Some patterns in the league tables of Best Performing Cities

For almost a decade, the Milken Institute has been compiling reports of the "Best Performing Cities". We can reveal some interesting patterns when we string together these reports. AMong older industrial cities, Pittsburgh seems to be a model to emulate. Some of the smaller industrial cities seem to be making a turnaround: they are moving up in the "league tables". Their relative position is improving. Among these cities: Grand Rapids, Dayton, Rockford, Youngstown. 

Oklahoma City has been cited as a national model for economic transformation. Oklahoma City shows that smart strategies, consistently executed, can move a city up in relative performance.