The recovery in your town: What are you actually seeing? (Not what the news and stats say)

[Crazy Dave]

In Jacksonville, Florida, layoffs and businesses closing are still on the rise along with bankruptcies and foreclosures. That and forced pay cuts are in the near future for city employees and more school teachers getting laid off.

The only thing I'm witnessing here personally (in my area) is gas prices are going up which we're being told is a good thing.

Any good news in your area that you see with your own eyes?

[Zynx]

1. In Madison we got off pretty light compared to most and it has stabilized here.

I would say that retail sales are increasing, can't real speak to industry, and real estate is flat at a reduced level. Foreclosures are such a lagging indicator that I really don't pay attention to them. They lag economic turns by up to a full year.

By the way, I generally view rejection of economic statistics to be borderline troglodytic.

[HereSince1628]

5. State government, landgrant university, hospitals and insuarance companies...

I think those sectors did OK in the recession.\

I'd like to hear where they burried the paper mills, potato farms, and heavy manufacturers, someone needs to attend the graves.

[kestrel91316]

2. Lots of businesses still closing, some have been here for decades.....

But the new construction/business remodeling has definitely picked up. We have a big new Whole Foods (I know, I know) opening up in a shopping complex with lots of smaller storefronts just 1/2 mile from me.

And yes, I will shop a lot at the new WF because I find them preferable to Von's and Gelson's for any number of reasons.

[tridim]

3. Denver is starting to boom

My first "second" interview in 9 months is this Tuesday. For an IT job, with actual BENEFITS!

My jaw was agape while the HR guy was describing the benefit package, it seemed so unfamiliar and unexpected.

[Crazy Dave]

8. That's great news and good for you!

My city is actually laying off most of it's IT employees except for around ten people in June and they are probably the lowest paid IT workers in the nation based on what my salary was as a city employee in 2005. Right now the city employees are being forced to train their out-sourced replacements until they are let go.

[Bluzmann57]

4. Here in Davenport, IA and the Quad Cities

of Iowa and Illinois, things are not great but not as bad as some places in the USA apparently are. There are a few places hiring and there are signs of recovery. There are also some businesses closing up because of the bleak economy. Overall, it isn't terrible here. The city has placed a hiring freeze, but they are not laying people off. And gas prices are rising here as well. Nobody thinks it's a good thing.

[justgamma]

25. They're advertising for employees just north of you.

There are at least 3 factories and a warehouse that are hiring. We've just hired of bunch of people in the factory I work in in Clinton. It's looking up around here.

[Newsjock]

6. Silicon Valley: More scavengers hitting the recycling bins

Monday morning is recycling day, so the parade of the destitute starts early Sunday. All day long, one by one, they come to our fenced-in trash area where the recycling bins are stored. Some are on barely-functioning bicycles, others are pushing shopping carts, and some just walk with a giant trash bag over their shoulder. One has started bringing two children with him to go through the bins.

The parade is starting earlier every week, as society's discards race to be the first to take the prime pickings of bottles and cans that earn the precious pennies of redemption value at the nearest no-questions-asked recycling center. By mid-afternoon, the scavengers usually have given up on the recycling bins and start going through the actual trash dumpster, either with or without protective gloves, trying to find a few more pennies to live another day.

Scavenging of recyclables is technically against the law here, under the rationale that the proceeds help fund the city's recycling operation.

According to 2007 figures in Wikipedia, the median household income in this city is $82,648 per year.

I'm feeling the recovery in action.

[Dappleganger]

7. Another Jacksonville-area perspective...

my husband who works in pharma manufacturing got a permanent job after being laid off over a year ago. At a co-worker's picnic yesterday I heard a number of people say that this particular company was actually hiring, but using a local temp employment agency to hire them as contract workers first and then creating specific new permanent positions when the employee seemed to be working out well.

So there IS a little bit of hiring going on, albeit extremely cautious. These are very well-paying, high-benefit positions, btw.

Meanwhile, the foreclosures in our area of St. Johns county continue to rise. More houses are for sale in our neighborhood than ever before, sitting on the market for more than a year. Selling prices are continuing to drop.

[Dappleganger]

12. Also, some big retail projects have been killed.

One was a huge outdoor mall by the same developer who did the St. Johns Town Center, this time for one at the World Golf Village exit. That project is dead, the Devlin Group is in huge financial trouble and the banks are foreclosing on several of their projects. It's too bad, those stores would have been a boon for jobs but in this economy everything is on the chopping block wrt new commercial/retail property. A huge development in N. St. Augustine right along the water (also Devlin-owned) is also being foreclosed on. Somebody WILL buy it, it's a prime area for the First City.

[Crazy Dave]

16. Hi neighbor

What brought me to this area from the pan-handle area 24 years ago was it's wages which were much higher than elsewhere in the state but now that's all gone. The paper mills were all bought out then shut down and our port authority is still being run by dumb, redneck, good ole boys that keep chasing off large clients to other port cities.

If not for the Navy this town would shut down completely.

