Windsor can tuck another feather in its cap after being named in the top 10 of cities where the future is brightest.

The city has been named in fDi Magazine's Top 10 American Cities of the Future for 2011-12, placing seventh among Large Cities of the Future in North, Central and South America.

Windsor also ranks in three other categories, including earning second-place honours for economic potential, in the lists compiled by the London-based magazine, which is owned by The Financial Times.

It's yet another sign that the city's economic comeback story is getting attention, even outside of Canada, said the CEO of the WindsorEssex Economic Development Corporation.

"This is becoming not only a national, but an international story, and rightly so," said Ron Gaudet. "This region was hit very, very hard and it's coming back."

Aside from being seventh overall among large cities, Windsor also ranks second in its size range in economic potential -behind Seattle -as well as fifth in infrastructure and sixth in foreign direct investment promotion strategy.

"Words can't begin to describe how important, how valuable this recognition is," said Mayor Eddie Francis. He said it's the first time Windsor has done this well in the fDi listings.

"We're very, very pleased with the results," he said. "We'll be using this to market this region very aggressively throughout the world."

The top 10 list is broken down into several categories, with Windsor listed as a large city.

Ahead of Windsor overall are Pittsburgh, Halifax, Charlotte, Mississauga, Las Vegas and Victoria, B.C. Windsor came in ahead of St. Louis, Hamilton and Quebec City.

In four additional large city categories -cost effectiveness, business friendliness, quality of life and human resources -Windsor doesn't make the top 10.

Windsor is also not named in the list of overall cities of the future, which is identical to the top 10 listing of the very largest cities.

The rankings are compiled through a mix of data and expert opinion, the local development commission said in a news release.

The acknowledgment comes with Windsor currently playing host to the Intelligent Community Forum. The region has already been recognized as one of the seven smartest regions in the world.

The timing, Francis said, couldn't be better. "With the Intelligent Community Forum arriving here in Windsor (today) and Tuesday, to have this designation is further support of everything that we have been saying," he said.

Gaudet said several organizations came together with the city and the county to send in a detailed filing to the magazine. Making the top 10, he said, is a timely feather in the community's cap.

"It's third-party validation of the effort that we've put forward in this region," he said, singling out the precipitous drop in unemployment from a peak of 15.2 per cent in 2009. Today it's 9.7 per cent, and the city has relinquished its title of the least employed city in Canada to Abbotsford-Mission, B.C.

Nevertheless, he said, there's room to grow, including pulling the unemployment rate much lower.

"We've got a long way to go, there's no doubt about it."