Top 100 "fun cities" in the U.S. - You gotta be kidding with this chart, folks

New York City tops the list of "most fun" cities in the US of A, according to a report by Portfolio.com/biz journals. The publication gave New York top ratings in three of seven categories; shopping, food/drink and culture. It was runner-up in three others, which is pretty impressive.

The story I saw said the New York City area has 431 museums and historical sities, compared to a combined total of 349 in Los Angeles, Chicago and Dallas. I don't know about that. If you say the "New York City area," wouldn't you also have to include the Los Angeles and Chicago and Dallas areas, which would encompass areas such as Orange County, the suburbs of Chicago and Fort Worth, Texas?

Anyway, there's no doubt New York has it all for visitors. Second place in the study for most fun town USA was Chicago, which was third in food/drink and fourth in popular entertainment. The next cities, in order, were Boston, Miami, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Seattle, Portland (Maine, not Oregon), Philadelphia and Minneapolis.

Looking down the full list, I believe that this ranking is, to be blunt, insane.

No offence, but Portland, Maine is in the top 10? A nice town, I'm sure, but ahead of New Orleans? And what on earth is Poughkeepsie, New York doing in there at 21, ahead of Portland, Oregon and, um, Las Vegas? Are these people serious? Are there 25 cities in the U.S. more fun than Las Vegas? And 51 cities more fun than country-music capital Nashville?

The more I looked, the more I began to suspect a wee problem with the methodology. I found that the study folks had seven categories: gambling, shopping, food/drink, popular entertainment, low-impact sports, high-impact sports and culture. Personally, I think it's nuts to rank those the same. I mean, who goes to a city for high-impact sports, which they listed as things like skiing or fitness centres. How many CITIES have great ski facilities?

And how do you put food and drink on the same level as low-impact sports like golf or bowling? If you want to play golf, you don't necessarily head to a metropolitan area but to a golf resort like Myrtle Beach.
Then you get the bizarre, utterly bizarre, rankings within those individual areas. New York tops for culture, of course. But Detroit comes in at #2 in low-impact sports, while San Francisco, with great walking and cycling and hiking trails and fabulous golf courses as good or better than Detroit, is at 47. A joke.

Maybe this is meant as a city for people to live in, versus a list for travel purposes. But I still find it goofy as heck. Austin, Texas, was ranked 44th in popular entertainment, notwithstanding all the great music clubs. New Orleans? It was 61st! I guess they dont' count people watching or Mardi Gras parades, which makes me think this whole thing is rather silly and poorly executed. It's all a matter of taste, of course. We all have different ideas of what makes a great city, which is why they have menus in restaurants, right? But it drives me batty to see a city like Honolulu with marvellous food, a killer beach and a wonderful environment, not to mention surfing and Pearl Harbour and museums and being the one-time home of the president of the United States, come in ranked 77th while Akron is 56th and Toledo is 49th. Did Jamie Farr (Corporal Max Klinger on M*A*S*H) sit on this panel or something?

Anyway, here's the goofy list they came up. Love to hear any thoughts you might have, so feel free to drop me a line at jbyers@thestar.ca

1. New York, 17.88
2. Chicago, 11.99
3. Boston, 11.95
4. Miami, 11.74
5. Los Angeles, 11.61
6. San Francisco, 8.07
7. Seattle, 7.84
8. Portland (Maine), 7.78
9. Philadelphia, 7.56
10. Minneapolis, 6.42
11. Providence, R.I., 6.05
12. Pittsburgh, 5.81
13. New Orleans, 4.42
14. Detroit, 4.42
15. Bridgeport, Conn., 3.75
16. Dallas, 3.61
17. Syracuse, 3.56
18. Rochester, 3.55
19. Madison, Wi., 3.47
20. Denver, 3.12
21. Poughkeepsie, N.Y., 2.88
22. Albany, 2.83
23. Cleveland, 2.55
24. Portland, Or., 2.34
25. Milwaukee, 2.15
26. Las Vegas, 2.04
27. Washington D.C., 1.97
28. Youngstown, Oh., 1.95
29. Buffalo, 1.80
30. Baltimore, 1.77
31. Omaha, 1.71
32. St. Louis, 1.63
33. Hartford, 1.57
34. Atlanta, 1.46
35. San Diego, 1.43
36. Des Moines, 1.38
37. Cape Coral, Fl., 1.20
38. Scranton, Pa., 1.01
39. Springfield, Ma., 0.88
40. Charleston, S.C., 0.85
41. Harrisburg, Pa., 0.79
42. Orlando, 0.70
43. Houston, 0.41
44. Cincinnati, 0.36
45. Tampa, 0.07
46. Indianapolis, 0.02
47. Greensboro, N.C., -0.09
48. Sacramento, -0.21
49. Toledo, -0.25
50. Louisville, -0.30
51. Charlotte, -0.31
52. Nashville, -0.32
53. Oklahoma City, -0.37
54. Allentown, Pa., -0.58
55. Bradenton, Fl., -0.65
56. Akron, Oh., -0.92
57. Phoenix, -1.12
58. Worcester, Ma.,-1.16
59. Salt Lake City, -1.25
60. Greenville, S.C., -1.30
61. Jacksonville, -1.51
62. Virginia Beach, -1.68
63. Austin, -1.70
64. Kansas City, -1.77
65. Grand Rapids, Mi., -1.82
66. Palm Bay, Fl., -1.94
67. Columbus, -1.95
68. Wichita, -1.98
69. New Haven, Cn., -2.00
70. Tulsa, -2.07
71. Colorado Springs, -2.34
72. Raleigh, -2.35
73. Little Rock, -2.69
74. Boise, -2.77
75. Richmond, -2.83
76. Birmingham, -2.87
77. Honolulu, -3.02
78. Oxnard, Ca., –3.03
79. Columbia, S.C., -3.04
80. Albuquerque, -3.06
81. Riverside, Ca., -3.10
82. San Antonio, -3.79
83. Knoxville, Tn., -3.82
84. Baton Rouge, -3.82
85. Chattanooga, -3.96
86. San Jose, -3.97
87. Tucson, -4.16
88. Dayton, Oh, -4.21
89. Augusta, Ga., -4.43
90. Memphis, -6.25
91. Lakeland, Fl., -7.28
92. Jackson, Ms., -7.32
93. Fresno, Ca., -7.47
94. Stockton, Ca., -7.52
95. Ogden, Ut., -8.15
96. El Paso, -8.66
97. Bakersfield, Ca., -9.35
98. Modesto, Ca., -9.42
99. McAllen, Tx., -9.71
100. Provo, Ut., -10.67