Austin cited as one of the next "youth-magnet" cities

According to the Journal, "Austin has become a gathering place for tech- and arts-conscious young adults." The paper also lauded Austin for its cultural attractions like the Austin City Limits Music Festival and South by Southwest. But some of those polled by the Journal expressed concern over how strongly Austin will bounce back from the recession.

What do Washington D.C., Seattle, New York, Portland and Austin all have in common? They are the five cities that top a new Wall Street Journal poll on where young people are likely to flock once economic recovery takes hold.

The Journal polled a panel of experts, from demographers to economists, on where young college graduates are likely to congregate in coming years. Austin ranked fifth on the list with the lowest unemployment rate of the five cities and a relatively high median household income. The Capital of Texas didn't fare quite so well as the others on the education front, with 41.8 percent of 25-35 year olds holding a bachelors degree or higher compared with 61.3 percent in Washington and 64.2 percent in Seattle.

The top 10 post-recession boom towns for the young and ambitious:

1. (tie) Washington D.C.
1. Seattle
3. New York
4. Portland
5. Austin
6. San Jose, Calif.
7. Denver
8. Raleigh-Durham, N.C.
9. Dallas
10. Chicago

Austin Business Journal

Austin: Top 10 "Recession-Proof Cities"

Austin was named third on the Forbes.com list of the top 10 "Recession-Proof Cities" in the United States.
To create the list, the magazine looked at the 50 largest U.S. metros, examining key measures, such as unemployment data, non-farm related job growth, median home prices and data from a 2007 report, "U.S. Metro Economies: The Mortgage Crisis" by the U.S. Conference of Mayors.

At number three, Austin was right behind San Antonio, which grabbed the second spot thanks to solid employment figures and affordable home prices that continue to rise.
Oklahoma City took the No. 1 spot because of its strong housing market and solid growth in agriculture, energy and manufacturing. For its part, Austin was lauded for being a hip town with one of the lowest unemployment rates in the country.

Forbes magazine's list of recession-proof cities also included: Houston, Dallas, Charlotte, N.C., Raleigh, N.C., Salt Lake City, San Jose, Calif. and Seattle.

Forbes says that Texas cities such as San Antonio, Austin, Houston and Dallas-Fort Worth have benefitted from historically lower home prices, land availability and 'little zoning'. All four Texas cities boast falling unemployment rates, according to Forbes, with Austin dropping from 3.8 percent to 3.6 percent.