About Texas
The Texas economy, the world’s 11th-largest, continues to fare better than those of many other states. Although the Texas economy slowed with the nation’s late in 2008, Texas’ gross product expanded much faster than the U.S. economy (2.0 percent versus 0.4 percent) during 2008. Both the U.S. and Texas economies have contracted in 2009, but Texas continues to perform relatively better than the nation. The Texas Comptroller’s office estimates that the Texas’ gross state product will contract by 1.7 percent during calendar 2009. The U.S. economy will shrink even more, by 2.5 percent for the year. Thus far, Texas has weathered the national real estate crunch without significant damage to property values, but sales and construction activity have slowed. In October 2009, the U.S. consumer confidence index stood at 47.7. In comparison, Texas' regional index continued its three-month rise to 71.7.
About Bryan/College Station
Home to the Texas A&M Health Science Center's (TAMHSC) headquarters, the Bryan-College Station (B-CS) location offers the best of both worlds. With about 170,000 residents, it's small enough to offer safe and affordable living and just a short drive to three major Texas cities — Houston, Austin and Dallas. Its regional airport provides commercial flights to neighboring cities.
In B-CS, you'll find live music, a dozen museums and galleries, hundreds of restaurants, nearly 100 parks and recreational areas, and world-class performers and lecturers.
The Bryan-College Station community enjoys a healthy economy with strong job growth, one of the state's lowest unemployment rates and an affordable housing market. In addition to TAMHSC, you'll find Texas A&M University, both public and private elementary, intermediate and high schools and a two-year community college to provide educational options for all ages. As a regional health care hub, the area has three hospitals, numerous medical specialists, some of which TAMHSC works in partnership with, and several retirement and assisted living facilities.
In Bryan, the health science center has begun constructing a new campus to be its state-wide base of operations.
