Is Texas' economy getting worse? (Houston, Dallas: low income, real estate, apartment complexes)

[desertsun41]

Originally Posted by HookTheBrotherUp

Many who give up looking for work discover a hidden treasure, a secret right under our noses in plain sight for all the world to see. The honest, working noses that is; a secret that is truly passed from generation to generation like grandma's secret pasta sauce recipie. That secret is welfare benefits.

We who work are too busy, too involved with everyday life, making decisions, budgets, watching costs, watching our country spent to failure and just too busy to take notice, or pause a while and realize, or analyze what is really going on while many of the others have discovered that welfare pays more than regular jobs without the hassle.

If all forms of welfare spending were converted to cash, those who take advantage of all the benefits earn about ~$30.00 an hour for a 40 hour week. Subsidised meals, shelter, college tuition and even cell phones. Add to that the generosity of the private organizations, and that is just icing on the cake. No need to worry about performance reviews, incentive bonuses, meeting goals and targets, meetings, working from home, documenting anything, nothing. Just a government deposit each month courtesy of those who have to do real work to foot the bill.

If that is not enough, if one is on the welfare bandwagon and needs a "pay raise", they just make another baby, and then the woman claims she does not know who the father is on the birth certificate. Automatic pay increase, and the real father is not hunted down for restitution payments, though he's probably around.

The benefits need to be in place for those who really need it, but it should be temporary, verified and for US citizens only. Our government should not encourage this like our current administration does.

BTW, this not directed towards those who lost their jobs and are looking for work, this is about those who use welfare as a way of life.

Unfortunately you're correct. But we really do need something in place to help those in need such as welfare. But the kooks out there will continue to argue against drug testing to continue welfare or even time limits on this benefit. We need a avenue for helping those in need but there is just so much abuse,

The only problem with your statement I have is that you said "our" government. I do not consider this govt mine. To say "our" government suggests they represent we the people. And truth is they do not represent you or I. They only represent their selfish selves. They are crooked, corrupt, lying conniving, wife abusing, thieves. But that story is for the dummies in the political forums, not Houston.

Good day to ya my friend!!

[BarcelonaFan]

Welfare as a way of life is a scapegoat myth. Quit falling for that crap.

[BarcelonaFan]

Originally Posted by JaqueCosto

Crimesider - CBS News
spend some time on that website and you'll be thankful that for the most part Texans aren't psychotic. And what facts are you using? Houston's murder rate is a fraction of what NYC and LA experience. Dallas as well which is the most dangerous portion of the entire Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex.

According to the 2010 census
Houston, ETJ Houston is considerably wealthier.
Houston County QuickFacts from the US Census Bureau
Poverty @ 21.5%

LA
Los Angeles (city) QuickFacts from the US Census Bureau
Poverty @ 20.2%

NYC
New York (city) QuickFacts from the US Census Bureau


Poverty @ 19.4%

definition of poverty:
How the Census Bureau Measures Poverty - U.S Census Bureau

LA County is extremely poor. NYCs middle class is non existent. I was saying that Houston's boom will bust later in the future and reveal the uneven economic landscape it's leaving. I also in a subsequent post that Houston's petty crime rate is highest: Is Houston the Worst City in America for Burglaries? Probably - Houston - News - Hair Balls

I'm saying that at this pace it's not seeing that relying solely on the private sector for economic growth and development is limited.

Houston poverty up, but so is income across the city - Houston Chronicle

Poverty is up while growth and incomes rise. What's the problem? Inflation.

The gains aren't going to the lowest sectors. To a guy like you that's proly a non issue. They just have to get some gumption and pull themselves up by their bootstraps, right?

[HookTheBrotherUp]

Originally Posted by BarcelonaFan

Welfare as a way of life is a scapegoat myth. Quit falling for that crap.

Maybe I don't understand your post... are you saying that living off of welfare is not a way of life for some? If so, you have not been around, or not old enough to have witnessed it, or you don't know anyone who abuses the welfare system. You can drive around several places in Houston to witness it. I should not even have to tell you this.

