Phoenix #1 Spot for Relocation

A new study by The Retirement Solutions Foundation ranked Phoenix as the #1 Relocation Destination. Here is an excerpt describing how they came to that conclusion.

Six Great Relocation Destinations
Below we've listed six metropolitan areas in the U.S. that offer affordable homes and job opportunities that are also great places to live. Feel free to click on each destination or read the introduction as to how we chose the places (we won't be offended if you don't.)
Phoenix, AZOrlando, FLCamden Metro Area, NJW. Palm Beach, FLMadison, WIFort Meyers, FL
How the Places Were Picked:
As I did when researching destinations for "The Cost-Conscious Homebuyer's Guide," I chose destinations after researching the quality of life, affordability and the destination's solid economic outlook. Here's my methodology:
First: Solid Economy: We looked at the top 50 ratings in Inc. magazine's "Best Places 2005," which measured metropolitan areas both by short and long-term job growth. Inc.'s researchers also measured how much employment growth has been spread over a range of industries. Why does this matter? The same way you need to diversify among many different investments when you save for retirement, you need to choose a home destination that's in a "diverse economy;" in other words, one that's not dependent on one industry. Remember, even if you can manage to keep your job in a region that's in a downturn, you're less likely to find a home buyer if there's a short "supply of buyers" in that region as result.
Second: Optimistic outlook is corroborated by other institutions. The location also had to rank among the Milken Institute's 2005 top 50 "best-performing cities, which measures "the top economic performance" and "creating the most jobs in the nation."
Third: Consistently solid economic outlook. We even went further and eliminated those regions that didn't maintain their top-50 status from year to year in both the Inc. and Milken rankings. Even areas that appear to be diversified can take sudden downturns: Atlanta, for example, fell from number six in Inc.'s 2004 rankings to number 84, due to a slump in retail, manufacturing and business services.
Fourth: Affordable places to live: We eliminated those regions in the top 50 whose median home price is more than $300,000 (the source is the National Association of Realtors' second quarter 2006 figures unless otherwise specified). Again, it's consistent with our investment philosophy of picking "home investments" that are going to be attractive to the next buyer. Why move to a place where housing is already unaffordable if the end goal is to sell it to someone else?
Fifth—and Actually First—Nice Places to Live: Who wants to live in an affordable place with plenty of jobs if the place is in the middle of nowhere and there's nothing to do? You guessed it—your home destination is got to be one that others flock to. As I did when researching The Cost-Conscious Homebuyer's Guide, I turned to the time-honored destination authority: Places Rated Almanac (this time it was Special Millennium Edition) to cherry-pick the quality-of-life winners. In the rankings, author David Savageau looks at such features as transportation, education, climate, recreation and arts among the nation's 354 metro areas. To make our cut, these destinations had to be among Places Rated's top 100 areas. Therefore, our rankings are based on which of the Inc. 50 are good "long-term investments" and are affordable—and then ranked in order of their ranking in Places Rated.
Be prepared to be surprised when you read our findings—trust me, I was. Three of our six picks are in Florida—a state you may have dismissed as an election-rigged hurricane-bound retiree destination. The sunshine state offers tremendous home and job opportunities—hurry up before some Saudi Prince beats you to it.
And the winners are
Number 1: Phoenix, AZInc. Rank: 16/ Milken Rank: 15/ Median Home Price: $268,300/ Places Rated Rank: 10
In addition to the Inc. and Milken rankings, Entrepreneur Magazine recently ranked Phoenix number one in its top 20 large cities for entrepreneurs; the Phoenix-Mesa area reported more than 12,000 startups in 2005 alone. The draw? Affordable real estate attracts workers, especially from obscenely overpriced California. The region also has an unusually large number of organizations devoted to helping small business. Where to get more info: www.phoenix.gov.

Some great news. And, having relocated here ourselves we can definately agree that the Phoenix area is a really exciting place to be a part of.