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    Columbus Named one of America’s Next Boom Towns

    Forbes contributor Joel Kotkin published an article on Thursday, highlighting the country’s top metro areas for continued growth over the next decade. Columbus landed at 14th place on the list, and was the the only midwest metro other than Minneapolis to be recognized.

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    The metrics used to determine the rankings weighed the cities based upon birth rates, domestic migration, education levels, income growth, unemployment rates, population growth and percentage of children in the current population.

    Kotkin said that the results revealed that the top cities fell into two categories — those driven by the tech sector and rising incomes, and those driven by diverse industries and low cost of living. Columbus likely straddles the line between both, as Columbus had the highest level of wage growth in the US in 2015, was ranked #1 for Cost of Living in 2015 by the Council for Community & Economic Research, and was named by Kotkin himself in 2011 as the #3 US city for tech-sector jobs.

    According to the new study, Columbus clocks in with a 10.8 percent job growth rate from 2010 to 2015, and a population growth of nearly five percent over the past four years. Of the nearly two million people in the region, 40.7 percent of the core workforce age holds bachelor’s degrees, and 13.5 percent of the population is made of of children aged five to 14.

    Kotkin, who operates urban analysis blog NewGeography.com and often writes in support of suburban-centric planning models, was quick to point out that New York, Los Angeles and Chicago are not in the list of Boom Towns. Austin topped the list in first place.

    To read the full article, CLICK HERE to visit www.forbes.com.

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    Walker Evans
    Walker Evanshttps://columbusunderground.com
    Walker Evans is the co-founder of Columbus Underground, along with his wife and business partner Anne Evans. Walker has turned local media into a full time career over the past decade and serves on multiple boards and committees throughout the community.
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