America's Smartest Cities -- From First to Worst.

October 11, 2009 1:47 PM

"Which [U.S.] metropolis has the most intelligent residents? The Daily Beast crunched the data on the brainpower of America’s 55 largest cities (w/ video), from first-to-worst." The list. First -- Raleigh-Durham, NC. Worst -- Fresno, CA.

"Collective brainpower. More than sports prowess or political leanings or wealth or cultural accomplishments, this is the quintessential bragging point of a metropolitan area, the civic version of a playground taunt: I’m smart, you’re not.

So in terms of sorting out which cities walk the walk, The Daily Beast decided to play scorekeeper. Specifically, we’ve gone out and ranked the relative intelligence of every major American population hub, from first-to-worst."

America Reacts.

posted by ericb (99 comments total)

"Among the criteria the Daily Best used for their rankings were: residents with bachelor's and graduate degrees; nonfiction book sales; higher education institutions; and participation in elections."*

posted by ericb at 1:48 PM on October 11, 2009

Where is the actual list? Do you have to go through the whole slideshow?
posted by desjardins at 1:49 PM on October 11, 2009 [1 favorite]

Why on EARTH can't they just put this list out as a list? Why do I have to click through 55 pages to get the broad view? I mean, nice presentation and all, but I'm just not bothering to investigate beyond the 12 cities mentioned in the video.
posted by hippybear at 1:53 PM on October 11, 2009 [6 favorites]

Las Vegas is next to last. Ugh, I want to leave this town and move to PDX.
posted by SirOmega at 1:57 PM on October 11, 2009

Try clicking on "view all" people, before snarking.
posted by Rumple at 1:57 PM on October 11, 2009

1. Raleigh-Durham
2. San Francisco-Oakland-San Jose
3. Boston
4. Minneapolis-St. Paul
5. Denver
6. Hartford-New Haven
7. (tie) Seattle-Tacoma,
7. (tie) Washington, DC
9. Portland
10. Baltimore
11. Philadelphia
12. Austin
13. New York
14. Salt Lake City
15. Milwaukee
16. Charlotte
17. (tie) Kansas City
17. (tie) Columbus
19. Nashville
20. (tie) San Diego
20. (tie) Indianapolis
22. Providence
23. Atlanta
24. (tie) St. Louis
24. (tie) Chicago
26. Rochester, NY
27. (tie) Pittsburgh
27. (tie) Los Angeles
27. (tie) Richmond
30. Grand Rapis-Kalamazoo-Battle Creek
31. (tie) Cleveland
31. (tie) West Palm Beach
33. Tampa-St. Petersburg
34. Tucson
35. (tie) Oklahoma City
35. (tie) Sacramento
37. (tie) Greensboro, NC
37. (tie) Jacksonville, FL
39. Miami
40. Detroit
41. Norfolk, VA
42. Birmingham
43. Cincinatti
44. Buffalo
45. New Orleans
46. (tie) Houston
46. (tie) Orlando
48. Dallas-Fort Worth
49. Phoenix
50. Harrisburg, PA
51. Memphis
52. Louisville
53. San Antonio
54. Las Vegas
55. Fresno, CA

FUCKING HELL I HATE WHEN THEY DO THIS
posted by barnacles at 1:57 PM on October 11, 2009 [26 favorites]

On the other hand I think my typing speed is up-to-par, these days.
posted by barnacles at 1:57 PM on October 11, 2009 [2 favorites]

America's stupidest web designs -- #1: "America's Smartest Cities," The Daily Beast.
posted by ZenMasterThis at 1:57 PM on October 11, 2009 [7 favorites]

Nonfiction book sales as a measure of community intelligence is like shoe sales as a measure of community hair color.
posted by MoreForMad at 1:58 PM on October 11, 2009 [26 favorites]

Yay, we're smarter than Cleveland!

too bad this list is pretty stupid.
posted by octothorpe at 2:01 PM on October 11, 2009

Try clicking on "view all" people, before snarking.

