What Makes a City People-Friendly?
There is a lot that goes into choosing a location for your business or career. People look at a number of factors including various costs, available workforce, accessibility, and quality of life. But what does having high quality of life actually look like in some of the fastest growing tech hubs in the US?Â
Quality of life factors are becoming increasingly important in where businesses locate. For some people, it is about climate, access to nature, and abundant recreational activities. For others, it might be vibrant neighborhoods, diverse communities, and opportunities to engage in art and cultural activities.
As it turns out, there are ways to quantify quality of life. U.S. cities like Raleigh, Columbus, and Austin rank highest in terms of their quality of life in Numbeo’s Quality of Life Index, making them some of the most promising hubs for growing teams. WalletHub’s Happiness Index is based on factors like mental and physical health, strong social connections, job satisfaction and financial well-being. U.S. cities like Dallas, Atlanta and Chicago are highly ranked according to the 2020 World Happiness Report.
The fact that some of the most rapidly growing cities in the U.S. are also most livable cities in the U.S. is no coincidence. Austin gives a lush environment that boosts liveability. Phoenix offers mountainous terrain ripe for hikers. Salt Lake City and Denver are also perfectly situated to be havens for hikers, climbers, skiers, and anyone that enjoys a great view.
To make it easier for growing companies and talented individuals to research potential cities, and learn about up-and-coming tech hubs, we created the City Selector Tool. The tool has several metrics for determining quality of life in a way that works for you. Learn more about quality of life in this issue of The Mid-Point.
Inside this issue
- Where Can You Find a New Job? Try These U.S. Cities
- Balancing Quality of Life and Market Opportunity
- Here’s Why This Explosively Growing Region Is More Than Music City USA
- Experience a Stellar Quality of Life in Tech Hubs Across the U.S.
Salt Lake City is home to the hottest job market in the U.S. In 2020, no metropolitan area in the country expanded the size of its labor force more on a percentage basis than Utah’s capital. It also had the lowest average unemployment rate and the highest share of people working or looking for jobs. These signs of strength helped it rank first among 53 large metro areas in an annual examination of U.S. labor markets, after ranking No. 4 in 2019.
Other cities that emerged as beacons to job seekers and businesses were also located far from the coasts. Hubs in the Southwest and Midwest such as Austin, Denver, Indianapolis and Kansas City minimized employment losses, kept unemployment relatively low and retained and attracted workers in a year when the U.S. lost more than 9 million jobs. Read More
If your company is looking to grow, it’s important to find a place where your team can thrive and still have access to a prosperous business market. Even today’s biggest tech firms are venturing beyond their first home in Silicon Valley and considering more than land availability and tax breaks.
Many businesses feel like they have to choose between cities with market opportunity and communities with high quality of life. However, the reality is that you can find a city that balances both. Using our new tool, we created a list of cities with filters including Happiness Index, Healthiest city index, Population with bachelor degree, STEM index, Job Market, and Opportunity Index. Read More
Middle Tennessee is a health ecosystem like no other. Nashville by far has greater reach and touches more patients through health service delivery than any city in the United States. HCA in Nashville has 35 million patient encounters annually, more than any health system in America. HealthStream virtually educates a quarter of a million unique healthcare professionals—every 24-hours! Meanwhile, Change Healthcare is one of the largest healthcare IT companies in the country and touches 1 in 3 patient records each year. Read More
Want to get involved in Nashville’s growing tech scene? Sign up for our Virtual Career Fair! The event is completely free and will feature some of the fastest-growing tech companies in the Nashville region. Amazon, Asurion, InfoWorks, Wellpath, and several others are looking for Engineers, Developers, and Business Analysts to join their teams. Register Here to get the chance to network with 10+ companies during the day-long event.
Experience a Stellar Quality of Life Across the U.S.
The Top Columbus Startups and Tech Companies To Watch in 2021
What makes Columbus such a great city for tech jobs and startups? It’s home to a major research university, its huge insurance industry has paved the way for many InsurTech startups, and with an affordable cost of living and amazing people, it’s a great place to live and work.
A Window of Opportunity for Brain Gain During the Pandemic
A growing community just north of Indy noted first on Zippia’s list of Best Cities For Remote Workers because of its proximity to Indy, affordable housing and tech infrastructure. San Francisco and New York did not make the list.
Austin Ranks Among Nation’s Top 5 Spots for Millennials on the Move
According to the fifth-annual study from SmartAsset, millennials are fleeing cities like Los Angeles and Chicago and migrating to other areas in search of work and a better quality of life, with Austin landing as the No. 4 hot spot for young professionals age 25 to 39.
University of Chicago Launching Nation’s First Quantum Startup Accelerator
The University of Chicago is launching the nation’s first quantum technology accelerator program, offering $20 million for startup companies to develop everything from unhackable internet systems and superfast computers to sensors that can detect disease on a cellular level.
