"These are challenges that the region faces," notes Atkinson who adds that high office lease rates are another of the underlying reasons that led to Boston being in the eighth place behind cities such San Francisco, Austin, Seattle, Raleigh-Durham, NC, San Diego, Washington, DC and Denver "They have to address these issues head on. Ten years ago, you would have seen Boston in the top spots, but there are a lot of new places with new economic sectors and a lot of competition so high office prices works against the area," he says.

This city came in 13th per capita in workforce education, 32nd in job churn, which measures business start-ups and failures, and 42nd in the number of entrepreneurial companies. The area finished in the bottom half in measuring digital infrastructure. But Boston did come in fourth in high-tech jobs and venture capital, third in degrees granted in science and engineering, and second in funding for academic research and development. It was these positive indicators that helped the state come in at number one for the new economy index. The indicators for that study, which was conducted in August 1999, were venture capital, fast-growing jobs and managerial and tech jobs. "This new study should be seen as a wake-up call," says Atkinson.