"view all" is still six (very badly-formatted) pages.
posted by desjardins at 2:11 PM on October 11, 2009 [7 favorites]

Does Nielsen Bookscan include books sold to educational institutions? Because I'm guessing that university libraries consume a relatively large portion of the total non-fiction book sales. If true, then the list is basically measuring the same thing twice by including that and the presence of universities. Also, they should remove those with degrees who are still studying, as they're also dependent on the presence of universities and could be considered a double count.
posted by Sova at 2:11 PM on October 11, 2009

The Daily Beast is not to be confused with The Beast (America’s Best Fiend). In any case “best of” lists always suck, but they’re good for generating conversation. And I should know because I live in the smartest place in the whole country.
posted by Huplescat at 2:17 PM on October 11, 2009

Detroit beat Dallas and Phoenix? I was under the impression the only usage they had for books in Detroit was as kindling...
posted by PenDevil at 2:18 PM on October 11, 2009

We're #10!

Suck it, Philly.
posted by Faint of Butt at 2:21 PM on October 11, 2009

There exist smart people who don't have enough money to purchase nonfiction books, and who don't have enough time to get a bachelor's degree. This list is measuring intelligence backed by purchasing power, or even the social obligation to appear intelligent backed by purchasing power.
posted by stammer at 2:22 PM on October 11, 2009 [10 favorites]

The Daily Beast Crashed Firefox here, but I don't think these lists accomplish much. There's stupid all over and it takes many forms, just as intelligence does. Figure in the relative affluence/influence of the dummies in question and whatever effect they may have on local policy and you're getting into a real can of worms. I doubt the Daily Beast considered any of that (but as I said I couldn't read the damn thing) or that it's even possible to do it. No doubt there's a lot of stupid people running around out there, but a list like this just seems superficial to me.

As for that Gawker reaction linked up above, your first day on the internet should demonstrate how easy it is to piss people off. It's just a lot of emotional manipulation, signifying little more than an attempt to get attention on the part of the Daily Beast, and I generally enjoy that site.

People are dumb everywhere. There's no way to measure it. Picture some guy on TV. A weatherman if you will, only he's not talking about the weather; no, he's making a forecast based on anticipated levels of idiocy in various locales. "Partly deluded here in dogscratch county today with a 30 percent chance of ignorance." That guy would have access to all kinds of data, no doubt, but he would still be flying in the dark because the stupidity here in the U.S. is not only deep, but it is dark.

Go check out one of those 'dumb laws' websites. Those are as telling as anything on this list. Then again I was recently arrested for drinking beer out of a bucket while sitting on a curb.

Kindly sucks, that does.
posted by metagnathous at 2:27 PM on October 11, 2009 [2 favorites]

Yay! A list in which Detroit isn't dead last!
posted by Acromion at 2:27 PM on October 11, 2009 [3 favorites]

Right on Stammer. I live in Austin (#12), a much more politically active community than many other cities - but this factor (cited as lacking in the article) doesn't take into account the fact that political involvement may very well be higher in cities located in states that aren't going to quite clearly go "red" or "blue." Thus, measuring turnout in a presidential race, is a stupid way of measuring political involvement.

These things are always stupid.
posted by Dee Xtrovert at 2:28 PM on October 11, 2009 [1 favorite]

Detroit beat Dallas and Phoenix? I was under the impression the only usage they had for books in Detroit was as kindling...

Astonishingly, "poor" is not the same as "dumb."
posted by nebulawindphone at 2:30 PM on October 11, 2009 [18 favorites]

Denver in the top 10? Yeah...no...
posted by Lutoslawski at 2:31 PM on October 11, 2009

Strange. They forgot to mention Matt Groening is from Portland, OR. Oh wait, maybe The Simpsons is why Portland isn't #1.
posted by Cranberry at 2:35 PM on October 11, 2009

Do they have a by borough breakdown of NYC?
posted by jonmc at 2:39 PM on October 11, 2009 [2 favorites]

(woot!)
posted by Stewriffic at 2:40 PM on October 11, 2009

So I grew up in New Haven and now live in Chicago

6 + 24 / 2 = 15, so I guess I have to move to Milwaukee?
posted by jtron at 2:42 PM on October 11, 2009

I feel so much more stupid after viewing this list that they're gonna have to redo it, because I just dragged my city down an extra rank.
posted by jamstigator at 2:43 PM on October 11, 2009 [1 favorite]

Yeah, yeah, yeah, you people in Raleigh-Durham and all those other burgs are smarter, but we Noo yawkers are better looking. So there.
posted by jonmc at 2:43 PM on October 11, 2009

AND we have sweet tea!
posted by Stewriffic at 2:47 PM on October 11, 2009

yeah, well, we have better pastrami.
posted by jonmc at 2:49 PM on October 11, 2009

Do they have a by borough breakdown of NYC?

