Triangle is nation's #2 brain magnet

The Triangle, a perennial front-runner in popularity rankings, has won another plaudit. Forbes magazine said today we're the nation's #2 brain magnet.

That's to say, the Raleigh-Durham-Cary metro area rates highly in terms of the number of college grads we've gained in recent years, when compared to the region's population aged 25 or more.

Forbes' finding is in keeping with other surveys that rank this area highly in terms of livability, affordability and other desirable traits.

The country's #1 brain magnet, according to Forbes, was the New Orleans area. It is rapidly gaining college grads as professionals return to the city depopulated by Hurricane Katrina.

Forbes says that college graduates are increasingly looking for affordable, suburban environments where they can find a job. Many come to places like the Triangle after failing to hit the big time in New York and Los Angeles.

"Most places withe the highest percentages of college-educated people are in suburbs," Forbes says. "Overall our analysis shows that many end up in places with lower housing prices."

Another trend is that the young and educated are moving to the South. Other regions on the brainy list include Austin, Nashville, Birmingham, Kansas City, Columbus, Denver, Seattle and San Diego.