Cities for Single Women...

No matter where you are and where you live - someone is going to bitch about how hard it is to date.  Someone is going to say how easy it is to meet people.  But there has to be someone telling us - objectively - what is the best place to find people!  Right? 

Right... In comes Lemondrop... which I had to investigate is a site belonging to AOL - so they might have some factual evidence (but I'm not holding my breath).  You know stuff on the Internet is only as good as about as far as you can throw a laptop.  But at least it's fun to think about (and write about for me!).   But apparently the actual data comes from another third party website called, SingleMindedWomen and their feature on The Top 10 Cities for the Unhitched.  They took into account all kinds of fun data including cost of living and rate of unemployment to which cities had a more favorable girl-boy breakdown. 

So, what are the Top 10 Cities for Single Women (I guess we really aren't considering men here - and I'm not keeping the men out of the equation here!  I just didn't see an article  on the cities for men - I apologize.  If I see one... I will right about it for you!)

NUMBER 10: Austin, Texas: Citing lakes, lovely men (not sure men want to be known as "lovely), and live music - Austin Texas gets the #10 spot on the list.  Interestingly the median age in Austin is 29 - younger than NYC, DC, Seattle or Pittsburgh.  A median age of 29 is pretty unbelievable - there has to be a TON of younger people there!  And even more interesting is that 35% of the population is single and looking (higher than any of the other cities on the "list."  Ohh, and wait, bonus for the womanfolk (I'm trying to use a little Western/Texan slang here!) men outnumber women, so it's easier to find those single men... I'm thinking about moving - I have family there! 

NUMBER 9: Washington D.C.: I could have told them this.  DC is full of single people.  Our unemployment rate is extremely low, the lowest on the list of cities - mostly because the Government is always hiring.  (apparently the Office of Personnel Management (OPM)  predicts that 60% of the current federal workforce will retire in the next decade and require new "young" hires in the area!)   33% of the population is single and "looking."   Although, I have to caution that people don't stay in the DC area very long (usually a tenure of 2-3 years and then move on - so if you want a relationship you better expect a short term one.

NUMBER 8: New York: SingleMinded's home is NYC, so they have to sing the praises of their NYC.  I will have to refer to them for their assessment.  And I will have to tell you, that my singular adventure in NYC was not what I would call pleasurable, although it was just a job interview.  NYC is just too big for me.  So, according to SingleMinded,

"We may take issue with this city being on SingleMinded's list, but having played the field, we can also give you an honest assessment. Rent is expensive, but jobs are plentiful, and since Wall Street went belly-up, apartment prices have gone down. As SingleMinded points out, there's no better city for shopping. And, like "Sex and the City" exemplified, that's true even if the commodity is men. Better yet, the happy hour and brunch scenes are both hopping, and since everyone puts their careers before marriage, there are plenty of single people to carouse with. Where to hunt: Meet-up.com networking events for new tech start-ups. According to New York magazine, NYC is the new Silicon Valley."

NUMBER 7: Seattle: Seattle has a history has an outdoorsy town with a sense of adventure.  I think of the outdoorsy type.  You know the granola girls who like to hike, drink their coffee and wear their flannels.  But it's not all the outdoorsy type, Seattle actually also has quite a number of technology firms - so these are just just the outdoorsy bonehead types - they are actually pretty smart too!  And, the cost of living is 20% cheaper than NYC (BONUS!!), much prettier, and just as many eligible men as women (double bonus - fewer competition!).   OK, Seattle is sounding pretty decent.

 NUMBER 6: Philadelphia: OK, damn... here is a single factoid for you... 44% CHEAPER than NYC.  That's enough to make you move right there - besides the fact that the show, Parking Wars was founded there...  And there are a ton of different things to visit within a couple of hours - the Jersey Shore (Snookie, the Situation, hell yeah!), the Poconos, even the history of DC).  And there are only slightly more women than men - so just a little bit of competition (so if you are decent you can work through it!)  I gotta say, Philly wouldn't be one of my first choices of places to live - but it could be decent. 

NUMBER 5: Phoenix: Ugh, too damn hot.  I'm not moving there.  But I'll look at it.  But apparently people are attracted by the four professional sports teams, and a downtown with cute boutiques (although I'm definitely not into southwestern jewelry and turquoise - but hey if you like that shit).  But if you like skiing and snowboarding - it's not too far away if you can get out of the desert.  But believe it or not the unemployment rate is low and the rate of single men to single men is equal so no competition.... 

NUMBER: 4. Denver: I like Denver.  And while people think it's all snowy all the time - it's really not.  The mountains provide a bit of shelter for the city and the snowfall is pretty mild and the winters are mild as well.  The views are amazing and from nearly EVERY place in the city.  Although, if you move to Denver, you have to be outdoorsy - just like Seattle.  People take their outdoorsy shit seriously here.  You have to love hiking, skiing, etc.  And if you don't like your organic food, don't even apply.  But, there is a very high unemployment rate (note, Denver has the second highest rate of federal jobs - do we see a pattern here?)

NUMBER 3: Pittsburgh:   Really, Pennsylvania... TWO cities on the list.  That's kind of strange.  But lets be serious PA is cheap.  Pittsburgh is half the price as NYC and that in it's own is worth moving there.  Apparently, there is a lot of what they call smarty pants because both University of Pittsburgh and Carnegie Melon" are there. 

NUMBER 2: Dallas: Everything is bigger in Texas.  Including the number of single men.  In 2007, there were roughly 40,000 more single men than women in Dallas, note, that if you were a woman and couldn't get laid or a man - you were either butt ugly, had a problem or were a lesbian!  And Dallas actually has culture - 6 performing arts centers and an opera house (and it's not a country opera house - although that might be interesting!).  And a low cost of living!  If I could stand Texans and hot summers I might go. 

NUMBER 1: Boston: I like Boston.  But I don't like driving there.  Who am I kidding?  I don't like driving anywhere.  The unemployment rate in Boston averages 2 points lower than the US average and Boston's cost of living ranks below NYC, DC and even Seattle.  (and I thought Boston was extremely expensive - this is good to know!)  Women do outnumber men - but just slightly 52% to 48%, so it's manageable.  But it is a little worrisome that 1/3 of the population is single.  You have to wonder why they are single!