Tampa ranks last in economic study

The good news about the Bay area's economy is there's nowhere to go but up. The bad news: We rank dead last for now.

Thursday, the Tampa Bay Partnership economic development agency released its economic scorecard for the region for summer. The twice-yearly report compares the Bay area with five other big Southeastern cities on economic factors: Raleigh-Durham, N.C.; Dallas; Charlotte, N.C.; Atlanta; and Jacksonville.

Things didn't go well. The Bay area ranked sixth out of the six cities overall. Tampa had finished third in the study the last time the Tampa Bay Partnership looked at the six cities, during fall. The last time Tampa ranked last was in summer 2008.

Among the factors dragging down the area this time were its low wages, high unemployment and relatively low spending on transportation.

Raleigh-Durham ranked first in Thursday's study, as usual, because of its strong education system and high-tech industries. It was followed in order by Dallas, Charlotte, Atlanta, Jacksonville and the Tampa Bay area.

Stu Rogel, the partnership's chief executive, said the Bay area is having a harder time recovering from the recession than most areas, and unemployment is unacceptably high. It needs to improve its job market, transportation system and other infrastructure to move up a spot or two in the rankings.

For now, it shouldn't set out to beat perennial leaders Raleigh-Durham and Dallas, he said.

The scorecard considers the Bay area the following eight counties: Hillsborough, Pinellas, Pasco, Polk, Manatee, Sarasota, Citrus and Hernando. It can be found at www.tampabay.org/documents/2010%20SUMMER%20SCORECARD.pdf.

Among the highlights (or lowlights) of the ranking are:

•Employment and Workforce. The Bay area ranked fifth in this category because of its high unemployment rate and its hemorrhaging of jobs. For example, the average unemployment rate in the eight-county Bay area was 13.1 percent during the study period - the worst among the six cities.

•Housing. The Bay area brought up the rear in this vitally important industry. For example, renters in the Tampa area are paying a bigger share of their paychecks on housing than in other cities.

Locally, renters pay about 22.3 percent of their yearly household incomes on a two-bedroom apartment. That's more than in the other five cities. Rent is most affordable in Charlotte, where renters pay just 17.1 percent of their annual household incomes on apartments.

And while people have taken out more housing permits in the Bay area recently, other cities are growing more quickly. For example, permits were up 12 percent in the Bay area in the first quarter of this year, when compared with last year.

But that's good for only fourth place. In Atlanta, permits were up 60 percent over the year.

•Transportation. The Bay area ranked only fifth in the transportation category, which measures commute times and distances, the use of mass transit and government expenditures on transportation.

Only 1.8 percent of the Bay area's population uses mass transit, the study says. In Atlanta, 7.1 percent of the population uses it.

In any discussion of transportation, the plan to create a light-rail system is bound to rear its head. In November, voters in Hillsborough County will decide whether to pass a 1 percent sales tax to fund light rail, more bus service and other transportation projects.

In fact, Rogel, the partnership's leader, suggested light rail could help boost the area's economy by improving its infrastructure. The partnership has been a big supporter of light rail, but a Tampa Bay Partnership spokeswoman said the group's new economic scorecard was unbiased and wasn't pushing any opinion for or against rail.

Among the partnership's conclusions was that the Bay area plans to spend relatively little money on transportation projects per resident, about $253. That ranks it fourth among the six cities. The Tribune was not able to independently verify that figure Thursday.

Mark House, a developer and chairman of the Tampa Hillsborough Economic Development Corp., also said rail could boost Tampa's economy.

"We are woefully behind in public transportation, light rail, bus service and express traffic lanes," House said. "That's all the more reason to say we need good transportation."

A well-known opponent of light rail, Hillsborough County Commissioner Al Higginbotham said he hadn't seen the partnership's economic scorecard and couldn't comment on it Thursday.