We are constantly presented with “Best of” lists and it’s always interesting to see how the Knoxville area stacks up with the rest of the metropolitan areas in the region and throughout the United States. A recent article in Kiplinger’s Personal Finance Magazine caught my eye because it combines several of the factors related to both quality of life and economic development. The article presented an array of factors for 167 metropolitan areas considered for Kiplinger’s list of Best Cites for All Stages of Life. Ratings were developed for the following: Cost of Living, Percentage of Workforce in Creative Class, Bohemian Indicator and Creative Class Salary Growth.

Mark Donaldson

The Creative Class focus on economic development centers on the idea that our economy is driven by human creativity and that an area thrives by adding creative value to its economy. These indicators attempt to highlight the creativity of each place.

The Bohemian Indicator shows the concentration of writers, designers, musicians, actors and other arts-related workers. Creative Salary Growth is the increase in the average salary from 2000 to 2005. The Percentage of Workforce in Creative Class measures the number of scientists, engineers, architects, educators, writers, artists and entertainers as a percent of the total work force.

Many of the usual suspects ranked high is the categories: Durham, N.C. (in the heart of the Research Triangle) and the Silicon Valley area of California are at the top of the Percentage of Workforce in Creative Class; Boulder, Colo. was tops on the Bohemian Indicator (no surprise there), while Portland, Maine (not Oregon) lead all the rest in the Salary Growth factor. It is the cost of living indicator where Knoxville really shines – only 4 of the 167 other metropolitan areas in the country had a lower cost of living indicator than Knoxville’s score of 88. The complete list can be found at www.kiplinger.com/tools/bestcities_sort/.

When compared to the other 4 metro areas in Tennessee, one can argue that Knoxville rates the best overall. By ranking each category 1 to 5, with 1 the best and assuming equal weight to each, Knoxville has the best score, followed in order by Chattanooga, Nashville, Tri-cities, and Memphis.

Creative class percentages and bohemian factors are just part of the measure of an area’s economy and quality of life, but they are very good indicators of the balance and diversity that it takes to support a great place to live, work, play and raise a family. Knoxville’s ranking reflects that balance.