2011: Top 10 Cities for Single Women
By Paula Santonocito, GCDF
Single in the city. Arguably, there’s nothing like it, especially if you seek a high-energy lifestyle with countless professional and personal opportunities.
Ah, but what cities are best for single women?
You’ve come to the right place for the answer.
This year, SingleMindedWomen.com once again analyzed major U.S. cities in an effort to separate the best from the rest. As in 2010, our emphasis was on the criteria readers tell us are most important to them: employment opportunities; cost of living; access to travel; entertainment options; social opportunities; ratio of women to men; singles population; and healthy lifestyle, along with other lifestyle factors.
Factors and Filtering
Although the economy has improved since we published last year’s list, employment issues continue to concern single women and other working-age Americans. Because career focus is a given, especially in an environment where job opportunities aren’t exactly plentiful, we once again disqualified any city with an unemployment rate above the national average, which at the time of our analysis was 9.8 percent. As in the past, this left some of our favorite cities out of the running. With a sigh we say goodbye to San Diego, Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Atlanta, among other happening hubs, at least for this year.
Since economic recovery and jobs are prerequisites, we also disqualified any city whose unemployment rate had increased since our analysis last year. Coming out of a prolonged recession, we want to see greater, not fewer, employment opportunities. As a result, Seattle and Denver, which in 2010 held the No. 4 and 7 spots respectively, did not make this year’s list.
In order to earn a spot in the Top 10, an international airport was a requirement. Single-minded women like to get up and go—wherever their interests take them.
Once we had an initial list, we examined industries and employers, and compared cost of living. We took into account the percentage of singles to the general population, as well as ratio of women to men. In addition, we explored venues for social activities, arts, sports, and other entertainment. We also looked at cities from the standpoint of healthy living, with good health taking into account body, mind, and spirit. We considered other aspects of lifestyle as well, like aesthetics, personal style, and community support.
On Location(s)
It should go without saying that each single woman has her own criteria, and no city, like no list, is going to please everyone. The 2011 Top 10 Cities for Single Women list, however, includes a variety of locations that offer a wide range of professional and personal opportunities.
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Austin is not a good place for single women unless you are used to traditional roles or being 2nd class. Texas overall is not good place for women because of the large Hispanic population being influential and very sexists and gender specific- call me judgemental but I am part Indian and cannot say it any other way. The feminist movement in this culture still has a long way to go…. Texas on a whole rates within the 10th most corrupt places to live in the US so with that comes along chauvinistic men (George W. Bush for example- he is actually from Portland, Maine but daddy raised him primarily in Texas). The women here most all drink and when they are not married or settled they are just as bad as the men, having multiple affairs before settling down, being big mouthed and narrow-minded in what they believe even if dogmatic. Morally loose may not be the right word but it is pretty close. This is not my kind of place coming from the North where I find things a bit more ethical and the men more respectful. Anyway if you are Republican, like drinking and paying high rates for rents, can tolerate the strong Catholic influence that predominates people’s thinking here (shaping law and order), can experience droughts and enjoy men who play into traditional roles but before this sleep with and look sexually at whomever they wish (before marriage)- you will very seldom hear the word “partner” here btw, then you will be fine. However I must say it is worse in San Antonio. Regarding Weddington (Roe vs. Wade), those type of women are far and few in Texas nowadays. Austin is a Looney Tune place- people say one thing and do another- there is no backbone to them who are only motivated by sex.
I went backpacking to Eastern Europe earlier this year and I have to say, Ljubliana (Slovenia) is one of the best and beautiful cities for single women :)
I am not sure why you think Dallas is so great. There are way more women there than men, and they drink and party so much they will never settle down. There is nothing fun to do there except drink, mall, pool, and eat. The guy’s mentality there is that they think it’s the Mecca of hot girls, when the girls are just beyond fake. I spent a lot of time there this year and I would have to say if you want a man, go to Orange County or San Diego, CA. The guys are plentiful and educated there. Dallas has 3 girls to every guy; keep that in mind! I am not sure where you get your information from, but try visiting the place first. The reason they have so many jobs is because it’s the #1 most boring city in the U.S. It’s not a desirable place to live. It’s also the 4th city in the US with the highest cost of utilities. I think I agree with some of the commentary, focus on where the single guys are and find a job later. I think finding love is harder than finding a good job, even in a recession! You should also focus on leisure activities. No one wants to have an alocoholic boyfriend.