Forty Cities Not as Bad off as The Rest of the Country

    Though it doesn’t seem like it, there are some American cities still thriving in the recession. And when I say thriving, I mean by the standard of, “well, they’re not floundering as bad as the rest of the country.”

    BusinessWeek.com has compiled a list of the nation’s 40 strongest economies.
    On how they developed the list, the site wrote:

    BusinessWeek.com used data and analysis from the Brookings Institution's new MetroMonitor to come up with the nation's 40 strongest economies. The MetroMonitor, which measures the nation's health on a quarterly basis, ranks the top 100 metros based on job growth, unemployment, gross metropolitan product, and home prices.

    You will notice that cities in the state of Texas dominate the top ten. As a native Houstonian, I’d gloat if I hadn’t moved to a city not included on the list (hello, California). As the last state to be hit the recession, Texas’s has been aided by its oil and gas industries—which also helped the states of Oklahoma, North Dakota, and Louisiana.

    Moreover, Texas’ affordable home prices and relatively low wages attract both residents and corporations.

    The list reads as follows:

    1. San Antonio, TX

    2. Austin-Round Rock, TX

    3. Oklahoma City, OK

    4. Little Rock-North Little Rock-Conway, AR

    5. Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX

    6. Baton Rouge, LA

    7. Tulsa, OK

    8. Omaha-Council Bluffs, NE-IA

    9. Houston-Sugar Land-Baytown, TX

    10. El Paso, TX

    11. Jackson, MS

    12. McAllen-Edinburg-Mission, TX

    13. Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV

    14. Columbia, SC

    15. Pittsburgh, PA

    16. Harrisburg-Carlisle, PA

    17. Des Moines-West Des Moines, IA

    18. Virginia Beach-Norfolk-Newport News, VA-NC

    19. Honolulu, HI

    20. Rochester, NY

    21. Buffalo-Niagara Falls, NY

    22. Scranton-Wilkes-Barre, PA

    23. Augusta-Richmond County, GA-SC

    24. Colorado Springs, CO

    25. Madison, WI

    26. Albuquerque, NM

    27. Syracuse, NY

    28. Albany-Schenectady-Troy, NY

    29. Kansas City, MO-KS

    30. Raleigh-Cary, NC

    31. Ogden-Clearfield, UT

    32. Boston-Cambridge-Quincy, MA-NH

    New Haven-Milford, CT

    33. Bridgeport-Stamford-Norwalk, CT

    Denver-Aurora-Broomfield, CO

    34. Baltimore-Towson, MD

    Poughkeepsie-Newburgh-Middletown, NY

    35. Hartford-West Hartford-East Hartford, CT

    36. Indianapolis-Carmel, IN

    37. Memphis, TN-MS-AR

    Did your city make the list? If so, how comfortable are you?
    And if you’re living in a city not doing as well as those that made the list, have you considered relocating?
    Leave your feedback below and send your own recession stories to therecessiondiaries@gmail.com.

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