While Baton Rouge clings to the mantra of “America’s next great city,” a small town in Virginia is out to take our self-proclaimed crown, backing its efforts with a slew of economic development success stories and better quality of life metrics, including lower crime rates, a more educated population, fewer people in poverty and higher wages than here, writes Business Report Executive Editor JR Ball.
Rather than mere pride-inducing boasts, Ball says, Tysons Corner and its 20,000 residents are actively pursuing all the attributes that go into the making of a great city.
“The same week Gov. John Bel Edwards and Baton Rouge officials were giddy about convincing Twistlock, a Portland-based cybersecurity firm, to locate a 20-job software engineering office here, economic development wonks from Virginia were in Tysons Corner declaring Fortune 500 company Arconic was moving its headquarters to the area,” Ball writes.
Tysons Corner, located between Dulles Airport and Washington, D.C., is home to 120,000 jobs, 28 million square feet of office space and the headquarters of 10 Fortune 500 companies. It has the 12 largest business district in the US, a median household income double Baton Rouge’s and students in Tysons’ schools are more than a year above grade level. In Baton Rouge, children average 1.3 years behind.
Unsurprisingly, Tysons’ poverty rate is just 6.1%, lower than Zachary’s 8% and about the same as Central. In contrast, Baton Rouge is pushing for the nation’s highest at 26.1%.
Basically, they’re doing everything right …
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