Are businesses in Houston fading away?

[rvaccha]

Hi all,

I hope everyone is well! As you may know I am evaluating my relocation options between Boston and Houston.

Some of my friends told me that "Houston is a dying city, businesses are moving away"

Is that true?

I thought Houston was the oil/gas/petroleum/energy capital of the world and had a very active port as well?

Are businesses moving away? What types of businesses are running the show these days?

One of the reasons I am interested in moving to Houston is because I want to explore business opportunities in fields such as offshore, energy, petroleums, but if they are leaving Houston, then thats a minus point for me!

Are there any major aviation players (R+D, Mfr, Services)?

Any thoughts will be appreciated.

Thanks a lot,

Andy

[musicman]

Your friends are uninformed.

[TheNiche]

Hi all,

I hope everyone is well! As you may know I am evaluating my relocation options between Boston and Houston.

Some of my friends told me that "Houston is a dying city, businesses are moving away"

Is that true?

I thought Houston was the oil/gas/petroleum/energy capital of the world and had a very active port as well?

Are businesses moving away? What types of businesses are running the show these days?

One of the reasons I am interested in moving to Houston is because I want to explore business opportunities in fields such as offshore, energy, petroleums, but if they are leaving Houston, then thats a minus point for me!

Are there any major aviation players (R+D, Mfr, Services)?

Any thoughts will be appreciated.

Thanks a lot,

Andy

Yeah, they're way off the mark. The Greater Houston Partnership is kind of like a chamber of commerce for the region. Check out their data. I'll grant you that it is presented in a biased way--they're just doing their job--but what's there is fact. I'd imagine that you'd be interested in various employment indicators as well as the 'Energy Headquarters' sheet under the 'Energy' heading.

[ArchitecturalPRGirl]

Your friends are uninformed.

No kidding! In fact, I had a new business meeting on Tuesday with a fast growing energy recruiting firm. I did a SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, threats) analysis exercise with the execs and they said that an upcoming opportunity is that several large energy companies are coming to Houston which will create a lot of job opps, but a threat is other recruiting firms taking their clients. The market is good.

[Vertigo58]

Your friends are uninformed.

Exactly! Has to be one of the most absurd things I've heard in recent memory.

I wouldn't go by word of mouth. The Port of Houston is booming and thats just the tip of the iceberg. There are numerous sources to read up on to get the real skinny on Houston. Oil/Gas/Exploration and Software is where it's happening right now.

http://www.portofhouston.com/busdev/busdev.html

http://www.ogj.com/index.cfm

http://www.visithoustontexas.com/

[rvaccha]

Hi,

Thanks for the replies and links. I will have to wait a few days before I can browse the links at ease as I am travelling and have a terribly slow dial up connection these days!

The statement sounded odd to me as well, but I guess my friend did not know much about the actual scenario in Houston!

Thanks,

Andy

[VicMan]

The same topic was posted on this forum as well: http://www.city-data.com/forum/houston/111...ading-away.html

[rvaccha]

Hello,

Yes, I have posted the same topic on city-data, as I assumed both forums did not have an overlapping audience.

My apologies if some of you are reading this post twice or if these two sites are linked.

Thanks,

Andy

[Houston19514]

Hi,

Thanks for the replies and links. I will have to wait a few days before I can browse the links at ease as I am travelling and have a terribly slow dial up connection these days!

The statement sounded odd to me as well, but I guess my friend did not know much about the actual scenario in Houston!

Thanks,

Andy

That was a pretty absurd statement. I would suggest never believing anything that friend tells you ... ;-)

[ToryGattis]

No, Houston is clearly booming. One of the fastest growing cities in America, in population, jobs, and employers. Energy industry, hypergrowing port, world's largest medical center (and growing, plus biotech). Second most Fortune 500 HQs after NYC.

Latest economic details:

http://www.houston.org/economyataglance/Glance0707.pdf

Aviation: Continental Airlines headquarters and largest hub, plus a lot of NASA work and their subcontractors (esp. Lockheed Martin) around Johnson Space Center in Clear Lake

The story about a HQ leaving Houston: Halliburton announced that their CEO will be splitting his time with a "dual-HQ" in Dubai, but essentially all other employees will stay in Houston - and they will keep hiring here. Pure PR-play so Halliburton can get more work in the Middle East from the sheiks.

