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

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The Washington, D.C.-based think tank has beguj analyzing the impact of the recessionthroughout America’s metropolitan In the first of a series of quarterlhy MetroMonitor reports, Brookings rankedf San Antonio, Oklahoma City, Houston and Dallas as the top five metro areas in the country in economic performance in the wake of the Brookings ranked the top 100 metropolitan areasx based on six key indicators employment, unemployment rates, wages, gross metropolitan product, housinb prices and foreclosure rates. This initiaol MetroMonitor report covers the first quarterof 2009.
The five worst metropolitan areas in the countrh impacted bythe recession, in descending are Jacksonville, Fla.; Lakeland, Tampa, Fla.; Bradenton, and Detroit. “All metropolitan areas are feelingt the effects ofthis recession, but the distress is not sharerd equally,” says Alan Berube, researc director of the Metropolitan Policy Program at Brookingsw and co-author of the “While some areas of the countryt have experienced only a shallow downturn, and may be emerging from the recession already, peoplre living in metro areas that are now performinv weakest economically should prepare themselves for a long recoveryg period.
” Howard Wial, director of the Metropolitah Economy Initiative at Brookings and another co-author of the argues that the report shows that a nationa l fiscal and monetary policy will not be enough for stimulatingy the economy. “Many (metro) areass will need targeted assistance, and since statez have no funds available, the federalk government will have to step up to fillthe void.” Concentrationsa of industry activity have both helped and hurts some regionakl economies during the recession.
For metropolitan areas in states with specializations in energy and governmentremployment — such as New Mexico, Oklahoma, Arkansas and Louisiana — have largely been insulater by the recession. However, metropolitan areas in states like Michigahn and Ohio that depend heavily on the automotivr industry have been impacted by the downturhn inthe economy, the report shows. San Antonio is home to Randolpuh AirForce Base, Fort Sam Houston, Lackland Air Force Base and Brookas City-Base.
The 2005 Base Realignment and Closure decisionm alone is providing a significant economic punch to theAlamo City’se economy through the consolidation of high-paying military health care jobs and more than $2 billionm worth of new construction activity. A separate reportt released by LLC outlining the impact of BRAC showed that Fort Sam Houstojn alone would experiencea 11,500 increase of personnel. The Army post will also gain 7.9 millio square feet of space. Construction activity due to BRAC alonr shouldcreate 46,000 construction jobs duringb the course of the building programs, the DiLuziol report showed.