There’s reason for founders to look to smaller cities for their latest ventures. While San Francisco and New York receive nearly half of all venture capital investment in the country, a high cost of living makes it hard for entrepreneurs to start businesses there, and workers can be stretched thin even on six-figure salaries. Even smaller start-up scenes that have cropped up in response, like Austin, Texas, have seen real-estate prices skyrocket thanks to an influx of newcomers.
As a result, workers are moving beyond city limits. A 2018 Gallup poll found a greater share of Americans would prefer to live in a small city or a suburb, over a big city. Millennials especially are now fleeing big cities for greener, and more affordable, pastures.

​8. Chandler, Arizona
Median household income: $85,527
Living wage: $11.90
VC deals since 2016: 122

Scottsdale leaders almost immediately reversed their decision to replace the iconic mounted cowboy on the city’s flag after residents rebelled. Glendale caught flack for spending too much on its new logo — which looked very similar to other famous “G” logos.
But Chandler leaders say they plan to do it right.
Chandler will unveil a modified city logo and new tagline this summer as part of a rebranding effort to mesh the logo and tagline with the efforts to market Chandler as the “innovation and technology hub of the Southwest,” Matt Burdick, a city spokesman, said. 

The Chandler makerspace run by TechShop until it went bankrupt has reopened after Arizona State University stepped in to help serve entrepreneurs, artists and others who had lost a place to create products and other work.
The makerspace at 249 E. Chicago St. in the ASU Chandler Innovation Center closed in November 2017 and TechShop Inc. filed for bankruptcy in February of last year.
Arizona State University “worked through the bankruptcy process to acquire the equipment and reopen the makerspace for the public, as well as for Arizona State University,” said Ji Mi Choi, ASU associate vice-president in charge of the university’s Knowledge Enterprise Development Leading Entrepreneurship + Innovation initiative.

​Finding the perfect mix of moisturizers, serums and cleansers to clear up acne, reduce wrinkles and otherwise achieve healthy skin usually requires scientific experimentation.
Now, family-owned skincare company Skin Actives Scientific has an easier time doing just that after opening its first store at Chandler Fashion Center.
Mother and son Hannah Sivak and Jonatan Funtowicz started the company in 2005 solely as an online enterprise, first creating products out of Sivak’s home.
The skincare company, which manufactures most of its many skincare and hair growth products in Gilbert, aims to give customers honest products at affordable prices.
The help of the Chandler Innovations business incubation and entrepreneurial development program sparked recent company growth.