100 best places to live and launch (a business)

CNN / Fortune Magazine ^ | July 02, 2008 | Mina Kimes

[2ndDivisionVet]

Are job worries tempting you to start your own company? We canvassed the country to find towns with the best mix of business advantages and lifestyle appeal. Check out our 100 top picks and find the perfect place to build your dream.

1. Bellevue, Wash.

Population: 111,608 Pros: Talented workforce, growing downtown Cons: Pricey homes, high cost of living Like many of the places on our list, Bellevue is a city in transition: no longer a bedroom community, but not yet a crowded, expensive metropolitan hub. Bellevue has grown with unusual grace in recent years. Huge corporations exist symbiotically with startups, a booming downtown abuts healthy residential neighborhoods, and the rising skyline is tempered by an abundance of parks, as well as lakeside and mountain views. Flash retailers such as Neiman Marcus draw regional shoppers, but Bellevue's excellent healthcare and schools are key attractions for relocating families.

While local businesses must pay the statewide Business and Occupations tax on their gross receipts, there's no corporate income tax. Businesses with less than $135,000 in taxable revenues (the highest threshold in the area) don't have to pay the B&O tax. Easy airport access and a highly skilled workforce make Bellevue an attractive option for startups looking to break big.

[2ndDivisionVet]

Interesting list.

[Hardastarboard]

I didn't make it all the way through the list, but I'm willing to bet that Daytwah (Detroit) isn't on there.

What's really infuriating about the way that article is laid out, and I am fairly certain that it's done deliberately, is you can't just click through and see the cities quickly. You have to constantly move your mouse around, and if you're not careful when you click, it takes you to an advertising web page.

[LiberConservative]

"Interesting list."

Yea, if you have all frickin' night to go through the entire list. But Denver is #7! Woo Hoo!! God, I miss Colorado.

[don-o]

There is a strip at the bottom that you can scroll through all the cities

[mad_as_he$$]

You might have to be crazy right now to start a business. Unless it is helping people with bankruptcy.

[rabscuttle385]

the complete list

[2ndDivisionVet]

Also: Pawnshop, collection agency, gun shop, security guard service, flea market, barter service, etc...

[Dacula]

I am surprised that there a very few Texas cities on the list.

[deannadurbin]

The only economy which is going to do well under Barack Insane 0Bama is the BLACK MARKET.

[Grizzled Bear]

Is Cuba on the list? They must be! They have free healthcare!

[egannacht]

They placed several cities from NY, NJ, CT, and RI in the top100 places to launch a business. Start a business in NY and NJ?



You can start one but that doesn't mean you can afford to keep it there.

[mad_as_he$$]

Good suggestions! Pawn shops are already overdone in my area. Security is a great idea.

[RobRoy]

Having worked and lived around Bellevue since 1966 I can say this is BS. Bellevue sucks. Mainly it is the traffic. However, as WAMU lays off lots of people and Microsoft just may follow, the skilled workforce thing may be true.

Meanwhile, I’m moving to Kentucky. I’ve had it.

I used to ride my bicycle to Bellevue square when it was an outdoor strip mall.

[goodnesswins]

Yeah...I thought .... BELLEVUE???? are they kidding????

[Clintonfatigued]

Bellvue made the top of the list.

I drove through there many years ago. Beautiful place.

[Chickensoup]

There is a link on the right for a complete listing

[RobRoy]

Maybe it IS a good place to start a business, but not to work and live. ;)

[sionnsar]

1. Bellevue, Wash.
Population: 111,608 Pros: Talented workforce, growing downtown Cons: Pricey homes, high cost of living

They have to be kidding. OTOH, if it brings us more conservatives that would be a good thing.

Say WA? Evergreen State ping

FReepmail sionnsar if you want on or off this ping list.

Ping sionnsar if you see a Washington state related thread.

[john in springfield]

Bethesda, MD is #5? I think they’re nuts.

