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Texan Turmoil - Visualizing The Growing (& Shrinking) Local Economies Across America
The Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) recently released its statistics on gross domestic product by metropolitan area for 2014. HowMuch.net built a map to provide a 3D visualization of the GDP growth by metropolitan area, seen below. The higher the cone rising out of the map, the greater the GDP growth in that area.
(click image for huge legible version)
Take a look to the top 5 metro areas with highest growth:
- Midland, TX had the highest GDP growth for any metropolitan area in the country at 24.1%.
- Another Texas metro area, San Angelo, came in second with 11.4% GDP growth. San Angelo had 1.85% growth in durable goods manufacturing and 1.09% growth in professional services.
- Lake Charles, LA came in third with 10.3% GDP growth. Lake Charles saw growth of 3.76% in the construction industry.
- Greeley, CO was fourth in GDP growth at 9.9% with 3.65% growth in natural resources and mining.
- Wheeling, WV rounded out the top five with 9.5% growth. Wheeling saw 7.93% growth from natural resources and mining.
Furthermore, the Dallas metropolitan area had the highest GDP growth at 8.5% out of the top 10 metro areas by GDP.
Which is a problem, as opposed to what Dick Fisher said - that the collapse in oil prices was a net positive for Texas - it has not been, at all...
Which means all those superlatives above from 2014's economic growth are now gone! And not coming back anytime soon.
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Except for my unicorn herd in West Michigan!
If you look close, those aren't cones, they are houses of cards.
Fracking, Silicon Valley unicorns, health insurers, military contractors, paper wealth certificates, and Kardashians. Um, yeah, sure, you can base a nation's economy on that
My unicorn herd drinks oil. I am not sure it is going to get such a large oil meal from Midland as before...
do they fart CH4 or CO2? (my unicorn biochem is a little rusty....)
In Houston, the economy is still smoking hot. There are too many new skyscrapers going up to count. There are literally dozens of giant road construction projects. The number of new mega apartment complexes is astounding. All of these projects were planned when oil was over $100. Everybody with a brain is waiting for the proverbial shoe to drop.
As a fellow Texan, I concur. And I know first hand, as I'm one of the guys who builds these mega apartment complexes you speak of...
Friends in oil and gas have lost their jobs, but they really are rebounding quickly with new ones. They don't pay as well, but there's always a job around here. Still, you can't help but feel like there's WAY TOO MUCH going on down here in Texas... Then again, Texas just may be that damn awesome, which it is. We defiinitely have asstons of transplants coming here from their liberal shitholes like California (see their license plates all the time) trying to soak up our conservative prosper, so at least in the short term we can justify all of the new multi-family and even single family construction.
This feels more like one of Tyler's anti-Texas pieces, which is ironic, because Texas is the closest thing to common sense the country has left.
I live in houston with a good paying job and I cant wait to get the fuck outta here...htown has its good qualities but Im getting tired of the change here..WAY TOO MANY fucking illegal mexicans on the road driving, the women are getting as big as hippos, the general attitude pretty much sucks tbh amongst the sheeple. I will miss the money, the best steaks and seafood, and H.E.B...
Im with you. Goforth was executed 3 miles from my house. My doctor was mugged in the Kroger parking lot and a woman was pistol whipped outside of the Walgreens. Just quit a shitty job and taking some time off through the holidays and gearing up aftwerwards. Been working on getting my land near Aggieland cleared. Im getting the hell out of Houston. Its a shithole. Except for going to the museum district, a few nice restaurants in montrose and concerts in the woodlands this place is a third world country
I lived in that area too (Stone Gate). Got out about two years ago and now happily behind the pine curtain. Came back to town a few months ago to do some business and wound up in non-moving traffic on the beltway at 2:00 in the afternoon. No wreck, just traffic. I don't miss any of it.
I did miss HEB Central Market for a while, but found a Brookshire Brothers a few miles away that's nearly as good.
The I-69 expansion looks as though the Piney Woods may be primed for growth. I have a friend who is looking at Lake Conroe to retire.
Not too sure about the College Station area...seems a bit run down.Midland is too far from the action.
Any opinions on growth (not sprawl) in Texas are welcomed.
Lake Conroegets crazy crowded on summer weekends and with much of the shoreline bulkheaded, it stays rough.
My weekend place is real close to Lake Somerville which is a corp of engineers lake. No shoreside development and is never too crowded.
Love it.
College Station run down? As an Aggie I can't let this stand. You're thinking of the City of Bryan. College Station is experiencing huge growth.
I have to agree with Buster and Lawyer
College Station is growing. Im 15 miles from CS. Wife and I are both Aggies. Im 8 minute from Lake Somerville and 15 minutes from Brenham. Its going to take a while for the growth to get to us. Conroe is nice but way too crowded. Give it 10 years and it will be as bad as Houston proper. Looked at Lake Livingston but it reminded me too much of the movie Deliverance. You either will live next to a trashed out mobile or have enough money to buy a hundred acres to gain some distance. I love Sam Houston State Park area but don't have the monies to buy 100 acres. I'll be happy with my 3 acres
I lived on Swift St in Houston as a kid, hated it.
