Atlantic & BBC Articles
While Houstonians have always been aware of the merits of our city, news of our success is now reaching a wider audience. Most recently, The Atlantic and BBC News published stories highlighting our city’s economic and cultural strengths.
The Atlantic article, “Houston is Unstoppable: Why Texas’ Juggernaut is America’s #1 Job Creator,” reports that Houston leads the nation by a large margin in job growth.
The article states that, “The ten largest metros have recovered 98 percent of the jobs lost during the recession, on average. But Houston, the first major city to regain all the jobs lost in the downturn, has now added more than two jobs for every one it lost after the crash. That’s incredible.” The reasons cited for this success, beyond the frequently referenced friendly business climate and abundance of land, are: (1) Houston learned valuable lessons from the boom and bust in the 1980s and didn’t overbuild in the 2000s; (2) Instead of laying off veteran workers during the recession, energy companies retained them and focused on facilitating the transfer of knowledge and skills to the next generation; and (3) While the recent recession was “worse than every post-war recession in just about any metric you pick,” global trade continued to climb. With its strength in energy and proximity to Latin America, Houston was well positioned to capitalize on this trend.
Houston takes the spotlight again in the recent BBC News article, “10 Reasons Why So Many People Are Moving to Texas.” Leading off with job growth, the article cites new figures from the U.S. Census Bureau that found five of the 10 fastest-growing cities in the country between 2011 and 2012 were in Texas, with Houston leading the way.” Citing the research findings of Joel Kotkin, professor of urban development at Chapman University in Orange, California, the article cites Houston for its strong job market and low cost of living. Other plus factors include being a family-friendly state, low taxes and other quality of life factors.
At Wolff Companies, we’re elated to read articles such as the two mentioned here because we help position Houston for economic growth. As land developers, we work collaboratively with numerous economic development groups, elected officials and other leaders, and the real estate community to bring more companies and jobs to Houston. For more information about Wolff Companies and available properties in the thriving Houston market, please visit www.wolffcompanies.com or contact me at 713-626-8050.
For more information about any Wolff Companies property, please visit www.wolffcompanies.com or contact me at 713-626-8050.
David W. Hightower, CCIM, CRE
Executive Vice President
Wolff Companies
e-mail: dwh@wolffcompanies.com
telephone: 713-626-8050
fax: 713-626-3093
www.wolffcompanies.com
Wolff Companies
#1 in Houston land since 1970