Forbes 2005 list of "best cities" is out

[Badgers77]

It always changes every year. Madison dropped from 1st to 10th- which is still pretty good. Boise is 1st now.

[Minneapolis612]

i wonder how they do the rankings...(how could Boise be number 1 in any poll)

[Jasonhouse]

This thread is worthless without the actual ranking.

[rt_0891]

http://www.forbes.com/lists/2005/1/Rank_1.shtml

1 Boise ID
2 Raleigh NC
3 Austin TX
4 Washington DC-Northern VA
5 Albuquerque NM
6 Huntsville AL
7 Fayetteville AR
8 Norfolk VA
9 Atlanta GA
10 Madison WI
11 Lexington KY
12 Phoenix AZ
13 Houston TX
14 Richmond VA
15 Provo UT
16 Ann Arbor MI
17 Knoxville TN
18 Minneapolis-St. Paul MN
19 Dallas TX
20 Fort Worth TX
21 Mercer NJ
22 Tucson AZ
23 Colorado Springs CO
24 Omaha NE
25 San Diego CA
26 Portland OR
27 Orange County CA
28 Des Moines IA
29 Denver CO
30 Monmouth NJ
31 Cincinnati OH
32 Pittsburgh PA
33 Indianapolis IN
34 Albany NY
35 Ventura CA
36 Oklahoma City OK
37 Providence RI
38 Allentown PA
39 Appleton WI
40 Boston MA
41 Hartford CT
42 Charlotte NC
43 Nashville TN
44 Wilmington DE
45 Wichita KS
46 Kansas City MO
47 Charleston SC
48 Little Rock AR
49 Santa Barbara CA
50 San Jose CA
51 Columbus OH
52 Middlesex NJ
53 Salt Lake City UT
54 Sacramento CA
55 Baltimore MD
56 Southern Conn.
57 Reno NV
58 Melbourne FL
59 Oakland CA
60 Philadelphia PA
61 Rochester NY
62 St. Louis MO
63 Long Island NY
64 Johnson City TN
65 Santa Rosa CA
66 Harrisburg PA
67 Hamilton OH
68 Columbia SC
69 Newark NJ
70 Fort Lauderdale FL
71 Newburgh NY
72 West Palm Beach FL
73 Seattle WA
74 Syracuse NY
75 Louisville KY
76 Pensacola FL
77 Tulsa OK
78 Birmingham AL
79 Fort Myers FL
80 Orlando FL
81 San Francisco CA
82 Jacksonville FL
83 Augusta GA
84 Akron OH
85 San Antonio TX
86 Milwaukee WI
87 Chicago IL
88 Las Vegas NV
89 Bergen-Passaic NJ
90 Baton Rouge LA
91 Dayton OH
92 Sarasota FL
93 Jackson MS
94 Lancaster PA
95 Vallejo CA
96 Buffalo NY
97 Greensboro NC
98 Fort Wayne IN
99 Lansing MI
100 Grand Rapids MI
101 Detroit MI
102 Greenville SC
103 Honolulu HI
104 Tampa FL
105 Scranton PA
106 Los Angeles CA
107 Peoria IL
108 York PA
109 Daytona Beach FL
110 New Orleans LA
111 Riverside CA
112 McAllen TX
113 Cleveland OH
114 Spokane WA
115 Reading PA
116 Brownsville TX
117 Salem OR
118 Lafayette LA
119 Memphis TN
120 New York NY
121 Mobile AL
122 Chattanooga TN
123 Tacoma WA
124 Beaumont TX
125 Bakersfield CA
126 Springfield MA
127 Fort Pierce FL
128 Lakeland FL
129 Corpus Christi TX
130 Hickory NC
131 Davenport IA
132 Rockford IL
133 El Paso TX
134 Jersey City NJ
135 Canton OH
136 Kalamazoo MI
137 Gary IN
138 Miami FL
139 Salinas CA
140 Saginaw MI
141 Toledo OH
142 Shreveport LA
143 Flint MI
144 Biloxi MS
145 Fresno CA
146 Atlantic City NJ
147 Youngstown OH
148 Visalia CA
149 Stockton CA
150 Modesto CA

[ReddAlert]

Detroit better than Honolulu?
Peoria over NYC?
Gary over Miami? what gives?

[JB_Gold Coast]

Detroit better than Honolulu?
Peoria over NYC?
Gary over Miami? what gives?

They use bullshit criteria and some bizarre ratios for these polls. Out of the top 15 cities, I wouldn't set foot in 12 of them.

[twincities03]

^ No sh*t. Austin and Madison are definitely cool. I have nothing against Boise, Norfolk and Richmond, but Raleigh, Atlanta, Albuquerque, Houston and the others?

[Azn_chi_boi]

Thats a steep drop for Madison. Now Atlanta is better than Madison.

OOO no wonder, its metro.
Since Gary is in the Chicago metro, Gary is better than NYC, saids the list..

[JB_Gold Coast]

Thats a steep drop for Madison. Now Atlanta is better than Madison.

OOO no wonder, its metro.
Since Gary is in the Chicago metro, Gary is better than NYC, saids the list..

