Cincinnati [sigh]

How does the saying go ... anything that isn't bad news is good news. Actually, I don't know if that is the saying or not. However, I do know that it has been a long time since those glory days in the mid-1990s when Cincinnati was being touted as the 'best place to live' in national magazines. I run a small business incubator. Our main purpose for existing is to help emerging businesses create jobs and encourage economic development in the urban core of our town. So, it was tough to see the news that Forbes Magazine's "Best Cities for Jobs" listing ranked the Cincinnati area at 56 (our of the top 100), using five criteria: unemployment rate, job growth, income growth, median household income and cost of living.


The good news is that our town's 2007 ranking (#56) is up one place from the 2006 ranking ... and we are ahead of most other cities in our Tri-State (Indiana, Kentucky and Ohio) ahead of most cities in the region. The Tri-State did best in the cost-of-living area, where it ranked 15th, and worst for income growth, at 84th.

Among regional cities, only the Indianapolis area did better, at 41, although that was a drop from its 18th-place ranking last year. Akron moved up to 61 from 74 in 2006; Columbus dropped to 65 from 54; Louisville fell to 79 from 76; the Cleveland area moved up to 92 from 94; Dayton dropped to 95 from 88; and Toledo inched up to 96 from 97.


Folks in my family are employed, however, if they were to seek jobs they would be interested to know that Atlanta (#22), Los Angeles (#88), San Diego (#31) and Washington DC (#5) were also on the list.

I guess if you are looking for employment ... it would be good to move to Raleigh-Cary, NC. That is the #1 city for jobs according to Forbes. Detroit area ranked at the bottom of the list. I guess if you're from Motown the good news is that there has to be a 101st city someplace in the country !


Click here to see a slideshow of the top 25 cities. Did your city make the list?