Home price appreciation, number of new businesses and unemployment rate were some of the 18 metrics used to determine that Laredo, Texas is the overall No. 1 most recession-recovered city within the nation’s 150 largest cities, according to a recent study by WalletHub, which was conducted in collaboration with other agencies.
Texas corners the top of the list, with the city of Irving receiving an overall second place ranking and Dallas ranking in fifth place. Rounding out the top five following Irving are Fayetteville, N.C. in third place and Denver, Colo. in fourth.
California cities populate the majority of the top five least-recovered cities, with Modesto in 146th place, followed by Stockton in 149th place and San Bernardino ranking as the overall least recovered.
Rounding out those five top least recovered are Detroit, Mich, in 145th place; Newark, N.J. in 147th place; and Boise City, Idaho in 148th place.
Stockton and Detroit are two of 13 municipalities that have declared Chapter 9 bankruptcy, an otherwise rare occurrence, since 2008.
“Coming out of fiscal distress requires focused attention on current and future obligations and the funds to pay for them, making (often) painful choices about expenditures and revenues, and extreme discipline to carry out such decisions,” Katherine G. Willoughby, professor of public management and policy at Andrew Young School of Policy Studies, Georgia State University, tells WalletHub. “Local government public officials, department heads, program staff, taxpayers and residents must be willing to face problems head on and objectively.”
The top five cities with the highest home price appreciation are New Orleans, La.; Louisville, Ky.; Birmingham, Ala.; Washington, D.C.; and Boston, Mass., respectively. Alternately, those with the lowest home price appreciation are Newark, N.J.; followed by North Las Vegas, Nev.; San Bernardino, Calif.; Stockton, Calif.; and Detroit, Mich, respectively.
When a city has been negatively impacted by an economic downturn, people should look at the long run for that city when deciding whether they should pack up and move or stay put, advises Ernie Goss, MacAllister Chair and professor of economics at Creighton University.
“For example, several years ago it was advantageous for a mass exodus from Pittsburg, [Pa.],” Goss says. “Today, Pittsburg is a viable, attractive place to live.” Pittsburg rates 21 for overall recession recovery among the 150 cities evaluated.
“The long run outlook is affected by the location (cold, warm), demographics (age distribution), infrastructure and industrial base,” he says.
Data used to create the rankings came from the U.S. Census Bureau, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the United States Courts, the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, the Federal Bureau ofInvestigation, Zillow Real Estate Research, Experian, PBS NewsHour and WalletHub Research.
See the full results of the study here.
Written by Cassandra Dowell
