Joel Kotkin has a good Forbes piece on the nation’s economy. Pointing out that the national economy is made up of many economies, he highlights “the five regions…poised to flourish…”

Read the article for the assumptions and his analysis. The good news here is that the Pacific Northwest makes the cut. More especially, the Puget Sound region looks vibrant to him.

The Pacific Northwest. This is one blue region in the country with excellent prospects. For one thing, both Washington and Oregon enjoy considerable in-migration, in sharp contrast to New York, California and Illinois. They also have a more varied economy than Silicon Valley, with strong companies connected to retail (Amazon, Costco and Starbucks), aerospace (Boeing) and software (Microsoft).

The Seattle region, home to all these companies,  is the real standout. It ranked first on our recent list of technology regions and third in industrial manufacturing, a trend likely to continue as Boeingexpands production of its new 787 Dreamliner. The business climate and the housing costs are somewhat challenging, but more favorable than in California. The Bay Area and Los Angeles continue to send large numbers of migrants to the Puget Sound region. Over the long term, the area also benefits from possessing ample cheap renewable energy (mostly hydro) and water, which are both  in short supply elsewhere.

There are risks. He notes them. But it’s nice to be starting the 2012 race in pole position.