San Antonio lands high marks in Forbes study.
Would it surprise you that San Antonio is ranked eighth as one of the United States' 52 largest metropolitan areas with the best opportunities for Hispanics?
Probably not.
Richard Perez, President and CEO of the San Antonio Chamber of Commerce, however, was surprised the Alamo City wasn't number one.
"I think it's a fantastic testament to what we're doing in San Antonio but I'd like to break the top three and be number one," Perez, who is in Washington D.C. for S.A. to D.C. week, said. "And I think we're heading that way. I'm excited at this fantastic piece of news."
Perez said all the Alamo City has to do to eventually top the list and be number one in Texas and the nation is to continue to move forward in supporting economic growth.
"Clearly, we are doing something right," Perez said.
The news that San Antonio, Austin, Dallas-Fort Worth and Houston all landed in the top 10 cities in a Forbes' study that weighs homeownership, entrepreneurship — measured by self-employment rate — and median household income to determine where America's growing Hispanic population has the best rates of success is no surprise.
However, San Antonio didn't top the list, as far as Lone Star State large metros. Houston takes cake, ranking fourth, followed by Dallas-Fort Worth, which landed at seventh, then San Antonio and topping off the list — landing at ninth — Austin.
While Richard Tangum, director of UTSA's Center for Urban and Regional Planning Research, doesn't keep these studies too close to his heart, the results were unsurprising to him.
"San Antonio is a Hispanic community and there has been a tradition of Hispanic small businesses for generations," Tangum said.
According to Forbes, low housing prices in Texas creates a "more buoyant economy" that contributes to growth in construction, manufacturing and energy sectors.
The GOP would do well to read the study. The Republicans just shut Univision out of the party's televised presidential debates, marginalizing this large — and growing — American demographic.
