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 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.
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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
3. Oklahoma City, OK
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
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
Michael Arceneaux hails from Houston, lives in Harlem and praises Beyoncé’s name wherever he goes. Follow him on Twitter.
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