Durham ranks 3rd of cities to brave recession

Amid the largest financial downturn since the Great Depression, Durham may be an ideal location to ride out the storm, with BusinessWeek ranking Durham the third-best city in the nation to weather the economic crisis.

One of the factors in the Bull City's high ranking was its many employers spreading across many sectors of the economy.

According to BusinessWeek, 45.5 percent of jobs will be unaffected or "safe" from the financial situation. Approximately 18 percent of jobs in Durham are in healthcare, and 14 percent are in education. Other areas of employment include professional, scientific, government and technical jobs, according to the magazine.

"One thing that we have here is a wide variety of industry here that operate on a global level," said Sheena Johnson, director of communications and marketing at the Durham Chamber of Commerce.

The Chamber of Commerce has assisted in $700 million of investment for company development and relocation, Johnson said. But designating the Triangle as a great place to live appears to be nothing new, and the area has long been a top destination for relocation.

"[Durham is] a college town that's close to other economically vibrant college towns and is commuting distance to state government jobs in Raleigh, the state capital," BusinessWeek wrote in its Oct. 14 article about riding out the recession. "The Durham area also has six hospitals and the Research Triangle Park, the largest research park in the world."