Good grief, I hope not. Seeing as how strongly this list correlates with income, I can guess that Manhattan would likely come in first, and the last thing the people from the other four boroughs need is for people from Manhattan to have another reason to act superior.
posted by deadmessenger at 2:52 PM on October 11, 2009 [2 favorites]

View all crashes Firefox for me
posted by A189Nut at 2:57 PM on October 11, 2009

New Haven-Hartford? I know it's a small state, but that seems like a stretch. Why not throw Providence in there too?
posted by ChurchHatesTucker at 2:59 PM on October 11, 2009 [3 favorites]

(woot!)

Does this mean we get to have some sudden death winner-take-all quiz bowl to determine exactly what town within the greater Triangle is host to the smartest people, because I think Carrboro can take Apex. Just saying.
posted by thivaia at 3:03 PM on October 11, 2009 [3 favorites]

#17 Columbus, OH. "The capital and academic hub of Ohio was surprisingly poorly read..."

If you judge by non-fiction book sales alone you might get this impression. Unfortunately this criteria entirely overlooks the fact that the Columbus Metropolitan Library system has repeatedly been ranked the #1 public library system in the United States by Hennen's.

Generally we don't go buy crap at Barnes & Noble here because we can reserve over the web and get most any book delivered to the nearest branch for free in short order. If I want to buy something I always get it from either Amazon or Abebooks.
posted by well_balanced at 3:06 PM on October 11, 2009 [4 favorites]

I live in Raleigh and wanted to make a really, really stupid comment but can't think of anything. This will have to suffice.
posted by marxchivist at 3:07 PM on October 11, 2009

I'm going to break down what's wrong with this ranking in two simple points:

Exhibit A: "The intellectual environmental half had three subparts. First, we looked at nonfiction book sales..."

Exhibit B: The New York Times Best Sellers Hardcover Nonfiction: #2: ARGUING WITH IDIOTS, written and edited by Glenn Beck.

I won't complain about the web design though because I knew I wouldn't have to click very many times to see the only cities I care about, as of course the Twin Cities are totally awesome and do indeed own most of you larger, better known, smugly coastal metropolis' faces. Flyover country represent, w00t!
posted by nanojath at 3:09 PM on October 11, 2009 [7 favorites]

Having lived in Fresno, I have nothing to say in its defense.
posted by jocelmeow at 3:10 PM on October 11, 2009 [5 favorites]

The whole point of this exercise is to drive traffic by creating faux-controversy. Oh shit, was that too "smart" of an analysis from lowly city number forty? Fuck this noise, I mean David motherfucking Icke is "non-fiction." Gah! Why are you spending your time making money for these folks on your dime?

Sorry. Sunday morning coming down. Insert "Your favorite sucky city is smart" reference here.
posted by joe lisboa at 3:12 PM on October 11, 2009

"Why, anybody can have a brain. That's a very mediocre commodity. Every pusillanimous creature that crawls on the earth -- or slinks through slimy seas has a brain! Back where I come from we have universities, seats of great learning -- where men go to become great thinkers. And when they come out, they think deep thoughts -- and with no more brains than you have.... But! They have one thing you haven't got! A diploma!"
posted by Joey Michaels at 3:15 PM on October 11, 2009 [11 favorites]

(My city didn't even make the list, so I'm fine mocking smarties)
posted by Joey Michaels at 3:16 PM on October 11, 2009

Birmingham ranked way too high. We're at least as dumb as San Antonio. We just don't wear those silly cowboy hats.
posted by BitterOldPunk at 3:29 PM on October 11, 2009 [1 favorite]

Fuck this noise, I mean David motherfucking Icke is "non-fiction."

