October 19, 2016 – This morning, Forbes released its annual “Best Small Places for Business and Careers” , which ranks the top 200 U.S. communities (by size) with populations below 262,700. Here is how reporter Kurt Badenhausen described the #1 ranked place, Bend, OR:

“…a haven for outdoor sports enthusiasts, with mountain biking, rock climbing, kayaking and a multitude of snow sports.”

Sound familiar? That could easily describe one of our communities here in the Grand Valley. Similarly affected by the Great Recession, Bend has seen a remarkable bounce-back that tops other U.S. metros – it was ultimately the city’s accelerated economic growth and future jobs outlook that won it the top spot.

Grand Junction broke the top 50, vastly outpacing Pueblo at #93, which was the only other Colorado community on the small places list. Here’s how Grand Junction breaks down in the ranking:

Grand Junction #49 on Forbes Best Small Places

 

Read Badenhausen’s article to learn more about the best small places in the U.S. and the methodology behind the rankings.

On a related note, congratulations are in order to the state capital, which took the no. 1 spot on the Best Places ranking for the top 200 large U.S. communities. Congratulations, Denver!