Best places for Careers and Businesses

[Sachin]

http://biz.yahoo.com/special/bestplaces05.html

From Forbes.

Boise, ID # 1

Sachin

[prk166]

Giddy up!

I looked at this one last year. IIRC Boise's been in the top 6 since 99. I realize the state's got a reputation for potatoes. But it really has changed a lot in Boise. IIRC the metro (MSA) population grew 60% between 1990 and 2002. Yet compared to a lot places the crime is low, the traffic nearly nothing, and you can still nab a decent house for 150k-200k (depending on what you consider decent). It doesn't suprise me to see it finally top the list.

[prk166]

http://www.idahostatesman.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050511/NEWS02/505110311/1029

Idaho had the lowest cost of doing business in the western United States last year, according to a new Economy.com report.

The group found that Idaho had the lowest overall business costs in the West, followed closely by Utah and Oregon.

The report comes on the heels of Boise being declared No. 1 in Forbes Magazine's annual Best Places for Business and Careers list.

Only nine other states had lower business costs than Idaho, the report said.

[FearM9]

Just keep in mind some of the following (and FWIW I work in Boise, but live in rural Canyon County).......

* This is still not a very rich valley. You've got pockets of high income folks, but overall the Treasure Valley is not high $. This is very evident in the retail sector where I work parttime (REI). Stores our size or even smaller in areas like California or Colorado pull in twice as much as we do and it's because there is a bigger base of higher income folks.

* It's still a very conservative area, but you do have areas of liberalism/progressiveism.

* Diversity...what's that? That's actually a nice thing.

* If you are looking for high brow culture, a nightlife "scene", a smorgasborg of great restaurants...go to NYC..not Boise.

* All the growth is towards the west, thus traffic sucking if going/coming west. My morning commute is anywhere from 45 mins to over an hour. Going home at night is much quicker...but then again I go home late.

* If you are a very outdoorsy person...this is the place for you. An abundance of recreational opportunities like cycling, hiking, whitewater, climbing, running are either within the city or just on the edge. If you are fat and lazy and prefer to spend your time surfing an internet message board...then you're at home in any city.

* I do believe salaries are a bit less here when compared to other areas, but then again the cost of living is cheaper.

* The infrastructure of the valley is not able to handle the growth...especially in the western part.

* From 5-6pm...downtown Boise starts shutting down. After that it's a ghost town save for one block of 8th Street.

* Idaho still continues to have a high corporate income tax rate, especially compared to our surrounding neighbors.

* The 2005 Legislature recently passed some bills to help lure and retain employers that bring in high paying jobs. Property tax breaks, tax credits.

* Alot of job growth (forgot the percentage, but it's up there) was attributable to service and retail jobs. Not exactly high paying gigs.

* Several years ago, some study came out saying Boise was one of the leaders in job startups or sumpin' like that. What it boiled down to were folks starting up lawn mowing businesses and parttime painting gigs.

* Several big high tech firms are here....Micron, HP. HP just "accepted" several hundred voluntary retirements or something similar. Micron is still debating on whether to expand here or somewhere else (they had special legislation passed for 'em...hopefully they stay).

[prk166]

Not suprised to hear about the jobs. The median income's still low compared to the US. But it's the Intermountain West. The area of the country that traditionally gave the deep South competition for lack of $.

[TEConnor]

#5 on the list is Albuquerque, my home town...which I am still in touch with.

ABQ is a nice place, in parts, has a gorgeous back drop, and has a lot to offer. I'd move there in a heartbeat if I could find a decent job in my field (maybe someday). However, there are a lot of challenges out there. 90 percent of the town and the main suburb (Rio Rancho) is total crap. Ugly doesn't even describe it. The other 10 % is pure heaven. But that's what everybody wants and not surprisingly there is a premium on nice housing in the few quaint neighborhoods. You can plop down a trailer anywhere or pick up a cheap house in one of the endlessly expanding faceless tract home developments. But if you want something with a modicum of character, you're paying out the wazoo.

As you will note from the Forbes rankings, crime is relatively high. Education is mediocre. Culture & Leisure...well, there's lots of leisure within driving distance and in the city, but culture is something you have to look for, pretty hard.

The key statistic there is income growth. Don't expect to see yourself making a lot of money there, but you sure will spend it. If fuel continues to go up, cities like ABQ will be the hardest hit. Everything about the city is reliant on gas prices. As long as they remain high (or increase) wages will stay low to declining in most all sectors.

By the way, if you could find a way to work in Albuquerque just a day or two a week, telecommute the rest, and live in and around the Jemez wilderness or someplace like Pecos...that would be the ideal lifestyle, in my opinion. I'll let you know when I figure that out...

Tim

Cheers,
Tim

[prk166]

By the way, if you could find a way to work in Albuquerque just a day or two a week, telecommute the rest, and live in and around the Jemez wilderness or someplace like Pecos...that would be the ideal lifestyle, in my opinion. I'll let you know when I figure that out...

Thanks for the points on ABQ. I'll keep them in mind. It seems like a nice area overall. In this month's Atlantic Monthly ABQ was one of the undervalued markets for housing.