Posted on 09/27/2007 11:56:58 AM PDT by Smogger
Orange County on steroids or Phoenix raised to an exponential power? That was one reaction to Wednesday's two-year study on job creation and retention by the Milken Institute that rated
the Ontario-San Bernardino-Riverside area No. 3 among 200 large U.S. metropolitan areas.
The Inland Empire trailed only Ocala, Fla., and Wilmington, N.C., two metro areas in low-tax, high-growth states, and was the only California entity in the top 15.
"This study shows that this area is an economic powerhouse and will remain one for the next several decades," Ontario City Manager Greg Devereaux said. "This area is Orange County from 20 years ago on steroids or like Phoenix, but at an exponentially higher level.
"Best of all, we haven't even reached the mature phase of our growth."
The Milken study appears in odd-numbered years, measuring both long- and short-term job and salary growth as well as measuring four different types of technology growth output.
The survey separates metropolitan areas into large and small, realizing that the larger an area is, the smaller its percentage of growth will be.
"The Inland Empire has consistently been one of the national leaders in job growth," said Ross DeVol, director of regional economists at the Milken Institute and primary author of the report. "It says a lot that the area has shown the ability to overcome the high costs of doing business in California." DeVol, who is based in Los Angeles, said the gap between home prices in coastal counties and inland has been a big advantage for Ontario, Riverside and San Bernardino.
"That gap has narrowed," he said. "But the area also has become a real international trade hub. In addition, there have been a lot of high-tech companies moving inland."
Gloria Gonzalez-Rivera, chairwoman of the economics department at UC Riverside, said that the sharp increase in population has been an important factor in the area's growth.
"When you get that many people in an area, the jobs come with them," she said. "People see that they do not need to go to Los Angeles to work or to consume. Especially with high gas prices, people start to feel that if they're going to work in L.A., their salary needs to be much higher."
As the area grows, Gonzalez-Rivera said, more people - particularly newcomers - become accustomed to living, working and shopping locally.
"They don't see the need to go outside," she said. "They expect to have jobs and services available locally."
Regional economist John Husing of Redlands, who has been studying the Inland Empire job market for more than 40 years, said it was fascinating to see a California metro area in the top 10.
"That is pretty rarified territory, and it shows something about this area," he said. "Unlike the state, the politicians in this area have understood for a long time the importance of job creation."
Both Husing and Devereaux cited the maturation of the local office market as a development that is taking the area to a new level.
"If you look at some of the office projects in Riverside and Ontario, you'll see that they are raising the bar," Devereaux said. "The west end is clearly starting to urbanize."
Said Husing: "We are now competing with coastal counties for the best-paying jobs, even with the slowdown in the housing market. A big part of that is that in the last six years, more than 129,000 people with bachelor's degrees or above have moved to the area."
The Milken report cited L.A./Ontario International Airport as a major reason for the surge, particularly in that it links the area to Asia as a trading partner.
It also pointed out that tourism had received a large boost from a growing number of tribal casinos throughout Riverside and San Bernardino counties.
"If you look at the top areas, they all have something in common," DeVol said. "They all have a lot of entrepreneurs, a lot of new companies. These are necessary to replace the older jobs that are lost."
Ontario-Riverside-San Bernardino ranked 10th in the 2005 study.
I read this in the daily bulletin too...go chino hills!!!...totally agreed with your analysis
I think not only their gardners, but their gardeners as well.
I grew up in Corona and Norco. Looks like things have really changed since I lived there. And the real estate seems to be a bit more expensive too...
But I still miss it.
All of us wondering why education, medicine and other needs continue to get more expensive; the (now) obvious reason illegal immigration 22 million/ 250 million. We added 10% (fake) pop growth in a few years and all the effects from that...
Only some of us wondering why economically US still hangs togesther; fake new growth from illegal immigration and credit money. There are plenty of shell games but they eventually come to end...
Good, if true. I grew up in the IE and remember alot of suckers who commuted to the OC & LA for work.
Ahhh, the IE. Meth, Bro’s, Bro Ho’s, lifted trucks with famous stars & straps stickers on the back window, sideways hats, body piercings & tats. I don’t miss it.
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