We’ve seen all sorts of finance-based top 10 cities lists that either state the obvious or seem oblivious. No doubt you’ve seen them, too, and perhaps rolled your eyes: the 10 best places to get a job, own a home, start a family, hit the lottery … and of course, to buy and raise boa constrictors.
Now, it’s time for a list that really matters —especially to our under 30 readers. We present to you our first-ever “Best Cities in America to be Young, Broke and Single.”
How does a city make the cut, you might wonder? We compiled our roll call using metrics that matter to young professionals trying to simultaneously launch a career, find love, and stretch a still-meager paycheck: cheap food, cheap beer and cheap thrills, for starters. We looked at a city’s number of bars (after downing a microbrew, of course). Then we hit the lows (unemployment, cost of living) and the highs (numbers of fellow singles and young(er) adults, ages 18-44).
10: Oklahoma City, Okla.
Too often, this neck of the woods only makes headlines for its twisters and NBA franchise. Still, the University of Oklahoma rests just a stone’s throw away in Norman. And if you love warm weather, the average yearly temperature is 72, with an average high of 50 in January. (Of course, the occasional tornado is the tradeoff.) The local population of 580,000 has grown by 10 percent or more for three consecutive census periods, too. Clearly, something’s happening that’s attracting the young, broke and single — YBS for short.
Jobbing it: Employment prospects are good in the local mainstays, the federal government and the energy industry. (Oil derricks even dot the capitol grounds.) But Oklahoma City also has a growing info-tech sector that attracts young workers.
Did you know: The first-ever parking meter was installed here in 1935. So that’s what got the whole parking meter mess in Chicago started.
9: Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, Wash.
As that college-rock hero of yesteryear Robyn Hitchcock once sang, “Viva! Sea-Tac.” Home of the Space Needle, Microsoft, Jimi Hendrix and grunge rock, Seattle and its environs have low rents, superb scenery and hundreds of web startup wheeler-dealers hoping to follow in Bill Gates’ footsteps. It’s a also a smiley-face place, as the famous Happy Face logo was designed by a Seattle ad agency in 1966. And as you might’ve guessed for the home base of Starbucks, it’s got a healthy overabundance of coffee shops, where the price of a mocha can buy you some telecommuting “office space” for an afternoon.
Jobbing it: No matter how hard Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer tries to shipwreck his company, the software juggernaut is still hiring, and Seattle has become the focal point of an entrepreneurial/high-tech triangle that includes Portland, Ore., and Bend, Ore., to the south.
Did you know: Although Seattle has a reputation for being rainy, that’s more a myth perpetuated by the locals who want to keep the kooks out. In fact, Seattle sells more sunglasses per year than any other major city in nation.
8: Des Moines-West Des Moines, Iowa
Des Moines (a French phrase meaning “of the monks”) has its quirky charm. It’s the home of this year’s American Oatmeal Association national convention, and the place where Ozzy Osbourne bit off a bat’s head in concert. But for the YBS, this city of 580,000 is a serious place to settle down.
Forbes magazine ranked Des Moines as the “Best Place for Business” in 2010 and, no. 1 among “America’s Best Cities for Young Professionals” in 2011. As Forbes staffer Morgan Brennan writes, “Des Moines boasts a low 5.8 percent unemployment rate (sixth lowest of the 100 cities we studied) and healthy projected job growth rates of 0.97 percent in 2011 and 2.86 percent in 2012.”
Jobbing it: Des Moines is a major center for the insurance industry and also has a sizable financial services base. Aviva USA (a top insurance firm with 33,000 agents) and the Principal Financial Group are among the big companies headquartered there.
Did you know: Des Moines is boring, you say? How wrong you are, and here’s proof: desmoinesisnotboring.com. Aside from covering events and nightlife, it includes some definitely-not-boring bloggers, including Annick Sjobakken, who writes with flair about everything from dodging rats (in NYC, not Des Moines) to her Grandma Pat.
See the rest of the story at Business Insider