Raleigh, one of ‘the best,’ again

No “ho-hums” if you please. Raleigh has long been ranked as one of the best cities for business, for millennials, for good governing, for ... well, you name it. Now, website 24/7 Wall St. has named it one of the best cities in America in which to live.

The ranking comes, of course, from people focused on financial issues, and certainly by the measure of a relatively low poverty rate, a median home value of $242,500 and a bachelor’s degree rate at just over 50 percent, this is no surprise. The website mentioned the city’s “brain gain” because of all the universities and high-tech industries in the area.

Certainly it’s nice for the city to enjoy such rankings, but perhaps just as important is that leaders in the Research Triangle area continue to work on increasing employment and improving the opportunities for those newly arrived to the area and those who have lived here their entire lives. It’s going to be important in the coming decade, with more growth expected, for Raleigh’s leaders and those in Durham and the rest of the Triangle to keeps focused on housing and jobs and infrastructure such as roads – along with protecting the environment. The city and the region have come a long way, but to keep going in positive directions, it is all the more important not to rest on laurels, but to see what challenges lie ahead.

This story was originally published November 1, 2017 at 10:46 AM with the headline "Raleigh, one of ‘the best,’ again."