My work on the growth of cities

In my econometrics class I modeled the growth of the fifty largest US cities. Sadly Rochester did not fall in that list (as of the US Census Bureau’s July 2008 report it is number 99). From my research I learned that the most important factors in determining a city's growth rate are: cost of living, median household income, foreign born population, crime density, daytime population, and education. I thought it would be interesting to see how Rochester compares to the cities I examined in my model. 

Rochester (comparison)

Growth Rate: -5.9% (49 Philadelphia, PA)

Cost of Living: 84.6 (40 Jacksonville, FL)

Median Household Income: $29,975 (48 Miami, FL)

Foreign Born Population: 7.3% (36 Nashville, TN)

Crime Density: 56.75 (17 Milwaukee, WI)

Daytime Population: +35.2% (5 Louisville, KY)

Higher Education: 28.1% (40 Baltimore, MD)