Lone-Star Luster
With a strong economy, world-class medical institutions, and attractions ranging from wine country and national parks to sports and performing arts, Texas holds ’em all
Every day, 1,000 people move to Texas to live, raise families, work, and grow businesses. What’s the attraction? It’s simple — Texas has something for everyone. The nation’s best hospitals, world-class museums, leading universities, mountains, beaches, a fascinating cultural mix, and six of the 25 largest cities in the United States are all part of the Texas landscape.
Texas also has the country’s best business environment. If Texas were a nation, it would have the 12th-largest economy in the world. It currently leads the United States in job creation, gross state product, low unemployment rate, and foreign direct investment. More than half of all jobs created in the past 12 months in the U.S. were in Texas. And we’re not just talking oil. Texas has diversified its economic base; there are as many people working in the aerospace, high tech, finance, and health care sectors as there are in energy.
With the state’s proactive government policies, low taxes, reasonable regulations, solid infrastructure, strong workforce, and outstanding quality of life, the Texas economy has continued to rev up even as the national economy cools.
In 2008, CNBC ranked Texas the No. 1 state for business, and CEO Magazine named it the “Best State to Do Business”
for the third year in a row. It’s no wonder that Texas is now home to more Fortune 500 companies than any other state.
“We are very lucky to be in Texas right now, where we have great leadership, a pro-growth business climate, and affordable homes,” says Ross Perot Jr., chairman of Hillwood Development Company and former chairman of the Governor’s Task Force for Economic Growth.
And that’s just part of the appeal of the great state of Texas.
Gulf Coast
Texas’ biggest city, Houston, was named the No. 1 City to Live, Work, and Play for 2008 by Kiplinger’s and was chosen by Forbes as the Best City to Earn a Living and Best City to Buy a Home.
“Houston stands out as a place where people from diverse backgrounds work together and economic opportunity grows,” says Mayor Bill White. “We’ve added more than a quarter million new jobs in the last five years, growth that far outstrips that of other American urban centers.”
Houston is always booming, and it’s not all business. It has a thriving fine arts scene and is one of the few cities in the country with resident symphony, theater, ballet, and opera companies. Houston also has an expansive Museum District. Among the offerings: the Houston Museum of Natural Sciences, one of the most highly attended museums in the United States; the Museum of Fine Arts, which houses over 450,000 works; and The Menil Collection, one of the world’s foremost privately assembled art collections.
The world’s largest medical center is also located in Houston. Over 5.5 million patients a year travel from across the country and around the world to the Texas Medical Center to receive cutting-edge treatment from its 46 member institutions. The TMC is also a leading research facility.
Once you leave the big city, the Texas Gulf Coast offers hundreds of miles of coastline for water sports and relaxation. The North Padre National Seashore is home to the longest undeveloped stretch of barrier island beach in the world. For those who prefer their beach experience accompanied by great food, shopping, and entertainment, there’s Galveston. Although Hurricane Ike caused some damage along the Seawall and on the Strand, Galveston’s historic area, the city is back up and running. Mardi Gras! Galveston takes place February 13–24. With 11 parades, 50 galas and events, and 250,000 revelers expected to attend, it’s the second-largest Mardi Gras celebration in the country.
Hill Country
Rolling hills, lush wildflowers, lakes, and rivers dominate the landscape in this region located in the middle of the state. It’s where you’ll find Austin, the state capital. Known as the Live Music Capital of the World, Austin has also emerged as a high tech leader in the past decade. In 2008, it was ranked third among U.S. cities for high tech salaries.
Consistently ranking at the top among Best Cities for Relocating Families and Best Cities for Singles, Austin is also recognized as one of the most inventive, creative, wired, educated, and fit cities in the world.
The Texas capital is home to an interesting mix of business professionals, artists, musicians, filmmakers, and students from the top-ranked University of Texas. Most nights, you can find them all on bustling Sixth Street, the place to go for live music venues, art galleries, theaters, and restaurants.
Outside Austin, the surrounding region is filled with historical museums, underground caverns, dude ranches, and wineries. The Texas Hill Country wine region was ranked the second fastest-growing wine destination in the United States, and in 2008 the New York Times named it the best place to go for a summer visit. With 22 wineries that buzz with food and music festivals year-round, and towns like Fredericksburg offering authentic old-world German food and biergartens, it’s hard to resist the allure of Hill Country.
