Providence got a double ego boost this month, with a No. 35 ranking on Forbes magazine’s annual “Best Places for Business and Careers” list – ahead of No. 40 Boston and No. 41 Hartford – and inclusion on AmericanStyle magazine’s “Top 25 Arts Destinations” list.
Mayor David N. Cicilline called it “an honor” for the city “to be recognized for the hard work that we’re doing to improve the quality of life for our residents.”
“These notable rankings by two prestigious publications confirm what we’re witnessing,” he said: “Restored trust in Providence is resulting in a stronger business climate and our exciting arts and culture community is transforming Providence into the Jewel of the Northeast.”
The Forbes list, which last year had ranked Providence seven notches lower, is based on three main factors: cost of doing business, job growth, and residents’ educational attainment. It also considers the cost of living, local crime rates, the number of engineers working in the city, and the presence of amenities such as museums, theaters, golf courses and sports teams.
Providence beat Boston and Hartford, by a long shot, on job growth and the cost of doing business (though it still ranked lower on those categories, No. 57 and No. 56, respectively, than overall). But on educational attainment – long known to be a weakness of the local workforce – Providence ranked only 82nd, compared with Boston’s No. 5 and Hartford’s No. 26.
Even overall, however, some might question Forbes’s formula: Of America’s 150 largest cities, the magazine’s editors concluded, the best for business and careers is… Boise, Idaho. Nos. 2 through 5 are more commonly cited favorites: Raleigh, Austin, Washington, D.C., and Albuquerque.
New York City, home of Wall Street and a sizeable number of Forbes readers, ranked 120th.
The AmericanStyle “Top 25 Arts Destinations” list is based on the magazine’s annual readers’ poll. Providence was ranked No. 18 among mid-sized cities, with New Orleans ranked No. 1. Among big cities, New York topped the list, followed by Chicago.
In a news release, Cicilline quoted a letter from AmericanStyle publisher Wendy Rosen saying cities like Providence “have gained a greater understanding of the value of arts in their community, putting significant effort behind promoting cultural institutions as tourist destinations.”
In print, the magazine lauded Providence as “a revitalized waterfront city with graceful bridges, cobblestone walkways and a thriving arts scene.”
“Art venues are clustered around Brown University and the Rhode Island School of Design on the city’s historic East Side,” the item continues, “as well as in the downtown cultural district to the west. And you know a city supports its arts when it offers free transportation: the Art Bus circulates the city during Gallery Night, the third Thursday evening of each month from March to November.”
The Forbes list is posted here. The AmericanStyle list is here.
