As the years have gone by, we've noticed a definite uptick in Top Ten lists. ("And you won't believe No. 4!") Who knows what metrics were used to compile them, because the results often seem silly to us. (Westland is
the 50th best city to live in?) Honestly, we think it's just a bid for clicks at this point, though it often can be amusing to see something local make it on these lists — often simply because we think we know better.
For plenty of locals, that's the case with this latest piece of click-bait:
From Livability, the "10 Best Cities for Singles." And what made the list? It was
Ypsilanti, at No. 6.
If that seems a little weird to you, you're not alone — it seems bizarre to us, along with the rest of the list. Ypsi is between San Marcos, Texas, and Ames, Iowa. The list also includes Oxford, Miss., Moscow, Idaho, and Carrboro, N.C., which took the No. 1 spot.
Is it just us or do these places seem a little … rural? More podunk than steampunk? Is the place to find your smoking-hot BF really in the middle of BFE?
Well, OK, they're not really so far away from civilization that they have to pump in sunlight; they're actually a collection of pretty progressive university towns in the South and West. And there are a few urban locations among them as well (West Hollywood, Calif., Hoboken, N.J.). But still …
Locals were quick to act on this latest bit of fluff … by
blaming Ypsi blogger and radio host Mark Maynard. On his blog, Maynard says:
The woman who sent this to my attention seems to think that I might be somehow to blame for this, as I keep “profiling creative people,” and giving “the impression” that interesting things are happening here. I suspect it probably has more to do with someone at Livability.com being told to throw a few weird towns into the mix, but, if it’s true that I played any part in this, no matter how small, I’m truly sorry… While I suspect that single people are having an alright time here, and getting laid, and doing other things that single people do, I don’t want to have anything to do with perpetuating the myth that Ypsi is a better city for singles than, say, Chicago, which didn’t even place on this list. No matter how many cool things may be happening here, the math just doesn’t work. We’re just too small, with our population of 20,000, to deserve the title of “6th Best City for Singles.”
To see the full list, click
here.
