11 Cities That Are Beating The Recession (PHOTOS)

This recession has been particularly brutal on American cities. Nearly one in five Americans are unemployed -- or can't find enough work --- housing prices have fallen 17% since 2007, our $13 trillion debt is out of control, and experts are now preparing for the possibility of a double-dip recession.

But at a local level, some cities are recovering much faster than others. The Brookings Institute has released its latest quarterly MetroMonitor report, tracking the economic recovery of America's 100 largest metro areas. The ranking considered the changes in four economic indicators over the last three years: employment, unemployment, gross metropolitan product (like a city's GDP), and housing prices.

The ranking suggests that Southern cities, many of them in Texas, have shown the most economic resilience since the downturn began. The weakest-performing areas were clustered in California and Florida.

READ the full Brookings Institute report here, and check out the 11 MOST resilient cities here.