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posted 05/26/10 10:06 AM | updated 05/26/10 10:06 AM
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Seattle Wins #2 Spot on "Best Cities for Next Decade" List

By Michael van Baker
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Seattle is "ready for take-off," ranking just behind Austin, TX, on Kiplinger's "Best Cities for the Next Decade" list, which gives points for innovative thinking. Topeka, KS, was tenth. Portland didn't make the list. Kiplinger's is a personal finance and business magazine that apparently needs the kind of publicity that running a Top 10 list will bring you. (Just like we're the kind of magazine that reports on Top 10 lists!)

Senior editor Robert Frick lays out the rationale: "It’s no coincidence that economic vitality and livability go hand in hand. Creativity in music, arts and culture, plus neighborhoods and recreational facilities that rank high for 'coolness,' attract like-minded professionals who go on to cultivate a region’s business scene."

Ironically, the lede's money quote is from Mark Emmert, our skipping-town president of the University of Washington: "We only have two products here: smart people and great ideas." Kiplinger's is bullish on Boeing and the 787, the University of Washington's research-dollar magnetism, our global health scene (Gates Foundation, Washington Global Health Alliance), and clean tech (McKinstry).

They also noted we have tons of office space, and close with a quote from the OECD's Stephen Johnson: "We realized with this recession that our city and region need to be much more aggressive in business development."

For the wonks, the ranking factored in population growth, the unemployment rate, income growth, and cost of living, weighted by public-transit infrastructure* and creative classiness. (*So that's one thing Central Link and the SLUT have done for us already.) From this, Martin Prosperity Institute research director Kevin Stolarick "derived a formula that identifies cities with current and likely future growth in high-quality jobs and income." (Keeping in mind, of course, that the MPI is led by Mr. Creative Class, Richard Florida.)

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Austin? Played
No comment on Seattle being number 2 - but Austin as numero uno?

Don't get me wrong - I love Austin, and I've been there twice a year for the past several years. But this town is seriously overbuilt already (the main highway seems worse than I5 most of the day). It's bloody hot in the summer (over 100 for days on end last visit), so you have to live inside in sterile air-conditioning. Virtually no draft beer.

Dell is played - they sure aren't a company of the next 10 years. So basically you've got state gov't (both the gov't itself and the university) to support the town.

But if you do visit....

- Be sure to check out the bats if the weather is warm.
- Go on Sunday night to the Continental Club, where the house band for the last n years (Heybale!) holds court. It's real, it's Austin as you imagine.
- Also in town in the Broken Spoke, a classic old honkytonk where modern Austin folks can go for a family night out (that means the lesbian daughter is comfortable dancing with her partner, mixed-race families abound, and if you're a young hottie, expect an elderly gentleman or two to doff his hat and respectfully ask a dance [hint for the codgers: the girls always say yes]).

It's a fun place to visit. City of the future? nah, I'll head to Portland
Comment by bilco
2 days ago
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