Forbes recently put out its top 10 list for the worst places for jobs. The Tampa –St .Petersburg-Clearwater area was #9 on the list. Much of the reason is due to mortgage crisis that this area and many areas Florida area experiencing. Also on the list was the West Palm Beach-Boca Raton-Boynton Beach, Florida area. That area was #6 on the list.
Meanwhile, cities with formerly robust economies–like Reno, Nev., Las Vegas, Orlando, Fla., Tampa, Fla., Fort Lauderdale, Fla., West Palm Beach, Fla., Jacksonville, Fla., and Phoenix–are more likely to rebound. These areas topped our list for much of the 2000s; their success was driven first by surging population and job growth and later by escalating housing prices.
But the collapse of the housing bubble and a drop in large-scale migration from other regions has weakened, often dramatically, these perennial successes. “We could rely on 1,000 people a week moving into the area,” notes one longtime official in central Florida. “These people needed services, houses and bought stuff. Now the growth is a 10th of that.”
As the market stabilizes we should see an increase in jobs. Once our housing market has improved we can expect to see more economic stability. Banks seem to be learning a little from their past mistakes. I have seen some instances where banks are putting stipulations on the foreclosed homes that they are selling. Some are requiring that the home not be purchased by an investor, and that it be owner occupied. In the Tampa Tribune, it mentioned that the areas in Tampa Bay that suffered the greatest loss in home equity were the ones with the most investor bought homes during the housing boom.
Source: Forbes
Tampa Bay was nice but not anymore. An area must have the proper infrastructure, education, and industry to support any longterm growth effect.