Boom and bust. Boom and bust. That's the nature of the oil business. But the damned Californinians just keep on comin'. Been to Austin lately? Insufferable.
Dallas, Houston, San Antonio are all toast in my book (same problems - overcrowded third world shitholes)...and i love the river walk scene for some reason. Galveston lol I wouldt even go to the beach for free, its disgusting. Have not been to austin in awhile.
http://www.bizjournals.com/houston/news/2015/11/16/national-oilwell-varc...
BTW, Austin has turned into a serious cesspool also. Downtown is so dangerous now after 1) Katrina and 2) all those LA thugs movning in that people who live downtown had a demonstration awhile back asking for more police protection downtown at night. Assauls, esp knockout punching by Barry's sons, has become rampant.
Add that to the congestion and it's no longer a pleasant place to live. I left shortly after seeing the results of Katrina imports and crime soar.
Here's an example:
http://starcasm.net/archives/59955
I hate commuting.
A job found me 2 years ago and I decided to take it, but it was a mistake as it was downtown and waiting in traffic 3 hours a day was too much.
I quit after 5.weeks and went to another company that found me.
I grew up in Texas went to college in Oklahoma and stayed the next couple years after then moved back to TX and worked for a decade in DFW, we moved back up to OKC 7 years ago and I haven't regretted it since. Nice commute, have a little land, plenty to do and mostly good people. Seafood sucks though.
*Edit* And I can actually look up at night and see stars, lots of them.
I am an adopted Texan, living in DFW, and they are building everywhere in the DFW area. From 400K+ houses everywhere to a lot of new high rises and apartments. Property taxes keep getting higher as well as rents, I honestly can't understand why the economy hasn't taken a hit here yet. It is true that north Texas is not as dependent on Oil&Gas as the south, but still, these oil prices so low and the lay offs on the sector should have impacted yet I see everywhere price inflation.
Austin seem to be same story as Dallas. Is this your experience as well?
How about not enough?
Listen. In 15 years Saudi Arabia will run out of oil and the blue states will finally be forced to pay a fair price for Texas oil. 200 a barrel at least. You'lll have so much residential construction work your head will spin.
Not so many California plates though. The Californians will be arriving in Houston by Greyhound because they can't afford to drive.
When that day comes will the last white man out of California please turn out the light---assuming there's still reliable electric power.
I lived in Houston Texas half of my life (Kingwood and Clear Lake) 18 years of it. I do not recommend it for the single person (unless you are simpy there on a gig short term), the married with children nor the married with no intention of having children. Here are my reasons.
A. Houston is not the workers paradise so many say it is.
The following can be said of many large cities.
1. Larger population, larger competition for employment and lower wages for whatever endeavor you make your money in.
2. Larger cities have greater polution, crime and general vice.
3. In larger cities your taxes are higher and you have less personal freedom.
In regards to Houston specifically, here is SOME of what I saw (again I believe this is seen in many American cities).
1. Predatory government servants which feed off the productive citizens which actually pay their sallary. In Houston this point is richly deserved as the following will bleed you one way or another:
a. traffic tickets
b. divorce courts
c. phoney religious leaders (I know is ther any other kind)
d. poor teachers (yes I mean pedagocically unable to perform their job by the system AND those there teaching simply for the paycheck) and school district leadership which takes most of the salary
i. this bleeds you because while you are doing that 2 hour commute each day, these people are making sure your children unlearn anything of value you have taught them
ii. this makes sure that your children do not learn from you, but will parrot what the state tells them reality is
iii. they will not become entrapraneurs, but become servile employees just smart enough to push the the right buttons and parrot the meme given to them to function or not in their future JOBS
e. phony justice system just in case something bad happens to you do not expect a court in Houston (or any other city) to rule in your favor, its called justice because it means JUST US, the ones in power
2.. POLLUTION: if you happen to make it to age 50 without cancer you will be a very small minority; Houston is heavily polluted so I suggest a total home water purifier/ filter, supplements and natural cures and cooking your own meals. Yes health care is the #1 reason for fiilng bankruptcy
3. ILLEGAL and LEGAL immigration: If you have a skill, don't worry the commerce department has figured out a way to bring in people who will do the job for less through selective VISA programs AND simply not enforcing actual law. Natural born Texans and Americans are 2nd class citizens in Houston.
4. Drugs, Prostitution, Human Trafficking and Corporate Crime - I can't say enough about this since the Port of Houston expansion.
B. Neither is the State of Texas.
Let me say that all of the above can be said for every other major city in Texas; Austin, Dallas-Fort Worth, San Antonio, Corpus Christi, Midland etc . . .
C. On the bright side Neither is any other State
D. I chose to leave Texas and live in Colorado; not in Colorado Springs, Denver or Pueblo. I live in a small mountain town AWAY from the city. My taxes are low, their is no HOA (home owners association) or Condo Board, my wife can home school my kids, I have people who produce food all around me from Hogs, to Cattle and Sheep THEN corn, beets, potatoes, greens etc. . . There is also the medical freedom of Colorado, you have choice to vaccinate or not; they leave it up to you. Moving here felt like moving BACK to America.
