These Are America's Filthiest Cities
When I clicked on Travel + Leisure's list of the America's Dirtiest Cities, I was hoping it would be ranked by which one had the most porn theaters. Instead, the magazine was referring to the places that are physically the dirtiest. The answer to that, well, it's not that surprising.
The magazine looked at how much litter there was in each city, as well as the quality of the air and general overall cleanliness. The winner of the "Dirtiest City Award" was New Orleans. (It probably would win for the "dirtiest" in the other respect as well.) Poor New Orleans, there is not enough Febreeze in the world to kill the scent of drunk sorority girls pissing and vomiting out their last 4 Hurricanes on the sidewalk. Even if that is only one week a year. There's also the matter of how much HBO's Nola-centric show Treme stinks, which probably isn't helping. (I kid, Treme is my favorite show in which nothing happens.)
Philadelphia came in second, probably due to the toxic waste made in making the city's biggest export: cheesesteaks. L.A. was third (insert smog joke here) followed by Memphis, which most of America has forgotten about, which is probably why it looks so junky.
Rounding out the top five is good old New York City. We could make a case that it should be No. 1 (and if you disagree with me, spend 10 minutes in the 53rd Street and Seventh Ave subway stop on a 90 degree day, and that will change your mind). Usually I like for NYC to top all of these silly urban living lists, but we'll give this one to you, New Orleans. Enjoy it while it lasts.
The only surprise in the top 20 was Anchorage, which normally brings to mind mountain air, beautiful vistas, and seeing Russia from our house. That doesn't seem that dirty at all. Well, we guess that Palin residue is pretty hard to wash off.