Relocate to Raleigh, Durham, Cary, Chapel Hill?

Forbes Magazine ranks Raleigh #1 for the second time in the annual 2008 Top Ten Places for Business and Careers Survey.

Million $ + homes are still pretty rare in the Triangle. In 2007 in Wake county over 19,000 homes were sold, but only 136 were $1 million or higher (.007 percent).

NC is the 6th fastest growing state and remains #10 in total population..

How did Triangle area towns do in the 14th edition of "City Crime Rankings: Crime in Metropolitan America"?

The Raleigh- Cary region ranks 10th on the list of metropolitan areas in the country for creating and sustaining jobs, according to a 2007 study prepared by the Milken Institute, non-profit think tank.

Home sales in Wake County declined a steep 29% in March 2008, compared to March 2007.

The Triangle Acquatic Center in Cary officially opened on October 28th and is now the largest indoor pool complex in North Carolina.

Ever wonder where all the population growth is coming from in Wake County? Start by digesting some of the birth statistics which total 13,000 annually and growing 5-6% per year.

NC does not fare well in latest nation-wide traffic study from the Reason Foundation. At #31 it's not the worst, which is NJ (as if you needed another reason to move from NJ)

Cary and Raleigh populations grew 5.1% and 3.9% respectively from 2005 to 2006 making them the fastest growing of North Carolina's larger cities.

Site Selection Magazine ranks Raleigh/Cary and Durham as #6 and #7 respectively by number of new projects.

Key Entrepreneurial Satisfaction Survey Report findings revealed by Council for Entrepreneurial Development (CED)

Forbes Magazine ranks Raleigh/Cary as # 1 in Best City for Jobs Survey, February 2007

The August 21 issue of Business Week talks about communities supplanting nations as the global hot spots of the competitive landscape. The Raleigh-Durham area is mentioned as one of several areas of the world "thriving as magnets of knowledge workers and investment". Click here

Raleigh-Durham "slips" to #6 overall in Forbes 6th Annual Listing of America's Best Cities for Singles, 2006.

Carolina News Wire features Associate Arrangements' article on attracting the best people.

Cary ranked # 5 in Money Magazines Best Places to Live-2006

Raleigh ranked #4 of 10 Best Big Cities to Live 2006 by Money Magazine

Chapel Hill and Durham are the only Triangle communities to receive the first ever Fit Community designation

Cary designated #7 of the "Top 10 Places to Raise Your Family in 2006" by Frommers

North Carolina ranks 3rd in Biotech industry by Ernst & Young annual survey.

See what the NY Times had to say about the Glenwood South area of Raleigh

Once again the Silicon Valley Leadership Group ranks the Triangle as the most attractive of the top technology areas in the US.

Associate Arrangements featured in News & Observer article.

North Carolina ranks # 3 in net population migration of people 60+.

Rolling Stone Magazine's "Schools that Rock: The Rolling Stone College Guide" lists Chapel Hill/Raleigh/Durham as #2, behind Seattle.

Research Triangle Park Region Ranks # 8 in Most Unwired Cities Survey by Intel

Associate Arrangements Featured in Cary Magazine Article on Relocation

Triangle Biotech industry ranks 5th overall in the nation, ahead of other regions such as San Diego, Seattle and Chicago.

How did Triangle area towns do in the 14th edition of "City Crime Rankings: Crime in Metropolitan America"? Here is how North Carolina cities with 75,000 or more residents ranked, from most safe to least safe, among 378 cities nationally:

Forbes Magazine ranks Raleigh/Cary as # 1 in "Best City for Jobs" Survey, February 2007. Here are the top 5.

Chapel Hill and Durham are the only Triangle communities to receive the first ever "Fit Community" designation.

The criteria, developed by Active Living, a Chapel Hill based non-profit organization that consults with commuities throughout the country on health issues, involves much more than just exercise related resources. Commuinities also had to demonstrate and prove their long-term committment to the health and well-being of their residents, not just the number of parks or bike trails.

North Carolina ranks 3rd in Biotech industry by Ernst & Young annual survey.

