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        <title>Austin Real Estate Blog</title>
        <link>http://www.jimolenbush.com/blog/tags/round-rock/</link>
        <description>Austin Real Estate Blog - Cantera Real Estate - This multi-author blog covers the local Austin, Texas real estate market, housing trends, new developments, new MLS listings, Austin area news, and relocation info.</description>
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            <guid>http://www.jimolenbush.com/blog/austin-round-rock-area-recognized-as-1-best-performing-city.html</guid>
            <link>http://www.jimolenbush.com/blog/austin-round-rock-area-recognized-as-1-best-performing-city.html</link>
            <author>brink@canterarealestate.com (James Brinkman)</author>
            <title>Austin-Round Rock Area Recognized as #1 Best Performing City</title>
            <categories>austin-area-info</categories>
            <description> <![CDATA[ Residents of the Austin-Round Rock area are well aware that the metro area is one of the best places in the country to live, but it is always nice to have these assertions confirmed by those who don't live there. Thanks to the Milken Institute/Greenstreet Real Estate Partners, residents of the Austin-Round Rock area can feel good in knowing that they are residents of the best performing city in the United States.The Milken Institute/Greenstreet Real Estate Partners recently released its 2009 list of Best Performing Cities Index and the Austin-Round Rock area topped the list. In creating the list, the Milken Institute/Greenstreet Real Estate Partners considered a number of different factors. These included the area's ability to create and sustain jobs as well as overall employment levels, technology output and salary growth. Other Texas metro areas to make the list included:&bull;&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;Killeen-Fort Hood-Temple (2nd place)&bull;&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;McAllen-Edinburg-Mission (4th place)&bull;&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;Houston-Sugar Land-Baytown (5th place)The Houston-Sugar Land-Baytown area was also listed as one of the top five largest cities, while Midland was name as the number one small metro area.According to Ross Devoll, who is the senior economist at the Milken Institute as well as the lead author of the report, Texas had such a strong showing in the survey due to its business climate as well as its tax codes. DeVoll also has a positive outlook for the state of Texas based on the legislation the state had already put into place along with recent legislation that has provided additional funding to research universities.&quot;Texas' strong position in our best performing cities study demonstrates that a favorable business climate, combined with a low-cost/low-tax environment, is highly supportive of job creation,&quot; DeVoll is reported as saying in an Austin Biz Journals article.&nbsp; &quot;The state has diversified its economy by fostering several key high-tech clusters, and the passage of Proposition 4, allocating $500 million in funding for research universities, will make Texas an even more formidable competitor in the future.&quot;With such strong support for businesses combined with taking action to increase research and educational initiatives, it is easy to see why the state of Texas has so many of its metro areas and cities included on the list. Thanks to its strong position within the technology sector as well as its numerous institutes of higher education and research, it is also easy to see why the Austin-Round Rock metro area received top honors on this very prestigious list. ]]> </description>
            <pubDate>Thu, 01 Apr 2010 22:12:08 -0500</pubDate>
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            <guid>http://www.jimolenbush.com/blog/austin-round-rock-area-experiences-a-drop-in-unemployment-rates.html</guid>
            <link>http://www.jimolenbush.com/blog/austin-round-rock-area-experiences-a-drop-in-unemployment-rates.html</link>
            <author>jim@jimolenbush.com (Jim Olenbush)</author>
            <title>Austin-Round Rock Area Experiences a Drop in Unemployment Rates</title>
            <categories>austin-news</categories>
            <description> <![CDATA[ 
According to the Texas Workforce Commission, unemployment levels within the Austin and Round Rock area fell by 6.9% in November. While this is still up from the 4.9% rate that the area was experiencing just one year ago, it does represent a decline in unemployment when compared to the previous month.Previous data indicated that the unemployment rate in the Austin and Round Rock area was 7.2% in October. Compared to the state average of 7.9%, the Austin and Round Rock area is doing quite well with its 6.9% rate. This pattern remains true to the rates from the previous month, with the statewide unemployment rates being at 8.1% in October compared to the 7.2% rate of the Austin and Round Rock area. Similarly, the state had a 5.4% unemployment rate one month ago, while the Austin and Round Rock area had an unemployment rate of 4.9%.According to an article in Biz Journals, there are currently about 12.1 million workers in the Texas workforce. Approximately 905,495 of those workers are unemployed. Jobs within the manufacturing industry are particularly experiencing a great of difficulty, as reports indicate that this industry has experienced the greatest loss within the Austin metro area and has lost 11.2% of its jobs since November of last year. The mining, logging and construction industry has also experienced a significant loss, posting a 7.1% year over year loss. Other industries that have also suffered include transportation, trade, information and utilities.On the other hand, some industries have actually added jobs over the past year. The education and health industries, for example, posted an increase in jobs of 4%. The leisure and hospitality industry also enjoyed an increase in employment opportunities over the past year, with a gain of 3.5%. Other areas that experienced a gain include professional services and government.
 ]]> </description>
            <pubDate>Fri, 05 Feb 2010 14:00:20 -0600</pubDate>
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            <guid>http://www.jimolenbush.com/blog/austin-round-rock-area-ranked-1-most-secure-metropolitan-area-in-the-country.html</guid>
            <link>http://www.jimolenbush.com/blog/austin-round-rock-area-ranked-1-most-secure-metropolitan-area-in-the-country.html</link>
            <author>brink@canterarealestate.com (James Brinkman)</author>
            <title>Austin-Round Rock Area Ranked #1 Most Secure Metropolitan Area in the Country</title>
            <categories></categories>
            <description> <![CDATA[ 
A study conducted by Farmers Insurance Group of Companies mirrored the results of a recent FBI report, which listed the city of Round Rock as one of the safest places to live in the United States. According to the Farmers Insurance Group of Companies report, which looked at 379 large metropolitan areas with a population of 500,000 or more, the Austin-Round Rock area is listed as number one among the Most Secure U.S. Places to Live.A number of different factors were considered when conducting this study, including all of the following:&bull;&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;Extreme weather conditions&bull;&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;Crime statistics&bull;&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;Housing depreciation&bull;&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;Risk of natural disasters&bull;&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;Air quality&bull;&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;Foreclosure&bull;&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;Environmental hazards&bull;&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;Terrorist threats&bull;&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;Job loss&bull;&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;Life expectancy. According to officials, the fact that Austin has enjoyed such high job growth coupled with minimal housing depreciation over the past year contributed greatly to its high ranking. It is not the first year the city has been included on the list, however, as it was actually listed as the 15th most secure place to live on the 2008 list.Other Texas cities were also included on the list, with El Paso coming in 8th and McAllen-Edinburgh-Mission coming in 12th. Killeen-Temple was also included on the list of secure cities with a population of 150,000 to 500,000 with a 12th place ranking, while Midland was ranked as the 11th most secure of small towns with less than 150,000 residents. The complete top 10 list of the Most Secure U.S. Places to Live in 2009 among large metro areas with a population of 500,000 or more included:&bull;&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;Austin-Round Rock, Texas&bull;&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;Des Moines-West Des Moines, Iowa&bull;&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;Madison, Wisconsin&bull;&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;Bethesda-Gaithersburg-Frederick, Maryland&bull;&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;Rochester, New York&bull;&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;Honolulu, Hawaii&bull;&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;Syracuse, New York&bull;&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;El Paso, Texas&bull;&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;Portland-South Portland-Biddeford, Maryland&bull;&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;Nassau-Suffolk Counties, New York
 ]]> </description>
            <pubDate>Wed, 06 Jan 2010 10:53:55 -0600</pubDate>
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