MSA's can be tricky indeed, starting with the fact that the Inland Empire (Riverside, San Bernardino and Ontario as anchors) is not considered a part of LA area even though they are in the same media market as well as the fact that San Jose/Silicon Valley is hardly a separate area from the rest of San Francisco Bay (which also includes Oakland and Berkley). And even though, for example, Philadelphia and New York are in different areas, they are also only a little over an hour away from each other in the best case scenario (excluding flying, which makes it that much closer) and so there are millions of people in that area and it's not fair to compare it a place like the Houston Area, which is bigger geographically than some Northeastern states and Hawaii. So, as the article "Lies, Damned Lies and Statistics" shows, there's more than what meets the eye when looking at stats, which is why many Spurs fans wonder why they're considered a small market even though San Antonio is the 7th largest city (which is as meaningless as us being the fourth largest city).
Don't think so. Tons of companies are hiring like mad around Houston, mine included. We had a freeze for about a year at the beginning of the recession, but we've actually almost doubled in size since the recession (400 to 750 or so). I don't think our situation is that unique, either.
