Loserville, USA: Are So Many Cities Seriously That Much Better Than L.A.?

Photo by °L.A. | © Albert's Canon Photography via the LAist Featured Photos pool on Flickr

When it comes to the classic head-to-head comparison throwdown between Los Angeles and other major U.S. cities, we're bested by Boston, kicked to the curb by Kansas City, MO, and less preferable than both Portlands...just to name a few.

Travel + Leisure has released their 2011 America's Favorite Cities, and as a little bit of fun, you can face-off any two cities on the list.

Taking reader votes (broken into visitors and residents) to calculate how 35 major U.S. cities stack up for a variety of criteria, T+L has determined that here in L.A. we stink at being nice (#33 for friendliness), it's dirty (#32 for cleanliness) and it's hard to get around on foot or by public transit (#33 for Public transportation and pedestrian-friendliness). Don't worry, that cloud has a silver lining: We have fab shops for luxury goods and home decor (ranked #3, respectively), we're pretty (#4 in attractiveness), we're stylish (#5) and the weather is fab (#5).

In the face-off matches, Los Angeles lost out to 19 other cities, but came out on top of 14. Some age-old city to city rivalries may be resolved to satisfaction for some with these rankings (we lose), and some new smaller cities may be worth a second look if you're thinking of traveling...or moving.

These cities are "better" than L.A.:
Boston
Charleston
Chicago
Denver
Honolulu
Kansas City, MO
Nashville
New Orleans
NYC
Philadelphia
Portland, ME
Portland, OR
Providence
San Diego
San Francisco
San Juan, Puerto Rico
Santa Fe
Savannah
Seattle

L.A. is "better" than these cities:
Anchorage
Atlanta
Baltimore
Dallas/Ft. Worth
Houston
Las Vegas
Memphis
Miami
Minneapolis/St. Paul
Orlando
Phoenix/Scottsdale
San Antonio
Salt Lake City
Washington DC

Need cheering up? Maybe it's time to read over this love letter to L.A. and listen to a 90s classic anthem about loser-dom from one of L.A.'s own.

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By Lindsay William-Ross in News on January 30, 2012 1:30 PM 0 Comments

Comments [rss]

Salomón Resler

yeah ne

killyamomz

We get the most jets flying across our blue skies spraying chemicals on us and getting everyone sick then turning our skies gray.

Who doesn't want to live under that?

Every weekend; I saw about 8 jets from North Hollywood to downtown spraying chemicals in a cross pattern.

Doesn't anyone look up and question that shit?

James Herman

Chemicals? Really? Paranoid much?

Its called contrails.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/C...

Gene Bivins

As a native Los Angeleno I just want to say, one of the worst things about L.A. is people who move here and then spend their time badmouthing the city. If you hate it so much, go away and leave it to those of us who care.

scaryklown

Some cities might not have been deemed friendlier than L.A. before all the people who bitch about L.A. moved here.

MTkill_a_manJaro

UNFRIENDLY?! that's fucking bullshit! ima find whoever wrote that shit and bust....i mean, send them a basket of muffins.

but seriously, i dont get the whole unfriendliness charge.
ive been to denver, seattle, honolulu, san francisco,etc...all the major west coast cities and i agree that they can be friendlier (ESPECIALLY seattle and denver) but im wondering it thats because we have so many more immigrants than those cities do; and more "ethnic" places (speaking mainly as someone who frequents A LOT of hispanic and asian businesses) tend to not put much effort in to the whole "service with a smile" thing. We are one of the least "european-like" cities in the country and perhaps people who visit here should make a note of that before making the comparisons.

im pretty average looking and feel comfortable in my skin all over this city, from downtown to beverly hills and east LA. ive never felt like ive been shunned or talked down to or discriminated against in any place of business. i have been yelled at by bums and been accosted to fight other drivers in san francisco and san diego. Never happened here, though.

As for public transportation, yes it does suck but as always, it is getting better. then again, I live in downtown next to the blue line and within walking distance to the red/purple line. i can get as far south as downtown long beach and as far north as pasadena without a car. Not ideal but not to shabby either.

cattylibrarian

I'll take most of this (after 22 years as a public librarian I'll concede this is one of the unfriendliest cities I've been in)...but Boston and San Francisco? Not our ancient enemies...and Denver? They must be really nice, because their city is cold and ugly. Seattle? "LA with more trees"....and Santa Fe? Maybe I was just unlucky, but this is one of the most self-important places I've seen in the WORLD!

PicoPhreako69

Eh. I'm a native, and (besides being obviously nutsykookoocrazy) love this city like woahhh.
I've been all over the world, and there isn't anyplace I love more.
De gustibus, yo.

SoCalMalaise

How in the hell are we 5th in weather?

LadyLloyd

Having lived in Philly for 5 years, I disagree. Los Angeles wins that face-off, no question.

Jay Todd

Before moving to LA, I lived in Chicago (2 years) and Nashville (10 years). The ranking seems about right. The people here much more attractive, the weather is amazing, LA looks dirty and run-down, and walk-ability and public transit are embarrassing. The only gripe I have is that I think Angelinos (well, west side) are nicer than Chicagoans, but not Nashvillians.