Providence named “America’s Favorite City” by Travel + Leisure

PROVIDENCE WAS NAMED America's Favorite City by Travel + Leisure magazine. / PBN FILE PHOTO
PROVIDENCE WAS NAMED America's Favorite City by Travel + Leisure magazine. / PBN FILE PHOTO

PROVIDENCE – Rhode Island’s capital city has it all – culture, attractive and quirky hipsters, good hamburgers, cool buildings, plenty of art …

Providence was named America’s Favorite City, topping the list of 38 cities after more than 50,000 votes were tallied, according to Travel + Leisure, which released the results on Wednesday.

Trailing Providence in the favorite city category were Houston, Kansas City, Minneapolis/St. Paul and Los Angeles.

Besides earning the title of “favorite city,” Providence also was recognized as being a top destination for culture – its art scene earned it second place behind New York City. Its galleries landed it in the No. 3 spot, and theater, No. 5. It also ranked fifth for its architecture/cool buildings.

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If that weren’t enough, Providence also ranked among the top five cities for its people: attractive (No. 5), geeky (No. 1), hip/cool (No. 2), intelligent (No. 4) and quirky (No. 4).

Providence’s cocktail bars earned it a No. 3 spot, and its bakeries, a No. 1 placement. In fact, the city unsurprisingly scored high on almost everything food- and drink-related – bars (No. 5), brunch (No. 3), coffee (No. 3), diners (No. 1), hamburgers (No. 2), notable restaurants (No. 2), pizza (No. 2 – Chicago was first), sandwiches (No. 2), street food/food trucks (No. 2) and wine (No. 4).

In the category of gay-friendly vacation, the city ranked No. 2. It was No. 5 for girlfriend getaway.

Providence Mayor Angel Taveras was set to announce Providence’s new title as America’s Favorite City in a late afternoon press conference at City Hall.

Joining him were Lynn McCormack, Providence Arts, Culture & Tourism director; Martha Sheridan, president and CEO of the Providence Warwick Convention and Visitors Bureau; and James Bennett, executive director of the Providence Office of Economic Development.

“This is a great honor for those who live, work and study in our city,” Taveras said in a statement distributed after the event. “This award – voted on by so many people across the country – is testimony to all that we do right, every single day. Our quality of life, our world-class institutions, our quirkiness and independent nature, our fine cuisine, architecture and art, and so much more have earned us this award. To be named first among so many world-class cities is truly an honor and a distinction each person in Providence and Rhode Island can take pride in.”

The survey, developed by the editors of Travel + Leisure, launched online on June 2. Respondents rated their choice of 1,209 destinations in up to 67 categories, using a scale of one to five (with five being the highest score). The final results reflect a subset of the survey data for 38 cities, based on votes cast through July 21. Surveyed cites are selected by Travel + Leisure editors based on reader feedback and tourism statistics.

View the entire list HERE.

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