RECESSION-PROOF CITIES
Strongest employment, goods & services, housing prices (in order):
- Austin, Texas
- Baton Rouge, La
- Columbus, S.C.
- Dallas
- Des Moines, Iowa
- El Paso, Texas
- Harrisburg, Pa.
- Honolulu, Hawaii
- Houston
- Jackson, Miss.
- Little Rock, Ark.
- McAllen, Texas
- Oklahoma City
- Omaha, Neb.
- Pittsburgh, Pa.
- Rochester, N.Y.
- San Antonio
- Tulsa, Okla.
- Virginia Beach, Va.
- Washington, D.C.
Source: Brookings Intitution
GREEN TECHNOLOGY AREAS
Best metropolitan areas based on employment opportunities in renewable energy/green industries based on patent applications, employment positions and investment:
- San Francisco-Oakland-San Jose, Calif.
- Los Angeles-Riverside-Orange County, Califl
- New York-Northern New Jersey-Long Island
- Boston-Worcester-Lawrence-Lowell Brockton, Mass.
- Washington, D.C.-Baltimore
- Denver-Boulder-Greeley, Colo.
- Seattle-Tacoma-Bremerton, Wash.
- Portland-Salem, Ore.
- Chicago-Gary-Kentucky, Ill.-Ind.
- Sacramento-Yolo County, Calif.
- San Diego
- Austin-San Marcos, Texas
- Phoenix
- Detroit-Ann Arbor, Mich.
- Houston-Galveston-Brazoria, Texas
Source: Clean Edge, Inc., 2009
MOST ROBUST URBAN ECONOMIES
Measured by output of goods and services (2008):
- New York $1.26 trillion
- Los Angeles $$717.9 billion
- Chicago $520.7 billion
- Houston $403.2 billion
- Washington D.C. $395.7
- Dallas-Fort Worth, Texas $$379.9 billion
- Philadelphia $331.9 billion
- San Francisco-Oakland, Calif $310.9 billion
- Boston $299.6 billion
- Atlanta $269.8 billion
Source: Commerce Department
BEST EDUCATED URBAN AREAS
Populations of over 500,000 that have the most residents with college degrees:
- Seattle 55.2%
- San Francisco 51.2%
- Washington D.C. 48.2%
- Atlanta 44.1%
- Portland, Ore 42.2%
- Boston 42.1%
- Austin, Texas 42.1%
- San Diego 40.8%
- Charlotte, N.C. 39.9%
- Denver 38.5%
Source: US Census Bureau
STRONGEST FOREIGN TRADE DRIVEN METROPOLITAN AREA ECONOMIES
By export value:
- New York-Northern New Jersey-Long Island $80.9 billion
- Houston-Sugar Land-Baytown, Texas $62.8 billion
- Los Angeles-Long Beach-Santa Ana, Calif. $54.4 billion
- Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, Wash. $53.9 billion
- Detroit-Warren-Livonia, Mich. $49.2 billion
- Chicago-Naperville-Joliet, Ill. $30.6 billion
- Miami-Fort Lauderdale-Miami Beach, Fla. $26.2 billion
- San Jose-Sunnyvale-SantaClara, Calif. $28.2 billion
- Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, Minn. $21.6 billion
- Boston-Cambridge-Quincy, Mass. $21.0 billion
Source: International Trade Administration, US Department of Commece
New York City, New York (917) 460-8312
Brooksville, Florida (352) 232-1678
Los Angeles, California (323) 786-1213