Austin = #6 on Kiplinger top 10 places to live? (Houston, Dallas: best cities, condo)

[three_fish]

OK... here's another top 10 list to deconstruct. I know some have suggested that somehow these publications are "being bribed" into including certain cities on their lists. I don't subscribe to that theory, but thought I'd at least throw this "most recent" top 10 out there for people to discuss. I generally find Kiplinger a pretty respectable publication and the method for ranking is clearly spelled out on the site.

Let the games begin.

No. 6: Austin, Texas - Kiplinger.com

No. 6: Austin, Texas

By Jane Bennett Clark

July 2008

ROCKERS, TACOS AND CHIPS
Population: 1,506,425
Population Growth Since 2000: 17%
Percentage of Workforce in Creative Class: 36.5%
Cost-of-Living Index: 92.8 (100 being national average)
Median Household Income: $52,882
Income Growth Since 2000: 12.2%
Don’t think for a minute that the laid-back, rockers-and-tacos atmosphere of downtown Austin is all this metro area has to offer. In fact, Austin and the surrounding region offer a strong economy, a solid, moderately priced housing market, a growing population and enough natural beauty to justify staying outside even if the weather weren’t great -- which, by the way, it is.
VIDEO EXTRA:
Take Our Walking Tour Through Austin
Already home to the University of Texas, the state capitol and a bustling music scene, Austin has lately expanded its economy to include digital media, green energy and biotech, creating 114,000 in the area in the last five years. Meanwhile, downtown Austin is in transformation mode. Redevelopment includes the Second Street District and more than a dozen residential developments. Among them: 360, where a two-bedroom, two-bath condo with a lake view starts at about $400,000.
City life not to your liking? Head to Round Rock, an 18.5 mile hike up I-35. This family-oriented suburb boasts topnotch public schools along with a local economy that includes Dell, three hospitals and a brisk business in sports tourism thanks to the playing fields it rents out for tournaments. As for housing, it’s a deal: For $270,000, you can buy a four-bedroom, three-bathroom house in the Teravista community and enjoy its rolling hills, 18-hole golf course, clubhouse and a pool.
Down the road apiece, in the tiny town of Lago Vista, residents enjoy access to Lake Travis in the spectacular Texas Hill Country setting. Once mostly a resort community for retirees, this 11-mile stretch of land increasingly appeals to young families who like the small-town atmosphere and don’t mind commuting to Northwest Austin or to Round Rock.
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Rankings criteria: The Making of the Top 10 - Kiplinger.com
The Making of the Top 10


From Kiplinger's Personal Finance magazine, July 2008

We relied on key numbers such as population growth, percentage of workforce in the creative class, income growth, median growth and cost of living to choose our Best Cities for 2008. But these are only a fraction of the factors we considered. We know that you're a well-educated bunch who appreciate economic opportunities and a high quality of life and put a premium on managing money responsibly -- so cost of living is a priority.
Our process is based on work done by Kevin Stolarick, of the Martin Prosperity Institute, a think tank that studies economic prosperity. Stolarick helped us come up with a formula to identify thriving cities that also have the ingredients for future success.
So we included "triple threat" data on population growth, income growth and job growth. We also looked at the quality of jobs, giving high marks to places with many workers in technology, education, and professional and technical services.
Stolarick also included a "creative class" measurement, which comes from work he does with Richard Florida, academic director of the Martin Institute and author of The Rise of the Creative Class. Creative-class workers -- scientists, engineers, educators, writers, artists, entertainers and others -- inject both economic and cultural vitality into a city and help make it a vibrant place to live.
We also used the data to pinpoint suburbs or towns in a metro area where our readers might feel particularly at home. So places such as Cary, N.C., and Sugar Land, Tex., are mentioned in our stories.
Further research involved traveling to cities and interviewing insiders about prospects for continued prosperity. Our rankings factor in both the data and the results of our reporting.
PODCAST: Senior editor Bob Frick and Kevin Stolarick discuss the selection process behind the Best Cities to Live, Work and Play. Click here.

See the key numbers for our top ten cities. See all city rankings.

[AustinGuy]

Sweet -- Houston ranked #1! Everybody, head there!

