Study shows San Antonio is nation's best-performing city in recession - Kansas City Business Journal:

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The Washington, D.C.-based think tank has begun analyzinf the impact of the recessionthroughouf America’s metropolitan areas. In the firsgt of a series of quarterlyMetroMonitor reports, Brookingsa ranked San Antonio, Oklahoma Austin, Houston and Dallas as the top five metro areazs in the country in economic performance in the wake of the Brookings ranked the top 100 metropolitan areas based on six key indicatorsw — employment, unemployment rates, wages, gross metropolitan product, housing prices and foreclosur rates. This initial MetroMonitore report covers the first quarterof 2009.
The five worst metropolitan areas in the country impactec bythe recession, in descending order, are Fla.; Lakeland, Fla.; Fla.; Bradenton, Fla.; and “All metropolitan areas are feeling the effectx of this recession, but the distress is not shared equally,” says Alan research director of the Metropolitan Policy Program at Brookingws and co-author of the report. “While some area s of the country have experienced only ashallow downturn, and may be emergingg from the recession already, people living in metrio areas that are now performing weakest economicallgy should prepare themselves for a long recoverty period.
” Howard Wial, director of the Metropolitajn Economy Initiative at Brookings and anotheer co-author of the report, argues that the reporf shows that a national fiscal and monetary policy will not be enoug for stimulating the “Many (metro) areas will need targeted and since states have no funds the federal government will have to step up to fill the Concentrations of industry activity have both helpedf and hurts some regional economies during the For example, metropolitan areas in states with specializationx in energy and government employment — such as New Mexico, Oklahoma, Arkansaz and Louisiana — have largely been insulated by the recession.
metropolitan areas in states like Michigan and Ohio that depend heavil y on the automotive industry have been impactec by the downturn inthe economy, the reporf shows. San Antonio is home to Randolphb AirForce Base, Fort Sam Houston, Lacklanx Air Force Base and Brooks The 2005 Base Realignmen and Closure decision alone is providing a significant economicd punch to the Alamo City’s economyu through the consolidation of high-paying military healtjh care jobs and more than $2 billionb worth of new constructionm activity. A separate report released by LLC outlininf the impact of BRAC showed that Fort Sam Houstonb alone would experiencea 11,500 increase of personnel.
The Army post will also gain 7.9 millionb square feet of space. Construction activity due to BRAC alonwe shouldcreate 46,000 construction jobs during the coursr of the building programs, the DiLuzio report