Silva Laukkanen, eight months into her pregnancy, made the trek from Ann Arbor, Mich., to Austin in pursuit of a better quality of life for her growing family. Artists Grant and Dena Reid left Scotland — with no jobs in hand —in search of a community with a creative vibe. Entrepreneur Ryan Koonce left his California home in search of a bustling high-tech community where he could start his next company.
These are just a handful of examples of how Austin's population continues to grow even in the face of the toughest economy in a generation. The reasons are as diverse as the new residents.
"We're both into live music, the outdoor lifestyle and eating good food," said Grant Reid.
"We're both artists, and there was a welcoming community here for artists," added Dena Reid, sitting on the floor of their new Southwest Austin home. "We had friends come before us, and I've never heard one bad thing."
From July 2007 to July 2008, Austin added 18,461 residents, a growth rate of 2.5 percent, and moved past Columbus, Ohio, to become the 15th-largest city in the country.
Round Rock's 8.2 percent gain made it the second-fastest growing city in the country behind New Orleans, according to U.S. census figures.
Ryan Robinson, Austin's city demographer, said the growth is continuing, despite the recession. He said he expects Travis County to add more than 30,000 people this year, including births.
New residents help keep the local economy humming. They rent apartments, buy homes and cars, and in some cases start new businesses, creating jobs. Some economists say they also could create pressure on the region's job market. The local unemployment rate spiked in June to 7.1 percent, and the region has begun to lose jobs.
Robinson said some of the new residents are seeking cover from a tougher economy elsewhere.
"They are moving from the economically devastated parts of the country," he said. "Because Texas is at the top of the nation in terms of economic health, we have attracted a lot of these economic migrants."
But the city also attracts people who can choose where they want to live, like Jim Flanary.
The new chief executive of Austin-based HelioVolt Inc. had been living in Greece, where he was a top executive for a solar firm. He and his wife also own a home in Houston and were familiar with Austin.
So when Flanary got a call from a headhunter about the HelioVolt opportunity, he jumped at it.
Austin "has a very rich culture, it has a very diverse mix of people and it has a lot of restaurants and entertainment," Flanary said. "Then there's the atmosphere of the university. We want to move to Austin permanently."
Robinson says Austin offers a triple threat: a robust higher education community led by the University of Texas and its synergy with local industry, a healthy private sector and high-tech business cluster and the state Capitol.
At the center of Austin's appeal, he said, is its high quality of life.
"It's the culmination of everything, from our weather, to access to recreation, to the creative class culture," he said. "There are so many different scenes: a music scene, an art scene, a book scene, a just-do-nothing and be scruffy scene. ... When you go around the world and talk about Austin, people know Austin."
Charles Lowell, 33, a software developer and Austin native, runs a consulting firm out of his home. Laukkanen, 29, is a professional modern dancer, and she wanted to move to a community where she could continue her training after their baby is born.
"I always thought Austin was an artistic, vibrant city where I wished to live one day," Laukkanen said.
The couple considered moving closer to Laukkanen's family in her native Finland, as well as other U.S. cities such as Boston or Chicago. In the end, they wanted a place where they could be closer to relatives and a place that was a high-tech community that could help Lowell's business thrive.
"You couldn't ask for a better place than Austin in terms of networking and building a work-related community and seeking out new prospects," said Lowell, whose 4-year-old firm, The Frontside Software, has three employees.
Koonce, 35, left San Francisco with his wife and their two children for Austin two years ago in search of a better business climate and quality of life.
Koonce decided to move after he sold his last business, an online advertising technology firm.
He wanted to launch his newest business venture, an online rewards firm, in a new city where the family could live for at least five years.
They considered Denver and San Diego. But "California is sort of adversarial to business – high taxes and lots of fees – it's a bad place to start a business," he said. "You want low income taxes, and open minds, and I think Austin fit the mold."
Additionally, Koonce's wife is from Dallas, and she wanted to come back to Texas.
Koonce said he has not regretted his decision.
"When I got here, everyone was willing to meet with me, talk to me, and it was really great," Koonce said. "People weren't snobby, people weren't like 'Who are you?' You would see that in other places, but you don't see that here, and that was refreshing."
His latest company, SuperPoints Network, is adding 10 to 15 workers in the next six months.
