The recession's toll on the Twin Cities economy puts the region about in the middle of the pack among large U.S. cities, a report out today says -- except for a lackluster housing market.
The Brookings Institution report, measuring economic performance of the nation's 100 largest metropolitan areas during the recession, ranks Minneapolis-St. Paul No. 61. (No. 1 is best, 100 the worst.)
By most measures -- employment, jobless rate, gross metropolitan product -- the Twin Cities are close to the median. But the metro area's change in housing prices ranked 66th -- although not nearly as bad as the California and Florida cities that have seen the steepest declines.
The Twin Cities area also suffers from what could be dubbed the Wright County Effect: a high concentration of bank-owned properties, which the report attributed to "significant exurban expansion in recent years." Minneapolis-St. Paul ranked 92nd in this category.
The Brookings report's broader aim is to show that the recession's varied effect on different parts of the nation requires specialized solutions. Generally, the report found the strongest local economies were in the south-central United States and the lower Plains, thanks in part to the energy industry; the weakest were in California, Florida and the manufacturing-dependent areas of Michigan and Ohio.
The top-ranked metro area was San Antonio, Texas. Coming in last: Detroit. The report can be found online at www.brookings.edu/metromonitor.
CASEY COMMON
