Why Houston Texas is a leading jobs creator

Atlantic:

Texas is killing it.

It dominated the recession, crushed the recovery, and in a new analysis of jobs recovered since the downturn, its largest city stands apart as the most powerful job engine in the country -- by far.

The ten largest metros have recovered 98 percent of the jobs lost during the recession, on average. But Houston, the first major city to regain all the jobs lost in the downturn, has now added more than two jobs for every one it lost after the crash. That's incredible.

So, how come? There's the abundant land and famously favorable business climate (although let's not dwell on the actual climate). With its proximity to oil and Mexico, Houston is blessed by topography and geography. But the secret sauce of the city's success might be something else: history -- and an ability to learn from past mistakes.

The recession in Texas was relatively mild, partly thanks to mistakes learned by the region's real estate and energy industries, said Patrick Jankowski, an economist and vice president of research at the Greater Houston Partnership. Texas "won" the recession not only because of the jobs it's created, but also because of the jobs it's hoarded -- particularly in energy.
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There is more.

Houston and Texas did not have the housing bubble that places with more restrive building codes had.  It also avoided the highly leverage financings that caused people to default in many places like California and Florida.  It was also during the 2000s that the energy sector developed the combination of fracking and horizontal drilling that unlocked tight oil and gas formations and created thousands of jobs.

These jobs are ones that places like New York and California are still turning their noses up to, but they are well paying jobs and a party of the bounty of the cheap natural gas is the return of manufacturing jobs to the US and many of them will be in Texas with its cheap tax structure and business friendly government.  Billions are already being spent by major chemical companies for new plants and equipment.  Foreign manufacturers are also moving operations to Texas to take advantage of cheap gas.