In its November Research Report the Milken Institute’s Best Perfor-ming Cities Index ranks Mon-mouth-Ocean counties in the Top 10 Best Performing Cities in the United States for the second consecutive year.
Trenton, the state capital, was the only other New Jersey community ranked in the Top 20, coming in at 19th place.
According to a press release from the Monmouth County office of public information, the index considered the best 200 metropolitan areas in the nation. The common key attribute among this year’s listing, according to Milken, is “strength of services.”
“A robust recovery in tourism is driving metro job growth in leisure and hospitality services,” the report contended. “Growing population and low U.S. interest rates support employment gains in home construction and related consumer industries; the growing population of retirees are a catalyst for health care services.”
Interestingly, five of the top 10 cities in the survey are in the state of Florida, which Milken contends may be the reason why President George W. Bush carried the Sunshine State in the presidential election on Nov. 2. The five cities are Fort Myers-Cape Coral (1), West Palm Beach-Boca Raton (4), Daytona Beach (5), Sarasota-Branden-ton (6) and Fort Lauderdale (9).
Specific to the Monmouth-Ocean area, Milken says, “Tourism and tourism-related industries employ over 50,000 people in the metro area contributing an estimated $3 billion each year to the area’s economy. Monmouth-Ocean’s increasingly diversified industrial base creates opportunities for strong long-term growth. The metro area is an attractive residential location for nearby workers in Middlesex and many New York commuters. Competitive commercial real estate prices have allowed the area to attract small research facilities such that its concentration of high-tech industries is 15 percent greater than the nation overall.”
Other New Jersey communities on the list of 200 include Newark (39), Atlantic-Cape May (88), Middlesex, Somerset, Hunterdon (110), Jersey City (113) and Bergen-Passaic (127).
In March 2004 Inc. magazine, a national financial publication, gave Monmouth County 16th place in its rankings of The Top U.S. Cities for Doing Business in the United States.
“Anyone looking for a medium sized area in the United States where job growth is robust, the economy strong and is also a nice place to live and raise a family, will head for Monmouth County,” said Monmouth Freeholder Director Harry Larrison Jr.
“And, I believe education is the key to a successful community. The Board of Freeholders has always placed a high priority on education in Monmouth County,” he said, pointing to the national award-winning Monmouth County vocational high schools, Brookdale Community College and the national award-winning Monmouth County Library System as prime examples of local educational excellence.
In addition, for many years Monmouth County has been ranked at or near the top in Money Magazine’s survey, Best Places in America to Live, Work and Raise a Family, and other similar rankings.
“The Board of Freeholders will always do our utmost to maintain and improve the quality of life in Monmouth County,” Larrison concluded.