We’ve talked a lot about how to choose a location in the city for a small business or startup. What if you want to start in a smaller city than Chicago itself? The best place, according to BusinessWeek, is Evanston.
In a survey of the U.S., analysts compiled loads of data and opinions from locals and came up with Chicago’s fair city to the north.
The location of a startup depends on the type of business, cost of real estate, even the physical beauty of the area to potential employees. And according to BusinessWeek, in the Chicago area, Evanston has all of those qualities.
"It's in the Midwest, so it's not Silicon Valley, but it's probably the closest you're going to get. Northwestern is a great school with a lot of really good talent,” said Doug Grimstead, CEO of data analytics consulting firm Aginity. “It's very close to Chicago, you can just hop on public transport and get into town. There's a few VCs in town. Plenty of customers, lots of capital, and good people. The incubator provides a pretty good set of services. There's a ton of entrepreneurs in Evanston.”
Local
BusinessWeek says they chose to highlight only one small city in each state, forsaking a lot of great places for startups, especially in states with large cities and populations. So to those small business owners in Schaumburg, Naperville, or Lombard, don’t feel left out.