So is Glenn Beck. Their metrics were absurd.
posted by delmoi at 3:37 PM on October 11, 2009

(And also, they only considered point of sale data. Does that include Amazon and other online retailers? If not that's a pretty serious failure. The data discrepancy could simply be caused by the amount of booksellers around and where they're located)
posted by delmoi at 3:39 PM on October 11, 2009

I'm not really angry about this, for the record. I just wish I knew that I should've been purchasing my non-fiction in person instead of online, as delmoi observes.
posted by joe lisboa at 3:41 PM on October 11, 2009

They talk about smart cities in America as though Americans ascribe any value to being smart anymore.
posted by Legomancer at 3:42 PM on October 11, 2009

At least St. Louis can add another slogan to its ad campaign : "St. Louis! Only slightly dumber than Atlanta!"
posted by Green Eyed Monster at 4:04 PM on October 11, 2009

Do they have a by borough breakdown of NYC?

This question made me laugh and laugh. I miss New York. Unfortunately, deadmessenger's probably right about Manhattan winning.
posted by invitapriore at 4:11 PM on October 11, 2009

Suck it, Philly.

Considering we ranked last on some other stupid list of "attractive people", I don't think anyone really wants us to.

You're probably better off having Miami suck it.
posted by orme at 4:17 PM on October 11, 2009 [4 favorites]

Generally we don't go buy crap at Barnes & Noble here because we can reserve over the web and get most any book delivered to the nearest branch for free in short order. If I want to buy something I always get it from either Amazon or Abebooks.

That is actually true about Raleigh (Wake county) as well; I can't praise their library system enough-- and I grew up in the affluent suburbs of So Cal. I have about 10 nonfiction books on my kitchen table right now-- just stuff that I picked up from the new arrival shelf. My book buying habits changed greatly after moving here. Now browsing Barnes and Noble is like strolling through the candy store just after Thanksgiving dinner; you might find something to tempt your appetite, but it almost feels forced.

Outside of the library system, however, I have to admit Raleigh is very meh-- especially since it is the capitol of NC (but then again so is Sacramento.) Durham has a few great restaurants and Duke University (including my favorite, the Doris Duke Gardens.) I wish the museums were better, I wish the shopping was better, I wish the art scene was better, I wish the theater was better. I just wish overall the place more exciting.
posted by Secret Life of Gravy at 4:20 PM on October 11, 2009 [1 favorite]

My New York bias is probably showing, but I don't think pure averages are the right way to measure smartness. Absolute quantities matter a lot. Cities exist in the first place because there are economies of scale on a lot of traits, and cities owe many of their shared characteristics to scale effects. For example, cities tend to be gayer and more gay-friendly because even proportionally small gay communities in cities are large enough to accommodate immigrants from less populous areas.
posted by grobstein at 4:32 PM on October 11, 2009

They obviously wanted to make this controversial and that's why they selected a southern city for the top spot. Does anybody believe that? They're just causing trouble: In his house at Bentonville, dead General Sherman waits dreaming.
posted by Mayor Curley at 4:36 PM on October 11, 2009 [5 favorites]

They obviously wanted to make this controversial and that's why they selected a southern city for the top spot. Does anybody believe that?

It's too soon to give Raleigh-Durham this award. Their residents should do some smart stuff, first.

It's laudable that the Beast committee is trying to push North Carolinians to invent a fusion reactor capable of time travel, but the prize should come after that.
posted by Blazecock Pileon at 4:49 PM on October 11, 2009 [3 favorites]

Can we rank the cities by percent of MeFites?
posted by Obscure Reference at 4:50 PM on October 11, 2009 [3 favorites]

Do they have a by borough breakdown of NYC?

