The Kiplinger/Richard Florida 25 Best Cities are:

5/15/2007 - Washington, DC (May 14, 2007) – “Where you live is key to your wealth and happiness no matter what stage you are in life.” So says Richard Florida, international best-selling author of the landmark book, The Rise of the Creative Class. Kiplinger’s Personal Finance teamed with Florida and the Creative Class Group to pick 25 cities with a large creative class—a population that fuels cultural and economic vitality—that are suited for people in different life stages. The Kiplinger/Richard Florida 25 Best Cities feature is the cover story of the June 2007 issue of Kiplinger’s Personal Finance (on newsstands May 15) and at
www.kiplinger.com/links/bestcities.

The Rise of the Creative Class explores how 40 million Americans who create for a living drive economic growth. This creative class is found in a variety of fields, from engineering to theater, biotech to education, architecture to small business. For the first time ever, Kiplinger’s teamed up with Florida and his associates for the Best Cities List for the creative class at every life stage, says Kiplinger’s Personal Finance Senior Editor Robert Frick. “Not only do you want a strong economy where wages and opportunities keep rising, you want a cool place to call home that fits your lifestyle,” he says.

Kevin M. Stolarick a senior research partner with the Creative Class Group and assistant professor at Carnegie Mellon University explains, “We compiled the list with our three T’s measurement of talent, tolerance and technology and added economic indicators of job growth and income.” For each life stage, the list also weighs the number of similar people already living in the city. To further customize the list, factors specific to the different life stages were included. So, for example, special consideration was given to cities with high numbers of bars and restaurants for young singles. Cities with excellent education ranked highly for families and those with low-cost healthcare ranked highly for retirees.

Florida states, “Place matters now more than ever, it powers the global economy, transforms our economic future and shapes our happiness.”

The Kiplinger/Richard Florida 25 Best Cities are:

Young Singles

Austin, TX
Denver, CO
Lexington, KY
Raleigh, NC
Washington, DC

Mid-level Professionals

Boise, ID
Fayetteville, NC
Huntsville, AL
Kansas City, MO
Portland, ME

Married with Kids

Atlanta, GA
Des Moines, IA
Green Bay, WI
Minneapolis-St. Paul, MN
Provo, UT

Empty-nesters

Boulder, CO
Charleston, WV
Madison, WI
San Francisco, CA
Seattle, WA

Retirees

Harrisburg, PA
Pittsburgh, PA
Port. St. Lucie, FL
Roanoke, VA
Tampa Bay, FL

The Kiplinger/Richard Florida 25 Best Cities package includes these features online:



RICHARD FLORIDA AND THE CREATIVE CLASS GROUP

Entrepreneur, speaker, researcher, and go-to guru, Richard Florida is the founder of the Creative Class Group, a global think tank that develops new ideas and strategies for business, government and community competitiveness with headquarters in Washington, D.C. In the last five years, Richard has penned two national bestsellers, The Rise of the Creative Class and The Flight of the Creative Class, which launched an intellectual revolution that has changed the way companies, nations, and communities compete and thrive. His discovery of the “creative class” has been lauded by the Harvard Business Review as one of the major breakthrough ideas of our time and has inspired leading companies like Apple, BMW, and Virgin Atlantic to rethink their marketing and business strategies. Richard is the Hirst Professor of Public Policy at George Mason University and a senior scientist with the Gallup Organization.

Kiplinger's Personal Finance magazine has been providing millions of Americans with down-to-earth advice on managing their money and achieving financial security since 1947. Along with Kiplinger.com, it is a source of advice and information on stocks, bonds, mutual funds, taxes, credit, homeownership, paying for college, retirement planning, car buying and many other personal finance topics.