Raleigh, Durham and Chapel Hill, which are treated as a unit by Fortuneeditors, came in 5th on the business publication's annual list of "BestCities for Business."
Past rankings have evaluated the Triangle's global competitiveness (#6,1992), knowledge of workers (#1, 1993) and balance of work and family (#5,1996).
Cities are asked to respond to a set of criteria provided by Fortune.This year, the chambers of commerce in the three cities submitted a56-page document highlighting the accomplishments of the Triangle over thepast 10 years.
Among items cited: improvement and growth to ResearchTriangle Park; the creation of Centennial Campus at NC State University; avariety of new tax credits; the NC Biotechnology Center; and the breadthof media exposure the area has received.
Also highlighted were professional sports (the Carolina Hurricanes,Durham Bulls, Carolina Mudcats and the Raleigh Flyers); Walnut CreekAmphitheatre; the Interlocal Agreement; new and expanded museums; theDurham school merger; universities; medical facilities and property taxreductions.
The first four cities on the list were New York, Denver, Boston andSeattle. Atlanta came in 9th and Richmond ranked 10th.
The entire list will appear in the November 24th issue of Fortune.
Dublin, Ireland, heads the Europe section of the list; Kuala Lumpur,Malaysia, is thebest in Asia; and Santiago, Chile, is the place to be in LatinAmerica.
In its ninth year of rankings, Fortune focused on the most improved citiesand measured how wellmunicipalities had taken advantage of the thriving economy, now inthe seventh year of an expansion.
Using research by its staff and Arthur Andersen consultants,themagazine examined a wide range of criteria, from quantitativebusiness factors such as cost of labor and office rental rates, toquality of life, education, housing costs and the number ofStarbucks coffee shops.
New York wasn't even on Fortune's list of best cities lastyear,after five years of making the rankings. But with crime downsignificantly, Wall Street riding high -- before the shocks of thepast two weeks -- and with more corporations willing to stay in theBig Apple, the city is basking in its turnaround, the magazinecheers.
Also on the North American top 10 list, Cleveland is No. 6,followed by Indianapolis; Toronto, Canada (which was No. 1 on theinternational list last year); Atlanta and Richmond.
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