Though typically centered in bigger cities, this piece from Business Week looks at the best small cities to locate startup businesses in every state.
"Bigger isn't always better when it comes to selecting a place to start a company. Where is the best location for your startup? While the answer obviously depends on the type of venture you're starting, a few universal qualities apply: affordability, availability of a talented labor pool, existence of a thriving business community, and quality of life.
With these factors in mind, BusinessWeek set out to find the best small cities for startups in each state, aiming primarily to profile places where high-growth companies could thrive. We asked San Francisco-based GIS Planning, a geographic data provider that helps companies select optimal sites through its ZoomProspector Web site (a 2009 Planetizen top 10 website), to identify the best small city to start a business in every state across the country, examining cities with populations between 20,000 and 200,000. The choices took into account 11 factors that shape a city's entrepreneurial climate, from the education level of the workforce to the amount of venture-capital investment to the number of startups.
We then asked entrepreneurs in each place to tell us about doing business there, to match an on-the-ground perspective to the data. "
Thanks to Eric Simundza
FULL STORY: The Pros of Planting Startups in Smaller Cities

Planetizen Federal Action Tracker
A weekly monitor of how Trump’s orders and actions are impacting planners and planning in America.

Chicago’s Ghost Rails
Just beneath the surface of the modern city lie the remnants of its expansive early 20th-century streetcar system.

Amtrak Cutting Jobs, Funding to High-Speed Rail
The agency plans to cut 10 percent of its workforce and has confirmed it will not fund new high-speed rail projects.

Ohio Forces Data Centers to Prepay for Power
Utilities are calling on states to hold data center operators responsible for new energy demands to prevent leaving consumers on the hook for their bills.

MARTA CEO Steps Down Amid Citizenship Concerns
MARTA’s board announced Thursday that its chief, who is from Canada, is resigning due to questions about his immigration status.

Silicon Valley ‘Bike Superhighway’ Awarded $14M State Grant
A Caltrans grant brings the 10-mile Central Bikeway project connecting Santa Clara and East San Jose closer to fruition.
Urban Design for Planners 1: Software Tools
This six-course series explores essential urban design concepts using open source software and equips planners with the tools they need to participate fully in the urban design process.
Planning for Universal Design
Learn the tools for implementing Universal Design in planning regulations.
Caltrans
City of Fort Worth
Mpact (founded as Rail~Volution)
City of Camden Redevelopment Agency
City of Astoria
City of Portland
City of Laramie