Even in the worst economic situation since the Carter administration, Forbes magazine often likes to reveal whatever positive sides it can, much like I do. In an article written from expertly executed research campaigns and quotes from successful entrepreneurs, they found the most lucrative and financially prosperous places in the United States to set up residence. They based these findings on four factors: cultural amenities, business friendly environments, knowledgeable and productive workforces and generous salaries.

Joshua Onysko, an entrepreneur and owner of Pangaea Organics, opened his skin care business when he moved to Boulder, Colorado, which he did, aside for the personal benefits, due to the business benefits. The business benefits include a strong venture capital environment, similar start-up businesses all throughout the area, and talented workforce candidates from nearby University of Colorado. While other businesses are contracting, Onysko’s endeavors are expanding. He has reported a 225% increase since 2005 which is still increasing.

Factors that can put an area on this list of profitable areas can include pending and active patents, venture capital funding, self employment businesses, start-ups and small businesses with a high rate per capita. This basically covers anything that displays quality business activity, indicating profitability, success and a desire to live in relative prosperity. This places Boulder, Colorado, at number one on the list.

The basic Miami area, especially Doral and Kendall, Florida, suburbs about 15 miles out, one north, one south, offer a great environment for more active businesses like golf courses and beaches. They also have one of the largest amounts of small businesses in the country per capita, clinching the number two spot and number 25 spot in this list. Following a close third is Fairfax, Virginia, exhibiting one of the best public school systems in the country, a median salary that barely misses a six figure total, a large amount of small corporations, and a main highway that leads right to McLean, Virginia, right outside of Washington D.C. McLean is one of the corporate capitals of the nation due to the presence of Capital One, Bearingpoint, Booz Allen Hamilton, Cardinal Bank, Freddie Mac, Gannett, Mars, MicroStrategy, NVR, Sunrise Senior Living, and USA Today.

Mountain View, Calfornia comes in fourth due to its proximity to San Jose and San Francisco combined with the amount of start up businesses and venture capital. Nearby Cupertino, just east of San Francisco, comes in a close fifth due to much of the same criteria. Coral Gables, Florida (9), Evanston, Illinois (18) and Newton, Massachusetts (6) tend to produce patents, start-ups, and venture capital due to their proximity in relation to major research universities. Santa Fe, New Mexico, though only number 24 on the full list of 25, is unique to the list due to the entertainment venues it provides, with related sole-proprietors and skilled workers. Columbia, Maryland, on the other side of Washington D.C. from Fairfax and 20 minutes from corporate Baltimore, came in at number seven. (Nearby Rockville, North Potomac, Germantown, Silver Spring and Potomac placed 8, 13, 17, 20 and 23, respectively.) As a native of that area of Maryland, this author is aware of the advantages in Columbia and, as an entrepreneur, takes advantage of them. There a lot of small to medium sized businesses in Columbia, Meriweather Post Pavilion, a major music and entertainment venue, and lots of venture capital.

As is made obvious, contrary to the current economic state, there is still a bright side to business and personal finance, especially if you live in California, Florida, Colorado, New Mexico, or the mid-atlantic region (Maryland and Virginia) of the country. The bottom line of these findings are easy to decipher. Any business can still succeed, even if a drastic measure like locational placement change must occur, and with strong business centers in nearly every portion of the country, the economy still has a strong core.

Since all locations were not listed, here is the full list:

