No we’re not talking about the weather. Forbes published its list of America’s coolest cities and frankly, we’re not surprised that some of our favorite California cities, like San Diego and San Jose, made the cut. But seeing as California cities dominated the list, representing an impressive 40% of the selected 20, we officially declare victory!
Here’s an excerpt from the article:
“Perhaps not surprisingly, California one-upped the entire East Coast. A whopping eight Golden State metro areas make our list: San Francisco, 5th; San Diego, 6th; Riverside, 8th; Oakland, 12th; Sacramento, 14th; Los Angeles and San Jose tied for 16th place; and Santa Ana, 20th.“
According to Forbes, their methodology was fairly scientific – attempting to remove personal bias and subjectivity and quantifying “coolness” by looking at various data points. Some of the factors they took into consideration included things like:
Is there cool stuff to do?
What are the entertainment options per capita? To calculate this, Forbes looked at things like the number of professional and college sports teams, zoos and aquariums, National parks, theaters and museums, and recreational activities like Golf, Skiing, etc.
Is there cool stuff to eat?
We heartily agree with the idea that a cool city to live in would have a high “foodie” factor. Giving preference to non-chain restaurants and farmer’s markets, breweries, and other foodie havens makes sense.
Do cool people live there?
Do cool people live there?Finally, this seems like an obvious factor – looking at the demographic profile of the type of people that live in the city. For their list, Forbes looked at the makeup of cities for factors like diversity, recent growth trends, and the share of the all-important youth demographic, arguably the hippest segment to look at when determining if something is cool.
Given these factors, it’s easy to see why California, with its abundance of indoor and outdoor activities, culinary treasures and like-minded individuals to share it all with would dominate such a list!
Are you looking to make a move to California and join the rest of the cool crowd?
