Texas Economy Round-up

1. Texas in the Spotlight> New article in The Economist highlights Texas' super growth .:. http://bit.ly/tWaM9
2. Black Gold Winners> Texas, along with OK and AK, should rebound first say economists thanks to energy's strength .:. http://bit.ly/YbIsE
3. More Good News> Brookings Study shows Texas metros are among the 20 strongest economies in nation .:. http://bit.ly/cvkCE
4. Alamo City Economy> S.A. public companies right the ship .:. http://bit.ly/1M3cfq
5. Focus for Foreign Investment> #AlamoCity lures investors, like Mexico-friendly culture and stable real estate values.:. http://bit.ly/Lg6ZX
6. The One that Got Away> #AlamoCity losing AT&T's HQ really a good thing? Could be. .:. http://bit.ly/3lKnMs
7. Texas T-Bone Rail Link> High-speed rail funding may bypass Texas.:. http://bit.ly/AAVB1
8. "It doesn't hurt to ask"> Texas asks Federal gov to have common sense regarding high speed rail .:. http://bit.ly/3Qq0Nb
9. Say What?> Growing cities, shrinking suburbs, not just Texas but nationally .:. http://bit.ly/XobNQ
10. Census Data> Latest county-based data available .:. http://bit.ly/ZeymG
11. Keep Austin Loud> ATX's music scene cited in article on downtowns and civic hubs.:. http://bit.ly/szZXH
12. Derailing Rail Plans> RT @alanhuynh @cleancartalk: High-Speed Trains Cost Too Much To Be Worth Building -- Harvard Prof http://bit.ly/TnpMi
13. Neck and Neck> Dallas and Houston tie for 9th place on Inc. 500 top metro area list .:. http://bit.ly/S5alb

Texas vs.California Round-up

1. Bulls vs. Bears> Is their a rivalry between growing Texas and shrinking California, The Economist thinks so.:. http://bit.ly/kWF5f
2. In the Black> Texas only big state to have a surplus in 2009, gap in 2010 just 10% of California's.:. http://bit.ly/ESbEr
3. Texas' Loss, California's Gain> US military strategy shift impacts stationing of Navy vessels.:. http://bit.ly/X5qiD
4. Las Vegas is to L.A. as New Orleans is to... > Cali's high-speed rail plan offers useful analogy for Texas.:. http://bit.ly/78u1I
5. State vs. State> Study of California's competitiveness shows Texas' strength .:. http://bit.ly/p8KVy
6. Apples-to-Apples> Comparison of 37 different taxes on state-by-state basis, how does Texas compare?.:. http://bit.ly/3nxu0O

Fortune 1000 of the Texas Triangle

2007

• Houston [49]
• Dallas-Fort Worth [43]
• Austin-San Antonio [9]

St. Patrick's Architects

Mapping "green" commercial real estate in the Texaplex

In honor of St. Patty's Day, presented here is a list of the more than 300 commercial buildings in the Texas Triangle that have achieved Energy Star ratings.

Not included here are government buildings, K-12 institutions, and supermarkets. HEB has more than 187 Energy Star grocery stores across the 66 counties of the Texaplex, plus another 55 throughout the remainder of the state.

There are more than 6,000 buildings in the United States named on EnergyStar.gov site. Recently, Houston and Dallas were highlighted for being two of the top five cities by number of green buildings. .:.

Nano Cities

With as vastly complex as metropolitan areas are, it takes some creativity to get your mind around them. But the pay off appears to be worth the effort. .:.

read more | digg story

Shock and Awe>Houston and Dallas Top 5 for Green Buildings

Texas comes away big winner in ranking of Top 10 cities for green buildings, which focuses on commercial and industrial buildings that cut down on greenhouse gases and energy requirements. Such structures can account for 45% of the country's greenhouse gas emissions and 50% of energy use. .:.

read more | digg story

Megapolitan Case Studies & Reports-Updated

Texas


• The Texas Triangle as Megalopolis [Houston Business]


• The Simple Economics of the Texas Triangle [Houston Business; PDF]


• Texas Urban Triangle [Texas A&M; 35MB, 150pg PDF]


• Opportunity Urbanism [Houston] (43pg PDF)


• Megaregions: Literature Review of the Implications for U.S. Infrastructure Investment and Transportation Planning [FHWA.dot.gov]


• Economic Progress in the Texas Economy [Houston Business, PDF]


• Economic Development Opportunities For U.S. Mega-Regions


• Connecting the Texas Triangle [whitepaper; RPA.org]


• Beyond the Metroplex [Dallas-Fort Worth]


• Austin-San Antonio Metroplex


• America 2050: Texas Triangle


United States


• Beyond Megalopolis [U.S. megapolitan areas, PDF]


• Bright Lights, Big City [NASA study of urbanization]


• Cascadian Ecopolis [Portland-Seattle-Vancouver, 2MB+ PDF]


• Do Regional Economies Need Regional Coordination? (Edward Glaser) [3MB+ PDF]


• Megalopolis Unbound [Northeast, 8MB+ PDF]


• Nor Cal - California's mega of the north


• Opportunity Urbanism (Houston) by Joel Kotkin [43pg PDF]


• The New Megalopolis (Newseek.com) [good overview]


• Third California by Joel Kotkin [20pg PDF]

How Much is Texas Football Worth?