25. Kendall, Florida- A southern suburb of Miami, parallel to Key Biscayne

24. Santa Fe, New Mexico- Northern New Mexico, northern part of the state

23. Potomac, Maryland- Just on the Maryland side of D.C.

22. Sugar Land, Texas- A southwest suburb of Houston

21. Tustin, California- South of Los Angeles and east of Long Beach

20. Silver Spring, Maryland- A Washington D.C. suburb, nearly directly inside the border

19. Davis, California – Between Sacramento and the Bay area

18. Evanston, Illinois – North of Chicago, on the shore of Lake Michigan

17. Germantown, Maryland- A northwest suburb of D.C.

16. Aliso Viejo, California- Between Laguna Beach and Laguna Hills

15. Sandy Springs, Georgia- A suburb north of Atlanta

14. Santa Monica, California- North of Los Angeles, on the beach

13. North Potomac, Maryland- Farther out than Bethesda, Chevy Chase and Potomac

12. Hillsborough, California, north of San Francisco and San Jose

11. Bellmont, California- South of Hillsborough, right between S.F. and S.J.

10. Foster City, California- South of San Francisco

9. Coral Gables, Florida- A southwest suburb of Miami

8. Rockville, Maryland- Another D.C. suburb but farther inside Maryland

7. Columbia, Maryland- Directly between Baltimore and D.C.

6. Newton, Massachusetts- A suburb west of Boston

5. Cupertino, California- South of San Francisco and west of San Jose

4. Mountain View, California- South of Palo Alto on the bay peninsula

3. Fairfax, Virginia- A western D.C. suburb

2. Doral, Florida- Another Miami suburb

1. Boulder, Colorado- Northwest of Denver, in the mountains

Last year, Starbucks closed several hundred stores all across the country due to falling profits and a looming recession. Now it has announced another 300 store closings and a loss of 6,700 jobs. Two-hundred of the stores will be located in the U.S.

I never understood why Starbucks chooses to locate in some areas, but not others. For example, I live in a college town with a student population of around 12,000. We have one Starbucks inside the student union and it’s a collaboration with Barnes and Noble. Yet, in the Grapevine Mills Mall just outside Dallas, there were 2 full size Starbucks. I like Starbucks, but for me, it’s just too inconvenient to buy on a regular basis.

A rumor floating around gadget and electronic blogs says that some Best Buy stores are holding the popular game system until this Sunday.

I can’t believe that the Wii is still so hard to find. After the 2 years it has been out, it has been steadily out of stock in a lot of locations.

The Acer Aspire One was first released in July 2008 and from what I can see it is being sold at more locations that the Eee PC. Where I live, there are two locations that sell the Acer and none that sell the Asus.

HP is also a fast gainer in the market. HP has released the Mini-Note, one of the only netbooks to carry Vista as an operating system option.

Since the attacks started Wednesday night, at least 150 people were killed and many more were injured as more than a dozen terrorists attacked several locations around Mumbai.

The largest amount of casualties were found where the terrorists were holding hostages, at the Taj Mahal hotel, the Oberoi hotel, and the Chabad Lubavitch Jewish center.

The attacks were some of the worst seen by India short of full blown war.

Even though many people will be forever changed by the events that transpired in the last few days, the country as a whole will prevail. Our thoughts and prayers are going out to the families lost in the attacks.

Starbucks, however, didn’t want to ruin all the fun. Now Starbucks is giving the free tall coffee to anyone who asks.

There are other “I Voted” freebies today:

Krispy Kreme is giving away a free star shaped doughnut if you show your “I Voted” sticker (I didn’t get one of those, my polling place didn’t have them)

Some Chick-fil-A locations are giving away chicken sandwiches.

Ben and Jerry’s – a free scoop of ice cream

Books-A-Million – another free cup of coffee.

Well there’s a glimpse of the future, fuel cell cars for the public. I suppose they aren’t as far in the future as the media makes it sound, as though our only options for the next 10 years will be hybrid cars…or natural gas. I have real problems with cars that run on natural gas. I mean, can’t we find ANYTHING else besides depleting non-renewable sources to power our vehicles?

However, I have to say, it is about time for VW to make a more efficient car…or alternate energy car at least. When looking for a car last year, the best they could do is a diesel car. However, the better mileage with the diesel fuel was offset by the extremely high cost of diesel. boo.

Sometimes I still wonder if we’ll ever see hydrogen fuel cell cars. I know that right now the technology isn’t in place, but maybe one day.