NYC - 175th Best Performing City

Fayetteville at night Non-profit think tank Milken Institute has issued a study on which U.S. cities are the "best performing" - the main criteria being where "jobs are being created, economies are growing and businesses are thriving." New York ranks 175th of 200 for all metro areas, and 9th of 10 for most populous metro areas. The number one city? Fayetteville, Arkansas, home of Wal-Mart. Gothamist will proudly say, "We're Number 175/Number 9!"

Newsday takes a look at the list and tries to make New Yorkers feel better with this quote from Partnership for New York's president, Kathryn Wylde: "In terms of the ... fundamental opportunity for highly skilled, highly educated people, there is no city on the list that holds a candle to New York."

The Top 200 cities. The whole report on the Best Performing Cities.

Contact the author of this article or email tips@gothamist.com with further questions, comments or tips.

By Jen Chung in News on June 25, 2003 9:59 AM

Comments [rss]

Glenn

This list doens't mean a thing. 175 is the place to be. Yeah, 1 might have a lot of cheesy Wal-Mart jobs, and a large house with a yard might rent for the same as a studio in Bay Ridge, but you'd still be stuck in 1.

I was out of town on business recently, visiting 194 and 130, and though they're nice enough places I wouldn't want to live in either at this point in my life. I lived in 15 before moving to 175. 15 is OK, but any young person with a brain in Northern California would rather be in 134.

Besides, a city's job situation changes over time. When I graduated from UC 100, jobs in that area were scarce. A few years later all it took to get a good job was a pulse.

I'm staying put in 175.

abe

Fine by me. I mean, somebody's gotta' populate the rest of this country. Who's it going to be? You Jen? You Jake? Choire?

Jen

Fayette Nam. Classic. My hometown in NJ was where AT&T was headquartered, so every other person's parent(s) worked at Ma Bell, so I can understand how certain corporations can build towns. But as if I really want to move to Fort Myers just because jobs are there. It's a retirement community! Maybe if I was looking for a sugar daddy to put me in his will...

Anonymous

Ugh. Wal-Mart is like totally responsible for destroying local economies in small towns across the country, like the one I grew up in. The fact that they've engerized a place like Fayetteville would be ironic if it wasn't so pathetically sad. Grrr.