From Finance and Commerce:

Although the national economy is still in the tank, that’s not coloring how residents of the Twin Cities and 25 other U.S. cities feel about their communities.

A Gallup study released today called “Soul of the Community” found that the worst economic crisis in decades isn’t a major factor in attracting and retaining residents to their communities.

“We expected the economy would cause significant changes to which factors most drive residents’ emotional attachment to their community,” said Marc Fest, vice president of communications for the Knight Foundation, financial supporter of the Gallup survey. “Instead, we found the current economic downturn has almost no short-term impact on what makes people fall in love with where they live.

” In an e-mail, Fest added, “We found a strong connection between the amount of people’s loyalty and passion for where they live, and the community’s long-term GDP (gross domestic product) growth.”