THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, February 22, 1995 TAG: 9502220421
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: D1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY MYLENE MANGALINDAN, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 93 lines
If you're looking for brain power and computer savvy, Hampton Roads isn't the place.
But if you're after low taxes and a good labor pool, then this is where you want to be.
A Forbes ASAP magazine survey of the largest 100 metropolitan areas in the country said Hampton Roads is average in most of the categories that smart people and companies consider when moving to desirable cities.
The survey appears in the Feb. 27 issue of the self-dubbed Forbes supplement on ``the information age - business at warp speed'' now on news stands. Metropolitan areas were judged on 11 criteria: computer savvy, general education, high-end brains, airport, taxes, regulations/torts, cost of housing, cost of living, quality of life, immigration and entrepreneurial zest.
Communities were judged on a scale of 1 to 5, with 5 being the highest score.
Salt Lake City finished first in the survey. It took top honors in five categories, including computer savvy, general education and entrepreneurial zest.
Springfield, Mass., claimed the bottom of the rankings. It scored low for computer literacy, quality of life, immigration and the airport.
Hampton Roads landed in the second tier of the rankings with an overall score of 30. It rated highest in the cost of living category, but lowest in immigration, which improves companies' chances of finding talented workers, both skilled and semi-skilled.
The region's airport (measured by size and traffic levels), cost of housing, quality of life and high-end brains - defined as college graduates - received scores of only 2.
Entrepreneurial zest, computer savvy (based on the number of computer literate adults and households with personal computers), general education and regulations/torts in Hampton Roads scored average, or a 3.
The region's low-tax environment received a score of 4.
``What would kick up the scores would be the presence of a major university,'' said Forbes ASAP editor Richard Karlgaard of Hampton Roads' score. ``It would bring in more high-end brains, more engineering/science expertise, a smarter, younger work force, a lot of people starting companies. Having a big time science and engineering university really contributes to big scores in many categories.''
He cited Raleigh-Durham and San Francisco as examples of regions whose scores pushed them past other cities because of the presence of major universities involved in research and entrepreneurial projects.
Local economic development representatives applauded the region's inclusion in the survey.
``It's always good to be on a list worth ranking,'' said Ann Baldwin, director of research at Forward Hampton Roads, the Hampton Roads Chamber of Commerce's economic development arm.
However, she questioned the survey's methodology. She pointed to the discrepancy between Hampton Roads' low score (2) in housing costs and high score (5) in cost of living, which seem inconsistent because cost of living is related to the cost of housing, she said.
Baldwin said she doesn't understand why regional competitors for business like Charlotte and Raleigh-Durham, Tampa/St. Petersburg and Baltimore scored higher on the Forbes survey than Hampton Roads. She said that Hampton Roads in on par with those communities.
Philadelphia; El Paso, Texas; Tacoma, Wash.; Tucson, Ariz.; and Tulsa, Okla., tied Hampton Roads' overall score of 30.
But ``just the precept of the ranking is flawed,'' Baldwin said. ``What ends up on the list are pretty-good-sized metropolitan areas. I don't know if you should compare first-tier communities to second-tier communities'' that differ so much in size, she said.
Karlgaard defended his publication's survey for its insight into specific qualities that are growing more important in a technological era.
``Smart people have a greater choice of where they want to live more than ever before,'' he said. ``Proximity to seaports and steel plants don't count as much anymore as they did in the Industrial Age. The information age is characterized by mobility. You want to look at areas that are attractive to money, ideas and smart people.''
``The Atlantic South scored pretty well, Norfolk aside,'' he said. ``It's one of the better areas to start a business today.'' He heralded the area around Dulles Airport in Northern Virginia, fast becoming a telecommunications center in the nation, and the areas from the Carolinas to Atlanta as magnets for intelligent people and companies seeking to relocate. ILLUSTRATION: Graphic
STAFF
BEST PLACES FOR SMART COMPANIES
SOURCE: FORBES ASAP
[For complete graphic, please see microfilm]
KEYWORDS: DESIRABILITY CITIES by CNB