January 28, 2008
NoVa is a Hotbed for the Sad and Lonely
Via USA Today's Pop Candy blog, Amazon.com has put out a list of what they're calling the country's "Most Romantic Cities" (just in time for Valentine's Day promotional product tie-ins!) -- except by "most romantic" they actually appear to mean "most in need of more romance". The list corresponds to the web site's top locations for sales of romance novels, relationship and sex books. Two Northern Virginia cities in the metro area made the top ten, with Alexandria coming out tops in the nation for potentially embarrassing reading habits.
1. Alexandria, Va.
2. Cambridge, Mass.
3. Miami
4. Irvine, Calif.
5. Ann Arbor, Mich.
6. Orlando, Fla.
7. Berkeley, Calif.
8. Scottsdale, Ariz.
9. Arlington, Va.
10. Atlanta
In fairness, Washington, D.C. itself is actually listed at #11, so we're pretty pathetic ourselves. Perhaps these figures can help explain why the D.C. metro area is also usually listed as a good city for singles: there are just so many single folks living in and around D.C., even if many of us are apparently a little starved for acción. Also interesting: Heavily Mormon-populated Salt Lake City, Utah is the city least interested in romance-themed literature. Maybe there's something to be said for getting married while you're still in college?
Why do you think Alexandria, Arlington and D.C. residents have such a strong penchant for romance novels?
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Well, now we know why people got so upset about those ads.
because the dating pool here sucks
Same reason the region leads the nation in purchases of Harry Potter books -- when you live smack-dab in the middle of the cesspool of national politics you need some escapism.
That analysis was pretty lame. This is pretty much a list of cities that have lots of young singles. Of course they're going to be the most likely to but relationship and sex books.
1. Alexandria, Va.
2. Cambridge, Mass.
3. Miami, Fla.
4. Irvine, Calif.
5. Ann Arbor, Mich.
7. Berkeley, Calif.
8. Scottsdale, Ariz.
9. Arlington, Va.
10. Atlanta, Ga.
11. Washington, D.C.
15. San Francisco, Calif.
17. Tallahassee, Fla.
18. Austin, Texas
These are all either college towns/cities or places well known to have lots of young and therefore single people. Maybe some of those others are as well but I don't know.
This whole young and single thing is only part of the explanation. Older single people are the ones who are most likely to read romance novels, and the biological clocks of Alexandrians are clearly ticking a little more loudly than those of Arlington or DC residents because they are, in my experience, somewhat older.
And let's be honest, metro DC ranks high because it has a high percentage of people who think highly enough of themselves to always think they'll do better (even when they won't).
great, can't wait to tell my mother that the city in which i chose to live ranks numero uno for hermits. know what she'll say? "if everyone stays inside reading, then you have no excuse for not calling me three times a day."
seriously, these lists are crap. i hope people don't actually apply them to their lives. rankings on lists such as "top 10 cities most likely to turn you into a pirate" really have meaning on where i decide to make a living. don't the people whoever compile these lists have something better to do?
not that i'm against frivolity, but this is a bit much.
i also dig the ANTM pic. fabio is dreaaaaamy.
I think it all has to do with Female/Male ratio:
Top5 + DC
1. Alexandria: 1.07
2. Cambridge: 1.04
3. Miami: 1.01
4. Irvine: 1.06
5. Ann Arbor: 1.02
11. Washington D.C.: 1.12
Bottom 3
Pomona: .97
El Monte: .98
Salt Lake: .97
I think there's a cultural component to it, too. Most people here are so mind-numbingly clueless and socially inept that they actually think that the Idiot's Guide to the Kama Sutra on the shelf at Borders or Barnes & Noble will teach them to fuck like a porn star.
Seriously, this town is full of John Fitzgerald Pages (check gawker if you don't know what I'm talking about) and girls like whatever that chick's name is from the Miss Teen South Carolina beauty pageant.
Or, for a better idea, go spelunking in the depths that are the craigslist online personal ads. Or to pretty much any bar in DC.
If anyone hasn't seen it yet, go watch Idiocracy by Mike Judge. Scary how true it is. Makes me agree with Virginia is for losers re the gene pool around here.