

America's Best Performing Cities in 2014 - Thevet
http://www.citylab.com/work/2015/01/americas-best-performing-cities-in-2014/384336/

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BashiBazouk
Is dividing up the bay area really that meaningful? Seems like every article
does a different division. Why is San Mateo county, or parts there of,
sometimes grouped with San Francisco and sometimes with Silicon Valley? I
generally consider most of San Mateo the same continuous sprawl with Silicon
Valley and San Francisco somewhat separate. Is Facebook really a San Francisco
company rather than a Silicon Valley one? Or Sun before it? Where does Oakland
end and Silicon Valley start? Fremont? Milpitas? I would generally prefer the
entire by area considered as one population center unless the division is
really, really meaningful and not just an excuse to fudge the data a little
bit...

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jmccree
It's the difference between a census "combined statistical area" and
"metropolitan statistical area". The CSA combines all the metro/micro
statistical areas in a general area. See
[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/San_Jose-San_Francisco-
Oakland,...](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/San_Jose-San_Francisco-
Oakland,_CA_Combined_Statistical_Area) .

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danans
What's odd is that the Bay Area's "metropolitan statistical areas" in the
article don't align with those listed here:

[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Metropolitan_Statistica...](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Metropolitan_Statistical_Areas)

The wiki page suggests that these are based on social and employment
connections that are inferred in part from commute patterns.

Perhaps the pairing of SF and San Mateo reflects growing social and economic
links between the Peninsula and SF in a way that eclipses SF and San Mateo's
historical affinities with Oakland and San Jose respectively.

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lotharbot
Denver, Boulder, Greeley, and Fort Collins, Colorado all made the top 20 with
separate entries. They're all along a 60 mile stretch of the front range.

I find Greeley particularly surprising. It's mostly known for the afternoon
smell due to the stockyards (cattle) in town. My best guess is it's due to the
fracking-powered oil boom in the area.

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liquidise
I noticed the same thing. Denver specifically has seen signifiant growth over
the last few years, with downtown real-estate prices rising rapidly. It will
be interesting to watch how the potrepreneur money effects these trends moving
forward.

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GoldenHomer
No way - I am very surprised to see Lubbock that high. I suppose people are
taking a liking to the flat cotton fields and occasional dirt storm? I live
here, just uncertain how the city performed that well.

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jdhawk
Oil.

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bkjelden
Interestingly enough, I just moved from the top-performing small metro to the
top performing large metro.

While national articles like this are quick to attribute Fargo-Moorhead's
success to energy, I'm a little more skeptical. The region's economy was
seeing good growth even before the oil boom, mostly driven by a strong
agriculture economy and lots of higher education. Oil has no doubt been a bit
of a catalyst, but I think the region would be seeing prosperity even without
it.

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Nicholas_C
Great to see Lubbock, TX on here!

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tejay
yay Nashville! Affordable, centrally located, and has okay food.

