Raleigh tops 'American Cities of the Future' list

By Rebecca Troyer of the Triangle Business Journal

Raleigh ranks No. 1 overall on a list of the top mid-sized "American cities of the future" for 2015-16 published by fDi, a division of Financial Times.

The report is based on multiple factors: Economic potential, human capital and lifestyle, cost effectiveness, connectivity and business friendliness. Rankings are broken down by population into major, large, mid-sized, small and "micro" cities in the Americas.

In addition to its No. 1 ranking overall, Raleigh is also the No. 1 mid-sized city in the subcategory of economic potential and No. 7 in human capital and lifestyle.

Durham and Cary rank No. 6 and No. 7, respectively, in the small cities subcategory of economic potential.

Greenville is No. 9 overall among micro cities and No. 3 in fDi's "strategy" ranking, a standalone qualitative measure based on efforts to promote foreign direct investments in the city. Charlotte ranks No. 7 in the major city "strategy" measure.

The top three overall "cities of the future" in each population category are as follows:

Major: New York City, San Francisco, Houston

Large: Vancouver, Seattle, San Jose

Mid-sized: Raleigh, Oakland, Ottawa

Small: Sunnyvale, California; Waterloo, Ontario; Stamford, Connecticut

Micro: Greenville, South Carolina; Plattsburgh, New York; Santa Fe Springs, California

Click here to download the full report.