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Old 11-03-2010, 03:46 PM
 
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Surprisingly, I really don't know what caused Houston to be so successful growth and economic wise currently compared to in the past. Could you guys enlighten me a little bit?
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Old 11-03-2010, 03:51 PM
 
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chad.roper.
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Old 11-03-2010, 03:59 PM
 
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Seriously!
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Old 11-03-2010, 04:01 PM
 
Location: Willowbend/Houston
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The fact that the oil industry is thriving and that their economy is internationally based is a big part of it.
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Old 11-03-2010, 04:06 PM
 
Location: Houston, TX
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Air conditioning...and a big hurricane in Galveston.
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Old 11-03-2010, 04:08 PM
 
Location: Rio Rancho
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The fact that Houston and Dallas are friendly to business and Texas in general is a business-friendly state.

Houston might want to rethink its zoning rules though.
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Old 11-03-2010, 04:38 PM
 
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Why to your last statement?
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Old 11-03-2010, 09:07 PM
 
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Oil, air conditioning and favourable taxation. That's it.
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Old 11-04-2010, 07:40 AM
 
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I have that air conditioning changed Houston. I didn't even know that the AC was even associated with Houston.
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Old 11-04-2010, 09:45 AM
 
Location: Houston/Brenham
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Without A/C, no one would live here if they could help it. AC has changed Houston.

But as to your question (and these are off-the-cuff answers), it's several factors. We have a business friendly state--low taxation and low-impact legislature. We are a *very* developer friendly state. That creates cheap land, which kept us out of the housing bubble mess. No housing bubble, no inflated housing prices, not as many underwater homeowners as other states.

We are also growth friendly. Example: The guv fees (permits, water hook-up fees, land impact fees, etc) to build a house in Harris County are just a couple thousand dollars. In Calif, it costs 40-60 THOUSAND dollars in FEES to build a home. That's why a starter house here can be found for 1/3 what it is in CA or FL or GA.

And don't forget cheap labor--this state has a huge pool of cheap labor, needed for construction, manuf, etc.

So... cheap land, cheap labor, pro-growth policies, low tax basis... where YOU gonna move?


PS: I am not advocating one way or the other for any of these; I am stating facts.
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