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Huntsville Ranked #1 City In 2009 By Kiplinger’s

At a time when the Huntsville/Madison County community has received nearly unprecedented rankings and recognition for its job growth, technology creation, and quality of life, along comes its most lofty ranking yet – Kiplinger’s Personal Finance #1 city in the U.S. in 2009.

Chamber of Commerce of Huntsville/Madison County Board Chair Irma Tuder said the ranking is more good news in the community’s on-going workforce recruitment and targeted industry recruitment efforts.

“This ranking illustrates what we have been saying about our community for a long time, that Huntsville is truly a smart place to live, work and play,” Tuder said. “This is a tremendous honor for everyone here – and Kiplinger’s reporter Jane Clark indicated that she not only found Huntsville to be an excellent place for high-tech job growth, but also for its intellectual and entrepreneurial energy.”

The reporter visited Huntsville for several days in April and met with a number of local officials, including Huntsville Mayor Tommy Battle, and visited several attractions and businesses, including the U.S. Space & Rocket Center, the HudsonAlpha Institute for Biotechnology, Huntsville Botanical Garden as well as taking tours of Cummings Research Park, Redstone Arsenal and the historic Twickenham district in Huntsville.

“In just a few days, the reporter was able to quickly see and feel what makes our community so unique,” said Tuder. “As we recruit people to our community to fill our many high-tech jobs, a ranking like this is a wonderful image enhancement tool for us. We will use this information in all of our recruiting efforts and we hope and believe it will be a catalyst for people to take a more in-depth look at our community as a possible place to start or advance their careers.”

Huntsville Mayor Tommy Battle praised the magazine as well.

“I’d like to thank Kiplinger’s Personal Finance for recognizing Huntsville’s diverse work force and dynamic economy in this year’s rankings. This number one ranking highlights the strength of our entire community and gives another example of why Huntsville remains the bright and shining star of Alabama. We’re very proud of our community and thankful to Kiplinger’s for highlighting our story.”

According to a release issued by the magazine Tuesday, Kiplinger’s Personal Finance named its “10 Best Cities of 2009” by selecting locales offering solid employment opportunities and the talent to create new, well-paying positions. A healthy job market means these cities will suffer less during the recession and will have a head start toward growth when the recovery takes off. This year’s favorites are profiled in the July issue of Kiplinger’s Personal Finance, on newsstands June 9, and online at www.kiplinger.com/money/bestcities, with additional interactive features.

The release also stated that when identifying the Best Cities of 2009, Kiplinger’s teamed with Kevin Stolarick, research director at the Martin Prosperity Institute, a think tank that studies economic prosperity. Stolarick evaluated U.S. cities for their growth potential, looking not just at the overall number of jobs but also at the quality of those positions and the ability of cities to hold on to them when the economy softens.

“Although downturns are felt by everyone, our research has shown that the impact is less severe for those in the creative class—people who are paid to think,” says Stolarick. “People in fields such as science, engineering, architecture, and education are catalysts of vitality and livability in a city,” the release stated.

“We know that most of our readers work in such professions,” said Kiplinger’s senior editor Robert Frick. “Our list is tailor-made to be of interest to our readers.”

Kiplinger’s Best Cities of 2009:

1.     Huntsville, AL

2.     Albuquerque, NM

3.     Washington, DC

4.     Charlottesville, VA

5.     Athens, GA

6.     Olympia, WA

7.     Madison, WI

8.     Austin, TX

9.     Flagstaff, AZ

10.   Raleigh, NC

More on Ranking Methodology
Kiplinger’s included data on population growth, unemployment rate, income growth, and cost of living to determine city rankings. Martin Prosperity Institute research director Kevin Stolarick came up with a formula that identifies cities with stable employment—even in tough times. Based on the formula, Kiplinger’s looked for places with a professional, high-quality workforce that will help generate new jobs and businesses once the recession ends. Also included in the formula is a “creative class” measure, which comes from Stolarick’s work with Richard Florida, academic director of the Martin Institute and author of The Rise of the Creative Class. This measure reflects the number of creative-class workers—including educators, writers, and scientists—living in the area. Further research involved traveling to cities and interviewing insiders about prospects for continued prosperity. The rankings factor in both the data and the results of Kiplinger’s reporting.