They don't even really break it down by city. The figure that they use for the NYC metro area is 19,006,798 people so they're actually measuring NYC and big chunks of Jersey, Connecticut, Long Island and Upstate. I'm sure that the rankings would be different if they just considered the city boundaries.
posted by octothorpe at 4:59 PM on October 11, 2009

There also is the matter of confusing well-educated with smartest.
posted by etaoin at 5:00 PM on October 11, 2009 [1 favorite]

I think if you plotted these rankings against the per-capita-household-income rankings, you'd come up with a remarkably similar list.
posted by palliser at 5:17 PM on October 11, 2009

I am relieved that I don't live in one of the 56 largest metropolitan areas.
posted by box at 5:25 PM on October 11, 2009

I'm pretty sure that the nonfiction book part is why Salt Lake is on there. You could claim global sales of "The Book Of Mormon" to originate here and that is why we're on there. That and SLC probably consumes 1/3rd of Glenn Beck's waste books.
Just trying to find a reason here people...
posted by msbutah at 5:45 PM on October 11, 2009

I'm sure my area (Dallas-Fort Worth) would have rated higher if the question, "Did you vote for George W. Bush AND Rick Perry for Governor?" would have been left off the list.
posted by Doohickie at 5:50 PM on October 11, 2009

They obviously wanted to make this controversial and that's why they selected a southern city for the top spot. Does anybody believe that? They're just causing trouble: In his house at Bentonville, dead General Sherman waits dreaming.
posted by Mayor Curley


Hehehe. Go polish your Red Socks memorabilia.
posted by nola at 5:51 PM on October 11, 2009 [1 favorite]

As a prolific consumer of classic novels, I strenuously object to their preferential treatment of "nonfiction."
posted by Afroblanco at 5:52 PM on October 11, 2009 [3 favorites]

They obviously wanted to make this controversial and that's why they selected a southern city for the top spot. Does anybody believe that? They're just causing trouble: In his house at Bentonville, dead General Sherman waits dreaming.

To begin with we’re not talking about a city. The contender they cite as number one is generally referred to as “The Triangle”. The Triangle is comprised of Raleigh, Durham and Chapel Hill. The Triangle has had the most PHD’s per capita since I don’t know when, but its been over 15 years.

As for the Southern city thing... its hard to find a Southern accent around here anymore. The area is mostly transplants.
posted by Huplescat at 6:14 PM on October 11, 2009

Considering we ranked last on some other stupid list of "attractive people", I don't think anyone really wants us to.

Sadly, I have anecdotal evidence of this. I was in Philly on an ill-advised spring break trip in 2004, and saw only one woman I considered attractive. And she was getting married.
posted by reenum at 6:16 PM on October 11, 2009

People love lists. They do the thinking for you!
posted by MarshallPoe at 6:38 PM on October 11, 2009 [2 favorites]

Now what they should have done was to correlate people's intellect to what books they read, and then look at per-capita reading of those specific titles. That would at least produce a list of "Cities where people are more likely to read books that are more likely to be read by smart people"

Of course trying to measure intelligence is a difficult task no matter how you slice it.
posted by delmoi at 6:46 PM on October 11, 2009

I'd also think loans from libraries would be less reliant on income than book sales. I wonder if that information is available, though, even on a metro-area-by-metro-area basis.
posted by palliser at 6:52 PM on October 11, 2009

Lumping San Francisco with Oakland with San Jose just invalidated all of their research.
posted by iamkimiam at 7:06 PM on October 11, 2009 [2 favorites]

Remember all those old Peanuts strips where Lucy would hold the football and poor old Charlie Brown would run to kick it and wind up on the ground?

Oh wow some website has finally put all the ______ of ______ into a numbered list so I can see whether I _____ good or _____ bad! I wonder where oh where...wait....you mean the whole list is just basically made up based on dumb shit?

*sigh*
posted by Bokononist at 7:27 PM on October 11, 2009

Providence? #22? Fah reals? Guy, I can tells ya dey ain't nevah drove nowheah aroun' heah, owah da stoopit would be commin' outta theys eahs. We got collitches an' junk, shoah, but alla dat's outweighed by prostitution, graft, corrupshin, an' Buddy Cianci, who's alladat an' moah. (Note: this is actually somewhat more intelligible than an actual Rhode Islander.)
posted by Slap*Happy at 7:29 PM on October 11, 2009

I would still argue that SF/Oakland/San Jose deserve a tie for #1.

Add "non-computer game internet usage" into the mix, and the winner would be pretty clear.

Oh... and there's nothing that's more guaranteed to reduce one's political involvement quite like having Arnold Schwarzenegger as your governor, and not being able to do a goddamn thing about it.

