Forbes Analyst is Bullish on Houston, Touting Its Economic Strength and Magnetic Appeal to Transplants

The Super Bowl has come and gone, and while fans debate the question of whether it was the greatest one of all time and discuss Lady Ga Ga's big show, Houston continues doing what it does: growing and creating jobs.

"Since 2000, no major metro region in America except for archrival Dallas-Fort Worth has created more jobs and attracted more people. Houston’s job base has expanded 36.5%; in comparison, New York employment is up 16.6%, the Bay Area 11.8%, and Chicago a measly 5.1%. Since 2010 alone, a half million jobs have been added."

So writes Joel Kotkin at Forbes.com, in a piece that's sure to be making the rounds in homes and offices across the metropolitan area.

Kotkin writes about demographic and and societal trends, and posits that Houston's economic outlook remains promising.

"The Houston area’s professional and service sector, the largest source of high-wage jobs, has grown 48% since 2000, a rate almost twice that of the San Francisco region, two and half times that of New York or Chicago, and more than four times Los Angeles. In terms of STEM jobs the Bay Area has done slightly better, but Houston, with 22% job growth in STEM fields since 2001, has easily surpassed New York (2%), Los Angeles (flat) and Chicago (-3%)."

Kotkin is not unaware of the sprawl of the place and the concomitant reliance on the automobile – Houston has no subway — but concludes that Houston's low cost of housing, its welcoming nature, and its high upward mobility quotient should serve the city well far into the future, Super Bowl or not

— Image courtesy Pontus Edenberg