For those of us local Raleigh residents who hear and read about these accolades, it’s sort of ho-hum. To those seeking a “new land of opportunity”, Raleigh relocaters place a great deal of weight on these announcements. Just in case you missed the news, Kiplinger’s Personal Finance recently named Raleigh to it’s “10 Best Cities of 2009″ list. Impressive I must say given what has been an up and down local economy. Fortunately, we can thank our position as the capital of North Carolina, home to many high paying tech-oriented jobs in “the Park” and an affordable Raleigh housing market.

Raleigh is on a Roll!

Other top list the Raleigh/Triangle area has been named to includes:Raleigh, NC

  • #2 on the Milken Institute’s 2008 listing of “Best Performing Cities”
  • Raleigh-Cary metro statistical areas ranking No. 1o Forbes’ 2009 listing of “Best Metro Areas for Business and Careers.”

Characteristics of a Top 10 Kiplinger City?

  1. Large portion of the cities’ work force are in the “creative class” of employees. Examples of creative class employees include techies, those in the field of science, educators and engineers
  2. Flourishing start-up business environment. This characteristic is obviously powered by the Research Triangle Park and the wealth of local universities that foster start-ups
  3. Speaking of local universities, that is another key shared characteristic of many of the cities named to the Kiplinger top 10 list. Raleigh is home to North Carolina State University. Other prominent localauniversities include Duke University in Durham and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill along with many smaller institutions of higher learning.
  4. Another key component of Kiplinger’s list of top cities is the availabiulity of outstanding health care facilities. The greater Triangle area hospitals are consistently recognized for providing superior health care. Those hospitals include: Rex Healthcare/UNC Healthcare Systems, Wake Med, and Duke Medical.
  5. The last remaining ingrediant one would find in each top 10 cities is the element of cultural diversity available. Raleigh continues to expand it’s offering of entertainment, great eateries, lifestyle/recreational opportunities and events.

Great Reasons to Move to Ralegh, NC

All the above reasons make Raleigh (and Raleigh real estate) attractive. As a Raleigh resident, what other characteristics/attributes would you add to this list?

Until my next post,

Jim Allen