Local economy expert Brian Kelsey says that communities with a high quality of life also have high levels of entrepreneurs and self-employed residents.
Of the country's largest metropolitan regions, the Austin-Round Rock area has the fourth-highest rate of self-employment, behind San Francisco, Los Angeles and Miami, said Kelsey, who is director of community and economic development for the Capital Area Council of Governments.
Twenty-two percent of the Austin-area work force meets that qualification, he said. That can be an asset or a liability, depending on the state of the economy.
"Self-employment cuts both ways during a recession. It can be tough finding customers when companies and people have less money to spend, but self-employment can also be a reliable insurance policy compared to others faced with layoffs at a large company," Kelsey said. "Austin has a reputation for nurturing entrepreneurs, and that in part drives our economic growth."
Kelsey says he isn't concerned about an inflow of new residents wreaking havoc with the job market, because Austin's economy is much more diversified than it was during the tech crash earlier in the decade. However, it's something to watch, he said.
The Central Texas unemployment rate last month was 7.1 percent, the highest in at least 20 years, and tech companies have cut thousands of manufacturing jobs.
"Rising unemployment here is a real concern if we continue to see stronger-than-expected population growth," he said.
Grant and Dena Reid, meanwhile, are trying to get to know their new home and find work. Both are painters, but Dena works with disabled adults while Grant takes photos to help pay the bills.
The couple, who married about a year ago, saw the move from Scotland as an adventure.
"We have no children yet, so this opportunity might not come again," Dena Reid said.
Two doors down from the Reids' home, Jill and Hayden Yates took a big gamble themselves. Last month, the couple and their two young children left California for Austin.
Jill Yates is looking for work as a teacher; her husband, a filmmaker, is cultivating contacts in the industry here. Jill Yates' parents retired to the Hill Country, and she had grown tired of seeing co-workers in California losing their jobs.
"We felt it was more affordable here, and the quality of life would be better," her husband said.
"Texas seems to be very receptive to filmmaking," Hayden Yates said. "There's a feeling of collaboration here I haven't seen in L.A. It's quite different, and that's very exciting."
Monday, July 20, 2009
Saturday, June 6, 2009
I come from a Cool Place
Ferris Buellers Home is on the market in my home town...Highland Park Illinois. I used to ride my bike down Beech Street all the time. Actually the RISKY Business house is also on that street. Here is the link for those who have a couple million in their pocket. I will gladly refer a top Keller Williams Agent in that area. http://www.trulia.com/property/1080097629-370-Beech-St-Highland-Park-IL-60035
Texas is Helping with the Recession!!!!
Five States That Will Lead U.S. Out of Recession
Posted By:Cindy Perman
If you’re not prepared to go to Australia to ride out the recovery, great news! A new report shows the five U.S. states poised to lead the nation out of recession.
Photo by: Geoff Parsons
A bridge to somewhere ...
You might want to get out your hiking boots and trail mix because most of the states are out in the northwest: Colorado, Idaho, Texas, Oregon,and Washington.
Those are the states where job growth is expected to sprout first — in the fourth quarter of this year — according to Moody’s Economy.com, which conducted the survey.
The criteria for the survey included the labor market, income, credit quality/banking, real estate and consumer spending. Moody's conducts a regional employment forecast as well as an "adversity index" to gauge the status of state economies.
In the case of the northwestern states, the reason they got picked is because of their high concentration of high-tech companies, Moody's economist Andrew Gledhill said. Analysts expect a pick-up in tech spending as the recession gets going.
"[W]e feel that pent-up demand for high-tech equipment that has been furthered in part by the financial crisis could benefit states with these kinds of links," Gledhill said.
As for Texas, it was the oil industry: The strength of the industry made the lone-star state one of the last states to join the recession, and therefore will make it among the first out.
Housing was another factor: All five states had better-than-average household credit, which left them in shallower holes than other states, like, say, California.
Don't worry, California. You'll be back.
Posted By:Cindy Perman
If you’re not prepared to go to Australia to ride out the recovery, great news! A new report shows the five U.S. states poised to lead the nation out of recession.
Photo by: Geoff Parsons
A bridge to somewhere ...
You might want to get out your hiking boots and trail mix because most of the states are out in the northwest: Colorado, Idaho, Texas, Oregon,and Washington.
