Good Signs For The Economy In The Columbia River Gorge

Good Signs For The Economy In The Columbia River Gorge

Driving through The Dalles this week I saw two new car dealerships under contruction. It was only a year or two ago that car dealerships were closing by the dozens and those still in business offered outrageously great deals just to get some customers onto the lot. And now two new dealerships will be opening. I am far from an economist and won't pretend to be able to predict the economy's direction, but any developer/owner of these would have feasibilitiy studies before such a huge investment so there is apparently a strong enough local economy to support them.

Likewise, we've seen more homes suddenly going on the market, fewer that are foreclosures and some that were waiting for a stronger economy. Builders in our area also show much more activity in the last few months. Our tourist industry has boomed this summer, maybe partly because of the mild weather compared to the rest of the country and maybe in part because folks are feeling more financially confident. I'm going to take all of these as evidence of a rebounding economy here in the Columbia River Gorge.

This is the new Honda dealership being built in The Dalles and there is also a new Toyota dealer going in.