We did it guys! Last year, WalletHub ranked Portland the 14th most “fun” city in the United States. But this year, we’re moving on up. Now, Portland is ... the 13th most fun city in the United States!
That’s not all. Our old rival, last year’s No. 12 Tampa, is now No. 17. Our even older rival, Seattle, is way down at No. 22.
What is it that made WalletHub move Portland up one whole spot in its ranking? Partially, it’s our “nightlife,” a category in which we rank No. 8 amongst the 182 cities included in the study. Interestingly, we also ranked No. 8 in nightlife last year, and since I do not stay awake later than 8:30 p.m., I will have to take WalletHub’s word for it.
Portland also did well in the “entertainment and recreation” section, where we ranked No. 17. We did quite poorly however, in the “cost” section, where we sank from No. 146 last year to No. 158.
Hey, inflation is a problem everywhere, right? And at least we aren’t Seattle, which ranked No. 181 in cost.
Still, in this ranking cost is not a huge factor, given that out of the top 20 most fun cities, 13 ranked higher than 100 in cost and only one, No. 14 St. Louis, ranked in the top 20 most affordable, coming in at No. 16.
Yes, it’s unlikely we will ever be as “fun” as No. 1 Las Vegas or No. 10 New York City. But I believe we can beat No. 4 Atlanta, No. 11 Cincinnati and No. 12 Denver if we set our minds to it.
— Lizzy Acker
503-221-8052; lacker@oregonian.com; @lizzzyacker
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