North Central Texas
For more than a century, Dallas has been known as a place where entrepreneurial companies bloom and thrive, institutions of higher learning abound, and sports are a way of life. And it continues to move up the ranks of top-performing U.S. cities, reflecting its strong employment numbers in life sciences and high tech.
“This remarkable environment will be enhanced in 2009 with the grand opening of the $350 million Dallas Center for the Performing Arts and the Dallas Cowboys’ new $1 billion stadium in Arlington,” says Bill Lively, president of the Dallas Center for the Performing Arts Endowment Trust and president and CEO of the North Texas Super Bowl XLV Host Committee.
The versatile new stadium is already set to host the Big 12 college football championship game in 2009 and 2010, the NBA All-Star Game in 2010, Super Bowl XLV in 2011, and the NCAA Men’s Basketball Final Four in 2014.
The Lone Star spirit is alive and well in Fort Worth, home of the Stockyards National Historic District, the National Cowgirl Museum and Hall of Fame, and Billy Bob’s Texas, the largest honky-tonk in the world. Just blocks away, the Bass Performance Hall, the Kimbell Art Museum, and the Amon Carter Museum mark the epicenter of Fort Worth’s rich cultural life.
The Alamo, the River Walk, the Spanish architecture of the Missions, and the NBA’s Spurs are part of the appeal of San Antonio — Texas’ second-largest city and one of the largest in the country. The only thing small about San Antonio is its cost of living, often cited as among the lowest in the nation.
San Antonio is brimming with new business start-ups as well as with the sights, tastes, and flavors of its rich history. Over 26 million people visit San Antonio each year, making it the No. 1 city for visitors in Texas. Outdoor enthusiasts appreciate the abundant opportunities for adventure and discovery at the Natural Bridge Caverns, Brackenridge Park, and the Natural Bridge Wildlife Ranch.
For nature lovers, the semi-tropical Rio Grande Valley is one of the best bird-watching spots in North America. Over 500 bird species and 300 butterflies call the area home. The World Birding Center is located in the lower Rio Grande Valley, where major bird migratory routes converge. This area is also popular with winter visitors because of the balmy weather.
At the southern tip of Texas are Laredo and Brownsville, where “winter” temperatures hover around 60 degrees. Over the past decade, both cities have grown into manufacturing and trading centers.
Big Bend Country
If you’re looking for big skies and wide open spaces, a place where the stars at night are big and bright, Big Bend Country in West Texas is it. People come here to hike, bike, ride, bird, swim, raft, camp, photograph, paint, and just relax in the desert wilderness. The region is home to Texas’ first national park, Big Bend, which is about the size of the state of Rhode Island.
The wide open spaces of West Texas eventually lead to a very international city. On the border of two countries and three states, El Paso is uniquely positioned for cultural and business opportunities. El Paso and its Mexican sister city, Ciudad Juarez, comprise the largest metropolitan area on the U.S.-Mexico border. The downtown areas of these two cities are within walking distance of each other, and that proximity strengthens the bonds for businesses to capitalize on the North American Free Trade Agreement, the
maquiladora industry, and other business prospects in Central and South America.
The Latin American and Native American influences combine to form the foundation for a local culture filled with international flavor. In addition to 18 museums and over 35 art galleries, El Paso is home to dozens of world-renowned artists and performing groups.
Panhandle Plains and East Texas
Lubbock, home to the Buddy Holly Center, Texas Tech University, and several of Texas’ award-winning wineries, is located in the southern part of the Panhandle Plains. The region is also the location of one of Texas’ most spectacular natural attractions, Palo Duro Canyon State Park — 18,000 acres of scenery punctuated by walls plunging nearly 1,000 feet to the canyon floor.
A completely different backdrop characterizes East Texas: thousands of acres of pine and pine hardwood forests. Four national forests and five state forests are among the wooded expanses. Signs of East Texas’ oil history can be seen throughout the region in historic towns like Kilgore, Marshall, Joinerville, and Longview. And there are always a few surprises. Tyler, for instance, boasts the nation’s largest municipal rose garden.
It turns out everything really is bigger in Texas, a place that offers everyone 268,820 square miles of opportunity.
— Ann S. Boor