The Triangle area has the most critical mass of Biotech related activities in the state, but NC trails Massachusetts and California.

Cary designated #7 of the "Top 10 Places to Raise Your Family in 2006" by Frommers

Cary is the only city in North Carolina making the top 10 list in Frommer's first addition of "Best Places to Raise Your Family: The top 100 Affordable Communities in the US". The factors compared in the study included affordability, education, health and safety, standard of living, lifestyle and family population profile. So what does the top 10 look like? See below:

For the 2nd year in a row, the Silicon Valley Leadership Group ranks the Triangle as the most attractive of the top technology areas in the US.

In a recently published report entitled "Projections 2007, this group concluded the Triangle was #1 in overall attractiveness compared to several other major technology areas. Here is how the areas were ranked:

North Carolina ranks # 3 in net population migration of people 60+ during the period 1995-2000. As you would expect, NC trails far behind FL (#1) and AZ (#2), but ahead of NV (#4) and TX (#5).

In a study by the Milken Institute, a California think tank, the Triangle area ranked 5th in overall attractiveness for life-science companies and research. The Triangle bested regions such as San Diego, Seattle and Chicago, but trailed Boston, Philadelphia, New York and San Francisco. The Triangle stands out with it's skilled work force that grew 20% faster than the national average and only Boston has more graduates with doctorate degrees.

In a study by the US English Foundation, Wake County was found to be the most linguistically diverse county in the state of NC, with 70 languages spoken. During the past decade, the county's foreign born population has reached 500,000. Most common languages spoken:

NC population grew 1.4% from July 2003 to July 2004, adding more than 120,000 people. The top 10 states are ranked below:

TOP-GROWING STATES (7/03-7/04)

1. NEVADA: 4.1 percent
2. ARIZONA: 3 percent
3. FLORIDA: 2.3 percent
4. IDAHO: 1.9 percent
5. GEORGIA: 1.8 percent
6. TEXAS: 1.7 percent
7. UTAH: 1.6 percent
8. DELAWARE: 1.5 percent
9. NORTH CAROLINA: 1.4 percent
10. NEW MEXICO: 1.3 percent
Source: U.S. CENSUS BUREAU

Fortune Magazine's 2005 annual List of The 100 Best Companies to Work For has four area companies that have made this prestigeous list- Kimley Horn (#20), Cisco Systems (#25), Network Appliance (#27) and SAS Institute (#30). In 2004, SAS was the only NC company that made the list. Congratulations to Sysco Systems and Network Appliance who are also supscribers to the Triangle Gateway web resource for all their local employees.

Home sales in Wake County declined a steep 29% in March 2008, compared to March2007.

Wake county home sales in March 2008 were 1,245, 29% lower than March 2007. The average price of $259,000 was 2% higher than the prior year. Sales of more expensive homes faired about the samel. Approximately 38% of the homes sold or 480 homes were greater than $250,000 in price, a 28% decline from the prior year. Listings increased to 9,058 homes. At the March sales pace this inventory is equivalent to 7+ months supply, a slight drop from last month. See 7 year chart

2 area high schools ranked among the nation's top 100 by Newsweek report in 2006

Newsweek recently published the results of an annual ranking of the top 1,000 high schools according to a ratio called the Challenge Index-the number of Advanced Pacement or International Baccalaureate tests taken by all students, divided by the number of graduating seniors. Out of more than 1,000 schools recognized, the following area schools were ranked in the top 100:

Forbes ranks Raleigh #1 overall for the second time in Best Places for Business & Careers in 2008 survey.

This annual survey conducted by Forbes, includes criteria on income and job growth, cost of doing business, (the cost of such things as labor, energy, taxes and office space) and other characteristics such as qualifications of the available labor pool, crime rates, housing costs and net migrations.

When Dun & Bradstreet vice president of Analytical Services Jan Rowland ran the numbers for Entrepreneur and Dun & Bradstreet's 8th annual ranking of the best cities in the nation for entrepreneurship, one thing stuck out: Metropolitan areas in the South—from Texas to Florida and up through North Carolina—dominated the top 10. But it's the way that the South achieved its lofty position that she found intriguing.

