On the Upswing: The Cities on the Sunny Side of the American Economy

New York Times ^ | 04/01/2016 | Patricia Cohen

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DENVER — When the aerospace company Sierra Nevada Corporation moved into the Colorado Technology Center about eight years ago, employees on their lunch break could stroll by the alpaca farm next door.

Now the animals are gone, and the land is cleared and ready for the new development surging along the Denver-to-Boulder corridor.

At campaign rallies throughout the South and Midwest, economic frustration and sluggish wage growth are dominant themes. States like Alaska and Oklahoma, faced with low oil prices, are grappling with bankruptcies and layoffs. And overall growth in the United States economy remains disappointing.

But this thriving industrial park is just one sign of the many metropolises and smaller cities across the nation that have not only regained their footing since the recession, but are on the upswing. Here in the Mountain West — but also in places as varied as Seattle and Portland, Ore., in the Northwest, and Atlanta and Orlando, Fla., in the Southeast — employers are hiring at a steady clip, housing prices are up and consumers are spending more freely.

“It’s pretty clear that some metropolitan areas are doing really well,” said Andrew McAfee, an economist at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. “The ingredients to that formula seem to be some combination of great research universities and knowledge-intensive industries, whether it’s high tech on the West Coast, biotechnology here in the East or clusters of technology and robotics in places like Pittsburgh.”

The Denver metropolitan area has become a showcase of the sunnier side of the American economy. While the region has some inherent advantages, like a spectacular landscape that beguiles outdoor enthusiasts, Colorado had long been held back by a dependence on natural resources as its economic base.

Its transformation into one of the most dynamic economies in the country

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UNEMPLOYMENT RATES IN JAN '00 -- DEC. 2009 -- JAN. 2016

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Growth in Employment Since the Great Recession

Denver’s overall employment has expanded by 15 percent since the end of 2009, putting it in the middle of the pack on that measure. San Jose and Austin have gained the most, while Cleveland, Cincinnati and Pittsburgh trail the rest.

[HiTech RedNeck]

Surely all those pot taxes must be helping Colorado somehow :-)

[FreeReign]

The Denver metropolitan area has become a showcase of the sunnier side of the American economy. While the region has some inherent advantages, like a spectacular landscape that beguiles outdoor enthusiasts...

I lived in Denver a couple of years. Sure the "spectacular landscape" is not too far away. But if you work in Denver and live within commuting distance, the landscape is the arid, flat high plains.

So I never saw it as an advantage.

[oldplayer]

As the article reveals, the nyt’s hates any job that actually creates much of anything. Any job that might develop natural resources, or Lord forbid! any job where you might actually get your hands dirty. “Yuck! That’s just so old school! Dirty jobs are for illegal immigrants!”

[ModelBreaker]

“But if you work in Denver and live within commuting distance, the landscape is the arid, flat high plains.”

Please let everyone know this. Noone should want to move to Denver. Arid, flat, tornadoes, blizzards.

[Sequoyah101]

Ah yes, the marijuana boom.

Wonderful.

[Sequoyah101]

Funny that. I don’t see but one or two that are now below their Jan 2000 unemployment rate.

So much for a booming economy.

How long ago was it that plugs biden proclaimed the green shoots appearing?

[HiTech RedNeck]

There seems to be a confluence of unhealthy thoughts coming together, of which that plausibly seems to be one.