Christopher Lockwood says our low taxes and light regulation have helped get us where we are — probably the best place to be in the U.S. right now. 150,000 people are moving to Texas each year, while they are leaving New York and California in droves. (The second best place to be right now may be D.C., where lawmakers are turning out greenbacks faster than than people can unpack a moving van.) The recession didn’t hit us ’till last fall, and even though almost everyone of us knows someone who has been laid off, Texas unemployment is at 7.1%. We’ve got a state surplus, our foreclosure problem isn’t devastating, and the Texaplex — D/FW, Houston, San Antonio/Austin – is one of the nation’s most dynamic regions. The only problem I had with Lockwood’s article was — not a problem, really — Joel Kotkin’s bullishness on Houston over Dallas, but I am trying to lure Mr. Kotkin to Dallas to show him first-hand why we are so much better.
On the negative side, we have many problems: education, high percentage of un-insured (stemming from illegal immigration), more Medicaid babies born in Texas than anywhere else. (more…)