Yeah Texas is so great etc etc. Texans did not do a damn thing after Waco 1 and then Waco 2. The whitey Texans still love their Trayvin thug ball players like idiots. Worship em like girly cheer leaders.
3 words..... mal invest omint
classic I might add
Same shit in Summerlin...half empty center...trippled its space....Tivoli...nice place. Plan to buy it when things get real again.
And drop it will....
In my case, even if those new office towers stay empty the equipment must still run, so me being laid off is doubtful.
An empty building is easier to operate.
Shame on you Zero-Hedge.
You burst my bubble. I had the U-Haul all packed and the GPS programmed for Midland, TX so that I could partake in the overflowing wealth.
Had to unpack and now I'm just sitting at my regular spot at the bar running up a new tab.
If you do make it there give my regards to W.
Seriously, Midland is 100X acres of parked equipment, lay-down yards full of equipment turned in...it's a goddamn Disney World of surplus everything. You can see miles & miles of it along I-20.
The thing about bubbles....they burst before anyone notices them.
That's the dumbest thing I've heard today
If people noticed them they woulnd't be bubbles. Yet look how many bubbles there are; dollar bubble, bond bubble, stock bubble.
Everyone is still in them, hence bubbles.
Go ahead and think it's stupid.
My community shrank when it was hung out to dry
Lake Charles , La
Chemical city , not the place to raise a family and for the construction they bringing in cheap labor ..construction in Westlake ..all chemical/refinery cheap labor ..
It's a hour West of me...has some nice areas on the water and fishing is hot but I wouldn't live there...all those stacks pumping into the air scares the shit outta me..go further Southwest towards Sulpher and the road goes along 1 plant after another heading South...scary...
Most of my O&G friends are unemployed after making 6 figures for the last 6 years. These stats must be a few years old.
Houston Texas is a piece of crap sanctuary city with a deteriorating infrastructure and urban decay. As soon as the economy tanks it will be total hell in Houston. The H in Houston stands for Hell.
If you can deal with all the trash in houston, the money is still good here for now...jobs down here are everywhere.
It is the crazy mayor Houston has!
Oh I think our sexually confused mayor successfully put her/him/it self outside any future political aspirations judging from the last election.
2014 was a long time ago.
Oil patch withering, next up, tech patch, then biotech patch, and after that the rest.
You never run out of Trash Patch, the lower one sinks, the more trash they throw on the ground. May I clean that up for you? $100 an hour trash duty, someone has to do it !
Gold Bitchez....I pick up pennies
"Gold Bitchez....I pick up pennies"
Only pre 1982!!!
1982 pennies were made in 2 varieties, the copper ones and the new zinc ones.
America's speciality: squandering windfalls.
Texas is a conservative state, which allows business to thrive; because of this, Texas doesn't rely on oil... that's one of the biggest misnomers people have. Tyler got this wrong, like he usually does with Texas.
Texas is home to the biggest and best medical center in the world, in addition to tons of growing tech and IT industry jobs. We have lots of chemical and biological jobs, in addition to endless construction and manufacturing jobs along with distribution and growing population necessitating more teachers, nurses and all other things that grow and improve as GDP goes up.
Texas will be the last to fall, and the first to arise again from the ashes. Just gotta stop letting these damn inner city populations from constantly electing liberal mayors which is starting to take a toll.
too bad it's fn texas.
I will wrench on that Lincoln to drive down to Texas but I don't need to use that car. I have eight other vehicles and more than one arm.
It's OK, Texas is down from most states, you can roll there. Just can't leave.
There might be enough room for you in the Lincoln Jim. All leather interior and it rides like you are on a cloud. It is a V8 but gasoline is cheap all of a sudden. 1300 miles to Texas. I know some folks there. Then turn east to North Carolina? Mrs. M has a friend on NC and I know her as well. That is one hell of a drive. Might as well stop in Tennesee and pick up some clear from an another ZHer I know there. The Idaho trip was my spur of the moment idea that racked up 3140 miles but Russian Mrs. M wants to see the South now. I think it will cost me over a thousand fiats to do that in fuel alone but I want to do it too.
We shall see. My daughter is getting stellar grades at her school with creative writing. She is actually the best in her class. She is writing about what she knows and it all has to do with Montana and Idaho. It is good for the children to go see what is out there.
Moving to Terlingua soon, gonna be a dental floss tycoon...
Midland population about 160,000. San Angelo population about 27,000. It doesn't take very many new people to come to a small city to get a "big" change in population percent. I live on the Dallas Metroplex and there are building and road construction going on all over the place and lots of Traffic!
Useless chart. 50% growth from virtually nothing is slightly more than virtually nothing. Greeley, CO is a cattle town and that's it. The peak in Wyoming looks like it's Casper, WY, a nothing town in the middle of nowhere.