America's Coolest Cities ? Bert Sperling

This July was the hottest on record in the U.S. and 2012 is on track to be our hottest year ever. You better believe Americans are cranking the A/C and heading for the swimming holes.

But when it comes to my ?cool cities? study, I?m talking about the other kind of cool. ?The sunglasses, Levi?s and t-shirt James Dean cool.

Along with Forbes I set out to find where the youth of America are headed, where it?s ?happening.? ?Would you believe Houston comes out on top? ?Last year H-town sported a vigorous 2.6% job growth while welcoming over 50,000 new residents to the area, many of them young professionals.

We looked at recreational opportunities, such as amount of green space, golfing and skiing, and pro and college sports teams.

We also used my special Diversity Index, which measures the likelihood that someone you meet will be of different race or ethnicity. ?Higher diversity translates to a greater number of cool stores, events, and eateries.

Places with a high net migration as well as low unemployment and low median age were at the top of the list. ? It?s interesting to note in the results that Texas is certainly on the upswing, claiming five of the top 20 spots. ?Yee-haw!

Not as shocking is the high ranking of ?traditionally cool? places like Los Angeles, San Francisco, and New York. ?Here?s the full breakdown:

		Arts & Culture Index	Recreation Index	Diversity Index	Median Age	Unemploy-ment	2011 Net Migration
1	Houston, TX	91	94	77.1%	33	6.9%	49,820
2	Washington, D.C.	99	93	70.9%	36	5.4%	34,260
3	Los Angeles, CA	99	100	82.5%	35	11.1%	10,050
4	Dallas, TX	95	86	73.7%	33.5	6.9%	45,870
5	Seattle, WA	96	99	55.1%	37	7.1%	22,380
6	San Diego, CA	92	96	74.0%	35	8.8%	10,850
7	Boston, MA	100	99	54.3%	38	5.3%	3,660
8	Orange County, CA	87	98	75.7%	36	7.5%	13,910
9	San Francisco, CA	98	99	73.1%	41	7.0%	6,810
10	New York, NY	100	100	79.6%	37	9.2%	-11,900
11	San Antonio, TX	68	56	69.9%	34	6.6%	25,130
12	Chicago, IL	99	99	69.9%	35	8.4%	-22,640
13	Fort Worth, TX	91	79	67.1%	31	6.7%	21,910
14	Baltimore, MD	96	98	57.0%	38	7.1%	4,610
15	Philadelphia, PA	99	88	57.0%	33.5	8.1%	-890
16	Oakland, CA	92	96	78.6%	37	9.0%	12,000
17	Bethesda, MD	95	89	67.7%	39	5.2%	4,990
18	Minneapolis, MN	98	92	40.0%	36	5.2%	12,070
19	Austin, TX	75	48	68.2%	32.5	5.8%	32,880
20	Denver, CO	96	91	59.1%	36	8.1%	17,590

What do you think of this list? ?Do you live in one of these Coolest cities, or is your city missing?

Source: http://www.bertsperling.com/2012/08/21/americas-coolest-cities/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=americas-coolest-cities