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America's SMARTEST Cities - Is Your City Listed?

By Ann Cummings

Real Estate Agent with RE/MAX Shoreline - NH and Maine NH and Maine Broker

December 16, 2006 01:27 AM

Forbes Magazine just released their list of the smartest cities in America, and this time around, Boulder Colorado took the top honors. Boulder stood out not necessarily because the University of Colorado is there, but because Boulder makes great effort in making their city "sticky", keeping college graduates in the area, living and working after they graduate. Two of the things cited for making Boulder an exciting place to live were the outdoor lifestyle and the employment opportunities. Way to go Boulder!!

Forbes used the information gleemed from Sperling's Best Places to live, and took from that the 200 biggest metropolitan areas around the country. They then ranked them based on the percentage of population that's 25 years old and older, and at minimum had a bachelor's degree.

Bethesda Maryland, came in #2, home to the National Institutes of Health and also Lockheed Martin. Ann Arbor, Michigan came in number 3, which is home to the University of Michigan. Cambridge Massachusetts came in at #4. Cambridge is home to Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Harvard University.

Other cities in the top group include Durham North Carolina - #6, home to Duke University, and Fort Collins-Loveland area in Colorado, which is home to Colorado State Univerity, came in at #7. Washington DC and San Jose California are also in the top 10 smartest cities in America.

Forbes also ranked smaller cities as well, and those have populations of 50,000 or more. Number 1 position went to Ithaca New York, home to Cornell University. Ames Iowa, home of Iowa State University is #2, while State College Pennsylvania, Corvallis Oregon, and College Station in Texas complete the top 5 smartest smaller cities in America.

It sounds to me like THE place to live for this list is near colleges and universities, as well as near high-employment opportunities. High tech areas and bio-tech areas seem to rank pretty highly.

Did your area make the list? Mine didn't, but then again, Portsmouth New Hampshire is too small to be included on any of these lists. But, if they did a list that included cities between 20,000 and 30,000, I've no doubt the Portsmouth NH area would definitely show up!! We do have the University of New Hampshire in Durham just about 15 minutes away, and that's a great school, and of course, we do also offer some great living here as well!

RE/MAX New Hampshire


Ann Cummings, New Hampshire & Maine REALTOR
RE/MAX Coast to Coast
Portsmouth NH
  ann@anncummings.com
888-349-5678 x 3839
Servicing the Coastal Areas of NH & Southern Maine

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Ann Cummings

RE/MAX Shoreline - NH and Maine - Portsmouth, NH

Portsmouth NH Real Estate Preferrable Agent

Monika - maybe one of these years they'll do a survey of small towns/cities, and then perhaps we can be included. Of course, if they do, then the world will discover our areas and we may want to head for the hills if that happens!! ;-)

Ann

Dec 16, 2006 04:53 AM

Ann Cummings

RE/MAX Shoreline - NH and Maine - Portsmouth, NH

Portsmouth NH Real Estate Preferrable Agent

Maureen - thanks for the link in your blog! I really appreciate that. Maybe Columbus will be on the list next year?

Don - I'm sure for every list like this that exists, there's a bunch of different criteria. I think the usual assumption is that those with degees are smarter, or better educated, and we all know that that isn't necessarily the case, however it was part of the criteria used on Forbes' ranking.

Ann

Dec 16, 2006 04:57 AM

Ann Cummings

RE/MAX Shoreline - NH and Maine - Portsmouth, NH

Portsmouth NH Real Estate Preferrable Agent

Ines - thanks for your comments, and you're right, Miami does have some great schools! Maybe you'll see Miami on there next time!

Ann

Dec 16, 2006 04:59 AM

Maureen McCabe

HER Realtors - Columbus, OH

Columbus Ohio Real Estate

How would you test a cities IQ? Maybe it is really a quiz of how educated a city is, rather than how smart it is but Smart Cities is catchier. I really dislike Forbes site with all the pop-ups and talking ads but I get sucked in everytime they rate cities.

Was Forbes.com the the ones that did the flawed drunkest cities? I believe they were ... I blogged about it when that list came out (Columbus made the list ... in the top 5?) and I blogged about it when it was discredited.

Dec 16, 2006 06:17 AM

Mary McKnight

Sacrilicious Marketing - Orlando, FL

Great list! Number #4, the best we could do was #4! Come on Cambridge- you got Harvard and MIT- put a little extra effort into it would, ya?

Dec 16, 2006 07:50 AM

Ann Cummings

RE/MAX Shoreline - NH and Maine - Portsmouth, NH

Portsmouth NH Real Estate Preferrable Agent

Mary - I would have thought Cambridge would have come in a little higher with those instituitions PLUS all that high-tech and bio-tech stuff they've got going on all around there!

Maureen - I think it was Forbes.com that had that list. They've usually got quite a few lists throughout each year. I saw several other lists on their site when I was on it earlier.

Ann

Dec 16, 2006 09:33 AM

"The Lovely Wife" The One And Only TLW.

President-Tutas Towne Realty, Inc. - Kissimmee, FL

'Hi Ann' Sorry I am so late. I am a Big Durham N.C. fan glad to see it make the 'brain list'. TLW...ROAR!