Those are the states where job growth is expected to sprout first — in the fourth quarter of this year — according to Moody’s Economy.com, which conducted the survey.
The criteria for the survey included the labor market, income, credit quality/banking, real estate and consumer spending. Moody's conducts a regional employment forecast as well as an "adversity index" to gauge the status of state economies.
In the case of the northwestern states, the reason they got picked is because of their high concentration of high-tech companies, Moody's economist Andrew Gledhill said. Analysts expect a pick-up in tech spending as the recession gets going.
"[W]e feel that pent-up demand for high-tech equipment that has been furthered in part by the financial crisis could benefit states with these kinds of links," Gledhill said.
As for Texas, it was the oil industry: The strength of the industry made the lone-star state one of the last states to join the recession, and therefore will make it among the first out.
Housing was another factor: All five states had better-than-average household credit, which left them in shallower holes than other states, like, say, California.
Don't worry, California. You'll be back.
Saturday, May 23, 2009
NOW is the TIME to BUY!!!!
Clients often ask me "when is the best time to buy a house?" I tell them it depends on a number of factors:
1. Have you spoken to a lender and are you prequalified?
2. Do you have time to actually go look at homes?
3. Are you ready to commit to finding the right home with your Realtor?
4. Are you tired of paying another persons mortgage and helping a stranger build wealth?
5. Are you ready to build your own wealth and receive a tax break?
If you answered yes to those questions, then now is the right time to buy. The best season to buy is typically from April to October. There are multiple reasons that spring/summer is the best time to move.
1. This is when children are getting out of school, so it is easier to move. You won't have to rush to get them enrolled in a new school immediately. You don't have to struggle to find school-books buried in all the moving boxes. (I think some children do this on purpose!) You don't have to learn new bus routes and class schedules and new teachers names and office hours.
2. The weather is better for home shopping and moving. Since it says light much later during the summer you can see more properties after work and not need a flashlight to get around. Your less likely to have the moving truck pull up during a thunderstorm and risk paying overtime while they wait for the rain to stop. Or worse, risk getting all of your possessions soaked and destroyed while being unloaded in the rain.
3. One of the best reasons to shop for a home and move over the spring/summer is increased available inventory! Yes, it is true more people list their home for sale this time of year! So you have many more homes to choose from.
4. It is easier for Sellers to leave their home for long periods of time, so the property may be shown. If the weather is nice they may walk around the neighborhood or go to the park.
5. The sooner you buy a home, the sooner you receive a tax break for being a home owner. Take advantage of the new "First Time Home-buyers Tax Credit for $8000. (To qualify as a first time home buyer you must not have owned a home for three years) Remember to file for your $15,000 homeowners exemption and it will help you save money on your taxes every year. For more details you may go to http://www.window.state.tx.us/taxinfo/taxforms/50-114.pdf to obtain the proper form. Then you will need to find your appraisal district and file the form. You may find your appraisal district by going here: http://www.window.state.tx.us/taxinfo/proptax/apprdir08/
Now for the flip-side to my benefits of selling or buying over the spring/summer season. The worst time to list your home for sale is from October to January. The only people that list their home for sale during this period generally have to move. Typically its due to a layoff, relocation, or death in the family. Selling during the holidays can put sellers at a disadvantage. There are less Buyers out looking at homes over the holidays. People generally would rather be shopping or at a holiday function instead of driving around in the dark to look at homes. The weather is bad and everyone is reeling from the added expenses of Christmas and Hanukkah. Keeping the house spotless and ready to show at a moments notice is an added burden most sellers would rather avoid over the holidays.
Showing a home can often interfere with a homeowners holiday plans. For example I called to show a property this December and they said "come on over, but just know we are not leaving. In fact we are in the middle of hosting a party. If your buyers don't mind, we don't mind." My Buyers said they wanted to go, so we tried to blend in with the multitude of party goers and check out the house. Personally I think it was just too much, sensory overload if you will. To make the long story short we did not make an offer on this home. I don't think my Buyers could "see " the house because of all the other distractions: people, decorations, kids runnign around in and outside. Home owners that are serious about selling will leave the house. Most showings only take 20 minutes and that is not too much to ask.
