Triton Posted February 18, 2014 Share Posted February 18, 2014 Houston dropped down Forbes’ fastest-growing cities list this year, trailing Austin and Dallas.Last year, those three Texas markets swept the top spots. This year, Austin ranks No. 1 for the fourth year in a row, and Dallas slipped only one spot. However, Houston tumbled to the No. 10 spot. Here are the top five:Austin Raleigh, N.C. Phoenix Dallas Salt Lake CityFlorida and Texas each have four cities on the top 20 list, with San Antonio taking the No. 20 spot. Forbes cites Texas’ strong population growth, unemployment rate under 6 percent, business-friendly regulatory environment, lack of state income tax and highly educated labor market for its strong showing.Forbes' analysis of the 100 largest U.S. metropolitan statistical areas was based on six metrics, including estimated rates of population growth for 2013 and 2014, job growth for 2013 and gross metropolitan product growth for 2013. Houston’s estimated population growth rate was 1.82 percent. http://www.bizjournals.com/houston/news/2014/02/14/is-houston-losing-its-mojo-bayou-city-falls-on.html What I really don't like about this article is that it doesn't explain why there was a drop. Has the growth rate simply increased faster in those cities than Houston? Is there an actual concern here? So many unanswered questions even after reading the Forbes report as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greens! Posted February 18, 2014 Share Posted February 18, 2014 They base these on % rates. So if Austin has around 2,000,000 people in its metro area and grows by 2.5%, it comes out as a net population increase of 50,000.If Houston has a metro population of around 6,000,000 people and grows by 1.82%, it comes out as a net population increase of 109,200. So in summary, whenever a Forbes article is talking about "fastest" growing metros and is using percentage rates as a measure, "fast" means growth relative to size as opposed to growth overall. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Houston19514 Posted February 18, 2014 Share Posted February 18, 2014 ^ This is just another bogus list whose purpose is to sell magazines/drive traffic to their website. Note that to create this list of "fastest-growing cities", they "rated" cities on six metrics: 1. estimated rate of population growth - 20132. estimated rate of population growth - 20143. year-over-year job growth for 20134. rate of gross metro product growth for 20135. federal unemployment data6. median salaries for local college-educated workers. So we end up with a nonsensical mish-mash of population growth, economic growth and other random economic data. And to make it worse, they don't show the numbers. Forbes used to be a worthwhile publication. Not so much any more. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ArchFan Posted February 19, 2014 Share Posted February 19, 2014 Yeah, while I do take note when these articles are mentioned, I really don't take them seriously because the statistics they use to make their banner pronouncements are almost always vague and the real underlying meaning is not consistent from year to year. I.e., they spin the headlines annually such that I have no faith in the so-called "changes" in ranking from year to year. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ArchFan Posted February 19, 2014 Share Posted February 19, 2014 so, my take on it is that, they sow such misinformation amongst the working-class stiffs (like me) and woe be unto the 1-percenters who allocate their investments based on similar fictional interpretations. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LTAWACS Posted February 27, 2014 Share Posted February 27, 2014 Wrong. Percentages measure relatively. Not absolutes. That is the best way to measure growth here. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HoustonIsHome Posted March 5, 2014 Share Posted March 5, 2014 I remember all the talk about Atlanta, Phoenix, Las Vegas and DFW growing at lighting speed early last decade. I remember talk about DFW increasing the gap between then and us. I remember talk of Atl passing us up in population.The census results came out and it turned out that Houston:1. Outgrew all 4 of those metropolitan areas to become the fastest growing2. Decreased DFWs edge in population3. Increased our edge in population over ATLThese estimates are way too prone to error. I think people follow the jobs and if our job growth continues for another two or three years we will indeed be at the top again. I think that the port expansion will carry us on even if energy related jobs taper off. Basing growth off of the past is kinda silly as growth is never linear. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LTAWACS Posted March 6, 2014 Share Posted March 6, 2014 I'm tempted to say this article is nothing but some kind of marketing fluff. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lockmat Posted March 29, 2014 Share Posted March 29, 2014 I thought this was telling and good news for Houston A recent Campus Philly/Philadelphia Magazine survey asked 1,235 Millennials, ages 18-35, what would cause them to leave the city. Job opportunity or absence thereof was at the top of the list (47.4%). https://www.centercityphila.org/docs/CCR14_housing.pdf That's a huge percentage. Just shows while Houston should continue to improve on the quality of life things, producing jobs is the most important thing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dakota79 Posted March 29, 2014 Share Posted March 29, 2014 Plus since they always go by percentage growth, we have a harder time breaking into the very top. And speaking of stats, since the "Dallas Metroplex" includes Dallas, Fort Worth, Arlington, Etc. we should include Galveston, Conroe, and Beaumont in ours. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
livincinco Posted March 29, 2014 Share Posted March 29, 2014 Plus since they always go by percentage growth, we have a harder time breaking into the very top. And speaking of stats, since the "Dallas Metroplex" includes Dallas, Fort Worth, Arlington, Etc. we should include Galveston, Conroe, and Beaumont in ours.Galveston and Conroe are considered as part of the Houston metro area. Kind of a stretch to include Beaumont though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dakota79 Posted March 29, 2014 Share Posted March 29, 2014 I didn't know Galveston was included. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.