Three Colorado cities were rated to have low crime rates, top-notch schools and low unemployment.

Highlands Ranch, Centennial and Broomfield which landed the Nos. 6, 13 and 25 spots, respectively, on Money Magazine's annual "Best Places to Live" report.

To come to these ratings, they are measured with populations of between 50,000 to 300,000. And also based on a number of factors:

Predicted job growth, Crime rates, Ethnic diversity, Home values,

Economic performance/tax rates, Median household incomes.

Accessibility to health care, culture, strong public schools and sports.

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Colorado Springs is one of the places in Colorado where people can best afford their own home, without too much of their wealth going toward housing. In addition to affordable housing and more jobs, both in- and out-of-state tourism are growing. Hotel occupancy is up 6 percent and is on an upward trajectory, and the city is poised to be a popular destination as the Summer Olympics is on the horizon. One of the largest growth industries for Colorado Springs and Colorado in general is professional services. Also notable was the region’s growing high-tech industry, and science and math-skilled industries. Schrock noted that having a high concentration of STEM jobs will help sustain the region’s growth moving forward. This includes more advanced manufacturing, computer system design and software manufacturing.

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Today, there are 380 solar companies at work throughout the value chain in Colorado, employing more than 4,000 people.  Notable solar projects in Colorado include:

Alamosa Solar Generating Project was completed in 2012 by developer Cogentrix. This concentrating photovoltaic (PV) project has the capacity to generate 30 MW of electricity – enough to power more than 5,400 Colorado homes.

Another utility scale project, the Hooper Solar Project, is currently under construction in Colorado and is scheduled to come online in 2016.

Several large retailers in Colorado have also gone solar, including Kohl's, REI, Safeway and Walmart.

IKEA has installed one of the largest corporate PV systems in the state with 1,120 kilowatt (kW) of solar capacity at its location in Centennial.

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Colorado is home to a prosperous and diverse industry base and ranks among the top 20 regional economies in terms of economic growth. In recent years, higher employment rates have been brought about by the expansion of the energy and technology sectors, helping foster a favorable economic climate for local businesses and investors and having a clearly positive effect on the commercial property market across the state (1). What follows are some market insights relevant to business owners, tenants, and prospective investors with an interest in the Colorado property market.

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Construction employment in Colorado was up by 7% from a year ago in April, coming in seventh strongest among the states, according to a new report by the Associated Contractors of America. Colorado added 10,500 jobs during the last 12 months, with two-thirds in metro Denver.

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“Colorado will remain one of the top growth states nationally in 2016,” said CU economist Richard Wobbekind, who’s also the senior associate dean for academic programs at the Leeds School. “We benefit from being a very desirable state where people want to live and work, allowing us to attract top talent.”

The forecast predicts that total employment in the state will increase by about 65,000 through 2016, but the number of unemployed persons will go down too, which will add up to an annual average unemployment rate by year end 2016 of just 3.8 percent.

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Retail projects include the new Park Meadows Mall, Centennial Promenade, Shoppes at the Meadows, and Meadows Marketplace on the south end of town. A west Denver mall and redevelopment projects also are planned, including the Denver Pavilions on the 16th Street Mall downtown-with tenants such as a Niketown and a Hard Rock Cafe-and the Stadium Walk, a development near Coors Field whose organizers include Arnold Schwarzenegger.