Hometown Glory
All hail the "Texaplex": Newsweek touts Lone Star cities as No. 1 destinationfor job seekers
You've heard of the metroplex? Well, welcome to the Texaplex.
That's Newsweek's term for Texas's big, thriving cities — Houston, Austin, Dallas and San Antonio — and it's named them the number one destination for job-seeking Americans. (Sucks to be you, Fort Worth!) As Joel Kotkin writes,
For sheer economic promise, no place beats Texas. Though the Lone Star State’s growth slowed during the recession, it didn’t suffer nearly as dramatically as the rest of the country. Businesses have been flocking to Texas for a generation, and that trend is unlikely to slow soon. Texas now has more Fortune 500 companies — 58 — than any other state, including longtime corporate powerhouse New York.
Houston in particular is singled out for its growth-friendly industries — "a robust energy business and medical-services industry, and thriving international trade" — as well as mentioning that, along with Dallas, it has a higher rate of immigration from other parts of the country than Chicago and could rival New York or Los Angeles for diversity in the future.
North Carolina, Virginia and Utah also got props as some of the country's new silicon valleys (should we can them Silicon Hollows?) and some cities in the midwest like Oklahoma City, Des Moines and Indianapolis, which missed the housing boom and bust, are noted for attracting increased investment.
But these towns are small potatoes compared to the economic power in the Lone Star state. All hail the Texaplex.
