PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) – Portland is known for a lot of things: its long rainy seasons, its history of keeping things weird and its vintage-clad hipsters. One thing finance website WalletHub says it should be known for is its fun.
The company released a new study Tuesday of the Most Fun Cities in America and Portland is among the top 15 cities on the list.
“Fun” is a slightly challenging thing to define, since so many people have different ideas of what they consider to be fun. Some people like trying new restaurants, traveling, playing sports or visiting bars. Others seek the thrill of riding roller coasters or going to the movies or playing video games.
Because of this, WalletHub took several factors into consideration when it ranked 182 U.S. cities to determine how fun they are.
The study examined cities across three dimensions: 1. Entertainment and recreation 2. Nightlife and parties 3. Costs.
Within those dimensions, researchers took a closer look at 65 relevant metrics. These include things like restaurants per capita, number of attractions, water and amusement parks per capita, spas and wellness centers per capita, music venues per capita, comedy clubs per capita, the average price of food and beer, movie costs, bowling costs, cost of living and more.
The metrics were each assigned a certain number of points and each city was awarded points based on how it measured up with each metric.
When the score was tallied, Portland came in 14th. The city ranked low when it comes to costs, but redeemed itself by scoring high for entertainment and recreation, and nightlife and parties.
Portland was ranked ninth-highest for its restaurants per capita and 14th highest among cities for its number of attractions.
WalletHub said a fun city is one that has a little bit of everything for everyone. Compared to other major cities across the country, Portland is achieving that.
“The key to making a destination fun is to have a variety of activities. Even locations that have a wonderful attraction, like the beach or a unique cultural experience, need to have other attractions to allow visitors to have options,” said Amanda Belarmino, an assistant professor at the William F. Harrah College of Hospitality in Las Vegas.
Below is WalletHub’s list of the top 15 Most Fun Cities in America.
- Las Vegas, NV
- Orlando, FL
- Miami, FL
- Atlanta, GA
- New Orleans, LA
- San Francisco, CA
- Austin, TX
- Honolulu, HI
- New York, NY
- Chicago, IL
- Cincinnati, OH
- Tampa, FL
- Fort Lauderdale, FL
- Portland, OR
- Denver, CO
Seattle came in 22nd on the list, Tacoma was ranked 120th, Salem was ranked 134th and Vancouver was ranked 145th