Bay Area Ranked Top For Business San Francisco Jumps To No. 1 In Survey By Fortune Magazine

Wed., Oct. 25, 1995

Associated Press

San Francisco, known for pricey rents, occasional earthquakes and a Super Bowl champion football team, has been crowned the best U.S. city for business by Fortune magazine.

In its Nov. 13 issue released Tuesday, Fortune also called Singapore the top global city for business, extolling its virtues as a high-tech enclave with no corruption and an “affordable, worry-free tropical lifestyle.”

On the domestic list, the San Francisco Bay area leapfrogged from No. 8 in 1994 and bumped first-ranked New York, which finished in fourth place this year behind Atlanta and Denver. Seattle ranked sixth.

In Fortune’s view, San Francisco includes the industrial base of Oakland, biotechnology birthplace of Emeryville and brain centers of Berkeley and Palo Alto, which help the region’s array of technological innovators like Intel and Genentech satisfy an “enormous appetite for nerds.”

Although San Francisco downtown rents are among the highest anywhere and the entire region remains susceptible to occasionally violent earth tremors, Fortune said the Bay Area’s attributes overwhelm the disadvantages.

“Yes, it’s expensive, but you get what you pay for,” Fortune said.

Globally, Singapore bumped Hong Kong as No. 1 this year, which Fortune called a reflection of the island nation’s evolution from a cheap manufacturing center into a modern Asian commercial outpost that beckons businesses with tax breaks and a highly educated work force. Hong Kong fell to No. 6. xxxx LEADING CITIES The top-ranked U.S. cities for business, as compiled by Fortune magazine in its Nov. 13 issue: 1. San Francisco Bay Area 2. Atlanta 3. Denver 4. New York 5. Boston 6. Seattle 7. Austin, Texas 8. Dallas/Fort Worth 9. Houston 10. Phoenix

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Bay Area Ranked Top For Business San Francisco Jumps To No. 1 In Survey By Fortune Magazine

Jesse Tinsley

Jim Meehan

Molly Quinn

Rob Curley

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