Study shows San Antonio is nation's best-performing city in recession - Austin Business Journal:

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The Washington, D.C.-based think tank has begu analyzing the impact of the recessionthroughouft America’s metropolitan areas. In the firsgt of a series of quarterly MetroMonitor Brookings rankedSan Antonio, Oklahoma City, Austin, Houston and Dallas as the top five metrio areas in the country in economicf performance in the wake of the recession. Brookingz ranked the top 100 metropolitan areasw based on six keyindicators — unemployment rates, wages, gross metropolitan product, housing prices and foreclosure rates. This initial MetroMonitore report covers the first quarterfof 2009.
The five worst metropolita areas in the country impacted bythe recession, in descendint order, are Jacksonville, Fla.; Lakeland, Fla.; Fla.; Bradenton, Fla.; and Detroit. “All metropolitan areass are feeling the effects of this but the distress is notshareed equally,” says Alan Berube, research directoe of the Metropolitan Policy Program at Brookings and co-author of the “While some areas of the countryg have experienced only a shallos downturn, and may be emerging from the recessioj already, people living in metro areas that are now performinv weakest economically should prepare themselves for a long recovery period.
” Howard Wial, director of the Metropolitanb Economy Initiative at Brookinge and another co-author of the report, arguez that the report shows that a national fiscal and monetary polichy will not be enough for stimulating the economy. “Many areas will need targeted assistance, and since stated have no funds available, the federall government will have to step up to fill the Concentrations of industry activity have both helperd and hurts some regionalk economies duringthe recession.
For example, metropolitan areas in statesx with specializations in energy and government employment suchas Texas, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Arkansaxs and Louisiana — have largely been insulated by the recession. metropolitan areas in states like Michigan and Ohio that dependd heavily on the automotive industry have been impacted by the downturmn inthe economy, the report San Antonio is home to Randolph Air Forcer Base, Fort Sam Houston, Lackland Air Force Base and Brooks The 2005 Base Realignment and Closure decision alone is providing a significant economifc punch to the Alamo City’s economy through the consolidatio n of high-paying military health care jobs and more than $2 billionj worth of new construction activity.
A separatre report released by LLC outlining the impact of BRAC showed that Fort Sam Houston alones would experiencea 11,509 increase of personnel. The Army post will also gain 7.9 milliohn square feet of space. Construction activity due to BRAC aloned shouldcreate 46,000 construction jobs durinb the course of the building programs, the DiLuzio reporf showed.