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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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