In the Arthur Loyd’s 2021 barometer on the attractiveness of French metropolises, Lyon occupies the first place of the podium of the “very large metropolises” (more than one million inhabitants). And this “for the fifth consecutive year”, specifies the barometer.
In its category, Lyon is ahead of Bordeaux, Toulouse, Aix-Marseille, Lille and Nice in terms of economic performance. “The Lyon metropolis still has the lowest unemployment rate (7.2%) and its business climate has held up better than in other territories,” notes the barometer. The capital of Gaul also has the best score for tertiary real estate and business reception. On the other hand, it only ranks third out of six in terms of quality of life, “particularly in terms of residential property prices, with a median approaching the threshold of 5,000 € / m² for an apartment in the city center. “.
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The city also records a modest performance concerning the environmental framework, where it is placed only in the fifth position. On the other hand, it performs very well for its higher education, where it obtains the best score of the six metropolises with more than one million inhabitants.
Behind Lyon, Bordeaux has the cheapest office rents, a guarantee of attractiveness for companies wishing to set up in business districts at a lower cost. In third position, Toulouse “hosts the largest number of universities among all the cities in the list” and has the lowest rental prices in the city center of the very large metropolises.
Large metropolises: Nantes in the lead
In the ranking of the “large metropolises” which have between 500,000 and 1 million inhabitants the most attractive, it is Nantes which rises to the first place. It is thus ahead of Grenoble and Strasbourg. Nantes “records the strongest development in the rate of business creation and its unemployment rate has remained stable despite the crisis (6.5%)”. But its quality of life indicators are poor, especially with regard to the cost of housing and health and safety indicators. This could “penalize it in the long term in a context where the living environment becomes essential”, notes the barometer.
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In second position, Grenoble benefits in particular “from the depth of the economic assets of the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region, which has shown resilience during the pandemic”. The city enjoys a good quality of life, endowed with a “rich cultural fabric” and “numerous training courses in higher education establishments”. Grenoble is closely followed by Strasbourg which “shows this year that it is a serious competitor and that it has real potential in order to be able to run for 1st place in the years to come”.
Saint-Etienne only arrives in eighth position, due to modest economic results and quality of life.
Intermediate metropolises: Brest’s revenge
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For metropolises of 200,000 to 500,000 inhabitants, Brest is ahead of Tours and Clermont-Ferrand, in terms of attractiveness. “A long crossing for the metropolis which was 12th in the ranking of the 2018 Palmarès”, notes the Barometer. The Breton city records “a positive growth of its young population” and “offers many arguments to convince the establishment of newcomers”, while the health context favors residential mobility.
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The most attractive medium-sized city (100,000 to 200,000 inhabitants) is Valence. It is followed by Angoulême and Niort.
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