GAY STUFF: America's Favorite Cities (part deux)

DUH. I didn't even see the "Gay Friendliness" Category until the very end of the last blog. I feel like it is important to post the list in toto, I don't think there are many suprises:

1) San Francisco -- 4.82 (out of 5)
2) New Orleans -- 4.60
3) Portland, OR -- 4.51
4) Seattle -- 4.45
5) Minneapolis/St. Paul -- 4.42
6) Austin -- 4.39 SURPRISE 1
7) New York -- 4.37 SURPRISE 2
8) Miami -- 4.34
9) Chicago -- 4.22
10) Santa Fe -- 4.21
11) Philadelphia -- 4.21 SURPRISE 3
12) Los Angeles -- 4.18 SURPRISE 2
13) Washington, DC -- 4.08
14) Boston -- 4.05 SURPRISE 2
15) San Diego -- 4.05
16) Denver -- 3.97
17) Atlanta -- 3.95
18) Honolulu -- 3.85
19) Orland -- 3.81
20) Las Vegas -- 3.80
21) Charleston -- 3.69
22) San Antonio -- 3.57
23) Phoenix/Scottsdale -- 3.27
24) Dallas/Fort Worth -- 3.26 -- SURPRISE 1
25) Nashville -- 3.19

SURPRISE 1 -- I'm shocked by the Austin/DFW placement because I had always heard that Dallas was tres gay, and Austin, being the capital, leaned more conservative. I would have thought the two were reversed.

SURPRISE 2 -- New York, Boston, and LA -- I just would have thought they would have been right under San Fran. NYC because it is where the gay right's movement began (see next surprise, also), Boston because Massachusetts is the only state where same-sex marriage is legal, and LA because ... well, come on, it's Hollywood. (But, I suppose, there are a lot to these cities that we don't see... LA has a huge immigrant population, and NYC has, well, the Bronx.)

SURPRISE 3 -- Did people confuse this with Pittsburgh -- the setting of Queer as Folk? *Shrug* But it was the site of the first gay protest ever (a caveat: this event, with 40 conservatively dressed gays and lesbians outside Independence Hall will probably be downplayed in history, and seems to be so online, with people preferring to remember Stonewall in a more friendly manner... but I thought I'd at least post a picture as it seems to be nameless and, therefore, difficult to find information on)

OHIO/CINNKY: America's Favorite Cities

Having put that as the category, you'll notice that Ohio and Cincinnati fall no where on this map.



However, my hometown (Charleston) does appear on it. You know, every year, residents of Charleston would hear that we were rated the friendliest city in the country. Well, here are the 2007 results that again turn over the honor from Travel and Leisure Magazine (and the opportunity for you to vote for the 2008 results).

Anyways, I'm not really worried about it, but here are some highlights:

Best Overall Cityscape: Portland (1), Seattle (2)
Worst Overall Cityscape: Dallas-Fort Worth (24), Los Angeles (25)

Most Attractive People: Miami (1), San Diego (2), Charleston (3)
Least Attractive People: Dallas-Fort Worth (23), Washington DC (24), Philadelphia (25)

Most Fun People: New Orleans (1), Austin (2 -- yes, Texas), Honolulu (3)
Least Fun People: Phoenix-Scottsdale (23 -- btw, Scottsdale is where they get a LOT of reality show contestants, not kidding, go check out the cast list for some of these... that name just pops up a lot), Dallas Fort-Worth (24), Washington DC (25)

Best Overall Nightlife: New Orleans (1), Las Vegas (2), New York (3)
Worst Overall Nightlife: Phoenix-Scottsdale (23), Dallas-Fort Worth (24), Santa Fe (25)

Hrm, I'm looking and Phoenix and DFW seem to appear low on a lot of lists. In fact, Phoenix's highest rating is #6 in the Most Relaxing Retreat Category, but ranks in the bottom five in 35 of the categories. DFW's highest is #4 for Best Barbeque, but ranks in the bottom five in 44 of the categories.

Meanwhile, Charleston is number one in Friendliest, and only ranks in the bottom five in five categories (Clubbing -- 24, Gay-friendliness -- 21, Diverse - 20, Sport's Fan Vacation -- 24, Wild Weekend -- 21).

PS I also wrote in that Cincinnati should be included next year... I mean, something more than just Minneapolis-St. Paul in this area (like Atlanta, Chicago I think is "outside the region" as it's an international city with a midwestern flair). Columbus? Indy? Ann Arbor? St. Louis? Something? Ha. Well, at least I'm not in the great Western blah that's on the map -- Salt Lake City?