(That, and the fact that Republicans might as well not participate in the local elections around here...)
posted by markkraft at 7:40 PM on October 11, 2009

Woo! #10, suckers! In your face, Philadelphia!
posted by electroboy at 7:41 PM on October 11, 2009

(But yeah... Fresno really does deserve to be dead last.)
posted by markkraft at 7:41 PM on October 11, 2009

Dammit, Faint of Butt.
posted by electroboy at 7:44 PM on October 11, 2009

God, Baltimore, are they holding tryouts for the Least Sportsmanlike Winners List?
posted by palliser at 8:14 PM on October 11, 2009

Is it really controversial to rank a Southern city as being smart? Is this the 1960s? I personally think Raleigh deserves at least one largely-fictional internet accolade for no other reason than it had Jesse Helms as a senator and a Republican choke-hold on every office until, well, they decided to "do a goddamn thing about it". A huge political upheaval is the biggest smartness-reward (in and of itself) that I can think of. As for the metrics of this list, Raleigh-Durham (ahem, when are people going learn that Raleigh-Durham is not ONE city) has some intense biotech clusters, most notable Research Triangle Park, and has the unique pairing of high intellectual capital with a capable workforce. Most of this is thanks to the excellent university system, which interestingly enough (aside from Duke) has mostly in-state students. Also: suck it Boston
posted by Juicy Avenger at 8:17 PM on October 11, 2009 [2 favorites]

At least they got Fresno right.
posted by jewzilla at 8:23 PM on October 11, 2009

I grew up in #44 (Buffalo), then moved to #6 (Hartford-New Haven), and now live in #1 (Raleigh-Durham). Sigh, I am brain drain in action.
posted by radiomayonnaise at 9:04 PM on October 11, 2009 [1 favorite]

An excellent point from Harrisburg, one of the bottom ranked cities, regarding non-fiction book sales as a metric for metropolitan "intelligence":

“I think its origins are in the Amish and Mennonite culture, but there is a longstanding culture of thriftiness and re-use,” says Eric Papenfuse, owner and operator of the Midtown Scholar, Harrisburg’s largest independent bookstore. “There’s a very large used-book trade. There’s also an incredibly strong library system in central Pennsylvania. Each town around here has its own library.”

So I take it they were only measuring the sale of new nonfiction, and discounting used books and library circulation. I have to wonder if they were also only taking the numbers from local retailers or were counting internet sales as well. I am also guessing that book sales were weighted equally with the rest of the criteria.

So, as much as I would like to figure out a way to lord the high ranking of my city of residence over the residents of other, lesser metropolitan areas, I'm afraid I can't.
posted by louche mustachio at 9:08 PM on October 11, 2009

it really controversial to rank a Southern city as being smart? Is this the 1960s?

The Greensboro Massacre occurred in 1979. That's just off the top of my head. If you can't think of anything truly awful from a free state stop now, because the hand I'll show you is James Byrd.
posted by Mayor Curley at 10:33 PM on October 11, 2009

I'm pretty sure that the nonfiction book part is why Salt Lake is on there.

While the number of people in Utah who dig Glen Beck and his stripe of politics is truly frightening, I don't think that's an adequate explanation. I don't think Book of Mormon sales fit either -- I'd bet more of those are given away than sold by factors of 10, even if for some weird reason the Daily Beast's numbers include it. I would, however, bet that there are religious cultural factors, though. My experience is that Mormon culture (and probably in particular in Utah) has a perfectionist/achievement streak a mile wide. This manifests itself in a number of ways from the famous clean-cut aesthetic and a strong work ethic to some less fortunate things like unfortunate strains of prosperity gospel and a high depression rate. But it also shows up in a lot of talent-development areas. Probably in particular educational endeavors, which tend to be taken very seriously. I'd be willing to bet that as a group, Mormons tend to have notably more higher education than the general population, particularly among economically similar groups, and I'd be willing to bet this is a big factor in why SLC is on the list.

Of course, none of that validates the value of either college degrees or non-fiction purchases as a proxies for assessing intelligence of a population, so Salt Lake's ranking is probably suspect. And probably irrelevant. As as been said when discussing IQ in the past, if you're really that smart, both the precise measurement of how smart and your relative ranking should be some of the least interesting things about you.
posted by weston at 10:52 PM on October 11, 2009

I'm livin' San Francisco-Oakland-San Jose. So why am I feelin' Fresno, CA?
posted by lekvar at 12:36 AM on October 12, 2009

I should point out that Fresno, California is the home of Free Republic. Go figure...

