Archive

50 Best Cities for Love

As yet another Valentine's Day approaches, The Daily Beast ranks the cities where love's promise is most profound, from abundant singles to happy couples to romantic ambience.

articles/2011/02/06/50-best-cities-for-love/love-cities-gal-launch_ystwi0
iStockphoto

If you’re at a loss for love this Valentine’s Day, it may be time to pack your bags. Cupid’s arrow seems to have chosen hotspots.

The science is relatively straightforward. Some cities have high percentages of single men and women, some cities foster a culture that places a higher value on marriage than others, and some cities just have better looking people and a more romantic cultural ambiance. So in honor of the upcoming holiday, The Daily Beast decided to give you a guide to the cities that seem to be more love-prone than others.

To find which cities provide the best backdrop for luring love, The Daily Beast ranked the country’s largest cities based on a high prevalence of marriage, a low incidence of divorce, a relatively happy population and a wealth of bars and restaurants to meet and woo a significant other.

As with last year, we pulled the statistics on the population of singles, the number of marriages and divorces, as well as population from the U.S. Census Bureau. We considered the percentage of the population comprised of single adults to measure each city’s date-ability. We then looked at the percentage of the total married population who walked down the aisle in 2009 to consider how marriage-minded each city’s residents are at present. And, we measured the success of each city’s betrothals by looking at the number of divorces in 2009 compared to the total married population.

Gallery: Best Love Cities

articles/2011/02/06/50-best-cities-for-love/love-cities-gal-launch_dx5phf

We also looked at the happiness quotient of each place’s residents, according to the most recent Gallup-Healthways Well-Being Index, which measures physical and emotional health and healthy behaviors via survey. Studies show that happy people are more open to relationships and a positive outlook is more attractive.

Lastly, we combed Citysearch.com to find out the ratio of restaurants and bars in each city compared to the over-21 population.

Ranking the 50 Top Cities For Love

Plus: Check out more of the latest entertainment, fashion, and culture coverage on Sexy Beast—photos, videos, features, and Tweets.

Like The Daily Beast on Facebook and follow us on Twitter for updates all day long.

For inquiries, please contact The Daily Beast at editorial@thedailybeast.com.

