NEW: Providence Named One of America’s Snobbiest Cities

Tuesday, July 02, 2013

GoLocalProv News Team

Providence ranks as the 8th snobbiest city in the country, while San Francisco, Boston, and New York City claimed the top spots.

Providence is one of the country's snobbiest cities, according to an article by Travel + Leisure magazine. The city came in 8th out of 20 cities thought to have the biggest nose in the air.

Providence beat out cities such as Washington DC and Los Angeles for the dubious honor. It came in behind top picks Chicago, Seattle, Santa Fe, Minneapolis, Boston, New York City, and San Francisco, who nabbed the #1 spot. For their ranking, Travel + Leisure factored in some classic signs of snobbery: "a reputation for aloof and smarty-pants residents, along with high-end shopping and highbrow cultural offerings like classical music and theater." They also took into account some of the more modern characteristics, such as tech-savviness, artisinal coffeehouses, and over-eager eco-consciousness.

So what makes Providence so snobby? Apparently, it's our "café-culture attitude" as well as the performance art. The magazine cites AS220 as a prime example of a the tell-tale artsy café. As far as the Providence theatre and performance art scene, it came in at #4 in T+L's America's Favorite Cities ranking. Lastly, they took a stab at the burgers. "Even its No. 1–ranked burgers exhibit a little healthy pretension: the sliders at beloved Harry’s Bar & Burger are 100 percent Hereford beef, and you can wash them down with a local beer (served, quirkily, in a 68-ounce boot)."

To see where other major cities ranked, click here.