Rochester, Minn., is listed as one of the Top 10 cities for the next decade by Kiplinger’s Personal Finance magazine.
Innovation was the key ingredient in picking the Top 10, the editors said.
They said this about Rochester, which was listed as No. 6:
Rochester is built on the world-renowned Mayo Clinic’s rock-solid foundation, and, in return, the community serves as great hosts and hostesses to 2.7 million visitors each year (many of them Mayo patients).
Synergy among the city’s resources has been well cultivated and is paying dividends. Take, for instance, the Minnesota Partnership for Biotechnology and Medical Genomics, formed in 2003 between Mayo and the University of Minnesota at Rochester to spawn new businesses. More than 20 technology-related firms have opened up in Rochester over the past ten years. Recognizing the depth of resources in the area, the city opened the Minnesota BioBusiness Center in spring 2009 — providing room to grow in the form of 150,000 feet of office space. The center, located a block from both the Mayo Clinic and the university, represents the city’s aspiration to build an even stronger bioscience and medical-research community. “If there’s a theme to what we’re doing here, it’s collaboration.”
The entire list:
- 1. Austin, Texas
- 2. Seattle, Wash.
- 3. Washington, D.C.
- 4. Boulder, Colo.
- 5. Salt Lake City, Utah
- 6. Rochester, Minn.
- 7. Des Moines, Iowa
- 8. Burlington, Vt.
- 9. West Hartford, Conn.
- 10. Topeka, Kan.