Dec 16, 2006 11:17 AM

Derek and Mariana Wagner

The Artisan Group- Keller Williams Premier Realty - Colorado Springs, CO

The Artisan Group - Colorado Springs REALTORS®

Colorado has 2 smart cities. Both are HUGE college towns, with wonderful schools. Now, Boulder has some of the most expensive real estate in the state, so I am slightly baffled at how they keep it so sticky ... as there is NO WAY a new college grad could afford it there... But, somehow, they DO! Thanks for the great post, Ann!

Dec 16, 2006 11:59 AM

Carole Cohen

Howard Hanna Cleveland City Office - Cleveland, OH

Realtor, ePRO

Mary, at least you made #4; well, I bet if top ten medical cities were rated we'd be close if not in the top ten; does that count? LOL

Dec 16, 2006 12:59 PM

John Novak

Keller Williams Realty The Marketplace - Las Vegas, NV

Henderson, Las Vegas and Summerlin Real Estate

Hmm, didn't see Las Vegas on the list and I've always thought I was pretty sharp! Must be the neighbors :) On a side note, both Henderson and North Las Vegas are some of the fastest growing cities in the nation - so we must be doing something right to attract so many new residents!

Dec 16, 2006 07:18 PM

Rick & Ines - Miami Beach Real Estate

Majestic Properties - Miami Beach, FL

Ann - Miami will never make it there - all you have to do is drive through any major intersection during rush hour traffic hour and that will answer any doubts.

Dec 17, 2006 05:40 PM

Anonymous

Kyle

I am a student at the University of Colorado in Boulder and my Islamic studies professor sent this post to all of his students. I also happen to be from Portsmouth, New Hampshre where my mother is a realtor so you can imagine my confusion when I got to the end of this article and I started reading Ann's personal notes - as a realtor in Portsmouth, NH. I have to say both towns/cities kick butt, but my heart lies in Portsmouth where we've got the smarts, and the seaside. There's nothing better.

Dec 19, 2006 10:38 AM

#17

Sam Chapman

Lakeway, TX

The smartest cities list is interesting, but it is also pretty misleading. Finding a smart city just by the number of degrees keeps the list way to narrow. How about looking at things like the number of patents issued annually, the number of corporate headquarters, the number of research facilities, the number of museums and more criteria of this nature? Austin is an incredibly bright city if you look beyone just the diploma thing. BUT - as our population grows, the "smart" thing using Forbes criteria becomes diluted. I'm sure this is true in many cities across the country.

Dec 24, 2006 05:53 AM

Ann Cummings

RE/MAX Shoreline - NH and Maine - Portsmouth, NH

Portsmouth NH Real Estate Preferrable Agent

TLW - thanks for stopping by! I have family members that are also BIG Durham NC fans as well!

Mariana - Thanks for the comments, and congrats on 2 Colorado cities making that list!

Dec 24, 2006 09:29 AM

Ann Cummings

RE/MAX Shoreline - NH and Maine - Portsmouth, NH

Portsmouth NH Real Estate Preferrable Agent

Carole - thanks for stopping by......it would be interesting to see a Top 10 Medical Cities list - I'd bet there'd be some interesting choices on that list.

John - I have been reading for some time now about the phenomenal growth that's been going on in Las Vegas! I have friends that moved out there a couple of years ago, and it's amazing the appreciation they'd been experiencing in the real estate they owned.

Dec 24, 2006 09:32 AM

Ann Cummings

RE/MAX Shoreline - NH and Maine - Portsmouth, NH

Portsmouth NH Real Estate Preferrable Agent

Ines - You may be right about Miami never making that "smart' list, but who knows what the future may bring!! I've been to Miami, and I saw some beautiful parts of that area.

Thanks again for stopping by!
Ann

Dec 24, 2006 09:33 AM

Ann Cummings

RE/MAX Shoreline - NH and Maine - Portsmouth, NH

Portsmouth NH Real Estate Preferrable Agent

Kyle - I can't thank you enough for reading my post, and for your comments. it was interesting to read how your professor used my post on the "Smartest Cities in America".

I read your post and wondered who your mom was, and then I had a message from her. She told me of your call to her to see if she knew me - and she certainly does! The internet has certainly made this big world we live in a little smaller at times, hasn't it?

I hope you're home in Portsmouth, and enjoying the holidays and school break!

Merry Christmas to you and your family!

Ann Cummings

Dec 24, 2006 09:36 AM

Ann Cummings

RE/MAX Shoreline - NH and Maine - Portsmouth, NH

Portsmouth NH Real Estate Preferrable Agent

Sam - I would tend to agree with you, there are many ways to measure all kinds of things about cities, in addition to the way Forbes measured it. I'm sure for every level of measurement we could come up with, the list would continually change.

Thanks for reading my post and for your comments!

Ann

Dec 24, 2006 09:39 AM

Jay Beckingham

Christensen Financial Mortgage - Port St Lucie, FL

Seniors ROCK!

i loved working in portsmouth and i graduated from UNH.

i don't think the size has anything to do with smartness and that should be recognized.

Jun 27, 2007 03:13 AM

Ann Cummings

RE/MAX Shoreline - NH and Maine - Portsmouth, NH

Portsmouth NH Real Estate Preferrable Agent

Hi Jay - thanks for commenting on this post, and I would agree with you completely that size has nothing to do with smartness. None at all!!! Portsmouth is a great place to live!

Ann

Jun 27, 2007 04:32 AM