Study looks deep in the heart of Texas for answers

In the paper "Do College Football Games Pay for Themselves?" two economists take a look at a rather important subject to Texans--football. Specifically, they want to find out whether college football games raise or lower local tax revenue.

One promising indicator the East Coast academics know what they're doing is that they pick the heart of the Texas Triangle for their analysis.

Texas is a natural place to ask this question. First, the four universities located in the cities we investigate all play Division I FBS football, the cities are all moderately sized, though Austin is much larger than the others, and none are home to any major professional sports franchises which might make it more difficult to identify the impact of a college football game on local sales tax revenues. Three of the institutions, the University of Texas at Austin, Texas Tech University, and Texas A & M University, are public, while Baylor University is private and religiously affiliated.

The findings are surprising, and raise some interesting questions about the economics of football. But as the paper correctly points out, football has a value that far exceeds dollars and cents. .:.

Updates for Week of 01/25-01/31

Happenings in the Texas Triangle, the megapolitan region consisting of Houston, DFW, Austin and San Antonio.

1. IndustryClusters> Non-obvious connections among auto industry players create unforeseen consequences <http://tinyurl.com/texastriangle0915>
2. TexPatriates> Don't hate the player, hate the game... The Bush-bashing phenomenon <http://tinyurl.com/texastriangle0914>
3. NonSequitur> Mathematician deconstructs The Beatles <http://tinyurl.com/texastriangle0913>
4. Fishwrap> How does Dell do it? WSJ runs a story nearly daily... Today, Dell's new smart phone! <http://tinyurl.com/texastriangle0912>
5. Rankings> What the...? Austin barely squeaks into Forbes' Top 30 Most-Wired Cities <http://tinyurl.com/txtriangle0911>
6. Clusters> Austin-based New Media Consortium releases 2009 Horizon Report <http://tinyurl.com/c77zyb>
7. Energy> NOCs dominate IOCs in total share of oil reserves (88% v. 12%) and production (52% v. 48%) <http://tinyurl.com/txtriangle0910>
8. BigPicture> The Texas Triangle is 1 of 11 U.S. megapolitan regions <http://tinyurl.com/txtriangle0909>
9. Honchos> Robert B. Rowling, TRT Holdings [Irving], puts "Don't Mess with Texas" into practice <http://tinyurl.com/txtriangle0907>
10. Crusade> Texas needs In-N-Out burgers... now <http://tinyurl.com/txtriangle0906>
11. Horse's Mouth> WSJ reports on tough times for Texas family [DFW] <http://tinyurl.com/txtriangle5>
12. Linchpins> Dell [Austin] will record record 1-time expenses of $280M <http://tinyurl.com/txtriangle4>
13. Epic> No cheap date, bidding starts at $100k to dine with T. Boone Pickins [Dallas] <http://tinyurl.com/txtriangle0903>
14. Empty Boots>Trailblazing former-UT prez Lorene Rogers (Dallas) passes away at 94 <http://tinyurl.com/txtriangle0902>
15. Energy> On CO2 legislation, battle between reds and blues giving way to browns vs. greens <http://tinyurl.com/txtriangle>
16. Kudos> Lone Star's 24 best hospitals <http://preview.tinyurl.com/b8ea94>
17. CreativeClass> Gene Rodenberry (<http://www.famoustexans.com/roddenberry.htm>) to be "buried" in space with wife <http://preview.tinyurl.com/d24ade>
18. Trends> Gov. Perry not giving up on private toll roads, Obama's plans could help <http://preview.tinyurl.com/cx7bfb>
19. Energy> Important to Houston, oil-rich Norway pursues economic stimulus <http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123298341926915687.html>
20. UsVsThem> Nationally, DFW home prices holding strong, Houston metro too shows relative strength <http://preview.tinyurl.com/a9trhs>
21. Texaphile> "Texans are keepers of the republic flame..." <http://preview.tinyurl.com/ahg2xb>
22. Nanocosm> Sweating the small stuff pays for Houston unis Rice, UT-Houston, and Baylor <http://preview.tinyurl.com/bqujp9>
23. Big Tex> Vinson & Elkins Ron Kirk (Dallas) joins as Federal Trade Rep <http://preview.tinyurl.com/bzrlet>
24. Big Tex> Kevin O'Connor, #3 at DOJ, joins Bracewell & Giuliani in Hartford <http://preview.tinyurl.com/bwygfd>
25. Trends> Trans Texas Corridor died Jan. 4, but Fed stimulus could pump up infrastructure spending <http://preview.tinyurl.com/dxy8mc>
26. Energy> To proceed, on-hold IPOs need crude at $55 - alt energy prefers $80- nat gas wants stable $6 <http://preview.tinyurl.com/c9vthm>
27. Money Trail> Texas nets $1.28B on 146 VC deals in 2008 (downloadable regional spreadsheets @ PEHub.com) <http://preview.tinyurl.com/ahze7m>.:.

