All Posts Tagged With: "florida"
The Best Places in America to Starve
Michael Bowler | RSS | Tue, May 12 2009 | 2 Comments
On the boot heels of a Lucrative Investing article about the top 25 areas in America to succeed in business, an article must supplement that and provide the best places in America to go broke due to the high cost of living and failing economy. There are a few things that this writer finds rather symbolic, ironic even, about these locations, some due to the locations involved in the previous article, which you will see if you read both articles, and some are from personal connections.
One thing that the intuitive reader will notice is that in the previous article, a lot of suburbs and rural areas were credited as the best places to prosper. In this article, conversely, major cities are picked on. That is primarily caused by a more demanding economy, with most of these cities totaling well over one million residents.
Thanks to real estate prices that are ‘through the roof’, pun intended, high costs of living, and the highest unemployment rates in the nation next to Detroit, Los Angeles tops our list. Despite being home to the President of the United States, with high real estate prices, high cost of living that is barely under LA and New York City, and almost 10% unemployment, Chicago comes in second. Miami comes in third, despite having three of its close suburbs on the positive list from yesterday’s article.
Residents of The Big Apple have to try to curb the high costs of living, exorbinant living expenses, as even rent in many Manhattan condos can draw blood, only with a median income of $69,500. That may seem reasonable, but remember, so many television personalities live in New York City, like all sorts of nationally syndicated newscasters and the Olsen twins. Naturally, that brings the salary for “normal” people much lower. Coupled with an 8.8% unemployment rate, that brings frenzy to the streets of New York, and puts them at number four. Providence, Rhode Island is fifh on the list, primarily due to the fact that business activity is scarce. Few businesses are quick to branch out into Rhode Island, few universities there come out with top workforce prospects, and venture business capital cannot be easily obtained. Median salary is around 56,000. That obviously means many people are under 30,000 a year, with which it is hard to provide for a family.
The most ironic thing about this list is the fact that some larger cities that are on this list, namely Miami, Boston, Los Angeles, and San Francisco, have suburbs that made it near the top of the list on yesterday’s article about productive areas. The suburbs are thriving, but as soon as you hit the city limits, you theoretically hit poverty central. Unfortunately, this is the pattern of a large recession. These cities will bounce back like they always do. When the economy bounces back, it will bounce back as quickly as it declined, and these cities will thrive once again.
Full list (ties are designated with matching numbers):
19. Boston, Massachusetts
19. Warren, Michigan
18. San Francisco, California
17. Jacksonville, Florida
16. St. Louis, Missouri
15. Orlando, Florida
13. Memphis, Tennessee
13. Tampa, Florida
12. Portland, Oregon
11. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
10. San Diego, California
9. Newark, New Jersey
8. Cleveland, Ohio
7. Long Island, New York
6. Riverside, California
5. Providence, Rhode Island
4. New York, New York
3. Miami, Florida
2. Chicago, Illinois
1. Los Angeles, California
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Tags: locations, michigan, California
The Most Financially Productive Areas to Live
Michael Bowler | RSS | Mon, May 11 2009 | 0 Comments
Even in the worst economic situation since the Carter administration, Forbes magazine often likes to reveal whatever positive sides it can, much like I do. In an article written from expertly executed research campaigns and quotes from successful entrepreneurs, they found the most lucrative and financially prosperous places in the United States to set up residence. They based these findings on four factors: cultural amenities, business friendly environments, knowledgeable and productive workforces and generous salaries.
Joshua Onysko, an entrepreneur and owner of Pangaea Organics, opened his skin care business when he moved to Boulder, Colorado, which he did, aside for the personal benefits, due to the business benefits. The business benefits include a strong venture capital environment, similar start-up businesses all throughout the area, and talented workforce candidates from nearby University of Colorado. While other businesses are contracting, Onysko’s endeavors are expanding. He has reported a 225% increase since 2005 which is still increasing.
Factors that can put an area on this list of profitable areas can include pending and active patents, venture capital funding, self employment businesses, start-ups and small businesses with a high rate per capita. This basically covers anything that displays quality business activity, indicating profitability, success and a desire to live in relative prosperity. This places Boulder, Colorado, at number one on the list.
The basic Miami area, especially Doral and Kendall, Florida, suburbs about 15 miles out, one north, one south, offer a great environment for more active businesses like golf courses and beaches. They also have one of the largest amounts of small businesses in the country per capita, clinching the number two spot and number 25 spot in this list. Following a close third is Fairfax, Virginia, exhibiting one of the best public school systems in the country, a median salary that barely misses a six figure total, a large amount of small corporations, and a main highway that leads right to McLean, Virginia, right outside of Washington D.C. McLean is one of the corporate capitals of the nation due to the presence of Capital One, Bearingpoint, Booz Allen Hamilton, Cardinal Bank, Freddie Mac, Gannett, Mars, MicroStrategy, NVR, Sunrise Senior Living, and USA Today.