So the key things to remember are:
A. Be prepared and get pre-qualified.
B. Find a Realtor you like(Kat and commit to finding the right home.
C. If you can choose when to shop for a home, wait for spring/summer, when available inventory is high.
D. Plan to move during good weather so you don't put the family heirlooms at risk.
E. Remember to file for your homeowners exemption ASAP!
1. Have you spoken to a lender and are you prequalified?
2. Do you have time to actually go look at homes?
3. Are you ready to commit to finding the right home with your Realtor?
4. Are you tired of paying another persons mortgage and helping a stranger build wealth?
5. Are you ready to build your own wealth and receive a tax break?
If you answered yes to those questions, then now is the right time to buy. The best season to buy is typically from April to October. There are multiple reasons that spring/summer is the best time to move.
1. This is when children are getting out of school, so it is easier to move. You won't have to rush to get them enrolled in a new school immediately. You don't have to struggle to find school-books buried in all the moving boxes. (I think some children do this on purpose!) You don't have to learn new bus routes and class schedules and new teachers names and office hours.
2. The weather is better for home shopping and moving. Since it says light much later during the summer you can see more properties after work and not need a flashlight to get around. Your less likely to have the moving truck pull up during a thunderstorm and risk paying overtime while they wait for the rain to stop. Or worse, risk getting all of your possessions soaked and destroyed while being unloaded in the rain.
3. One of the best reasons to shop for a home and move over the spring/summer is increased available inventory! Yes, it is true more people list their home for sale this time of year! So you have many more homes to choose from.
4. It is easier for Sellers to leave their home for long periods of time, so the property may be shown. If the weather is nice they may walk around the neighborhood or go to the park.
5. The sooner you buy a home, the sooner you receive a tax break for being a home owner. Take advantage of the new "First Time Home-buyers Tax Credit for $8000. (To qualify as a first time home buyer you must not have owned a home for three years) Remember to file for your $15,000 homeowners exemption and it will help you save money on your taxes every year. For more details you may go to http://www.window.state.tx.us/taxinfo/taxforms/50-114.pdf to obtain the proper form. Then you will need to find your appraisal district and file the form. You may find your appraisal district by going here: http://www.window.state.tx.us/taxinfo/proptax/apprdir08/
Now for the flip-side to my benefits of selling or buying over the spring/summer season. The worst time to list your home for sale is from October to January. The only people that list their home for sale during this period generally have to move. Typically its due to a layoff, relocation, or death in the family. Selling during the holidays can put sellers at a disadvantage. There are less Buyers out looking at homes over the holidays. People generally would rather be shopping or at a holiday function instead of driving around in the dark to look at homes. The weather is bad and everyone is reeling from the added expenses of Christmas and Hanukkah. Keeping the house spotless and ready to show at a moments notice is an added burden most sellers would rather avoid over the holidays.
Showing a home can often interfere with a homeowners holiday plans. For example I called to show a property this December and they said "come on over, but just know we are not leaving. In fact we are in the middle of hosting a party. If your buyers don't mind, we don't mind." My Buyers said they wanted to go, so we tried to blend in with the multitude of party goers and check out the house. Personally I think it was just too much, sensory overload if you will. To make the long story short we did not make an offer on this home. I don't think my Buyers could "see " the house because of all the other distractions: people, decorations, kids runnign around in and outside. Home owners that are serious about selling will leave the house. Most showings only take 20 minutes and that is not too much to ask.
So the key things to remember are:
A. Be prepared and get pre-qualified.
B. Find a Realtor you like(Kat and commit to finding the right home.
C. If you can choose when to shop for a home, wait for spring/summer, when available inventory is high.
D. Plan to move during good weather so you don't put the family heirlooms at risk.
E. Remember to file for your homeowners exemption ASAP!
Wednesday, May 20, 2009
Austin In Forbes.. Shannan is quoted (my daughter in law)
Austin's Secrets For Economic SuccessJoel Kotkin, 05.12.09, 12:00 AM EDT
Why Texas' capital is such a great place for job growth--and the good life.
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Few places have received more accolades in recent years than Austin, the city that ranked first on our list of the best big cities for jobs. Understanding what makes this attractive, fast-growing city tick can tell us much about what urban growth will look like in the coming decades.
Austin's success is not surprising since, in many ways, it starts on third base. Two of its greatest assets result from the luck of the draw; it's both a state capital and home to a major research university.
