The 10 Worst Cities for Jobs and Business Show Hope of Recovery

Some of these cities are no longer "The Worst."

These large cities all have only unaffordable housing to offer new employees, an unhealthy dependence on a single industry, and frequently, a poor quality of life for the middle class population. That class is finding that it is descending into the wage-worker class and even into poverty levels. [Lead reference list at Inc.com]

Experts in the 1950s - early 1960s once advised Americans to spend only 25% of their gross income (before taxes and deductions) on Rent and Utilities Combined! The next level of advice proposed that Americans should spend 25% of gross income on rent alone. Then it was 34% of gross income on rent by the 1990s. However, many Americans find that only 34% - 50% of their gross income will provide clean, sturdy housing in a lower crime neighborhood. The middle class in the following list of cities is overburdened by these high costs and are moving to lower-quality housing or out of town.

Business people rely on the middle class to spend money in order to increase business growth and success. However, the middle class is shrinking and suffering form a decline in their standard of living in these 10 American cities. The middle class is actually slipping into the low-income segment of the American population.

San Jose, California

Motto: The Fun Never Stops.

The decline of California's Silicon Valley has been caused by a general unhealthy attitude of hubris, very bad business timing, increasingly high costs of doing business, and concentration only in high-tech industries, without business diversification. San Jose still possesses a skilled and talented workforce, and an infrastructure suitable for high-tech entrepreneurs. However, any thoughts of diversifying the economy need to manifest and come to fruition very soon in order for the San Jose economy to recover. Set in Silicon Valley, the city's economic and population growth led to the highest housing-costs increase in America: 936% between 1976 and 2001 (reference: "San Jose case study, part one: the urban-growth boundary". Thoreau Institute).

January 2013: Over 82,000 jobs are open in San Jose, largely in IT positions, Trucking, Healthcare and Engineering - and jobs have been increasing since the end of 2011!

Grand Rapids, Michigan

Greenville-Spartanburg, South Carolina

- In an astounding bout of recovery in the 2010s, Greenville SC became the Number One Micro City in the USA.

Dayton, Ohio

Good News: In the 2010s, Dayton has become a vital part of the Ohio Space Corridor extending from Fairborn to Cincinnati with the development and manufacture of new products and services.

Dayton, Ohio is where the Wright Brothers owned and operated their famous bicycle shop before inventing and building the airplane that flew at Kitty Hawk. Rubber was a big industry in Dayton for years, just as was the cash register business (National Cash Register or NCR). Ponderosa Steak Houses had their large HQ in Dayton with restaurants across the world. Ponderosa even reserved and paid for he space for the first restaurant on the old MIR space station. However, the chain declined before such an endeavor could ever come to life. All of these successful businesses decline in the face of IT and other hi-tech industries. Currently, Dayton has a large urban area steeped in poverty and crime (as does the smaller, nearby Springfield). Wright State University is still very active in bioengineering and other work, however, while nearby Wright Patterson Air Force Base has suffered some setbacks. Green industries and jobs could be the salvation of this city. Recently, the Dayton City Commission announced one of the largest redevelopment efforts ever undertaken in the Ohio Valley - a $230 million project to create a mixture of housing, retail, commercial and entertainment venues along Dayton's downtown waterfront. The project is called Ballpark Village. At the same time, WPAFB Air Force Museum is adding another entire building to its already large installation.

June 15, 2011: Dayton closer to getting racetrack and video slots (Dayton Daily News) - In summary, Ohio's Governor John Kasich decided to permit video slot machines at Ohio’s horse tracks and this enhances Dayton Ohio’s chances of receiving a $200,000,000 horse racetrack. This is believed to be a great chance to boost the Dayton economy, in addition to the plans for increasing jobs and business - including tourism - in this part of the Ohio Space Corridor. In fact, long time track on Columbus OH, Beaulah Park on the far south side, would like to move to Dayton at a site near busy highway I-75.

January 2013: The Ohio Space Corridor from Cincinnati through Dayton-Fairborn and Columbus; and the historic Ohio Aviation Trail of installations have boosted Dayton's economy even further.

Rochester, N.Y.

Milwaukee, Wisconsin

New York City; San Francisco, California; and Boston, Massachusetts

Focusing only on Dot-Com success, NYC, SF, and Boston metros failed keep costs down. High-tech and financial services were to ensure long-term business growth.

Jobs in these industries declined, very much so after 2000 in the Recession that occurred in last year of the Clinton and on into the transition to the George W. Bush Administration. New York City, with its immigrant s and growing immigration, and successful ethnic and culture-based industries is alive, but new growth is toward the suburbs, especially Long Island and America's Richest Places.

Portland, Oregon

The suburb of Hillsboro in the west of Portland has been names one of the Top 100 Places to Live in America.

Raleigh-Durham, North Carolina - TURNAROUND for a "Worst City"

Raleigh-Durham's obsessive concentration on IT and technological industries has been seen as an unhealthy lack of diversity.But this has led to high rates of business growth --

UPDATE 2009, 2010, 2011 - The Research Triangle near Raleigh has been producing increasing numbers of well-paying jobs and drawing new business into the region. See our links at RESEARCH TRIANGLE REVIEW.

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Hartford, Connecticut