The City of Springfield placed number 17 on the list of the top 300 cities across the U.S. in The Wall Street Journals (WSJ) recent article focusing on its Winter Emerging Housing Markets Index. The WSJ collaborated with Realtor.com to rank which housing markets are expected to provide a strong return on investment and offer a nice place to live. The index used methodology exploring two main areas: real-estate markets (50%) and economic health (50%).
"As mayor, I know Springfield is a great place to live, work, and raise a family. But having an outside entity include Springfield in an index such as this helps residents understand our community value and that Springfield is moving in the right direction," said Mayor Jim Langfelder. "Not only is Springfield located geographically where residents can access other major cities, we have critical projects underway that are pushing Springfield to the future. This includes moving rail traffic to the 10th Street corridor and the opening of the new HUB Transportation Center, School District s school improvements plan, and our thriving medical community. This, coupled with emerging projects like the Scheels Sports Complex and UIS Innovation Center downtown will make Springfield that much stronger for residents."
The WSJ index also looked at factors such as the communitys unemployment rate, wages, regional prices for consumer goods, amenities, and average work commute. Ryan McCrady, CEO of Springfield Sangamon Growth Alliance, which is focused on driving economic development and partnership opportunities in the region, said this report shows that Springfield is a good place to not only live but also do business.
"Reports like this are a tremendous asset in terms of business development and attraction because it reinforces everything weve been saying about what makes Springfield a great place to live and work," said McCrady. "Over the last year alone, SSGA has conducted more than 90 business retention and expansion visits in our community and this is the kind of data employers care about. In addition to that, we already know we have more than $1.5 billion in economic development opportunities coming to this region over the next few years. We hope this article makes people proud to live in Springfield."
The WSJ article was published on February 2, 2023, and is available online.