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Our ranking of the best cities for job growth includes many college towns--from Fargo, N.D., (home to North Dakota State) to Athens, Ga., (University of Georgia), Durham-Chapel Hill, N.C., (Duke and University of North Carolina) and College Station, Texas (Texas A&M).
In Depth: Best Big Cities For Jobs
Being a state capital also helps. Baton Rouge, La., home to both the state government and Louisiana State University, ranked seventh on our list of the best medium-sized cities for employment. This confluence of institutions also accounts in large part for the relatively decent rankings of two Midwestern cities, Indianapolis and Columbus, Ohio, in spite of the generally sad situation in that region.
That's because colleges and state governments offer stable employment--since they cannot or will not outsource jobs to India or China. These places also tend to be inhabited by reasonably well-educated people whose stable incomes makes them less vulnerable to contractions in competitive industries like finance, manufacturing, construction or information.
"We're pretty close to recession-proof," suggest Chris Bradford, a local attorney and blogger in Austin. "It's almost anti-cyclical. In bad times, the students want to stay here."
There is a third factor, however, that adds to Austin's special sauce: the fact that it is located in Texas, the one fast-growing mega-state. With low taxes and low regulation at the state level, Austin--no doubt to many locals' consternation--is a great environment not only for public sector employment but also private sector growth.
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Its success contrasts dramatically with the relatively poor employment status of capitals in business-unfriendly states (such as Sacramento, Calif., which ranked 60th among large cities) as well as other college towns like Ann Arbor, Mich., home to one of the nation's best public universities, the University of Michigan. (Among medium-sized cities, Ann Arbor came in 93rd.)
Austin, essentially, reaps the benefits of being a deep blue, Democratic island in a red-state sea. The university and state government employ large numbers of people who might want higher taxes and greater regulation--but they can talk the redistributionist's game without feeling any of the pain.
This is not to say that Austin itself--that is, its urban core area--does not try to trot out its blue, and "green," trimmings. Like every college town, Austin likes smart growth, mass transit and high density.
But in reality, Austin is not a dense region. In fact, its metropolitan population per acre puts it in the middle of the nation's largest areas, well behind not only Los Angeles and New York but also Houston and Dallas.
Even central Austin seems rather spread out and suburban compared to traditional East Coast cities. Smaller, older homes--mainly cottages--dominate neighborhoods close to downtown. Recent attempts to go high-rise have not been notably successful, as the auction signs on the sides of some new towers suggest.
Yet the urban center increasingly represents less and less of the area's total employment and houses fewer and fewer of its residences. Today, the city itself is home to well under half the metropolitan population of 1.5 million.
As in many regions, notes blogger Bradford, over the past decade the strongest growth has occurred in Austin's periphery. Even as the city itself has enjoyed strong job and population growth, the biggest increases have taken place in suburban outposts outside city limits, like Williamson, Bastrop and Hays counties, as well as parts of Travis, the county that is home to Austin. In fact, Williamson was the nation's sixth fastest-growing county last year, while Hays ranked 10th.
Surprisingly, these suburban areas are the places most driving Austin's economic success. Why? Two reasons: affordability and livability. By Texas standards, the city is not cheap. It costs between $350,000 and $400,000 for a nice three- or four-bedroom house in a good school district, say, 20 minutes from downtown. However, a similar place in the 'burbs of Silicon Valley, San Francisco, Boston or Irvine would run at least twice as much.
For more on this topic, see:
Best Cities For Jobs
Worst Cities For Jobs
Special Report: The State Of The City
Local Realtor and blogger Shannan Gonyea-Reimer adds that, a bit further away from town, home prices can drop as low as $150,000. "People come from California, and they are shocked," she says.
This price structure, along with the human capital attracted to the University of Texas, has in turn propelled the rapid expansion of the non-governmental economy in places like Cedar Creek and Round Rock, home to Dell ( DELL - news - people ). A recent Brookings study estimates that central Austin employment grew by almost 13% between 1998 and 2006. The number of jobs more than 10 miles from the central business district increased by 77,523, or 62%, according to the study.
Austin has seen remarkable overall employment growth--almost 34%--in the last decade. With that figure, it leaves its major hip tech rivals in the dust. Over the same period, for example, San Jose/Silicon Valley has lost 6% of its jobs; San Francisco, around 1.6%. Boston, Austin's other big high-tech competitor, enjoyed only a 1.2% gain.
