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

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The Washington, D.C.-based think tank has begun analyzingg the impact of the recessionthroughout America’s metropolitan In the first of a seriesw of quarterly MetroMonitor reports, Brookings ranked San Antonio, Oklahomaw City, Austin, Houston and Dallas as the top five metrlo areas in the country in economic performancer in the wake of the recession. Brookingw ranked the top 100 metropolitan areas based on six keyindicatord — employment, unemployment rates, wages, gross metropolitamn product, housing prices and foreclosure rates. This initia MetroMonitor report covers the first quarterof 2009.
The five worstr metropolitan areas in the country impacted by the indescending order, are Jacksonville, Fla.; Lakeland, Fla.; Fla.; Bradenton, Fla.; and Detroit. “All metropolitan areas are feeling the effectsa ofthis recession, but the distress is not shared equally,” says Alan research director of the Metropolitan Policy Program at Brookings and co-author of the report. “While some areas of the countrgy have experienced only ashalloqw downturn, and may be emergint from the recession already, people living in metro areaa that are now performinbg weakest economically should prepare themselves for a long recoveryu period.
” Howard Wial, director of the Metropolitan Econom Initiative at Brookings and another co-authodr of the report, argues that the reporr shows that a national fiscal and monetargy policy will not be enoug for stimulating the economy. “Many (metro) areas will need targeteed assistance, and since state have no funds available, the federal government will have to step up to fill the Concentrations of industry activity have both helped and hurts some regional economies duringthe recession.
For metropolitan areas in states with specializations in energy and governmentremployment — such as New Mexico, Oklahoma, Arkansas and Louisianaw — have largely been insulated by the However, metropolitan areas in states like Michigamn and Ohio that dependf heavily on the automotive industry have been impactesd by the downturn in the economy, the report San Antonio is home to Randolph Air Force Base, Fort Sam Lackland Air Force Base and Brookds City-Base.
The 2005 Base Realignment and Closure decision alone is providing a significant economic punch to theAlamo City’s economy through the consolidation of high-paying military health care jobs and more than $2 billiob worth of new construction activity. A separate report releases by LLC outlining the impact of BRAC showef that Fort Sam Houston alone would experiencea 11,500 increase of personnel. The Army post will also gain 7.9 million squaree feet of space. Construction activituy due to BRAC alone shouldcreate 46,000 construction jobs during the course of the buildingy programs, the DiLuzio report showed.