[Dust in the Wind]

The LIST

[fieldmarshaldj]

I’m scrolling through the list, and some of these are ludicrous. Good places for moonbats and rich Marxists, not good for families or those of modest means and sane political beliefs and values.

[john in springfield]

And Marina del Rey, CA is #4?

Brother.

[bert]

CNN/Fortune=trash

[buccaneer81]

I’m scrolling through the list, and some of these are ludicrous.

No kidding. Some are just dumps.

Worcester, MA?! BWAHAHA!

[Star Traveler]

Yes, indeed, interesting list.

They have four cities in Oregon on that list — Portland, Corvallis, Eugene and Bend, Oregon.

Only one in Oklahoma, though...

[gotribe]

There may even be better places to start a business:

http://www.humanevents.com/article.php?id=25018

[trek]

"I used to ride my bicycle to Bellevue square when it was an outdoor strip mall."

... and buy gold fish and turtles at Petram's 10 cent store. I also grew up in Bellevue. Do you remember Thompson's Drugstore? I used to go there for candy (an old Bell bubble cockpit helicopter would take off and land on the roof occasionally). And to complete my romp down memory lane I recall throwing coins in the well that sat outside the Crab Apple Restaurant.

Any of the above ring a bell for you?

P.S. I was a student at Bellevue Elementary until they closed it and sent us to Medina Elementary. I believe for 4th grade ... gee, I must be an old man!

[buccaneer81]

Love your tagline, but it’s spelled Warfarin. (I actually used to make the stuff.)

[SamAdams76]

Seems biased towards Washington State.

[RobRoy]

The only store I remember is Penny’s. I mainly just enjoyed riding the bike there. I believe I have seen old photos of the drug store though.

[fieldmarshaldj]

My city, Nashville, got #79, but they left out our major problem with crime and illegals. There’s large sections of the city, the SE where I live, that are no mans’ lands and dangerous to occupy as a result.

[Iron Munro]

With a few exceptions this is the Bizarro World Top 100.

We need the Top 100 List For Relatively Sane People Who Don’t Hate America.

[the invisib1e hand]

anything lower than (and including) worcester mass is purgatory.

[Balding_Eagle]

Only a fool would think CNN could rate good business places.

[Scutter]

Sweet! I work in #1 :)

[2ndDivisionVet]

I think it was really written (mostly) by Fortune Magazine and run on CNN.

[CE2949BB]

100 best places to live and launch

1. Bellevue, Wash.
2. Georgetown, Texas
3. Buford, Ga.
4. Marina del Rey, Calif.
5. Bethesda, Md.
6. Portland, Ore.
7. Denver
8: Charlotte, N.C
9. Fort Worth
10. Franklin, Mass.
11. American Canyon, Calif.
12: Durham, N.C.
13. Manchester, N.H.
14. Virginia Beach, Va.
15. Salt Lake City
16. Novato, Calif.
17. Santa Fe
18. Charlottesville, Va.
19. Boise
20. Raleigh, N.C.
21. Iowa City
22. Omaha, Neb.
23. Minneapolis
24. Fargo, N.D.
25. Scottsdale, Ariz.
26. Louisville, Colo.
27. Bellingham, Wash.
28. Colorado Springs
29. Naperville, Ill.
30. Lyndhurst, N.J.
31. Leesburg, Va.
32. Carlsbad, Calif.
33. Hamden, Conn.
34. San Antonio
35. Cambridge, Mass.
36. Stafford, Texas
37. Radnor Township, Pa.
38. Worcester, Mass.
39. Fort Collins, Colo.
40. Olympia, Wash.
41. Asheville, N.C.
42. Ann Arbor
43. Blacksburg, Va.
44. Oro Valley, Ariz.
45. Sioux Falls, S.D.
46. Madison
47. Gainesville
48. Corvallis, Ore.
49. Owings Mills, Md.
50. Greensboro, N.C.
51. Doral, Fla.
52. Plainsboro, N.J.
53. Rochester, Minn.
54. Reno
55. Dover, Del.
56. Winston-Salem, N.C
57. Zionsville, Ind.
58. Bethlehem, Pa.
59. Syracuse, N.Y.
60. Pittsburgh
61. Northport, N.Y.
62. Blue Ash, Ohio
63: Lincoln, R.I.
64. Fairfield, Conn.
65. State College, Pa.
66. San Jose, Calif.
67. Honolulu
68. Ventura, Calif.
69. Danville, Calif.
70. Fort Lauderdale
71. Missoula, Mont.
72. Brookfield, Wisc.
73: Orlando, Fla.
74. Columbus, Ind.
75. St. Cloud, Minn.
76. Folsom, Calif.
77. Spokane, Wa.
78. San Luis Obispo, Calif.
79: Nashville, Tenn.
80. Rochester, N.Y.
81. Charleston, S.C.
82. Fayetteville, Ark.
83. Rio Rancho, N.M.
84. Cheyenne, Wyo.
85. Lemay, Mo.
86. Huntsville, Ala.
87. Bend, Ore.
88. Brunswick, Maine
89. Billings, Mont.
90: Sarasota, Fla.
91. Ames, Iowa
92. Prescott, Ariz.
93: Edmond, Okla.
94. West Des Moines, Iowa
95. Coeur d'Alene, Idaho
96. Eugene, Ore.
97. Kansas City
98. Henderson, Nev.
99. Savannah, Ga.
100: Colchester, Vt.