I've actually had a long term hate affair with all things Fresno. If you Google for Fresno sucks, well... I'm the fourth most popular site.... which is kind of surprising, when you consider how much Fresno really does suck.

(That said, they have some really good taquerias.)
posted by markkraft at 3:04 AM on October 12, 2009

Interestingly enough, Louis Theroux, who was once an occasional drinking buddy of mine when he worked at The Metro in San Jose, recently did a documentary on Fresno... The City Addicted To Crystal Meth.

Very tragic and depressing, really.
posted by markkraft at 3:27 AM on October 12, 2009

Seattle tied Minneapolis as "the most literate city" last year and Seattle isn't even on this list.
posted by twoleftfeet at 3:48 AM on October 12, 2009

Ooops. Seattle is at #7 on this list.
posted by twoleftfeet at 3:51 AM on October 12, 2009

That's Durham-Raleigh.
posted by hydropsyche at 4:00 AM on October 12, 2009

We focused on nonfiction as an imperfect proxy for intellectual vigor, because overall sales are dominated by fiction works that, while entertaining, aren’t always particularly thought-provoking.

"Thought-provoking"??? WTF? I'm pretty sure that Twilight and whatever is the latest Glenn Beck screed are pretty much equals on the thought-provocation-o-meter.
posted by Thorzdad at 5:13 AM on October 12, 2009

#30, GRAND RAPIDS-KALAMAZOO-BATTLE CREEK

What the almighty fuck?

There's nothing but 50 miles of farmland in between Kalamazoo and Grand Rapids. Hell, if you're going to randomly decide that three semi-nearby cities are now one metro area, why not throw the Lansing area in there too, then you get to add a Big 10 university. Lansing is as far from Grand Rapids as Kalamazoo is. Ooh better, extend the range to Ann Arbor and make it two Big 10s, you only need to add in a few more miles of farmland... oh sorry I mean suburbs.

I'm not trying to knock Kalamazoo or Grand Rapids, but when you set the bar at cities of >1 million you can't start randomly combining nearby communities to meet the criteria you arbitrarily set. Kalamazoo and Grand Rapids are separated by an entire county for god's sake.
posted by caution live frogs at 6:14 AM on October 12, 2009

As a resident of Louisville, KY who has travelled a fair amount. I agree with this list.
*sigh*
posted by DigDoug at 6:29 AM on October 12, 2009

God, Baltimore, are they holding tryouts for the Least Sportsmanlike Winners List?

Oh hi, Pittsburgh. Didn't see you all the way down there at #27.
posted by electroboy at 6:30 AM on October 12, 2009

We are so smart! We are so smart! S M R T! I mean S M A R T!
posted by timdicator at 7:37 AM on October 12, 2009

I personally think Raleigh deserves at least one largely-fictional internet accolade for no other reason than it had Jesse Helms as a senator and a Republican choke-hold on every office until, well, they decided to "do a goddamn thing about it".

Sadly, the political force that turned the state Blue for Obama may be on the wane; last week Raleigh booted out all the old, pro-busing school board members for the anti-busing, anti-magnet school, anti-diversity, anti-year round, anti-sex ed, anti-science, anti-arts, anti-tax right wing. Segregation is back in style, baby!
posted by Secret Life of Gravy at 7:55 AM on October 12, 2009

Smartest? Bo-ring!

Have they done a most virtuous/most vice ridden list? Lots of fun in devising the criteria for that one, I should think.
posted by IndigoJones at 8:18 AM on October 12, 2009

"I personally think Raleigh deserves at least one largely-fictional internet accolade for no other reason than it had Jesse Helms as a senator and a Republican choke-hold on every office until, well, they decided to "do a goddamn thing about it"."


While North Carolina has generally favored Republican candidates on a national level, since 1877 the state has elected only 3 Republican governors.

Also, the Triangle has only recently become a major population center in the state, and the state's 3 large metropolitan areas still make up only about 40% of the state's population.
posted by timdicator at 8:28 AM on October 12, 2009

Try clicking on "view all" people, before snarking.

