CNBC ranks Georgia the 4th best state for businesses (Atlanta: crime, quality of life)

[Go Blue 99]

Take Georgia, which joins our Top Five for the first time in four years. Adding to its typically strong finishes in Workforce (4th place), Infrastructure & Transportation (second place) and Cost of Living (9th place), Georgia moved into the top half of the states in Education (22nd place, versus 28th last year).

americas-top-states-business-cnbc-2011: Personal Finance News from Yahoo! Finance (http://finance.yahoo.com/career-work/article/113031/americas-top-states-business-cnbc-2011 - broken link)

[aries4118]

Awesome to the max!

[mrpanda]

That's my baby Georgia for the #4 spot... That is what i am talking about..... Yeah.. baby.

[K-SawDude]

How the HECK did we rank #2 in transportation and infrastructure??? That's got to be a mistake. I'll admit that the highways are in pretty good shape relative to other states I've been in. But where else are we scoring so many good points?

[Bizurko]

Just imagine if our education system was better then we'd be a force to be reckoned with.

[testa50]

Originally Posted by K-SawDude

How the HECK did we rank #2 in transportation and infrastructure??? That's got to be a mistake. I'll admit that the highways are in pretty good shape relative to other states I've been in. But where else are we scoring so many good points?

I'd like to have this clarified too, but I think it's very possible Georgia's transportation woes are overstated.

Most of the reports that show us in the same class as LA and DC seem to use weird derivative type measurements, such as length of commute or hours lost in traffic per commuter. But then look at something like INRIX, which is basically an analysis of actual congestion over thousands of miles of interstate, and Atlanta does quite well in comparison to our peers.

We also have a heavy rail system that gets more use than most of the light rail systems in other sunbelt cities. I mean, if you throw out NYC's subway, its infrastructure would be absolutely abysmal. And MARTA connects our airport--the busiest in the world, which is constantly being expanded and improved--directly to four of the five largest office districts in the metro. The fact that our port--the fourth biggest container port in the country--is directly connected to the state capital and largest city by an interstate helps as well.


The worrying thing about our infrastructure position is looking to the future: gas tax revenues are declining, but the cost of asphalt soars along with gasoline. We clearly need to supplement this with new revenue sources.

[AnsleyPark]

Originally Posted by testa50

I'd like to have this clarified too, but I think it's very possible Georgia's transportation woes are overstated.

Most of the reports that show us in the same class as LA and DC seem to use weird derivative type measurements, such as length of commute or hours lost in traffic per commuter. But then look at something like INRIX, which is basically an analysis of actual congestion over thousands of miles of interstate, and Atlanta does quite well in comparison to our peers.

We also have a heavy rail system that gets more use than most of the light rail systems in other sunbelt cities. I mean, if you throw out NYC's subway, its infrastructure would be absolutely abysmal. And MARTA connects our airport--the busiest in the world, which is constantly being expanded and improved--directly to four of the five largest office districts in the metro. The fact that our port--the fourth biggest container port in the country--is directly connected to the state capital and largest city by an interstate helps as well.


The worrying thing about our infrastructure position is looking to the future: gas tax revenues are declining, but the cost of asphalt soars along with gasoline. We clearly need to supplement this with new revenue sources.

Remember, this is a state ranking and not an Atlanta ranking. Overall, Georgia has some darn nice roads all over the state, a terrific interstate freeway system, a huge port in Savannah and, of course, the Atlanta airport. Not to mention, that on a national basis, Marta ain't so bad.

What puzzled me, is that Georgia was ranked 38th (I think) for "quality of life." I would have thought that this was some catch all category that would encompass education, transportation, etc. But, apparently, it's something else. Any clues?

[Akhenaton06]

The top 4 states are all Southern states (VA, TX, NC, GA). Good job!

[arjay57]

Originally Posted by AnsleyPark

What puzzled me, is that Georgia was ranked 38th (I think) for "quality of life." I would have thought that this was some catch all category that would encompass education, transportation, etc. But, apparently, it's something else. Any clues?

Here's what they say about the "quality of life" factor:

Quality of Life (350 Points)

The best places to do business are also the best places to live. We scored the states on several factors, including local attractions, the crime rate, health care, as well as air and water quality.

Overall, Georgia rocks.