View Full Version : OKC 5th in Creating Middle Class Jobs



Pete
11-26-2013, 01:56 PM
The Cities Creating The Most Middle-Class Jobs - Forbes (http://www.forbes.com/sites/joelkotkin/2013/10/24/the-cities-creating-the-most-middle-class-jobs/)

1. Austin
2. Houston
3. San Antonio
4. Dallas
5. OKC
6. New Orleans
7. Nashville
8. Salt Lake City
9. Denver
10. Indianapolis


Generally speaking mid-skilled employment is expanding the most in states with strong overall job growth, and less in high-cost, high-tax states, with the notable exception of Mississippi. The EMSI data also suggest that states with expanding heavy industries such as oil and manufacturing generate more positions for mid-level workers such as machinists, truck drivers, welders and oil roustabouts. At the same time, the states with a bifurcated combination of low-wage industries, like hospitality or retail, and high-paid professions, like software engineers or investment bankers, tend to have fewer opportunities for middle-income workers.

warreng88
11-26-2013, 01:59 PM
I hate that stock photo. Just a web search would give them a good photo with the Devon tower.

bchris02
11-26-2013, 02:04 PM
I hate that stock photo. Just a web search would give them a good photo with the Devon tower.

They have an updated Austin skyline shot, I don't understand why after this long they haven't updated their OKC photos.

HangryHippo
11-26-2013, 02:06 PM
#4 should be Dallas instead of San Antonio for a second time.

AP
11-26-2013, 02:11 PM
The Cities Creating The Most Middle-Class Jobs - Forbes (http://www.forbes.com/sites/joelkotkin/2013/10/24/the-cities-creating-the-most-middle-class-jobs/)

1. Austin
2. Houston
3. San Antonio
4. Dallas
5. OKC
6. New Orleans
7. Nashville
8. Salt Lake City
9. Denver
10. Indianapolis

I'm so surprised Charlotte, Little Rock, and Louisville aren't on this list. I thought for sure they would be.

LakeEffect
11-26-2013, 03:12 PM
I love that when Forbes does a list, and the article "research" is by Joel Kotkin, Mr. Suburbia, they use downtown photos for each city.

Stew
11-26-2013, 03:44 PM
It's a great time to be in the OKC area. Simply amazing.

adaniel
11-26-2013, 09:08 PM
I'm so surprised Charlotte, Little Rock, and Louisville aren't on this list. I thought for sure they would be.

Well played sir.

bchris02
11-30-2013, 11:56 AM
I'm so surprised Charlotte, Little Rock, and Louisville aren't on this list. I thought for sure they would be.

I am sure if an article came out about cities with the most people living downtown, working downtown, or the percentage of the urban core that has been gentrified, Charlotte and Louisville would score relatively high while OKC would still score pretty low. Little Rock is an interesting case. Their downtown is nothing to write home about, very much reminiscent of pre-MAPS OKC. Somehow though, they managed to land a few mid-rise residential condo towers that transformed the east end of their skyline. Little Rock also has amazing city parks that integrate well with the natural surroundings and are beautiful in the spring and summer.

There is a lot this city should learn from its peers as well as its own past. The economy right now is great in OKC, so hopefully that brings in the quality of life improvements needed to make this a more attractive place to live, work, and play, which will in turn bring more population growth and more corporate relocations.

G.Walker
11-30-2013, 12:27 PM
Little Rock has a nice skyline for a city its size, but after that, they have nothing. They don't have established and growing districts like OKC has Midtown, Deep Deuce, and Bricktown. Don't let a couple mid-rise condos decieve your image of Little Rock. Charlotte has lost some momentum in the last few years, its not the same Charlotte as 10 years ago. Louisville is ok, they have a nice skyline, but the economy there is bad, and economic development is stagnant.

bchris02
11-30-2013, 12:34 PM
Little Rock has a nice skyline for a city its size, but after that, they have nothing. They don't have established and growing districts like OKC has Midtown, Deep Deuce, and Bricktown. Don't let a couple mid-rise condos decieve your image of Little Rock. Charlotte has lost some momentum in the last few years, its not the same Charlotte as 10 years ago. Louisville is ok, they have a nice skyline, but the economy there is bad, and economic development is stagnant.

I agree. That's why I have never said Little Rock was as nice as or better than OKC. I acknowledge their successes but you are right, downtown Little Rock is extremely underwhelming at street level. The best neighborhood they have is Hillcrest, which is about like OKC's Paseo but with less uniqueness (albeit more gentrification). Louisville has its problems but the one thing they have excelled at is placemaking and vision, something OKC didn't really get until very recently. That is why I use it as an example of what OKC could learn from.

Questor
11-30-2013, 02:40 PM
Most of these places get their photos from Getty Images. I just checked and the selection of OKC stock photos on Getty is pretty much terrible. I'm sure other cities aren't above having their own photographers take pristine city photos and then release them to sites like this... Maybe ours should too.

PWitty
11-30-2013, 03:20 PM
Wow. That article says that NYC, LA, and Chi have all lost around 100,000 middle-class jobs since 2007. That's pretty terrible for our three largest cities.

And, "Texas has not only created the most middle-income jobs, but a remarkable one-third of all net high-wage jobs created over the past decade." That's insane. Love 'em or hate 'em, I think OKC's proximity to Texas is a huge plus both now and in the future.

Teo9969
11-30-2013, 11:51 PM
Wow. That article says that NYC, LA, and Chi have all lost around 100,000 middle-class jobs since 2007. That's pretty terrible for our three largest cities.

And, "Texas has not only created the most middle-income jobs, but a remarkable one-third of all net high-wage jobs created over the past decade." That's insane. Love 'em or hate 'em, I think OKC's proximity to Texas is a huge plus both now and in the future.

It's been an incredible decade for American energy…that's why Texas is doing so well. If it weren't for American energy, I'm pretty sure the entire US and maybe even world economy would be on life-support.

PWitty
12-01-2013, 10:05 AM
It's been an incredible decade for American energy…that's why Texas is doing so well. If it weren't for American energy, I'm pretty sure the entire US and maybe even world economy would be on life-support.

While it is true that energy is doing very well, I saw an article a couple weeks back that showed the job growth in different industries in Texas for 2012. They were strong across the board. It's an interesting article. Texas' job growth stats were on slide 11.

The US 20 (http://www.businessinsider.com/business-insider-us-20-2013-2013-11#)

Plutonic Panda
12-01-2013, 12:40 PM
While it is true that energy is doing very well, I saw an article a couple weeks back that showed the job growth in different industries in Texas for 2012. They were strong across the board. It's an interesting article. Texas' job growth stats were on slide 11.

The US 20 (http://www.businessinsider.com/business-insider-us-20-2013-2013-11#)Half of that stuff is laughable and is only based on assumptions and previous stats. Life at the charts, and you can see how fast they can change.

PWitty
12-01-2013, 02:04 PM
Half of that stuff is laughable and is only based on assumptions and previous stats. Life at the charts, and you can see how fast they can change.

I agree, I was focusing more on the slides about Texas' job growth though.