Schlumberger Layoffs have begun (Houston, West: utilities, safe, design)

[ethanw]

I will be OK. I live within my financial means. Everything paid off, no bills, except utilities. I have enough investments. Wife works. I am good here. I could use a break.

Originally Posted by swopoe

Good luck, ethanw.

[jfre81]

The smart people have been preparing for this for a good while. I was talking about this here a few months ago and got shouted down. Welp, golly-gee-willickers, here we are!

I certainly don't want it to happen. I have dear friends who are more likely than not to lose well-paying jobs soon. I said it because I've seen this episode before and know better than to think it was going to end differently.

It'll be back one day, and everyone who remembers this will be prepared for the end of the next boom. The others? Well, they'll have a choice between the Corvette and a driveway to park it in, if they're lucky.

There's a lot to be said for living below your means, especially when that means may not be consistent.

[EasilyAmused]

Originally Posted by jfre81

.

There's a lot to be said for living below your means, especially when that means may not be consistent.

Exactly.

[cBach]

Will this spell the end of the Houston boom? Will there be empty skyscrapers downtown that the sun shines through like the mid 80's? Will DFW will grow even further ahead of the Houston metro?

[jfre81]

It's not going to be like that - there just wasn't the same skyscraper-building boom as there was in the early 80s. The people at the very top are going to keep their jobs and get paid bank. There will just be a lot less spreading the wealth around to the regular people, like the ones who drive the economy at the ground level.

It's going to be more like MPCs not building out as planned for a few years, and newly-built apartments that thought they were guaranteed occupancy at ridiculous rates suddenly not having what they counted on. They needed those "regular people" with the money they were asking for, and without people getting that payday, it's a lot harder to justify those kind of prices. This is Houston we're talking about, not DC or San Francisco.

[Jack Lance]

Originally Posted by cBach

Will this spell the end of the Houston boom? Will there be empty skyscrapers downtown that the sun shines through like the mid 80's? Will DFW will grow even further ahead of the Houston metro?

Cbach do you stay up at night and worry about Houston's place relative to DFW ? That's sweet of you but I don't think Houston needs you to do that.

[Htown2013]

Houston has a solid medical center and growing arts/cultural centers. It is one of the most desirable places to live in the South/ Deep South. With a lower cost of living, it's still a desirable area for manufacturing and other jobs. Energy will come back. Houston will grow and become more desirable in the years to come. It is no Detroit. If it can work on the university sector, technology sector, etc. it can really boom with its low cost of living.

[usc619]

Originally Posted by jfre81

It's not going to be like that - there just wasn't the same skyscraper-building boom as there was in the early 80s. The people at the very top are going to keep their jobs and get paid bank. There will just be a lot less spreading the wealth around to the regular people, like the ones who drive the economy at the ground level.

It's going to be more like MPCs not building out as planned for a few years, and newly-built apartments that thought they were guaranteed occupancy at ridiculous rates suddenly not having what they counted on. They needed those "regular people" with the money they were asking for, and without people getting that payday, it's a lot harder to justify those kind of prices. This is Houston we're talking about, not DC or San Francisco.

Soon all of those apartments in Katy will be advertising the first 3 months free and utilities paid lol.

[Htown2013]

Originally Posted by usc619

Soon all of those apartments in Katy will be advertising the first 3 months free and utilities paid lol.

Katy still has very good schools.

[jfre81]

Originally Posted by usc619

Soon all of those apartments in Katy will be advertising the first 3 months free and utilities paid lol.

They'll throw in free cable with HBO and Cinemax. Hooray softcore porn.

I wonder what's going to happen to the new complex on West Bellfort that went up around the corner from my old place that was averaging $1200 per unit. Mind, there's absolutely nothing around there that justifies that price, other than being somewhat close to TMC. Hearing about that made me look around and see what $1200 will get in various places around the country.