Mountain View, Calfornia comes in fourth due to its proximity to San Jose and San Francisco combined with the amount of start up businesses and venture capital. Nearby Cupertino, just east of San Francisco, comes in a close fifth due to much of the same criteria. Coral Gables, Florida (9), Evanston, Illinois (18) and Newton, Massachusetts (6) tend to produce patents, start-ups, and venture capital due to their proximity in relation to major research universities. Santa Fe, New Mexico, though only number 24 on the full list of 25, is unique to the list due to the entertainment venues it provides, with related sole-proprietors and skilled workers. Columbia, Maryland, on the other side of Washington D.C. from Fairfax and 20 minutes from corporate Baltimore, came in at number seven. (Nearby Rockville, North Potomac, Germantown, Silver Spring and Potomac placed 8, 13, 17, 20 and 23, respectively.) As a native of that area of Maryland, this author is aware of the advantages in Columbia and, as an entrepreneur, takes advantage of them. There a lot of small to medium sized businesses in Columbia, Meriweather Post Pavilion, a major music and entertainment venue, and lots of venture capital.
As is made obvious, contrary to the current economic state, there is still a bright side to business and personal finance, especially if you live in California, Florida, Colorado, New Mexico, or the mid-atlantic region (Maryland and Virginia) of the country. The bottom line of these findings are easy to decipher. Any business can still succeed, even if a drastic measure like locational placement change must occur, and with strong business centers in nearly every portion of the country, the economy still has a strong core.
Since all locations were not listed, here is the full list:
25. Kendall, Florida- A southern suburb of Miami, parallel to Key Biscayne
24. Santa Fe, New Mexico- Northern New Mexico, northern part of the state
23. Potomac, Maryland- Just on the Maryland side of D.C.
22. Sugar Land, Texas- A southwest suburb of Houston
21. Tustin, California- South of Los Angeles and east of Long Beach
20. Silver Spring, Maryland- A Washington D.C. suburb, nearly directly inside the border
19. Davis, California – Between Sacramento and the Bay area
18. Evanston, Illinois – North of Chicago, on the shore of Lake Michigan
17. Germantown, Maryland- A northwest suburb of D.C.
16. Aliso Viejo, California- Between Laguna Beach and Laguna Hills
15. Sandy Springs, Georgia- A suburb north of Atlanta
14. Santa Monica, California- North of Los Angeles, on the beach
13. North Potomac, Maryland- Farther out than Bethesda, Chevy Chase and Potomac
12. Hillsborough, California, north of San Francisco and San Jose
11. Bellmont, California- South of Hillsborough, right between S.F. and S.J.
10. Foster City, California- South of San Francisco
9. Coral Gables, Florida- A southwest suburb of Miami
8. Rockville, Maryland- Another D.C. suburb but farther inside Maryland
7. Columbia, Maryland- Directly between Baltimore and D.C.
6. Newton, Massachusetts- A suburb west of Boston
5. Cupertino, California- South of San Francisco and west of San Jose
4. Mountain View, California- South of Palo Alto on the bay peninsula
3. Fairfax, Virginia- A western D.C. suburb
2. Doral, Florida- Another Miami suburb
1. Boulder, Colorado- Northwest of Denver, in the mountains
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Tags: maryland, California, sole proprietorships
2009 Real Estate forecast isn’t good
Jennifer McClelland | RSS | Sun, Dec 28 2008 | 0 CommentsIn 2008, those in the subprime market saw their investments go down the drain. Next year may be even worse…
Until now, the nation’s most serious home price declines have been in low-cost markets that were dominated by subprime mortgages, and in overbuilt markets such as Florida, California, and Las Vegas, where residential values are sliding fast toward pre-housing boom levels.
The Commerce Dept. reported Dec. 23 that November new-home sales in the U.S. fell to their lowest level in 17 years, down 35.3% compared with November 2007. And the outlook is even bleaker. The same day, Credit Suisse (NYSE:CS – News) forecast that more than 8 million homes will go into foreclosure over the next four years, or approximately 16% of all U.S. households with mortgages.
The housing market is expected to continue the fall next year, but hopefully we will see a bottom to housing prices and an increase in lending…hopefully.
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Tags: credit suisse, mortgage, florida
Commercial mortgage crisis still ahead?
Jennifer McClelland | RSS | Thu, Nov 27 2008 | 0 CommentsThe same bad debt and problems that brought about the residential mortgage crisis may soon bring about the commercial real estate bust.
Malls across the country are being forced into foreclosure, as well as hotels and other commercial properties.
A problem facing commercial mortgages is that, unlike residential mortgages, they aren’t paid over 30 years, they are paid between 5 and 10 years, with most of the balance due at the end.
One thought was that the $700 billion bailout would go to help financially back some of the risky securities and help out some of these properties, however, treasury secretary Paulson said that the U.S. no longer planned on buying troubled securities. The news wasn’t welcomed by those who were in need of the bailout.
California, New York, Texas and Florida all have a large amount of mortgages in the securities market and will be hit the worst.
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Tags: treasury, California, real estate
On the eve of the presidential election…
Jennifer McClelland | RSS | Mon, Nov 03 2008 | 0 CommentsI know yesterday I posted about going out and voting. I believe that the message can not be emphasized enough. Remember what happened in Florida in 2000? 600 Votes could have changed the outcome of that election, and shaped our last 8 years. With the nation’s eyes on the “battleground” states, every vote matters.
With that said, in the final hours leading up to the election, both candidates are promising change. McCain is doing his usual song and dance and Obama has reverted back to the message of change and hope…the message that inspired voters to get him on the presidential ticket.
The stock markets are also holding their breath to see who will be elected tomorrow. Today was not a huge swing in either way with the Dow closing five points down, while the NASDAQ ended up five points.
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Tags: obama, stock, stock market
