Forbes Magazine Sees Bright Future for 'HOME TOWNS'-
Y-S Tops the list in California
People Quiting urban sprawl in search of smaller communities, editor says

Wes Sander
Appeal-Democrat

When pondering his pet subject of late, Rich Karlgaard places "home towns" fourth on his list of localities most likely to prosper in the near future.

Yuba-Sutter would fall in that category, he explained, while riding in a limousine to the Yuba County Airport on Thursday afternoon. On his list, the home town group falls behind resort towns, smaller cities - for which Sacramento would qualify - and university towns.

Still, that places Yuba-Sutter in a category that's expected to see technology-fed prosperity soon, he said - places removed from large population centers.

Karlgaard is publisher of Forbes Magazine. On invitation from the Yuba-Sutter Chamber of Commerce and Yuba-Sutter Economic Development Corporation, he visited the area briefly Thursday to mark Yuba City's high placement on two of his magazine's "best places" lists.

Karlgaard addressed a luncheon at The Refuge that attendees described as the largest gathering of local dignitaries in recent history. Nearly 170 attended.

"It's absolutely one of the greatest things I've ever seen in this area," Live Oak Vice-Mayor Charlie Eggert said afterward. "This place has the brightest future I've ever seen. I think the entire area is going to grow in business and population, and I want to be a part of that."

The lists were published in Forbes' April edition. Among metro areas under 177,000 population, Yuba City ranked first in California and 10th in the nation for its business atmosphere. Last year, it ranked 227th.

The big cities that benefited from growth in information technology and the dot-com craze have "had their run," Karlgaard said at the luncheon - and smaller cities are on the rise.

That impression comes from "anecdotal experience I'm getting from speaking to a number of people," he said.

"The technology that started over the invention of the silicon chip ... (is) not slowing down, it's speeding up," he said. "I think you're in a great position heading into the next 10 years."

On arrival, Karlgaard's limousine took a circuitous route from the Sutter County Airport, heading through Yuba City's Town Center - where a new outpatient care center recently joined a host of medical facilities - and down Plumas Street, regarded by many as Yuba City's revitalized downtown.

Rows of American flags lined both sidewalks, and a portable light sign flashed "Welcome Forbes Magazine."

"I think it's going to be a route," Karlgaard said at the luncheon. "I think people are going to be leaving places like New York and Silicon Valley in droves. And they're going to be looking for places like you have here.

"Nobody in the world attracts talent like the United States. And within the United States, nobody is going to attract talent as much as places like this. But these smaller cities will have to have a collection of attributes to do well," he said.

For Yuba-Sutter, Karlgaard points to a family-oriented atmosphere that raises quality of life, low living costs and three universities lying less than an hour away.

"To visit a place where there's optimism and growth is really like a shot of adrenaline," Karlgaard said. "We're probably in the worst recession right now in 30 years."

And the peculiar thing about this recession is that it's spreading through the economy, not sticking to certain industries or geographical areas, he said.

"There's a dynamic in the economy right now that I think is troubling, and that's deflation," he said, describing an economic trend that tends to suck cash out of the economy. "This country has not seen deflation for 30 years. Until the Federal Reserve clearly gets on a deflation-fighting footing, all bets are off."

And once the country assumes that footing - possibly by spring 2002, according to some economists - the national economic climate will get "exciting," he said.

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Places to see in Yuba City & Marysville:
Mary Aaron Museum
Ellis Home
Bok Kai Temple
Riverfront Park
Ellis Lake
Collins Lake
Beale Air Force Base
Camp Far West Reservoir
Bullards Bar Reservoir
Engelbright Dam & Reservoir
Woodville State Station
Knoxdale Institute
Pelton Water Wheel Monument
Old Frenchtown Adobe
Timbuctoo
Renaissance Vineyard & Winery
Yuba-Sutter Fair
Historic B Street
Twin Cities Bridge
Community Memorial Museum
The Worlds Smallest Mountain Range
Sikh Temple
Gray Lodge Refuge

Maudie Sue Chandler
409 Century Park Dr., Ste. 2
Yuba City, CA 95991

Office/Voice: (530) 671-8101
Cell: (530) 701-6712
Fax: (530) 671-8189
Email: mchandler@c21selectgroup.com