Mar 27, 2008 -- Metro growth driven by low taxes, affordable housing
There's new data from the census bureau on the fastest growing metro areas. Dallas is the top city and added 160K+ people in a year; Other cities include Atlanta (No. 2); Phoenix (No. 3); Houston (No. 4); Riverside, CA (No. 5); Charlotte, N.C. (No. 6); Chicago (No. 7); Austin (No. 8); Las Vegas (No. 9); and San Antonio (No. 10). Clark finds it very telling that 5 of top 10 cities are all located in places with no state income tax. Texas, in fact, has 4 of those cities. The Lone Star State offers affordable housing, flexible labor laws and low taxes all around. Weather is also a big factor in growth; Chicago is the only cold-weather town on the list!
The bottom line is that if you tax too heavily, you run the risk of making people flee. High-tax states provide for their citizens, but at what cost? High taxes harm long-term economic growth. Clark predicts that you'll see Congressional seats evaporate from high-tax states and migrate to low-tax one. Yet it's so odd that representatives from low-tax states get to Washington and start spending money like they don't remember where they've come from. Must be something in the water on Capitol Hill!
