HONOLULU, Hawai’i
Population: 390,738
Unemployment: 4.1 percent
Fortune 500 Companies: 0
Fittingly, Oahu is called “The Gathering Place,” as it and its largest city, Honolulu, have become an international meeting place for the U.S. and Asia. Located about 2,500 miles from Los Angeles and 3,800 miles from Tokyo, Honolulu is increasingly seeing its business, cultural and culinary landscape affected by its unique position on the globe. So important has the city become to Asia that nations such as Japan, South Korea, the Philippines and Micronesia maintain full-time consulates there.