The contrasting experiences of Austin and Syracuse occurred in countless other areas as well. This article provides 14 additional examples of pairs of metro areas that had similar tax and growth patterns. 1 The experiences of all 15 pairs of metropolitan areas provide valuable lessons for distressed areas everywhere. Keeping tax burdens low appears to be an important ingredient in the recipe for economic prosperity. If high-tax, low-growth metro areas like Detroit, Milwaukee, Buffalo, and Syracuse want to be more like high-growth areas such as Dallas, Tampa, San Antonio, and Austin, they should lower their onerous burden of taxation and bring spending under control