[Dappleganger]

21. Howdy!

Do you by any chance read or post over on metrojacksonville.com? That forum has quite a few progressives on it who discuss Boss Peyton and his cronies. The things which go on in that city are absolutely disgusting, but I still have hope for it. I'm really hoping that someone like Glorious Johnson will be elected and that the city will be turned around before it's too late. Every time I go downtown I'm amazed at what a waste it is!

Nice to 'meet' you!

[Crazy Dave]

23. I will check that website out

Never heard of it until now. Thanks :hi:

[The Revolution]

9. We're hiring

The company I work for is hiring again (we never layed anyone off either, so these are new jobs). A friend of mine got re-hired at the place where he had been layed off (for lower pay :()

[seabeyond]

10. amarillo, which isnt hit the same as nationally, hubby getting performance pay again which

is part of his pay and he has done without in '09.

[doc03]

11. We have had two smaller steel plants restart

in the immediate area and our company started another plant up in Ohio that recalled about 1200 employees. The coal companies have been hiring people for several months now. We are also in the infancy of a gas drilling boom, we are sitting on the Marcellus Shale gas field, they estimate there is 489 trillion cubic feet of gas under us. I think things are going to really improve here over the next few years.

[Crazy Dave]

13. Hearing about steel plants actually opening here in the US is awesome!

:thumbsup:

[doc03]

22. My employer Severstal started a blast furnace in Warren Ohio

that called back around 1200 people I think. Severstal also started two finishing mills here locally. We have one big mill in Steubenville, Ohio that still has about 1800 people on layoff. Arcelor Mittel restarted their coke plant in Warren Ohio. GM also restarted their Lordstown plant near Warren, Ohio. The USA steel industry is now working at 71.6% of capacity and slowly improving, when Obama took office it was at about 30%. I expect a lot of people to be getting jobs in the gas fields in the near future.

[EC]

14. I'm seeing all over town

a lot of home repairs finally being done - like windows, insulation, roofs, air and furnaces. There are once again real job listings in the paper - not those fake ads. Cars are selling again and stores have business now, not empty like the last 2 years...

[Arugula Latte]

15. Portland, Ore. I had to go to the mall the other day (oy vey) and it was packed.

:shrug:

[diamidue]

30. Packed here in Placer Co, CA, too

but commercial real estate is in terrible shape - buildings to rent or lease everywhere, just everywhere. Houses & Condos aren't selling. Jobs very hard to find. Must be some really good sales drawing people to the Mall??

[KG]

17. nada. I worked/work in the housing industry in FL. it's basically inert.

[cap]

18. Philadelphia/NJ Meds and Eds doing OK

Medicine/Health sectors and Education sector doing OK... not enough to stop foreclosures and some small store closing.

But not massive closings like 2002.

[cap]

43. however, our grocery stores are now advertising that they take WIC

even in affluent areas.

[L0oniX]

19. Many small strip store shops are going out of business. Many have been vacant for a long time now.

The tent cities are still growing in both Pinellas Park and St. Petersburg. Most people I know that are working are very fear full of losing theirs jobs including my wife. Some of our favorite restaurants have closed. This area is highly dependent on tourism traffic which has been very down. The place where I keep my sail boat has slips open where as it used to have a 2 year waiting list to get in.

[madokie]

20. Seems to be lots of work in Oklahoma

Trouble is for me I'm not one of the workers anymore.

[Motown_Johnny]

24. Well, the small business I work for is doing well right now

but it may just be a spike


I can have a better estimate in about 3 months.



I work for a landscaping company in the Detroit Suburbs. In the last couple of years we saw a drop off of the larger (more expensive) projects although our maintenance side of the business was steady. So far this year we have had an increase in the larger jobs but it is to early to know if this is a trend or just a few people who would have had this work done last year that are more comfortable spending the money with the DOW above 11,000 instead of below 7,000.

The other possibility is that some smaller companies were not able to survive and that we are picking up some jobs that they might have had.I know one of our larger jobs is from a company that has never subcontracted us before. I don't know why they have switched to us but I guess I could find out.


Ask me again in July.

[SoCalDem]

26. Arby's closed..so did Wendy's..so did Long John Silvers

Circuit City went too..so did Mervyns..and Vons Grocery store & Ralph's grocery store & Albertsons' (2 stores)

and El Pollo Loco closed too..

Many smaller stores are closed down too.

Not all in the last few months..but all recently..

There was an Italian restaurant under construction, and right after they got the roof on, they fenced it off and just stopped.. It's been like that for a year now..

[dorkulon]

27. Buffalo, NY -- We're still depressed from Bethlehem Steel closing.

To tell the truth, if I didn't follow the news I probably couldn't tell there was a crisis. We were already at rock bottom.

[Tandalayo_Scheisskopf]

28. The closure of the biggest and only real factory in this town.

Job losses across the state and county. A freeholder board I call "The Three Stooges". Because they are. A social services system understaffed and underfunded and worked to the nervous breakdown stage.