The ergonomic flow of the page shouldn't force people to click on "view all." The default should be the list and the slideshow should be for those people who want to look at pictures of towns we've all seen before.
posted by Ironmouth at 9:01 AM on October 12, 2009

2. San Francisco-Oakland-San Jose

When you live here, these are treated as separate countries. Each has its own international airport, ffs. But to everyone else, we're just another metroplex.
posted by GuyZero at 9:35 AM on October 12, 2009 [2 favorites]

I can't BELIEVE they lumped Kalamazoo together with Grand Rapids and Battle Creek! ABSOLUTELY RIDICULOUS. We are nothing alike, people! Nothing alike! West Michigan is an intricate tapestry of lovely centers of urban renewal and higher education, and Grand Rapids and Battle Creek.
posted by Baby_Balrog at 10:22 AM on October 12, 2009 [1 favorite]

Meh. Fort Worth is the 17th largest city in the county, all by itself, without Dallas. How do ya think we feel, lumped in with those easterners across the county line?
posted by Doohickie at 7:08 PM on October 12, 2009 [1 favorite]

"When you live here, these are treated as separate countries."

It depends.

1> When you live in San Jose, you are the Bay Area's "road warriors", for better or worse. Long commutes do not intimidate you -- much -- and you view most of San Francisco, Berkeley, Santa Cruz, the redwoods, and the coast in general as "your bay area", but accept the fact that getting there will require a trafficky drive up after work and a long drive back late at night. The idea of going to Oakland late at night -- or anywhere near San Francisco's Tenderloin -- scare the bejeezus out of you.

You accept that challenge, however, as local culture, concerts, and nightclubs tend to suck.

Despite having lame nightclubs and local police that would shut down the town by 10 pm if they could get away with it, there's a plethora of late-night pho houses, Korean tofu soup shops, Indian restaurants, and Taiwanese tea houses plying their trade into the wee hours with the extended families of Asian engineers. It is painfully obvious that many of your suburban, white co-workers -- most of whom weren't born around here either, but came for the jobs -- prefer TGIFridays, yuppie brew pubs, and Mexican restaurants, but find anything more adventurous than Chinese take-out to be intimidating.

2> When you live in Oakland -- or ideally Berkeley or Alameda if you're white and timid -- you realize that there's an advantage to lower rents, even though you oftentimes view San Francisco as your home-away-from-home. In fact, you may actually have lived in San Francisco in the past, only to leave due to how much it costs. Nevertheless, you realize that as cool as S.F. is, Oakland actually does have a community and some culture, and its really kind of amazing how well everyone gets along, considering. Still, it can be streetweird and scary at times, leaving you to wonder the relative costs and merits of moving another few BART stations away from San Francisco.

3> When you live in San Francisco, you're oftentimes paying more for rent and not actually making all that much compared to people in the Silicon Valley, who have a lot of high tech jobs. San Francisco's high tech jobs tend to be fewer, more artistic, more creative... and more nebulous. You hope that other companies will realize that it's important that they keep paying your company a lot of money in order to justify your salary, rather than, say, hiring someone in-house for half the price. If all else fails and your company lays you off, you can always suck it up, put on a tie, and be an office drone in the financial district.

Although the salaries are high and the jobs are plentiful in the Silicon Valley, you hope you aren't forced to make "the commute", as you can literally feel a bit of your spirit sucked out of your body once you start driving south of Candlestick Park. You are like a rare orchid, that wilts and burns when removed from San Francisco's fog and coastal breezes.

You don't care much that you are an urban serf, or that your sidewalk is frequently covered in the bodily effluence of the homeless, because you live in San Francisco, which is magical in ways that cannot be explained in a few paragraphs.

You may be renting forever, and if things get rough, you may find yourself burning through your limited savings and wondering whether Berkeley, Alameda, or (shudder) Oakland would be a better alternative, but for now, you're in San Francisco, and it's the best place in the world.

Just be sure to walk fast and don't stop if you find yourself around the Tenderloin late at night.
posted by markkraft at 1:44 AM on October 13, 2009 [1 favorite]