Again, this growth stems in part from the unique combination of both an appealing city center and attractive suburbs. The city's lively urban core remains a lure for to affluent professionals, young singles and, of course, students. However, unlike places like New York, Boston and San Francisco, the sprawling 'burbs provide an affordable place for people to move to when their hardcore clubbing days are over.
"California might work well for the apartment-dwelling, single-guy lifestyle person, but when you get married, you can't afford Los Gatos," says former Silicon Valley entrepreneur Mike Shultz, the CEO of Infoglide, a software firm headquartered on Austin's outer ring. "In Austin, the same person can grow up, move into a reasonable house and have a reasonable life."
This does much to explain why Austin has enjoyed a migration pattern unlike that of its primary competitors. Its residents may start off hip and cool, but the city also accommodates their often inevitable evolution to Ozzie and Harriet. This allows individuals and companies to plan to stick around. One doesn't have to have the short-term mentality so common in the Bay Area, L.A., Boston or New York.
Ultimately, it is this combination of a "cool" downtown culture--with excellent restaurants as well as great music--and a more sedate, affordable periphery that makes Austin a home run.
"It has a hip cool side to it," Shultz observes, "but it's also a great place to raise kids."
A caveat to all this: We also have to consider scale. With roughly 1.5 million people, Austin simply offers more convenient choices than a megalopolitan behemoth like Los Angeles, New York or the Bay Area. In Austin, nice, single-family homes within walking distance of cool urban streets are not uncommon or absurdly expensive--and even a larger, more affordable house out in the suburbs is usually less than a half an hour from downtown.
Additionally, Texas, unlike its main rival California, is not teetering on the edge of bankruptcy and is instead a stable long-term bet in this recession. Rather than haggling with bankers or public employee unions, it is busy building its future: attracting new comers, investing in its university and building new transportation infrastructure.
"Austin is off the charts livable, but it's in a state that makes it viable," says Shultz, the entrepreneur. "You can't say that about California and many of the other places where our competitors are."
Why Texas' capital is such a great place for job growth--and the good life.
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Few places have received more accolades in recent years than Austin, the city that ranked first on our list of the best big cities for jobs. Understanding what makes this attractive, fast-growing city tick can tell us much about what urban growth will look like in the coming decades.
Austin's success is not surprising since, in many ways, it starts on third base. Two of its greatest assets result from the luck of the draw; it's both a state capital and home to a major research university.
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share
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forbes:http://www.forbes.com/2009/05/11/best-cities-jobs-employment-opinions-columnists-austin-texas.html?partner=yahoobuzz
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Our ranking of the best cities for job growth includes many college towns--from Fargo, N.D., (home to North Dakota State) to Athens, Ga., (University of Georgia), Durham-Chapel Hill, N.C., (Duke and University of North Carolina) and College Station, Texas (Texas A&M).
In Depth: Best Big Cities For Jobs
Being a state capital also helps. Baton Rouge, La., home to both the state government and Louisiana State University, ranked seventh on our list of the best medium-sized cities for employment. This confluence of institutions also accounts in large part for the relatively decent rankings of two Midwestern cities, Indianapolis and Columbus, Ohio, in spite of the generally sad situation in that region.
That's because colleges and state governments offer stable employment--since they cannot or will not outsource jobs to India or China. These places also tend to be inhabited by reasonably well-educated people whose stable incomes makes them less vulnerable to contractions in competitive industries like finance, manufacturing, construction or information.
"We're pretty close to recession-proof," suggest Chris Bradford, a local attorney and blogger in Austin. "It's almost anti-cyclical. In bad times, the students want to stay here."
There is a third factor, however, that adds to Austin's special sauce: the fact that it is located in Texas, the one fast-growing mega-state. With low taxes and low regulation at the state level, Austin--no doubt to many locals' consternation--is a great environment not only for public sector employment but also private sector growth.
Related Stories
Best Cities For Jobs
Worst Cities For Jobs
Let's Snooker The TARP Babies
America's (Sub)urban Future
The State Of The City
Related Videos
Bank of America's Capital Plan
HP Slashes Jobs
Rise Of The Rest
End Of The Golden Age
Saks Soars
Stories
Videos
Its success contrasts dramatically with the relatively poor employment status of capitals in business-unfriendly states (such as Sacramento, Calif., which ranked 60th among large cities) as well as other college towns like Ann Arbor, Mich., home to one of the nation's best public universities, the University of Michigan. (Among medium-sized cities, Ann Arbor came in 93rd.)