Olympian Kickstart

Celebrity endorsement gives Austin venture big boost

The Wall Street Journal "How Phelps Became the Face of PureSport - WSJ.com" reports that 8-time gold medal winner Michael Phelps is a pitchman and equity stakeholder in Human Performance Labs LLC, an Austin-based startup with a protein energy drink. The company is led by Michael Humphrey, a former sales executive with Broadcast.com and CBS Corp.'s Simon & Schuster.

Because of Phelps, the company received $5 million from Terry Gilmore, an oil, gas and real estate investor, in January.

The Journal article describes what would be every startup's dream come true: "In Beijing, every time Mr. Phelps emerged from the pool at the Water Cube, a coach handed him a plastic bottle filled with PureSport's protein and carbohydrate-filled cocktail. 'About halfway through the meet, people started knocking on my door asking me what I was drinking and if they could have some,' Mr. Phelps said during a recent interview." .:.

Gaming Venture Pockets $10M

Latest round gives Austin firm ready cash

Game maker Challenge Online Games Inc. takes $10 million round of venture capital, reports VentureWire Alert. The company's main product is an online game called "Duels."

The current round follows close on the heels of a $4.5 million round in July 2008 from Sequoia Capital. The Austin-based company was founded in 2006 by Andrew Busey, who retains role as CEO. .:.

Austin's Fastest

19 Austin firms named to Inc. 5000

AustinStartup.com, the nicely put together blog/online publication, recently listed the 19 Austin-based outfits named to Inc. Magazine's ranking of the country's 5,000 fastest growing companies. Altogether, AustinStartup.com reports 378 Texas-based companies were named to Inc.'s list this year, representing 7.5% of the whole list.

On a per-capita basis, that is actually a touch low since Texas now has about 7.9% of the United States' 301 million people (find Census Bureau data here). Put another way, Texas' location quotient for fastest-growing businesses was 0.946 (an LQ >1 would mean a higher-than-normal distribution).

Surprisingly, with just 19 companies on the list, the Austin-Roundrock MSA has an even lower LQ than Texas overall--just 0.72. Of course, the Inc. 5000 is just a list created by a magazine publisher, but it's interesting to note the discrepancy none the less. .:.

Growing War Chest

Vaccine developer Bellicum adds to seed round

According to VentureWire Alert, Houston-based Bellicum Pharmaceuticals Inc. has raised $1.03 million as part of an ongoing seed round. That brings its total capital raised to almost $5 million. In October 2007, the cancer vaccine developer announced it had received $1.45 million from the State of Texas’ Emerging Technology Fund and an additional $2.3 million seed funding.

The company is located in the Greenway Plaza near downtown Houston. .:.

Emergence of Transnational City States

New York and London new form of city

A recent Financial Times article argues New York and London have emerged as a unique global city state that transcends national boundaries. GEO

Mega Watching

Creative Class proponent releases study of mega regions

Richard Florida who argues that cities should work to retain their "creative class" as a key to economic prosperity has released a new report looking at the world's 40 largest mega-regions, in the U.S., Europe, Middle East, and Asia. The report ranks the regions and includes interesting qualitative data as the number of patents issued to the region. GEO

Texas Triangle Sightings [1.1]

Some new posts over at Houston Strategies by Tony Gattis, whose urban planning site regarding Houston is quite impressive.

• High-speed rail in Texas Triangle - Refers to article in The Houston Chronicle that argues for rail links within the TXT.
  
• Texas Triangle Top 10 Global Region - Discusses report publicized by Richard Florida, known for his work "The Rise of the Creative Class" that lists top 40 megaregions. .:.

Texas Triangle Sightings [1.0]

Two recent posts from Elise Bright, an urban planning professor at Texas A&M, at 4D Planning. The links reference an extensive survey of the TXT region:

• Texas Triangle
• Urban Megaregions .:.
  

Growth Engines

Inc. Magazine debuts new super list

Having previously published the Inc. 500, the New York-based publication recently upped the ante by publishing the Inc. 5,000. The list includes 325 Texas-based companies for 2007, which can be viewed here. The state of New York had just 288 listees, while California had 667. .:.

Enterprise Index

Companies referenced on .:.TexasTriangle.

• AT&T [San Antonio] 1 2
• DAVACO, Inc. [Dallas]
• Dell [Round Rock]
• First Dallas Holdings, Inc. [Dallas]
• Incuby [San Antonio]
• Mannatech [Dallas]
• Portelligent [Austin]
• Prodea Systems, Inc. [Plano]
• Pulliam Pools [Fort Worth]
• TechTurn [Austin]
• Telecom Technologies, Inc. [Richardson]
• TXU Corp. [Dallas]