#1, San Antonio, TX Singles: C Social life: A Emotional health: A Marriage: B Divorce: C Romantic hotspot: Omni La Mansion del Rio #2, Milwaukee, WI Singles: A Social life: A Emotional health: C Marriage: F Divorce: A Romantic hotspot: Sanford Restaurant #3, Austin, TX Singles: B Social life: A Emotional health: B Marriage: C Divorce: C Romantic hotspot: Trio #4, Virginia Beach, VA Singles: C Social life: A Emotional health: A Marriage: F Divorce: A Romantic hotspot: Swan Terrace #5, San Diego, CA Singles: B Social life: D Emotional health: B Marriage: A Divorce: C Romantic hotspot: Café Chloe #6, Boston, MA Singles: A Social life: D Emotional health: A Marriage: B Divorce: C Romantic hotspot: Terramia Ristorante #7, New Orleans, LA Singles: A+ Social life: A+ Emotional health: F Marriage: C Divorce: D Romantic hotspot: Café Amelie #8, Hartford, CT Singles: B Social life: C Emotional health: B Marriage: D Divorce: A Romantic hotspot: Bin 228 #9, Cleveland, OH Singles: A Social life: A Emotional health: F Marriage: F Divorce: A Romantic hotspot: Gusto! #10, Portland, OR Singles: D Social life: A Emotional health: B Marriage: D Divorce: A Romantic hotspot: Iorio Restaurant #11, San Francisco, CA Singles: A Social life: F Emotional health: A Marriage: A Divorce: D Romantic hotspot: Gary Danko #12, Los Angeles, CA Singles: A Social life: F Emotional health: C Marriage: A Divorce: D Romantic hotspot: Naraya #13, Columbus, OH Singles: B Social life: A Emotional health: D Marriage: F Divorce: A+ Romantic hotspot: The Refectory #14, Orlando, FL Singles: C Social life: B Emotional health: C Marriage: A+ Divorce: F Romantic hotspot: Ming Court #15, Seattle, WA Singles: D Social life: B Emotional health: A Marriage: D Divorce: B Romantic hotspot: Assaggio Ristorante #16, Atlanta, GA Singles: C Social life: C Emotional health: A Marriage: A Divorce: F Romantic hotspot: Wisteria #17, Las Vegas, NV Singles: C Social life: A+ Emotional health: F Marriage: B Divorce: C Romantic hotspot: Rosemary’s Restaurant #18, Sacramento, CA Singles: C Social life: C Emotional health: B Marriage: B Divorce: B Romantic hotspot: HoiCin #19, Baltimore, MD Singles: B Social life: B Emotional health: C Marriage: C Divorce: D Romantic hotspot: Gertrude’s #20, Providence, RI Singles: B Social life: A Emotional health: F Marriage: C Divorce: C Romantic hotspot: Hemenway’s #21, Salt Lake City, UT Singles: F Social life: B Emotional health: B Marriage: B Divorce: B Romantic hotspot: Cucina Toscana #22, Tucson, AZ Singles: A+ Social life: F Emotional health: B Marriage: B Divorce: F Romantic hotspot: Vivace #23, Chicago, IL Singles: B Social life: D Emotional health: C Marriage: C Divorce: B Romantic hotspot: Avenues #24, Buffalo, NY Singles: A Social life: A Emotional health: D Marriage: D Divorce: D Romantic hotspot: Left Bank #25, Washington, DC Singles: D Social life: F Emotional health: A+ Marriage: C Divorce: B Romantic hotspot: Zaytinya #26, San Jose, CA Singles: F Social life: D Emotional health: A+ Marriage: A Divorce: F Romantic hotspot: La Foret #27, Memphis, TN Singles: A Social life: C Emotional health: D Marriage: D Divorce: B Romantic hotspot: Mollie Fontaine Lounge #28, Raleigh-Cary, NC Singles: F Social life: B Emotional health: A Marriage: F Divorce: A Romantic hotspot: Porter’s Tavern #29, Nashville, TN Singles: F Social life: B Emotional health: B Marriage: D Divorce: B Romantic hotspot: Sole Mio #30, St. Louis, MO Singles: C Social life: B Emotional health: C Marriage: F Divorce: A Romantic hotspot: Sidney Street Café #31, Denver, CO Singles: F Social life: C Emotional health: B Marriage: D Divorce: A Romantic hotspot: Dejavu #32, Kansas City, MO Singles: F Social life: C Emotional health: A Marriage: F Divorce: A Romantic hotspot: The Capital Grille #33, Minneapolis, MN Singles: F Social life: D Emotional health: A Marriage: F Divorce: A Romantic hotspot: Restaurant Alma #34, New York, NY Singles: A Social life: D Emotional health: D Marriage: A Divorce: D Romantic hotspot: La Sirene #35, Pittsburgh, PA Singles: C Social life: A Emotional health: D Marriage: D Divorce: C Romantic hotspot: Grand Concourse #36, Phoenix, AZ Singles: C Social life: F Emotional health: B Marriage: A Divorce: F Romantic hotspot: Different Pointe of View #37, Rochester, NY Singles: B Social life: C Emotional health: D Marriage: D Divorce: B Romantic hotspot: Tapas 177 #38, Philadelphia, PA Singles: A Social life: F Emotional health: C Marriage: C Divorce: D Romantic hotspot: Bistro Romana #39, Oklahoma City, OK Singles: D Social life: B Emotional health: C Marriage: B Divorce: F Romantic hotspot: Bourbon Street Café #40, Houston, TX Singles: F Social life: B Emotional health: C Marriage: A Divorce: D Romantic hotspot: Arturo’s Uptown Italiano #41, Dallas, TX Singles: F Social life: F Emotional health: A Marriage: B Divorce: B Romantic hotspot: The Old Warsaw #42, Charlotte, NC Singles: F Social life: C Emotional health: C Marriage: F Divorce: A+ Romantic hotspot: Cajun Queen #43, Indianapolis, IN Singles: D Social life: B Emotional health: C Marriage: C Divorce: D Romantic hotspot: Circle City Bar & Grille #44, Richmond, VA Singles: C Social life: D Emotional health: D Marriage: B Divorce: F Romantic hotspot: La Petite France #45, Miami, FL Singles: A Social life: F Emotional health: F Marriage: A Divorce: F Romantic hotspot: Chef Adrianne’s #46, Cincinnati, OH Singles: D Social life: C Emotional health: D Marriage: D Divorce: B Romantic hotspot: Barresi’s #47, Tampa, FL Singles: B Social life: D Emotional health: F Marriage: C Divorce: C Romantic hotspot: Mise en Place #48, Riverside, CA Singles: D Social life: F Emotional health: C Marriage: A Divorce: D Romantic hotspot: Mario’s Place #49, Detroit, MI Singles: B Social life: F Emotional health: F Marriage: C Divorce: C Romantic hotspot: Rattlesnake Club #50, Jacksonville, FL Singles: D Social life: C Emotional health: F Marriage: A+ Divorce: F Romantic hotspot: Bistro Aix

Got a tip? Send it to The Daily Beast here.