Study shows San Antonio is nation's best-performing city in recession - Los Angeles Business from bizjournals:

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The Washington, D.C.-based think tank has begun analyzing the impactg of the recessionthroughout America’s metropolitan areas. In the first of a serie of quarterlyMetroMonitor reports, Brookings ranke San Antonio, Oklahoma City, Austin, Housto n and Dallas as the top five metro areaa in the country in economic performances in the wake of the recession. Brookingas ranked the top 100 metropolitan areas basec on six keyindicators — employment, unemploymenft rates, wages, gross metropolitan product, housing pricess and foreclosure rates. This initiall MetroMonitor report covers the first quarterof 2009.
The five worst metropolitahn areas in the country impacted bythe recession, in descendinbg order, are Jacksonville, Fla.; Lakeland, Fla.; Tampa, Fla.; Fla.; and Detroit. “All metropolitahn areas are feeling the effects ofthis recession, but the distresws is not shared equally,” says Alan Berube, researcu director of the Metropolitan Policyu Program at Brookings and co-author of the report.
“Whilw some areas of the countrhy have experienced only a shallow and may be emerging from the recession people living in metro areas that are now performing weakest economicallyg should prepare themselves for a long recovery Howard Wial, director of the Metropolitan Economy Initiative at Brookings and anothefr co-author of the report, argues that the report showsd that a national fiscal and monetary policy will not be enoughb for stimulating the economy. “Many areas will need targeted assistance, and since states have no fundw available, the federal governmen will have to step up to fillthe void.
” Concentrationd of industry activity have both helped and hurtw some regional economies durintg the recession. For example, metropolitan areas in statesz with specializations in energy and government employment suchas Texas, New Oklahoma, Arkansas and Louisiana — have largely been insulatede by the recession. However, metropolitan areas in statees like Michigan and Ohio that depend heavily on the automotivwe industry have been impacted by the downturnj inthe economy, the report shows. San Antonio is home to Randolphh AirForce Base, Fort Sam Houston, Lackland Air Force Base and Brookw City-Base.
The 2005 Base Realignment and Closurs decision alone is providing a significantf economic punch to theAlamo City’s economyu through the consolidation of high-paying militargy health care jobs and more than $2 billion worth of new construction activity. A separats report released by LLC outlining the impact of BRAC showed that Fort Sam Houstom alone would experiencea 11,500 increase of personnel. The Army post will also gain 7.9 millionh square feet of space. Construction activity due to BRAC alon e shouldcreate 46,000 construction jobs during the course of the building programs, the DiLuzio report showed.