Austin, essentially, reaps the benefits of being a deep blue, Democratic island in a red-state sea. The university and state government employ large numbers of people who might want higher taxes and greater regulation--but they can talk the redistributionist's game without feeling any of the pain.
This is not to say that Austin itself--that is, its urban core area--does not try to trot out its blue, and "green," trimmings. Like every college town, Austin likes smart growth, mass transit and high density.
But in reality, Austin is not a dense region. In fact, its metropolitan population per acre puts it in the middle of the nation's largest areas, well behind not only Los Angeles and New York but also Houston and Dallas.
Even central Austin seems rather spread out and suburban compared to traditional East Coast cities. Smaller, older homes--mainly cottages--dominate neighborhoods close to downtown. Recent attempts to go high-rise have not been notably successful, as the auction signs on the sides of some new towers suggest.
Yet the urban center increasingly represents less and less of the area's total employment and houses fewer and fewer of its residences. Today, the city itself is home to well under half the metropolitan population of 1.5 million.
As in many regions, notes blogger Bradford, over the past decade the strongest growth has occurred in Austin's periphery. Even as the city itself has enjoyed strong job and population growth, the biggest increases have taken place in suburban outposts outside city limits, like Williamson, Bastrop and Hays counties, as well as parts of Travis, the county that is home to Austin. In fact, Williamson was the nation's sixth fastest-growing county last year, while Hays ranked 10th.
Surprisingly, these suburban areas are the places most driving Austin's economic success. Why? Two reasons: affordability and livability. By Texas standards, the city is not cheap. It costs between $350,000 and $400,000 for a nice three- or four-bedroom house in a good school district, say, 20 minutes from downtown. However, a similar place in the 'burbs of Silicon Valley, San Francisco, Boston or Irvine would run at least twice as much.
For more on this topic, see:
Best Cities For Jobs
Worst Cities For Jobs
Special Report: The State Of The City
Local Realtor and blogger Shannan Gonyea-Reimer adds that, a bit further away from town, home prices can drop as low as $150,000. "People come from California, and they are shocked," she says.
This price structure, along with the human capital attracted to the University of Texas, has in turn propelled the rapid expansion of the non-governmental economy in places like Cedar Creek and Round Rock, home to Dell ( DELL - news - people ). A recent Brookings study estimates that central Austin employment grew by almost 13% between 1998 and 2006. The number of jobs more than 10 miles from the central business district increased by 77,523, or 62%, according to the study.
Austin has seen remarkable overall employment growth--almost 34%--in the last decade. With that figure, it leaves its major hip tech rivals in the dust. Over the same period, for example, San Jose/Silicon Valley has lost 6% of its jobs; San Francisco, around 1.6%. Boston, Austin's other big high-tech competitor, enjoyed only a 1.2% gain.
Again, this growth stems in part from the unique combination of both an appealing city center and attractive suburbs. The city's lively urban core remains a lure for to affluent professionals, young singles and, of course, students. However, unlike places like New York, Boston and San Francisco, the sprawling 'burbs provide an affordable place for people to move to when their hardcore clubbing days are over.
"California might work well for the apartment-dwelling, single-guy lifestyle person, but when you get married, you can't afford Los Gatos," says former Silicon Valley entrepreneur Mike Shultz, the CEO of Infoglide, a software firm headquartered on Austin's outer ring. "In Austin, the same person can grow up, move into a reasonable house and have a reasonable life."
This does much to explain why Austin has enjoyed a migration pattern unlike that of its primary competitors. Its residents may start off hip and cool, but the city also accommodates their often inevitable evolution to Ozzie and Harriet. This allows individuals and companies to plan to stick around. One doesn't have to have the short-term mentality so common in the Bay Area, L.A., Boston or New York.
Ultimately, it is this combination of a "cool" downtown culture--with excellent restaurants as well as great music--and a more sedate, affordable periphery that makes Austin a home run.
"It has a hip cool side to it," Shultz observes, "but it's also a great place to raise kids."
