2009 Best Cities for Business and Careers

Forbes has issued 2009 Best Cities for Business and Careers.

http://www.forbes.com/2009/03/25/best-cities-careers-bizplaces09-business-places_lander.html

The ranking is based on the following criteria; Colleges; Cost of Doing Business; Cost of Living; Crime Rate; Culture and Leisure; Educational Attainment; Income Growth; Job Growth; Job Growth Projected; Net Migration; Subprime Mortgages.

http://www.forbes.com/lists/2009/1/bizplaces09_Best-Places-For-Business-And-Careers_Rank.html

-　Metro area without real estate bubble and with steady economy (such as Raleigh-Dhuram and Austin) are ranked in Top 25 metros (out of 200 metros).

- In general, metros in North Carolina and Colorado is doing very well.

- Among metros with 1 million or more population, ranking is; 1．Raleigh NC；　2．Austin TX； 3．Oklahoma City OK 23；　4． Denver CO；　5．　San Antonio TX

Rank	Metro Area	Cost Of Doing Business	Job Growth Projected	Educational Attainment	Metro Area Population
1	Raleigh NC	16	15	11	1086
2	Fort Collins CO	60	13	6	292
3	Durham NC	36	53	8	487
4	Fayetteville AR	11	16	143	442
5	Lincoln NE	21	24	24	296
6	Asheville NC	2	67	125	411
7	Des Moines IA	49	122	44	553
8	Austin TX	143	5	14	1645
9	Boise ID	17	47	87	601
10	Colorado Springs CO	89	28	25	614
11	Albuquerque NM	34	27	55	847
12	Oklahoma City OK	23	31	97	1203
13	Wilmington NC	3	34	107	348
14	Denver CO	130	63	20	2506
15	Huntsville AL	88	2	27	393
16	San Antonio TX	15	6	120	2032
17	Seattle WA	158	14	15	2566
18	Winston-Salem NC	7	64	112	469
19	Charlotte NC	57	52	51	1688
20	Boulder CO	126	8	1	294
21	Eugene OR	20	99	81	346
22	Little Rock AR	31	29	104	674
23	Olympia WA	100	45	41	241
24	Atlanta GA	114	49	34	5363
25	Nashville TN	42	59	79	1547

* Austin Tx, my investment place of choice, is ranked No.8 among 200 metros and has special article in Forbes Magazine.

http://www.forbes.com/lists/2009/1/bizplaces09_Austin-TX_2384.html

http://www.forbes.com/forbes/2009/0413/100-best-cities-careers-college-recession-rah.html

Below is worst 25 metros ranking. 6 of worst 10 metros are in California Central Valley cities! These metros are damaged severely by 1) real estaet bubble burst and 2) subsequent recessions. Other worst performing metros are in Rust Belt area.

Rank	Metro Area	Cost Of Doing Business	Job Growth Projected	Educational Attainment	Metro Area Population
200	Modesto CA	135	190	192	513
199	Merced CA	180	93	200	248
198	Vallejo CA	159	167	139	407
197	Flint MI	97	199	183	433
196	Salinas CA	150	114	136	409
195	Stockton CA	183	100	187	680
194	Bakersfield CA	161	180	193	799
193	Detroit MI	160	200	179	1958
192	Atlantic City NJ	182	44	159	271
191	Utica NY	190	131	174	297
190	Visalia CA	152	75	199	429
189	Fresno CA	148	119	172	910
188	Miami FL	166	198	135	2387
187	Youngstown OH	61	175	185	568
186	Binghamton NY	137	171	130	248
185	Canton OH	44	169	180	408
184	Erie PA	141	135	148	279
183	Camden NJ	149	105	89	1246
182	Kalamazoo MI	123	192	66	322
181	Fort Lauderdale FL	142	154	90	1739
180	Los Angeles CA	177	147	104	9895
179	Beaumont TX	43	153	191	379
178	Newark NJ	185	110	28	2129
177	Oakland CA	192	152	18	2497
176	Brownsville TX	117	4	195	392

I believe these data is useful to check as strong economy tend to boost real estate markets! I also believe that metros with strong economy and business will recover first in this nationwide real estate slump (real estate market recovery takes time for metros with bad economic outlook).

Happy investing!!!!