Shiny Happy City
Fri., March 5, 1999
We're also the most listed of cities -- Austin won "Best City for Business" by Fortune, "Startup City" by Forbes, "Hot New High-Tech City" by Newsweek, and a spot on P.O.V. Magazine's top 10 list of best cities to start a business.
Enjoy it while you can.
ANTICIPATED Y2K FIGURES
Job Growth:
51,000 new jobs in all sectors -- a 4.4% growth rate
15,000 new jobs in technology:
6,700 in technology manufacturing (computers and electronics)
8,300 in technology services (software development, Internet-based companies, gaming, entertainment, R&D chip design, multimedia)
New Tech Jobs by Location:
53% North Austin and Williamson County
30% Northwest
9% Southwest
5% Central Business District
3% Southeast
0% East and Northeast
Home and Office Demands:
2.5 million sq. ft. new office space
2.6 million sq. ft. new industrial space
9,500-10,000 new single-family homes
4,500-4,800 new apartment units
30% continued annual increase in homes priced over $300,000 (three times the rate of the entire new home market)
Population: 1.18 million or 67,000 newbies moving here between now and 2000
Fun Facts:
219% increase in revenues at Dell, to $50 billion by 2004 -- L.C.B.
All figures were provided by local high-tech consultants Angelou Economic Advisors. The above results are from the company's annual survey of Austin's high-tech industries. Over 1,000 firms that employ 100,000 workers in the Austin area were contacted; 256 companies responded to the survey, representing a 25% response rate. For more info: http://www.angelou-econ.com.