[CaptRon]

Ya think they could have listed them all with a link to the article? (Or maybe they did and I missed it. It is 10 PM on Friday ya know).

[Bryan24]

Interesting?

I call it utter nonsense.

More like a list of “Where can I spend my daddy’s fortune on a startup business and still pal around with my liberal friends?”

[buccaneer81]

I was staying at the Nashville Downtown Hilton, (beautiful hotel) next to the Predators area a couple years ago. Took a right and headed west (?), looking for a liquor store. Man, it was like the third world.

But here in Columbus, we're no different. It's the visitors I worry about hitting the wrong parts of town.

[familyop]

LOL! The best place to start a business is around the ski resorts in Colorado. ...only problem is that some of the recent, young locals and their single mothers hate visitors, calling them “gapers” (even on their bumper stickers) tailgating and threatening them.

[fieldmarshaldj]

You were in SoBro. That area is being slowly transformed for the better. It was a nothing area for a long time, mostly parking lots and non-descript businesses for years. Those replaced the residential that had been there prior to that but was largely demolished by the ‘40s and ‘50s. Used to have lots of beautiful homes downtown, mansions, etc., but they were almost all demolished to the last. There’s technically only 2 former houses left in the CBD.

The problem in our city, with our new moonbat Mayor is that the focus is downtown redevelopment and the rich enclaves that elected him, and to hell with my area of town (a working-class/lower-class multiracial area that voted for his more moderate opponent). Of course, he’s not the first to ignore our area. They’re content to have illegals infesting this area, far away from the rich folks (the Mayor, who married into Republican wealth and is squandering all his late father-in-law’s money on his political runs), who do all their yard, pool and construction work for them. They make me sick.

[tbw2]

Texas kicked in a business “surcharge” this year - basically an income tax if your business makes more than 30K. That probably hurt the rankings.

[OldEagle]

And don’t forget the two all time winners: Grocery Store and Funeral Home!

[Syncro]

Yum, rat poison

[McLynnan]

I was surprised Georgetown is #2. Pretty town, but awful traffic for its size, expensive housing and Austin’s liberal atmosphere.

[TYVets]

I am surprised that there a very few Texas cities on the list.

Since this list comes from CNN I would assume the vast majority of the cities were in blue states.

[indthkr]

bump

[bray]

Peoples Republic of Portland is 6, if you like extreme liberalism/high taxes, its perfect.

Pray for W and Our Troops

[freespirited]

Bethesda, MD is #5? I think they’re nuts.

I know they are.