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Worldwide ERC and Primacy Relocation have ranked Indianapolis-Carmel
among the top five large metro areas to relocate for families.
The central Indiana area placed fourth for areas with a population
of more than 1.25 million. Rankings were based on several factors,
including cost of living, crime rates, education, recreation
and leisure, arts and culture and population growth.
Press Release
Worldwide ERC, the association for workforce mobility, and Primacy
Relocation announced that Fort Worth - Arlington, Texas; Knoxville,
Tennessee; and Provo-Orem, Utah, are 2007's Best Cities for Relocating
Families among large, medium and small U.S. metropolitan areas.
The two organizations worked with Bert Sperling of Sperling's
BestPlaces to rate cities based on those factors - short-term
and long-term - that determine the likelihood of a successful
relocation. [complete list at end of document]
"The shrinking labor market and the higher demand to remain competitive
when building a mobile workforce demand that companies take a
closer look at all of the components that are important to the
transferee," said Worldwide ERC Executive Vice President H. Cris
Collie, CAE. "The qualities of the destination location are critical
factors in the success of the relocation for employees and their
families."
The ease with which a family can relocate to a new city is impacted
by a variety of measurable factors. Traditional variables such
as an area's cost of living, crime rates, education and climate
are combined with more abstract factors such as a city's arts
and culture scene, focus on diversity, and number of physicians
per capita.
Conducted each spring, this is the third year Primacy and Worldwide
ERC have partnered on the list. This year's city size categories
of large, medium and small were adjusted to reflect the larger
population areas to which families are most likely to relocate,
to 1.25 million and above, 575,000 - 1.25 million, and 350,000
- 575,000, respectively. Additionally, the 2007 study placed a
special emphasis on the housing market, which has significantly
impacted the relocation industry and an employer's ability to
transfer employees. The variables which weigh heavily in this
category include home price, home affordability index, appreciation
rates, and property tax.
"Without a doubt, the state of the housing market is having a
huge impact on relocation decisions of both employers and the
families who are being transferred," said Michelle Vallejo, SCRP,
GMS, president of Primacy, The Americas. "The cities on this list
represent some of the stronger real estate markets and places
that are most conducive to a successful family relocation."
Several new categories were added to this year's rankings, including
recreation and leisure, arts and culture, air quality, watershed
quality, sales tax, unemployment rate, job growth, high school
and higher education index, school expenditures per student, students
in public school, SAT/ACT percentile, and population growth. These
new categories allow for a more robust range of variables which
impact not only a family's decision of where to move, but their
ability to get settled once they arrive.
2007 Best Cities for Relocating Families - Worldwide ERC & Primacy
Relocation:
Large Metro Areas Pop. 1,250,000+
1. Fort Worth-Arlington, TX
2. Nashville-Davidson-Murfreesboro, TN
3. Kansas City, MO-KS
4. Indianapolis-Carmel, IN
5. Austin-Round Rock, TX
6. Pittsburgh, PA
Mid-Sized Metro Areas, Pop. 575,000-1,250,000
1. Knoxville, TN
2. Wichita, KS
3. Raleigh-Cary, NC
4. Salt Lake City, UT
5. Oklahoma City, OK
Small Metro Areas, Pop. 350,000 - 575,000
1. Provo-Orem, UT
2. Ogden-Clearfield, UT
3. Durham, NC
4. Colorado Springs, CO
5. Corpus Christi, TX
Source: Worldwide ERC and Primacy Relocation
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