"There are a significant number of new businesses [in the South] each year," she says. It's a trend that makes the area attractive to entrepreneurs. Having other young companies nearby represents an opportunity to grow business-to-business relationships, she notes, as they aren't yet locked into long-term supplier contracts.

In the South region rankings, RTP and the Charlotte area were ranked 5th and 6^th respectively.

Spearheaded by the growth of the Charlotte and Research Triangle metro areas, North Carolina now enjoys the nation's best business climate, according to Site Selection Magazine, a trade publication for corporate relocation specialists. The state was ranked third last year and climbed to the top of the magazine's rankings largely on the strength of business expansions and relocations during 2000, before the current economic slowdown hit. The magazine said North Carolina barely edged out California, Texas, Virginia and Florida for the top spot. The rankings are determined from five criteria that include total new and expanded corporate facilities for 2000; total new and expanded corporate facilities for 1998-2000; total new and expanded facilities per one million residents for 1998-2000; total new and expanded facilities per 1,000 square miles for 1998-2000; and results from the magazine's annual survey of corporate real estate executives who work for companies with nationwide operations.

The Council for Entrepreneurial Development (CEDNC) satisfaction survey of RTP entrepreneurs reveals the most prominent themes/issues:

1. The availability and retention of top management and qualified technical and non-technical talent again registered as the most significant concern for high growth entrepreneurs.
2. Research Universities fuel entrepreneurship. The proximity to research universities ranked as the area's greatest strength.
3. New sources of seed funding to prime startups. Access to alternative financing, such as grants and loans shows increasing importance.
4. Venture capital drives growth. Access to sources form seed and expansion stages remains a high priority and financing needs in general have gained in importance.

For the complete summary of findings click on the link below:

Source: 2007 Entrepreneurial Satisfaction Survey

Cary named the safest large municipality in NC and the Southeastern US according to 2006 report

The Town of Cary has been ranked the 8th safest of 371 large cities in the nation in the 13th Annual Morgan Quitno Safest (And Most Dangerous) City Award. Once again, Cary is the only North Carolina municipality listed in the top 10 as well as the only southern city in the top 25. This is 8th the year in a row that Cary has been ranked in the top 10 safest cities in the U.S. Each year the Kansas-based Morgan Quitno Press analyzes crime data submitted to the FBI by city and metropolitan governments representing at least 100,000 residents. The group looks at the number of murders, rapes, robberies, aggravated assaults, burglaries and motor vehicle thefts to create their list. The complete list of the top 10 safest cities is shown below:

The annual study is based on 3 factors-H.S. Graduation Rates, Affordability of Housing and Access to Educational Resources.

The March 2004 issue of this publication gave high marks to The Triangle Area for it's past and expected continued ability to create and grow high-skill, innovative, high wage work. A quick look at the top 10 follow:

Rank By Job growth % and 2008 Median Salary ($)
1 Raleigh-Durham, NC 14 29,700
2 San Jose, CA 11 40,320
3 Washington, DC 10 35,220
4 Austin, TX 12 28,940
5 Atlanta, GA 13 28,910
6 West Palm Beach, FL 16 25,640
7 San Francisco-Oakland, CA 9 38,620
8 Middlesex-Somerset, NJ 10 34,040
9 Seattle, WA 9 35,270
10 Boston, MA 7 35,090

Intel's 3rd annual survey for 2005 ranks the top 100 cities based on the number of commercial and public hot spots. The Research Triangle Region ranks #8. For the complete list click on Most Unwired Cities List

Raleigh-Durham "slips" to #6 overall in Forbes 6th Annual Listing of America's Best Cities for Singles-2006

The rankings measure each of the 40 largest metropolitan areas across 6 different categories. Raleigh-Durham was #6 overall, but ironically the rankings showed the area was weakest when it comes to singles and nightlife:

1. Denver-Boulder
2. Boston
3. Phoenix
4. San Francisco
5. New York City
6. Raleigh-Durham
7. Seattle
8. Austin
9. Washington-Baltimore
10. Miami

The move into the top 10 spot happened much quicker than most forecasters predicted. .


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