Being a young professional in Houston: amazing. Very nice, new, large, affordable townhomes all over the urban core - so you can actually be a homeowner (try that in Boston!). If you don't want to buy, there are also lots of nice new apts and condos in the core, including high-rises. Best restaurant town in the country, in terms of variety and affordability (Zagat says we eat out more on average - at a lower average price - than any other city in the country). Lowest cost of living of any major metro in America means you have lots of discretionary income left over to spend on whatever you like. Also one of the youngest cities in the country (average age), so plenty of singles and nightlife.

[musicman]

Also one of the youngest cities in the country (average age)

i think this is the first time i've heard this.

[sevfiv]

i think this is the first time i've heard this.

me too - the closest i could find was the cnn/money "best places to live" results ( ) compiled from 2005 onboard projections from census data, and we're not in the top 25

http://money.cnn.com/magazines/moneymag/bp...s/youngest.html

[musicman]

me too - the closest i could find was the cnn/money "best places to live" results ( ) compiled from 2005 onboard projections from census data, and we're not in the top 25

i think what makes us great is that Houston has a great mix of people vs too many of one group.

[TheNiche]

Second most Fortune 500 HQs after NYC.

I hate it when the GHP throws this out there. While true that Houston, the municipality, has more Fortune 500 HQs than any other municipality except NYC, that is attributable to the very large geographic size of our City. If you tally up all the HQs throughout each metropolitan statistical area, which is the true relevant area for economic analyses, the Houston area is about in-line with what it should have given its population. No surprises. Nothing to boast about.

me too - the closest i could find was the cnn/money "best places to live" results ( ) compiled from 2005 onboard projections from census data, and we're not in the top 25

http://money.cnn.com/magazines/moneymag/bp...s/youngest.html

Similarly, this count appears to have been made at the municipality level, and it includes small cities without very diversified economies. Not surprisingly, border towns and college towns are highly represented.

The results would be much different if you only compared MSAs with population in excess of one or two million.

[rvaccha]

Hi,

Thanks a lot for your replies, this is great information!

I appreciate your help, and of course, more thoughts are welcome!

Thanks,

Andy

[jgriff]

I work in the Petrochem Engineering business in Houston. It's booming now like it hasn't in over 20 years. If you have a degree or experience and want a job you'll get one. Send me a message if you would like to come to work for the company I work for. We need people so badly that we have a referral bonus program going right now. I'll split it with you if you get hired.

[rvaccha]

Hi jgriff,

I want to personally thank you for your offer. I really appreciate it, however I cannot take you up on it as I already have a job which is the reason I am relocating to Houston!

thanks a lot for the offer though, it goes a long way to reflect on the friendliness of all of you in Houston!

Thanks a lot,

Andy

[FilioScotia]

I want to personally thank you for your offer. I really appreciate it, however I cannot take you up on it as I already have a job which is the reason I am relocating to Houston!

Coming from the northeast you will not believe Houston home prices. Homes that cost a million or more in the New York and Boston area can be bought for half a million or less in Houston. I'm talking about very good high quality homes.

A friend at the Chamber of Commerce told me a few years back about an IT executive who transferred from the west coast to Houston with a 300k housing allowance. He bought a beautiful house in an upscale neighborhood and even had some money left over. It ended up causing problems for him because when his CEO on the west coast came to visit, he was ticked off that one of his subordinates lived in a bigger and better house than he did.

People who live here are always griping about their property taxes, but that's only because they haven't seen how high taxes are in other parts of the country. Taxes here are so low they'll take your breath away.

And have we mentioned there's no state income tax? So let us know when you get here so we can all get together at the nearest pub for some adult beverages.

[dalparadise]

Maybe your friends were thinking of Dallas.

[jgriff]

Hi jgriff,

I want to personally thank you for your offer. I really appreciate it, however I cannot take you up on it as I already have a job which is the reason I am relocating to Houston!

thanks a lot for the offer though, it goes a long way to reflect on the friendliness of all of you in Houston!

Thanks a lot,

Andy

It also reflects on how good the job market is here. We've had a referal bonus at my company for years now but I can't find anyone to refer. Everyone already has a job.