Top 10 Metro Areas in Personal Income Growth, 2007 In US

[alon504]

Recovery is going well in New Orleans, and to be honest, I'm not too surprised to see us at #1. We've had quite a few move here from out of town that are replacing those that aren't coming back. Why? Because there is money to be made here. Everybody I know is doing very well in this city.

Top 10 metropolitan areas in terms of growth of personal income in 2007, by percentage:

1. New Orleans - 19.5 percent

2. Pascagoula, Miss. - 19 percent

3. Gulfport-Biloxi, Miss. - 18.8 percent

4. Odessa, Texas - 12.9 percent

5. Casper, Wy. - 12 percent

6. Grand Junction, Colo. - 10.9 percent

7. Houma-Thibodaux, La. - 10.8 percent

8. Killeen-Temple, Texas - 10.3 percent

9. Midland, Texas - 10 percent

10. Houston - 9.4 percent

Source: U.S. Commerce Department

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories...MPLATE=DEFAULT

[Evergrey]

http://www.bea.gov/newsreleases/regi...ewsrelease.htm

"Personal income in the three fastest growing MSAs, Gulfport, MS; New Orleans, LA; and Pascagoula, MS, was boosted by federal payments to rebuild residences destroyed or damaged by Hurricane Katrina in 2005. These payments, arising from homeowner assistance programs initiated at the end of December 2006, are counted as part of the property income component of personal income."

[Jersey Mentality]

Also alot of the people who returned to those areas had money, Im sure alot of the poor and poverty stricken didnt return if they had moved somewhere else.

[alon504]

I haven't received a dime and my household income has doubled since 2005. All of my friends are making alot more from their own jobs. I'm not talking about property income when it comes to the people I know---I'm talking about personal income (net earnings). But, the cost of living has gone up--I pay $6,000 annually in auto insurance and have a perfect driving record and I do cartwheels when my electricity bill goes below $400.00 a month---the average is $600.00 a month with a 2 bedroom, 2 bath shotgun (1/4 of the house is on a second floor as well). Life has gotten very expensive in the city.

[Gordo]

Originally Posted by alon504

I haven't received a dime and my household income has doubled since 2005. All of my friends are making alot more from their own jobs. I'm not talking about property income when it comes to the people I know---I'm talking about personal income. But, the cost of living has gone up--I pay $6,000 annually in auto insurance and have a perfect driving record and I do cartwheels when my electricity bill goes below $400.00 a month---the average is $600.00 a month with a 2 bedroom, 2 bath shotgun (1/4 of the house is on a second floor as well). Life has gotten very expensive in the city.

WTF!?!? Seriously? $500 a month for car insurance and $600 a month for electricity? Damn, San Francisco is cheap.

[Trae]

Originally Posted by alon504

I haven't received a dime and my household income has doubled since 2005. All of my friends are making alot more from their own jobs. I'm not talking about property income when it comes to the people I know---I'm talking about personal income (net earnings). But, the cost of living has gone up--I pay $6,000 annually in auto insurance and have a perfect driving record and I do cartwheels when my electricity bill goes below $400.00 a month---the average is $600.00 a month with a 2 bedroom, 2 bath shotgun (1/4 of the house is on a second floor as well). Life has gotten very expensive in the city.

Do you sleep with the lights on?

[Crawford]

I used to pay $30 a month in NYC for electricity.

And $0 in car insurance.

[Reverberation]

Anyone who has driven in New Orleans, parked there, or spent the night in the older part of town understands why the insurance is so high.

[alon504]

Originally Posted by Gordo

WTF!?!? Seriously? $500 a month for car insurance and $600 a month for electricity? Damn, San Francisco is cheap.

The insurance is for 2 cars....but, I usually pay my car insurance every 6 months. Electricity is always expensive. It's either hot or cold here...the only time of the year that we have San Francisco weather in New Orleans is October and March.