A caveat to all this: We also have to consider scale. With roughly 1.5 million people, Austin simply offers more convenient choices than a megalopolitan behemoth like Los Angeles, New York or the Bay Area. In Austin, nice, single-family homes within walking distance of cool urban streets are not uncommon or absurdly expensive--and even a larger, more affordable house out in the suburbs is usually less than a half an hour from downtown.
Additionally, Texas, unlike its main rival California, is not teetering on the edge of bankruptcy and is instead a stable long-term bet in this recession. Rather than haggling with bankers or public employee unions, it is busy building its future: attracting new comers, investing in its university and building new transportation infrastructure.
"Austin is off the charts livable, but it's in a state that makes it viable," says Shultz, the entrepreneur. "You can't say that about California and many of the other places where our competitors are."
Friday, May 15, 2009
Austin is in the news again...Forbes Magazine this time...
Forbes has just announced what many Austinites already knew: Austin, Texas is the best city to live in for affordability and opportunities. Austin landed number one on their top 10 list of Best Bargain cities.
The list was based on five points:
- Average salary of workers (Bachelor's Degree or higher)
- Annual unemployment statistics
- Cost of living
- Housing Opportunity Index (amount of homes sold that are affordable to family with the local median income).
Austin did well in all categories, particularly the unemployment rate, which at 5.5%, is about half the national average.
Why Austin? Austin has three main contributing features: being the state capital, a university town, and a technology industry based city. Further, Texas as a state offers many incentives for entrepreneurs and business owners; Texas is now home to many California businesses that became too expensive to operate in that state. Four other Texas metropolises are on the top ten (Houston, San Antonio, Dallas and Fort Worth). Although, even Forbes acknowledges that it's the charm of the city and the people in it that makes Austin such a desirable place to work and live.
The list was based on five points:
- Average salary of workers (Bachelor's Degree or higher)
- Annual unemployment statistics
- Cost of living
- Housing Opportunity Index (amount of homes sold that are affordable to family with the local median income).
Austin did well in all categories, particularly the unemployment rate, which at 5.5%, is about half the national average.
Why Austin? Austin has three main contributing features: being the state capital, a university town, and a technology industry based city. Further, Texas as a state offers many incentives for entrepreneurs and business owners; Texas is now home to many California businesses that became too expensive to operate in that state. Four other Texas metropolises are on the top ten (Houston, San Antonio, Dallas and Fort Worth). Although, even Forbes acknowledges that it's the charm of the city and the people in it that makes Austin such a desirable place to work and live.
Monday, April 13, 2009
Forbes Magazine Recognizes Austin as #8
Texas' Capital City rose significantly from 47th on last year's list. Austin was behind cities such as No. 1 Raleigh, N.C. and No. 4 Fayetteville, Ark. The list was ranked according to factors such as cost of doing business and projected employment growth.
Forbes.com cited Austin's projected annual job growth rate of 2.3 percent--the fifth fastest in the country, and its relatively low subprime mortgage exposure.
For its reporting on Austin, Forbes.com spoke with the Charles Schwab Corp., which expanded its Austin presence in 2007 when it purchased the 401(k) Co. "The city of Austin is extremely business-friendly. They have bent over backwards to accommodate us," Glenn Cooper, head of real estate at Schwab, told the news site.
The top 10 cities on the list were as follows:
Raleigh, N.C.
Fort Collins, Colo.
Durham, N.C.
Fayetteville, Ark.
Lincoln, Neb.
Asheville, N.C.
Des Moines, Iowa
Austin, Texas
Boise, Idaho
Colorado Springs,
Forbes.com cited Austin's projected annual job growth rate of 2.3 percent--the fifth fastest in the country, and its relatively low subprime mortgage exposure.
For its reporting on Austin, Forbes.com spoke with the Charles Schwab Corp., which expanded its Austin presence in 2007 when it purchased the 401(k) Co. "The city of Austin is extremely business-friendly. They have bent over backwards to accommodate us," Glenn Cooper, head of real estate at Schwab, told the news site.
The top 10 cities on the list were as follows:
Raleigh, N.C.
Fort Collins, Colo.
Durham, N.C.
Fayetteville, Ark.
Lincoln, Neb.
Asheville, N.C.
Des Moines, Iowa
Austin, Texas
Boise, Idaho
Colorado Springs,
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