Click on a label to read posts from that part of the world.
American city with the ugliest locals? Philadelphia
Travel + Leisure magazine has just published its annual "America's Favorite Cities" survey, which ranks U.S. metropolises in a variety of a categories, from food, nightlife and public transportation to quality of life, shopping and, yes, the attractiveness of the local population.Of course, of the 25 cities surveyed, somebody has to come in last in the categories, and in the "attractiveness" category, the City of Brotherly Love finishes 25th. Philly also finished second to last for "stylish locals," which I suppose is somewhat related, and dead last as a destination for "active people."
Ouch. But Philly has company: New Orleans, Atlanta, Orlando, Washington, D.C., San Antonio, Santa Fe, Dallas, Boston and Chicago rounded out the cities with the least attractive populations.
The converse?
T+L readers ranked Miami as having the most attractive locals. San Diego, Austin, Charleston, Honolulu, L.A., San Francisco, Minneapolis, New York and Denver complete the top 10 in that category.
See how the cities compared in other categories here.
Filed under: United States








Reader Comments (Page 1 of 3)
rich Sep 15th 2008 3:59PM
travelandleisure.com also has an interactive bracket game for the next 4 weeks to vote for the best city overall:
www.travelandleisure.com/afc/2008/game/
DJ Sep 16th 2008 1:13AM
I'd have to vote for Massachusetts (all cities), Rhode Island (ditto, MA) , and Tacoma, WA...for ugliest.
Must be the British ancestry in them.
kate Sep 16th 2008 9:42PM
ohmygosh!!!
i'm beautiful!!!!
from new england (specifically massachuesetts) and quite proud of it!
thank you. kate
DJ Sep 16th 2008 1:15AM
correction,,,British Ancestry in New England..
no excuse for Tacoma...just homely people
Caroline Sep 16th 2008 9:29AM
Sigh... must we focus on that unfortunate category? :) We got other, fantastic rankings too!
To know us is to love us... come on over to The City of Brotherly love, check out our inde designers and boutiques, and check us out!
tchristie Sep 16th 2008 8:51PM
I did make it the city of 'Brotherly Love' - I got mugged.
okokok Sep 16th 2008 10:12PM
Agreed! Some of this criticism is way too harsh - as well as way too stupid! Philadelphia has a hell of a lot going for it. Within the next several years, this city is going to "ACE" the top of all lists! Your food (in Philly) is extraordinary. And you're all incredibly nice people to meet, personally! SO -why all of this dissing? It's just plain dumb to pay attention to or even place any kind of emotional energy into the stupid comments about Philadelphia that show up here from folks who just don't even "get it," nor will they "ever, get it!"
Pennsylvania is one of the biggest, most beautiful and brightest spots in our entire nation!! The most physically beautiful places on our continent are RIGHT HERE! Hey - stupid NAYSAYER'S - come explore this state!!! It's beautiful, stunning and deserving of every great quality, every accolade it's ever received! ANYTHING that is EVER described about it! It's for US Americans to enjoy - and to share, with any and all of our foreign visitors and friends!!!
tacapa Sep 16th 2008 8:06PM
LOL..LOL...somebody needs to get a life !!!!
Alexis Sep 16th 2008 8:12PM
seems to me that these "ugly" cities are the ones with high populations of african americans and other people of color. does that seem odd to you? while the "pretty people" cities are the ones where there are lots of white people and lots of superficial things such as plastic sugery. seems to me that what people are judging isnt anything real. and the people still believe beauty is someone who looks like a barbie or ken doll.
clare Sep 16th 2008 8:20PM
that's ridiculous that all cities listed as "ugliest people" are "african american" or people of color--Miami topped the 10 list of most attractive people. there are more people of color in Miami than most other cities i know--except new york--also topping the list of attractive people cities. Stop making everything racial moron. Ugly goes right to the bone--everyone's bones--no matter what color they are. get a grip.
Dvan1068@aol.com Sep 16th 2008 8:53PM
White pretty people? Honolulu? Last I checked most people were of Polynesian Asian ancestry. Not white! Miami? Latin. Not white! Why do people create race issues where none exist. It takes away the impact of actual race issues. San Diego Has people of all races age groups and sexual orientation. seems to me Alexis you have issues that need some help.
RJ Sep 16th 2008 9:59PM
To all who made racial accusations.........Miami is listed at the top and its a major melting pot. You note its the places where pure and simple, no color involved either major money or thewillingness to go into debt to use plastic surgery to be perfect emulating advertisements idea of perfection.
Maria Sep 16th 2008 10:13PM
You took the words right out of my mouth...DC, Philly, New Orleans, Atlanta, Houston, Chicago? Been to and/or lived in them all and there are a lot of minorities. But, I imagine "Travel & Leisure" magazine to be the sort of magazine that caters to a superficial set that would rank according to Barbie and Ken stereotypes. Quite sad, especially in this day and age, but people like what people like.
Yvi Sep 17th 2008 12:54AM
My thoughts exactly. High populations of African-Americans.....my rador went off when they noted Atlanta which has some of the prettiest women around.
As noted, Miami, NY, etc are melting pots and hard to find true locals.
We should all write to Travel and Leisure and express our concerns with this survey.
kat Sep 17th 2008 11:51AM
i'm sorry, have you ever been to san diego? we are in the top ten and it's not a mostly white city at all.
Cyndi Sep 17th 2008 5:20AM
I didnt realize that until you mentioned that. Good deductive reasoning. I have lived in Boston and I live right near DC... I have found a lot of very beautiful people with great STYLE. In DC I have found some great new stylist people, the mixture of ehnicties does make people a lot more attrictive to me. I do think white people are highly attractive but their is something about a nice excotic looking women, wether she be from A latin american country, carribean, Asain, i mean the mixes are amazing. Boston has a lot of beautiful people AT NIGHT. Its a college cit, students love to where the sweats during the day, but look at a night life website of boston, and you'd be impressed. I love BOSTON.... DC is ok. MIAMI is gross... People look so fake... Honalulu yeah have you seen most of the locals? A good precentage of them are morbidly obbessed, and although I do not discriminate against over weight people and am attracted morbidbly obessed is just too much for me. I can go on by its 5 am so my typing is simply getting bad.
adam Sep 16th 2008 8:12PM
WOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Chuck Sep 16th 2008 8:17PM
YO!!! What's it to ya? Real Philly Pholks can care less about what Travel and Leisure thinks! We have the best food (REAL cheese steaks and Tastykakes) and the worst roads (the Sure Kill Expressway) in the country.
Raquel Sep 16th 2008 8:24PM
Miami is a cultural melting pot...and the locals reflect that beauty! We have all kinds of ethnicities mixed in and that is what makes us so hot!!
Angelwisp2bb Sep 16th 2008 8:35PM
Wow, are they stupendously way off! They must not have lived in any of those places enough to make any judgments. What did they do, walk down the street, for about two blocks, and didn't see any beautiful people? Chicago, for one, has some of the most beautiful people, and Minneapolis doesn't even compare. I was best friends, in Chicago, with a Miss USA, who was prettier than any movie star you will ever see. Even some of the famous stars considered gorgeous came from that area. Their assessments of some of those other cities are a joke, also. This article is laughable.