[miniwheat]

Originally Posted by AustinGuy

Sweet -- Houston ranked #1! Everybody, head there!

Yes, why settle for number 6. Don't sell yourself short, move to Houston!

[love roses]

++AustinGuy and miniwheat, that was funny

[clockwise5]

Originally Posted by AustinGuy

Sweet -- Houston ranked #1! Everybody, head there!

If I could give any reason why these lists are PR fluff, its that this same survey ranked Houston #1.....spend some time smelling the petrochemical fumes off the refineries, lit up for miles at night on the gulf, the top 10 dangerous cities ranking(again, how can a city ranked near the top in crime, post the 100,000 katrina refugee exodus, be the best place to live?).....and the suffocating sprawl...and ask yourself what these top 10 lists are worth.......as long as the vast majority think they only exist to "help people" decide where to move, and aren't PR fluff, and the result of massive lobbying and PR by the cities that get ranked, they will always be with us...

They ARE fun to read though.......

[love roses]

Disagree about Houston. You can't smell petrochemical fumes from the refineries, except for in certain areas of Pasadena or directly on the ship channel. Actually, the refineries have great safety measures in place to avoid chain reaction explosions, etc...And like most large cities, it's worst crimes are usually contained in certain areas of town, not spread out all over everywhere. And, Katrina refugees came to more cities besides just Houston. Austin is one of the cities they came to as well. And suffocating sprawl? Look at Austin, Dallas, Tyler, etc...To me those lights along the gulf mean people are working, their jobs not outsourced. It also means that if we need to, we can supply our own energy but that's another topic for another thread. We did move back to Texas and chose Austin, but that doesn't mean we hated everything about Houston. One of the main reasons we left is just that in general, it's pretty flat and in lots of areas there is no green like in Austin. They just tear everything living in the ground down and dump concrete on it. But, I lived a long time in Clear Lake and if we had to ever move back to Houston, we'd choose along the coast like Seabrook or League City or one of the other towns there.

I never even read top 10 lists, except on here.

[AK123]

Originally Posted by clockwise5

If I could give any reason why these lists are PR fluff, its that this same survey ranked Houston #1.....spend some time smelling the petrochemical fumes off the refineries, lit up for miles at night on the gulf, the top 10 dangerous cities ranking(again, how can a city ranked near the top in crime, post the 100,000 katrina refugee exodus, be the best place to live?).....and the suffocating sprawl...and ask yourself what these top 10 lists are worth.......as long as the vast majority think they only exist to "help people" decide where to move, and aren't PR fluff, and the result of massive lobbying and PR by the cities that get ranked, they will always be with us...

Where can you smell fumes unless you're in one of the industrial east side suburb towns like Baytown or Channelview? Why do so many people want to generalize that part to the entire city or metro? It's just not true. And where is this top 10 dangerous city list? The only ones I've seen do not have Houston on them.

I think some people just don't want to believe that it may actually be a great place to live. Or perhaps thinking of a Houston from 30 years ago.

[clockwise5]

Honest replies only.....how do local Houstonites(and Austinites for that matter) feel about the huge exodus of job seekers from Michigan and the rust belt coming in the next two years? After that #1 ranking, and Austin's #6, they are the buzz of the Michigan exodus board......somehow I feel that if a huge number of people, far more than even the last few years, moved down like displaced Okies, Austin and Houston would not be thrilled about it.....and it will happen..

Read the BW story, and prepare for another huge bunch of folks....keep in mind that 10,000,000 people live in Michigan........hey, Texas has got jobs for everyone, and welcomes all with open arms, right?

Michigan: Epicenter of Unemployment

[AustinGuy]

I'm confused as to why Houston hasn't seen a huge housing boom in this oil run like they did in the previous oil run. Maybe if all of Michigan moves there, it will actually drive housing prices up.

[clockwise5]

Originally Posted by AustinGuy

I'm confused as to why Houston hasn't seen a huge housing boom in this oil run like they did in the previous oil run. Maybe if all of Michigan moves there, it will actually drive housing prices up.

You kidding? The whole metro is one big construction zone! They keep Cat in business single-handedly!