2008 has been the year of “Best of..” lists for Raleigh. Raleigh was #1 on MSNBC’s “Best Places to Live” in July and Best Places for Business and Careers on Forbes. I’m starting to believe that the city is paying off the magazines and voters. The latest is the “Best Performing Cities of 2008” and Raleigh was edged out by some city called Provo-Orem in Utah. We are obviously up there with the finest.
The Milken Institute/Greenstreet Real Estate Partners Best Performing Cities Index ranks U.S. metropolitan areas by how well they are creating and sustaining jobs and economic growth. The components include job, wage and salary and technology growth.
Is Raleigh really growing as fast as these lists continue to state? With all the new condos under construction and talk of more skyscrapers, it would seem as though we are booming. But will these condos sell? We are one of the few areas in the country where houses are selling at a higher than average rate.
And I continue to ask…Where is the retail in Downtown? Taz and Holly Aiken can only hold down Wilmington Street for so long. Why isn’t our city courting any retail locations that will make the downtown contiually progress. I can’t wait to be on the list of “Fastest Growing Retail Sector in a Post Suburbia-era Downtown.”
North Carolina has 2 other cities on the top 25 Best Performing Cities of 2008, Wilmington and Durham. See all results here.
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