Five upstate cities are among the top 20 places in the nation to "start over," according to a new ranking from Business Week.
What does it mean to be a good place to "start over?" Mostly it has to do with employment, according to the magazine.
To identify where job-seekers have a shot at a second chance, Businessweek.com evaluated 100 metro areas based on employers' 2010 Q1-Q4 hiring expectations in Manpower's quarterly Employment Outlook Survey, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics unemployment rate data, year-on-year change in unemployment, and year-on-year change in number of jobs.
The Washington, D.C. area gets the top spot on the list, but upstate New York is no slouch. Here are the cities and their rankings:
- #9 - Buffalo-Niagara Falls
- #10 - Syracuse
- #11 - Poughkeepsie-Newburgh-Middletown
- #16 - Rochester (and surrounding suburbs)
- #18 - Albany-Schenectady-Troy
The magazine explains that most of the top cities offer the following:
Most places on the list share a stable employment base in government, health care, and education, as well as programs and resources to support startups, especially in the high-tech sector.
The "stability in government employment" note is interesting, given recent word about increasing lay-offs by state and local government - we'll see how long upstate can hold onto its position in the rankings.
Slideshow of all the winners here.
(h/t to the Democrat and Chronicle)
