Everyone's Moving to Austin: 3rd on National List

Not that this will come as a surprise, but Austin comes in third in a compilation by Forbes of cities with the largest flow of newcomers between July, 2010 and July, 2011. In that period more than 30,000 people moved to our fair city, bested only by the Dallas and Miami metropolitan areas.

And if you drive the streets of Austin, you know that the trend isn't changing for 2012. According to Forbes, Texas in general has become a big destination.

The biggest winner has been Texas. The Lone Star state boasts four of the 10 metro areas with the largest net migration gains for the past two years.  Dallas ranks first, followed by Austin in third place, Houston in fifth and San Antonio in eighth. In contrast, some of the growth leaders over the 2000-09 period, notably Las Vegas, and to a lesser extent Phoenix, have tumbled considerably in the rankings. The lesson here: a strong economy has to be based on something more than gaming, tourism and home construction. Energy, technology, manufacturing and trade are far preferable as an economic base.

Welcome to the megalopolis!