To Dodge Recession, Move to Huntsville

Mid-size cities do better in crunch, have seen lending increase

By Clay Dillow, Newser Staff

Posted Mar 30, 2009 12:42 PM CDT

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To Dodge Recession, Move to Huntsville — This is a view of a Capital One Bank branch on Jan. 10, 2008, in Austin, Texas. Banks in mid-sized cities are finding it easier to lend, as fewer bad loans clutter their books. (AP Photo/Harry Cabluck)

While big cities and rural areas have taken a beating as the financial crisis unfolds, many mid-size cities have seen consumer lending increase, indicating an economic resilience that other areas lack, the Wall Street Journal reports. In cities with populations around 400,000—like Huntsville, Ala.; McAllen, Texas; and Provo, Utah—banks are lending as usual, pushing consumer loan balances up 10% or more from last year.

The increased lending could reflect reckless borrowing, but credit experts say that's unlikely. “Anyone that is getting a new loan, the bank deems a pretty low risk,” one Equifax executive said. More disciplined economic development strategies, diverse employment, and lower costs of doing business are likely behind the lending patterns. Many mid-size cities didn’t experience a housing bubble, and local banks hold fewer non-performing loans.
(More financial crisis stories.)

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