Boise makes second Forbes top 10 list

Seriously who at BVEP has blackmail photos on Forbes?

For the second time this week Boise has made a Forbes top 10 list.  We were #7 for up and coming tech cities.  Now we’re at #2 for Best Places for Business and Careers.  Business?  Maybe. Careers?  Tell that to all the people on the Monday morning red-eye on their way to Seattle or SFO.

Boise was actually the only city to make both lists.  I think it’s great we make these lists, as I hope they’ll bring much needed talent and resources.  My fear is that our political leaders will see this as a sign that "everything’s great, we don’t need to do anything."

So how did we get to be second best of all metro cities over 240,000 in population?

#17 for cost of doing business

• Index based on cost of labor, energy, taxes and office space.

#13 for Job Growth

• 5-year annualized figures.

#87 for Educational Attainment

• Share of Population over age 25 with a bachelor’s degree or higher. (I’m glad my MBA helped us out there)

#90 For Colleges

• Measure of 4-year colleges in area with extra credit for highly rated schools

#110 for Cost of Living

• Index based on cost of housing, utilities, transportation and other expenditures

#169 for Culture & Leisure

• Index based on museums, theaters, golf course, sports teams and other activities. (I think the Boise Burn helped us out there)

#30 for Income Growth

• 5-year annualized figures

#15 for Net Migration

• This must be why no cities in California made the list.

Apparently all of that adds up to #2.  My favorite quote from the article:

Interestingly, six of the 10 metro areas are anchored by capital cities; maybe lobbyist spending boosts an economy.

hahahahahahahahaha.

We managed to beat out several Intermountain Northwest cities including: Fort Collins #3, Olympia and Spokane #8 & 9, Provo #11, Albuquerque #13 (sorry Bill), Colorado Springs #16,  Seattle #20 and Ogden #23

What the report doesn’t take into account is proximity to other metro up-n-comers.  Olympia and Seattle are 60 miles from each other.  Provo and Ogden are within 80 miles of each other with SLC in the middle. 

There isn’t another city on this list that is within 400 miles of Boise.  Is there even another metro city with a population greater than 240,000 within 400 miles?

Coeur d’Alene and Pocatello did make the Best Small Places list at #21 & 22 respectively. 

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