Tex is in its own world. Our firm was up 86% this year and we are looking to do the same in 09. Energy, Health Care are the two driving forces for the state. Money is being made hand over fist in those industries. Houston a massive Medical and Energy destination. However, plenty of poor and layed off workers in the City as Well. It use to be a shit hole but looks like its coming of age.. A lot of great realestate. The fact of the matter is, the Yankees and the West Coast are coming to Texas and taking it to the next level. Houston, Dallas, San Antonio have plenty of Companies relocating from both the East and the West. The Gov. is also relocating all its Military Medical Schools, NSA Super Spy Station, Microsoft, (Google is scouting Texas), etc. The lack of education in those regions allows for the East and West to fill the void as well as Euro/Asia intellects and money. Austin took a heavy hit with DELL relocating most of its division over to Brazil. UT does have around 70K screaming college kids with Studen Loan Money to spend however. Texas has its own energy source. More Oil and Natural Gas wells with the infastructure to pump straight to a "Source". Texas has cheap ass living, yes even Dallas and Houston are super cheap compared to other key cities. Texas has raw land, guns and plenty of space. The new gold rush is directed towards Texas. As the country falls deeper into a Depression, Texas will be the safe haven. The downfall is low salaries and plenty of uneducated idiots. If you'r in the right industry, if you can make or bring in East/West Coast wages, if you work for yourself and can make 100k or more....TEXAS is heaven!!!!!
If anyone actually bothered to read the article, the decline is far less than 24%: "Retail sales declined 5.3 percent Dec. 19 through Dec. 21 because of inclement weather and a slowing U.S. economy, Chicago-based research firm ShopperTrak RCT Corp. said today in a statement." Only 5.3%, which isn't a big deal. It can easily surge 7% next year. Also, the markets were green yesterday, which means it is discounted.
If you're into Huge silicon tits on strippers & oversized BBQ, yeah. Otherwise, I dunno about that. You should visit other cities.