Tulsa World: Boom counties hit by recession

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Boom counties hit by recession
Some have fared well, while others have busted.

A lone house sits among empty, unsold lots in a subdivision in Tavares, Fla. This city was in one of the fastest-growing counties of this decade until the recession hit. As a whole, it has fared worse than the national average since the start of the recession. Phelan M. Ebenhack/Associated Press

By MIKE SCHNEIDER AND MIKE BAKER Associated Press
Published: 11/1/2009 2:29 AM
Last Modified: 11/1/2009 6:18 AM

RALEIGH, N.C. — In the state capital's downtown core, $500,000 decorative street lights beam down on a bustling crowd who've come to dine along a recently revitalized pedestrian plaza.

A few states to the south, the lamp posts shine largely on empty lots in a subdivision outside Orlando where only a third of the 95 planned homes have been built.

Wake County, N.C., and Lake County, Fla., shared the spoils of the real estate surge as two of the nation's 100 fastest-growing counties of this decade, until the recession hit and their paths diverged.

Most of the places on that list, including Lake County, coughed up their quick gains. The AP Economic Stress Index — a score based on a county's unemployment, foreclosure and bankruptcy rates — shows that the nation's 100 fastest-growing counties have, as a whole, fared worse than the national average since the start of the recession.

Yet 42 of those 100 counties are bucking that boom-then-doom trend, including the Texas counties outside Austin, Dallas, Houston and San Antonio, according to the AP's analysis.

The fast-growing areas that have been resilient tend to have diversified economies.

"When one industry goes down, it doesn't just take down the whole region," said Duane Dankersreiter, vice president of business information and research at the Dallas Regional Chamber, explaining that a diverse job market has developed over time there, drawing on technology, finance and energy. "We're able to absorb the hit much

better."

The areas often owe the favorable mix of jobs to recruiting by local leaders. Raleigh and nearby communities have spent decades courting pharmaceutical and technology companies to an area that's long benefited from state government, university and health care jobs.

The effort has paid dividends during the downturn: LED lighting maker Cree Inc. recently announced that it was adding more than 500 jobs in Durham.

Adrienne Cole, executive director of Raleigh Economic Development, said while the region's large construction industry has taken a hit, other sectors helped provide stability. Wake County's September unemployment rate was 8.3 percent.

That falls below both the national average of 9.8 and the state's 10.8 percent jobless rate.

"I think we could argue that we were one of the last communities in the recession and we'll be one of the first communities out," Cole said.

Schneider reported from Tavares, Fla. By MIKE SCHNEIDER AND MIKE BAKER Associated Press

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