New Economy cities: A Seattle slew of advantages

“Outside Geneva, Switzerland, where the World Health Organization is headquartered, it’s Seattle that is the center of global health,” says Lisa Cohen, director of the Washington Global Health Alliance. “When you look at the growth projections of these organizations, almost all of them are planning to double or triple in size during the next five years.”

The start-ups and search for healthcare solutions may simply be a byproduct of Seattle’s other “natural” advantage: high rates of education. Perennially named “America’s Most Literate City,” Seattle leads in the number of bookstores per 10,000 residents as well as in the percentage of adults with high school diplomas and college degrees. “It’s the juice that just keeps this economy constantly reinventing itself,” says Susannah Malarkey of the Technology Alliance.

Still, Seattle is hardly perfect. It suffers from notorious traffic, expensive housing, and is legendary for months of aluminum-gray skies. Perhaps most foreboding was Boeing’s recent decision to snub the area and build a second assembly plant for its next-generation 787 Dreamliner not here but in Charleston, S.C. – which may be an ominous statement about the area’s unionized, high-wage workforce.

Other cities:

1. Boston is magnet for high-skilled workers

2. Fort Collins, Colo., builds on clean tech

3. Houston aims to move beyond the oil age

4. Huntsville eyes next launchpad for growth

5. The next boom cities overseas

Main story: Five cities that will rise in the New Economy

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