On edit: And I work in a highly technical field where the wages are on a par with those of the people who work at fast-food joints. Really. Our HR department seems to be made up of psychology and sociology majors who, after doing their practicums, decided they hate and despise everyone who ain't them.

[Blue_In_AK]

29. The recession never hit us hard up here,

so things are going along about like they always do. It's spring, so they're gearing up for the road tearing-up season.

[uppityperson]

31. Town in NW WA, laying off people, everyone cutting back. Hear there is hope of change soon

X-mas to taxes is always the slow time of the yr here. Realtor told me that some houses are selling, some people are looking, but everyone has cut back everywhere which hurts everyone else. It is very difficult to find a job that pays above minimum wage.

[paulk]

32. I live in Denver

Forbes recently downgraded Denver to being the 2nd worst housing market in the country

http://denver.bizjournals.com/denver/stories/2010/04/05/daily80.html

I don't see Denver as "booming". Two friends of mine have been laid off in the last year. A third loses his job at the end of the month. Another friend, who lives in Longmont and works for Sun Microsystems, has been expecting to lose his job, but it's looking now like that might not happen. His wife, who worked at the same place, got laid off a year ago. Another friend has two of his properties on the market - his business (he's a contractor) has fallen through the floor the last two years. People are still having a hard time getting loans - which has hurt my business. I lost a $4500 bid in Feb when the homeowner couldn't get an equity loan - another large bid has been put off until the fall for the same reason. The banks are still not loaning money, it seems.


I have two friends who are doing ok - one just got a full time job (no benefits) after being laid off for the past year and the other, a graphic designer, has seen a real uptick in business the last 6 months.

So not all the news is bad. Still, the idea that we're now "recovered" and everything is ok is a dangerous one. The economy remains in the toilet and needs more help from the federal government to prop it up. We need more jobs stimulus, and the current line from the White House doesn't look too promising in that direction.

[eilen]

33. Syracuse, NY here

we never went to the party so don't really have the hangover. However, since the 1970's its been a slow bleed. This year I think Magna closed the old Chrysler plant. The big mall that was supposed to rejuvenate the city (Destiny USA) looks like a prison in Stalingrad, fenced in and closed down with the still living part living on day to day-- dead on week days but a little busier on weekends. It looks like a big concrete tumor.

There is still single home building going on. My son got a call for a job interview at a mall store. However, my husband's job will be ending soon and nothing has been starting up-- industrially-- he is a union electrician and was laid off for 6 months last year. The governor has frozen hiring but his hands are tied regarding layoffs d/t a contract agreement adding Tier 5 to the pension plan. The schools and agencies are getting funding cuts but the only thing that really had folks up in arms was the threat of closing some state parks. They are raising parking rates in the more popular parks and camping fees for out of state campers. The jobs programs (conservation jobs) for youth in the summer seem to be concentrated in the power areas (downstate and their playgrounds in the Adirondacks, Catskills and Long Island). I think the governor has also stalled any state construction work until the budget passes, -- it is late again.

Gas rates increasing is not seen as a good thing. The upstate/downstate divide is increasing.

[Danmel]

34. I've seen some vacant stores

Get rented out. Still a lot of empties, though.

[etherealtruth]

35. The view from Metro Detroit: what recovery?

[northernlights]

36. more bad news here in midcoast Maine

The local hospital laid off 11 or 12. For the 1st time since the program's inception, the Med Lab Techs that graduate this year are not assured of finding work. There are more pending grads than job openings by far (about 5:1 is how it sounded in my last lab when we compared notes).

My neighbor across the street has downsized to 1 small boat (he's a fisherman/clammer) and mostly goes out with a lobstering friend. He just put his antique rider mower up for sale. Apparently tons of foreclosures hit last fall. Not a single call yet on my house for sale. I see more for sale signs and for rent signs en route to work -- both houses and empty stores.

[Lugnut]

37. The job listings in the local paper have increased.

Today there were several ads for full-time distribution center jobs. Most of the available jobs pay nearly $11 an hour and include benefits. What I've noticed is that these are direct hires rather than temp agency assignments. I think that's significant.

[rucky]

38. Dayton, Ohio. Shall I continue?

[applegrove]

39. I live in Canada. Our housing market is pretty strong.

[bhcodem]

40. Real Estate market

The house across the street is for sale and had open houses both of the past weekends. Losts of people came both times. I also see a lot more "sold" and "sale pending" signs as I drive down the street. This is Waterloo, IA.

[slackmaster]

41. There's plenty of traffic on the roads, shopping malls are packed

And there are more homeless people than I've ever seen before, all at the same time.

[RickyM]

42. It's getting worse

No recovery here.

[hayu_lol]

44. K-Falls OR...

small businesses continue to close...a few brave souls(or well funded)trying to open a few. Many previously 40 hour/wk jobs cut back to between 20/30. Rumor(always lots of those)has it the town's largest employer may be building a factory in China...if true, would the last person to leave turn out the lights.