[VivaLFuego]

Originally Posted by alon504

I haven't received a dime and my household income has doubled since 2005. All of my friends are making alot more from their own jobs. I'm not talking about property income when it comes to the people I know---I'm talking about personal income (net earnings). But, the cost of living has gone up--I pay $6,000 annually in auto insurance and have a perfect driving record and I do cartwheels when my electricity bill goes below $400.00 a month---the average is $600.00 a month with a 2 bedroom, 2 bath shotgun (1/4 of the house is on a second floor as well). Life has gotten very expensive in the city.

Having the federal government send infinity billion dollars to a particular region really does do wonders for the regional economy. Though it sounds like it's causing some local inflation because of all the money getting dumped into the local economy with non-commensurate increases in productivity

[alon504]

Originally Posted by VivaLFuego

Having the federal government send infinity billion dollars to a particular region really does do wonders for the regional economy. Though it sounds like it's causing some local inflation because of all the money getting dumped into the local economy with non-commensurate increases in productivity

The $50 Billion in private investment hasn't hurt either.

[BTinSF]

Originally Posted by alon504

I pay $6,000 annually in auto insurance and have a perfect driving record and I do cartwheels when my electricity bill goes below $400.00 a month---the average is $600.00 a month with a 2 bedroom, 2 bath shotgun (1/4 of the house is on a second floor as well). Life has gotten very expensive in the city.

Hmm. I pay about $1000/year to insure 3 vehicles (a scooter in SF plus a scooter and a car in Tucson). Electricity in SF runs about $50/month, in AZ it can hit $125 in the coldest months, $75 in spring and fall (I'm not there in summer).

I once almost bought a small condo on the corner of Bourbon & Esplanade. But I guess I couldn't afford to live in New Orleans.

[alon504]

Originally Posted by BTinSF

Hmm. I pay about $1000/year to insure 3 vehicles (a scooter in SF plus a scooter and a car in Tucson). Electricity in SF runs about $50/month, in AZ it can hit $125 in the coldest months, $75 in spring and fall (I'm not there in summer).

I once almost bought a small condo on the corner of Bourbon & Esplanade. But I guess I couldn't afford to live in New Orleans.

Everybody knows the most expensive city in America is San Francisco....I'll be quite honest....this months bill was $524.00--so there you go, this month it wasn't $600.00.

[urbanactivist]

Originally Posted by alon504

I haven't received a dime and my household income has doubled since 2005. All of my friends are making alot more from their own jobs. I'm not talking about property income when it comes to the people I know---I'm talking about personal income (net earnings). But, the cost of living has gone up--I pay $6,000 annually in auto insurance and have a perfect driving record and I do cartwheels when my electricity bill goes below $400.00 a month---the average is $600.00 a month with a 2 bedroom, 2 bath shotgun (1/4 of the house is on a second floor as well). Life has gotten very expensive in the city.

Ooh lawd!!! And I was screaming about a near $200 electric bill. I'm gonna shut up

[Gordo]

Originally Posted by alon504

The insurance is for 2 cars....but, I usually pay my car insurance every 6 months.

What difference does that make? Your quote of $6000 a year still ends up being $500 per month. What types of cars are these? Maybe you've had a few too many "fun" nights in New Orleans where you shouldn't have driven home?

[Gordo]

Originally Posted by Crawford

I used to pay $30 a month in NYC for electricity.

And $0 in car insurance.

That's roughly me right now. I'm at about $20 per month combined for gas and electricity. Hot water is included in my rent though.

[alon504]

Originally Posted by Gordo

What difference does that make? Your quote of $6000 a year still ends up being $500 per month. What types of cars are these? Maybe you've had a few too many "fun" nights in New Orleans where you shouldn't have driven home?

No..clean record. No arrests.

[DruidCity]

Shoulda switched to Geico

[tocoto]

This is such a useless little story because it doesn't say whether the places with big increases are doing better than average or just better than they were before, which might have been terrible. The map that goes with the story shows that there were substantial increases in expensive major metros like NY, Boston, DC, LA, SF, and others. It would be nice to see the raw numbers.

[Evergrey]