Gainesville was recently named the top city in the state for Forbes magazine’s 14th annual “Best Places for Business and Careers.”
Gainesville ranked higher than 16 other Florida cities on the list to take the top spot.
Nationally, the city is ranked No. 101 out of the 200 cities listed.
The magazine based the rankings on several factors, including costs of living and doing business in a city, education of the labor force and number of highly-ranked colleges in an area, according to Forbes’ website.
Gainesville’s ranking came as no surprise to city commissioner Thomas Hawkins.
Hawkins attributed the city’s affordable living costs, small size and government services that helped Gainesville rise above other Florida metro areas on Forbes’ list.
Abhi Lokesh and his partner, Alex Theodore, founded the Gainesville-based photo company Fracture in 2009.
Lokesh, 24, said he chose to start the company in Gainesville because of the city’s affordable cost of living and tight-knit network of university professors and professionals.
“You mix that with a very hungry and a very talented student population, I think that is a very unique formula for success that not a lot of cities and municipalities can match,” he said.
Contact Chris Alcantara at calcantara@alligator.org
