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September 21, 2007

Single in Providence? You may be out of luck

It’s Friday night. You’ve got the weekend off. You’re single and looking for love.

Your best bet? Catch the first flight out of town.

(Unless you happen to bump into Providence's most eligible bachelor or bachelorette)

Forbes magazine released its Best Cities for Singles report, and guess which city comes in dead last?

Providence moved to the bottom of the list this year, according to author Elisabeth Eaves, because it consistently scored low across all of the categories measured, including:

A lack of online dating – looking at Yahoo! Personals accounts, Providence comes in last.

A lack of job opportunities – using two companies’ projections of growth over the next five years, Providence comes in 35th out of 40.

And the city came in 33rd of 40 in cost of living alone, which was calculated using entry level salary information and a proprietary (and classy) algorithm: cost of rent + Pizza Hut pizza + movie ticket + six pack of Heineken.

Maybe we would have fared better if the equation used a brew that was a little less … expensive. Say, Narragansett Beer?

“Singles want to know that they’ll be able to nurture an interesting and prosperous career,” Eaves writes, “and Providence just doesn’t look that promising.”

Nearby Boston ranks 11th, and although it ranks just one step above Providence in job growth, the cost of living alone ranked 22nd, and culture was rated five of 40.

And coolness?

Boston rated 10th in that difficult to acquire, but easy to spot quality. Providence was 37th.

Coming in at number one for singles is San Francisco. The Big Apple is number two. Los Angeles, Atlanta and Chicago round out the top five.

The lowest five are Salt Lake City, Cleveland, Kansas City, Cincinnati and, well, you know.

Get an explanation of methodology -- like how, exactly, is coolness measured? -- here.

Posted by Brandie Jefferson  at 2:28 PM | Permalink

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