Again, I wouldn't take much offense to these rankings as they are fucked up beyond belief. When Forbes or some other publication that knows nothing about cities compiles a list like this, they start looking at things like # of health clubs per capita, # of ice cream parlors per capita, average income, etc. Of course, climate and crime rate are also heavily factored in. That gives cities with small populations or warm climates an advantage.

[Rockford]

Thats a steep drop for Madison. Now Atlanta is better than Madison.

OOO no wonder, its metro.
Since Gary is in the Chicago metro, Gary is better than NYC, saids the list..


Gary is better than NYC....in many ways

[JB_Gold Coast]

Gary is better than NYC....in many ways

That sounds like something you would say. To most people on this forum, that statement is absurd. Come to think of it, did Forbes consult you on the rankings?

[The Urban Politician]

Like many urban rankings, this uses the following criteria:

1) Best place for a WASP to feel safe from black people and their criminal ways

2) Best way for a Bush-loving American to live as cheaply as possible, own several cars, drive cheap gasoline, and never have to deal with people of another culture

3) Any place for a person to continue to hold on to his personal wealth and never have to share it with others (more or less fortunate than him) in the form of taxes that fund public services

[Markitect]

If Badgers77 had provided ALL OF THE INFORMATION, he would have told us this was Forbes' list of "best places to jump-start a business or your career," as described on the website.

But he didn't.

[SChristopher]

Yikes, the elaboration makes more sense I guess, still this list seems absurd, many of these cities dont even seem to have much of a population base to support jumpstarting a business, but I am not an expert. Some of them I guess have good educational facilities, however, still putting it all together I cant imagine anyone saying Gary is better for business or jumping your career than Miami, some of the cities on there are just appalling though. I almost think they paid to be in some sort of ranking. Some of the populations on that list are even 'iffy'. It seems like once respected business publications are moving more toward tabloid status.

[mec26]

This looks to me like a cost of living ranking more than anything else. San Fran, LA, Miami, New York....all lower than they should be (IMO) on this list. Im in agreement with theurbanpolitician on the reasoning behind this ranking.

[Latoso]

Why isn't Macomb, IL on the list! hahaha :jk:

[cwilson758]

Boise has a lot going on. The economy is great, cost of living low, & great natural features (at least west, if you go east it is no-mans land).

[richardsonhomebuyers]

Come on Milwaukee is above Chicago. I can't beleive they even made it in the top 100.

[FSUViking9]

Here's the list for small metros to start a business.

1 Sioux Falls SD
2 Rochester MN
3 State College PA
4 Fargo ND
5 Bismarck ND
6 Rapid City SD
7 Lincoln NE
8 Las Cruces NM
9 Iowa City IA
10 Bloomington IN
11 Pocatello ID
12 Charlottesville VA
13 Billings MT
14 Missoula MT
15 Bryan TX
16 Dutchess County NY
17 Cheyenne WY
18 Brazoria TX
19 Wilmington NC
20 Fort Collins CO
21 Casper WY
22 Lawrence KS
23 Lafayette IN
24 Flagstaff AZ
25 La Crosse WI

[SDfan]

25. San Diego CA

What?!?

[Azn_chi_boi]

most of the metros in " small metros to start a business: are in the midwest

[hudkina]

Probably because its so cheap in the midwest, especially in the small towns.

[ohpenn]

These lists are total garbage. They are created because they will get press in all of these cities and create discussion. Why? Because it sell magazines.
That's the only reason.

[Coldwake]

Come on Milwaukee is above Chicago. I can't beleive they even made it in the top 100.

Well... if this list was indeed talking about ease of starting a business I believe milwaukee could arguably be higher then Chicago. I only say that because I know there are so many new businesses in Mil that are started by people moving their businesses from Chicago.

[JTS LOU]

Wow. this list is a wierd one. lol.

[STL4EVER]

BS!!!!

[IHateBirds]

Jesus people... Some of you sound like you feel betrayed somehow.

Instead of bitching and moaning, to the point of nearly bashing the cities that rank high on the list, some of you need to try reading the article so you can learn the actual full name of the list (for starters) as well as the magazine's criteria... as long as it isn't beyond your comprehension level. If you continue to disagree then write the magazine and voice your concern or ask for elaboration.

http://www.forbes.com/2005/05/05/05bestplaces.html

I'm no expert on what makes a city great to do business in, so I'm not so quick to discount the list with an overbearing alarmist tone. Some of the placement I can understand, some I do not understand.

All lists like this will vary because of criteria and the particular samples used. For example, do a search of traffic congestion rankings and look at how one city will rank 2nd, 17th, 34th, and 10th depending on the source.

[TheKansan]

Nothing against the smaller cities, but I believe they should have seperated these cities on metro area size. A city like Chi9cago can't be compared to a city like Boise.

[nakedyak]

Like many urban rankings, this uses the following criteria:

1) Best place for a WASP to feel safe from black people and their criminal ways

Yes, because Atlanta has so few black people. Boy, i'm glad i live here! Wouldn't want to encounter any of them ...

[Ben]

You guys are funny. :)