Las Vegas was first, followed by Riverside-San Bernardino in California and Phoenix-Mesa in Arizona. The university's "index of private construction intensity" covers 61 metropolitan statistical areas having non-farm payroll workforces of at least 500,000 jobs. Orlando was ranked fifth in 2002.
"Orlando's index expanded by a decent 5.8% across the 2003 year when compared to 2002," says Dr. David F. Scott Jr., executive director, Dr. Phillips Institute for the Study of American Business Activity and Phillips-Schenck chairholder at UCF. "But the 'Orlando vs. Las Vegas gap' widened in favor of Las Vegas that western growth leader enjoyed a hot 20% expansion in its index over the comparable period."
Within Florida, metro area posted "another outstanding year of private construction activity when viewed on a total units basis as contrasted to a scaled basis," Scott tells GlobeSt.com. Specifically, Orlando led Florida's six largest metro areas across 2003, based on permits pulled for single-family dwellings.
But "owing to a stronger multifamily market, the Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater area won the battle, based on total authorized permits over the past year," Scott says. Tampa won by fewer than 1,000 permits.
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