Posted June 17, 2010 by Brant Croucher

The Results Are In: Austin Is Still Awesome

The past few years have brought financial uncertainty in every sector of our economy.I just re-read that sentence and I want to bang my head into my keyboard.

You don’t need a generic opening line that appears to have been lifted from an entry level college economics course to bring to light what you already know: foreclosures skyrocketed, Wall Street went weird, and politicians pointed crooked fingers at crooked politicians in effort to place blame on someone else. In short, everything went south and our financial situation felt as far from safe as we can remember. But I’m a “bright side” kind of guy, so let’s move on from the ‘doom’ and bring you the ‘boom’.

Last month, Yahoo! Real Estate published a piece from the editors of Kiplinger’s Personal Finance (grown-up reading material) listing the 10 Best Cities for the Next Decade, and decided to title it the same. Their position was that local economies would prosper where innovation and ideas reigned supreme.

Citing University of Washington President Mark Emmert, the article described the three key components to innovation: smart people, great ideas, and collaboration. With these criteria as a basis, they set off to forecast which cities were positioned to rock the face off the next decade.

Topeka, KS led off in the 10 spot, and as surprised as I am to see Middle America fist-bumping with we’re-so-cutting-edge staples like Boulder, CO (#4) and Seattle, WA (#2), I was elated to learn our own little Austin, TX grabbed the number one spot, calling it “arguably the country's best crucible for small business”.

Boom.

That’s huge, considering small businesses account for over 45% of private payroll, generate 60-80% of new jobs annually, and make up over 99% of the businesses in the U.S (according to U.S. Census Bureau statistics).

And the Austin real estate market has remained strong, despite market fallout across the U.S. According to the 2010 Market Report, published by the Texas A&M University Real Estate Center, Austin’s population has grown by 41% since 1999. During that same period, the average sales price of homes sold on the Austin MLS increased by over 23%.

Austin is a vibrant city full of music-lovers, pencil-pushers, hipsters, students, foodies, educators, drag-rats, actors, artists, socialites, MBA’s, DBA’s, and MD’s. It’s an ever-growing city that is undertaking many exciting new real estate developments, while preserving the plenty of to-do’s for the outdoor, environmentally conscious type. Such commitment to balance while maintaining a diverse population of cohabitants lays a solid foundation for serious innovation.

So if you were wondering, yes- Austin is still awesome, and will continue to be awesome for the foreseeable future. Come on down, and let us find you a place that will allow you to reach your “awesome” potential.