[ToyYot]

Originally Posted by BarcelonaFan

Welfare as a way of life is a scapegoat myth. Quit falling for that crap.

Tell it to this guy

//www.city-data.com/forum/houst...ng-down-2.html

[JaqueCosto]

Originally Posted by BarcelonaFan

LA County is extremely poor. NYCs middle class is non existent. I was saying that Houston's boom will bust later in the future and reveal the uneven economic landscape it's leaving. I also in a subsequent post that Houston's petty crime rate is highest: Is Houston the Worst City in America for Burglaries? Probably - Houston - News - Hair Balls

I'm saying that at this pace it's not seeing that relying solely on the private sector for economic growth and development is limited.

Houston poverty up, but so is income across the city - Houston Chronicle

Poverty is up while growth and incomes rise. What's the problem? Inflation.

The gains aren't going to the lowest sectors. To a guy like you that's proly a non issue. They just have to get some gumption and pull themselves up by their bootstraps, right?

Nonetheless poverty is not unusually high in Houston. I worked in Manhattan for a summer, not what makes you say NYC has no middle class. No city could function w/o one, median income is at $51,270, granted that doesn't go very far in NYC, my brother pays $4,500/month to rent a one bedroom apt and guess who wants to move back to Texas?

What would you rather see a murder rates skyrocketing like in Chicago?

[BarcelonaFan]

Originally Posted by HookTheBrotherUp

Maybe I don't understand your post... are you saying that living off of welfare is not a way of life for some? If so, you have not been around, or not old enough to have witnessed it, or you don't know anyone who abuses the welfare system. You can drive around several places in Houston to witness it. I should not even have to tell you this.

That is doesn't happen is not true. It happens quite frequently actually. That is actually poses a major drain on society to the scope that right wingers use it a scapegoat to distract from other real drains on the economy *cough* military budget, corporate welfare, etc. That's what I meant.

[BarcelonaFan]

Originally Posted by JaqueCosto

Nonetheless poverty is not unusually high in Houston. I worked in Manhattan for a summer, not what makes you say NYC has no middle class. No city could function w/o one, median income is at $51,270, granted that doesn't go very far in NYC, my brother pays $4,500/month to rent a one bedroom apt and guess who wants to move back to Texas?

What would you rather see a murder rates skyrocketing like in Chicago?

I also worked in NYC for the summer. Did you also have a summer analyst gig?

Anyways, NYC's middle class is being squeezed out. NYC Is Pushing Out Its Middle Class - Business Insider

NYC and LA are far worse off places to live than in Houston. You're completely misrepresenting what I am saying. LA is probably the country's most economically divided city. Never in my life have I seen the level of poverty, homelessness and wealth gap before. Houston by comparison is a middle class haven.

But the point is that the cracks in the Houston boom are starting to show. I mean that the rate of growth and the pace they're developing will leave it a mess later in the future. It's uneven growth. It's relying on this mentality that if you just cater to business and rely on it for most of your economic development that your city will flourish. Well that thinking is limited. The gains will go to those already in the fields where there is a boom; oil, tech, medical care, etc. Pockets of grinding poverty will form and petty crime will grow because the landscape itself will also geographically uneven.

I think that Texas and Houston in general has a chance to become an even bigger and better powerhouse because it's unique in that it's economy is very diverse to withstand recessions better than most cities, but the mentality is so right wing that it cares not to invest any of the gains back into the city in the form of better social programs for the least affected by the boom.

[TXRyan23]

Originally Posted by BarcelonaFan

The gains aren't going to the lowest sectors. To a guy like you that's proly a non issue. They just have to get some gumption and pull themselves up by their bootstraps, right?

The resources to do so are there.

The Texas Workforce Commission even offers to pay for career training for people that truly want it.

[BarcelonaFan]

Originally Posted by TXRyan23

The resources to do so are there.

The Texas Workforce Commission even offers to pay for career training for people that truly want it.

And of course the usual excuse that large complex social problems are not the result of structural failures but are little more than a problem of personal initiative.

Thanks.....I knew this was a non-issue for many of your ilk.