Mon, May 05, 2008
We’re Number Two — Beans lose out to Brotherly Love
Journalists love ranking cities by all sorts of criteria. A recent addition to this genre is an analysis of the best cities for recent college graduates; Boston has been declared the Avis of post-college towns, topped out by archrival Philadelphia. Benjamin Franklin is still getting his revenge on the Puritans.
The assessment, conducted as a joint effort of Apartments.com and Careerbuilder’s CBCampus.com, was based on multiple ranking criteria, including entry-level job openings, rents for one-bedroom apartments, and the presence of fellow twentysomethings with whom to party (when not working at their entry-level jobs).
For me, as a financial planner with clients in the Boston area, what’s interesting is that among the cities listed, Boston has the third-highest average rental cost for a one-bedroom apartment (really, this seems a strange criterion for such a ranking; how many new grads live alone?); at $1,343, Boston’s listed rental cost is 50+% higher than some of the lower-ranked cities. Presumably Boston’s huge student population pulls up the partying portion of the score, but I hope this ranking also implies that there are lots of job openings available, which would be a positive indicator for the local economy.
Anyway — wait till next year’s ranking, Philly.
