MissySchmidt

Hampton Roads doesn't have it so bad... Top Ten Cities in Free Fall, according to Forbes Miami boasts a popular South Beach club scene, Art Deco Architecture, and perhaps the best Cuban food in the country. But residents don't have much else to celebrate. More than three years after the economy started its downward slide, the Miami metro area, like a handful of Sun Belt cities, still hasn't begun to recover. Median home prices in Miami have fallen 38% since its market peaked in the second quarter of 2007; the city's 11% unemployment rate is above the national average and has grown more than most of the 40 cities we surveyed. Cities in the "Sand States" of Florida, California, Arizona and Nevada, where overbuilding was rampant, are also in trouble, claiming nine of the top 10 spots in our list of cities in free fall. In Las Vegas, Riverside, Calif., and Phoenix, median home prices have fallen 50%, 44% and 37% from their respective peaks. Jobs are vanishing. Though country-wide, employers added 162,00 jobs last month, Riverside gained 13% fewer jobs in February 2010 (the latest numbers available by metro) than it did the same month three years earlier. Tampa, Fla., saw a 10% drop, and Los Angeles added 9% fewer jobs over the same time period. Florida cities dominate our list, with Tampa, Orlando and Jacksonville joining Miami. Read the full story... http://www.forbes.com/2010/04/09/cities-top-ten-lifestyle-real-estate-unemployment-home-prices.html

MLS-you should try to attend the Regional Futures' conference, then: http://fhrinc.org/Se...Conference.html They're looking for 20- to 40- somethings to attend!

not sure what you mean by "hip"... there aren't too many big corps that I would define as "hip." NS has their headquarters here and there top money-earners reside here, what else do you want in "huge presence." I'd love to see Google open up Google-east, but not sure that's gonna happen anytime soon.

You left out the Fortune 1000: AMERIGROUP Corporation (Virginia Beach) Dollar Tree (Chesapeake) Norfolk Southern (Norfolk) Smithfield Foods (Smithfield) and Northrup Grumman (HQ is moving to NOVA from west coast, but single largest private employer in Hampton Roads)