The research director of the National League of Cities explains the defining characteristics of local economies—namely that of five distinct kinds of local economies, three serve to distinguish the nuances between mid-sized cities.
Chistiana McFarland shares news of a report published by the National League of Cities. The report, titled "Local Economic Conditions: The Untold Story of the Varied Middle," introduces "five distinct types of local economies": a highly rural cluster, a large central city cluster, and three different kinds of economies that represent a middle ground between those two ends of spectrum.
The report defines the three mid-sized varieties of local economies as "Room to Grow," "Mid-sized Business Boomers," and "Cities on Par."
According to McFarland's explanation, these three varieties of mid-sized cities are further defined as follows:
- Room to Grow economies are defined by favorable commercial property values, affordable housing stock and population growth.
- Mid-Sized Business Boomer city cluster comprises hotbeds of business expansions located mostly in core cities of mid-sized metro areas.
- Cities on Par cluster tend to have populations between 50,000 and 100,000 and are defined largely by their high residential property values.
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