American Style magazine has a somewhat confusing list of arts destinations — it says there are 25 of them, but separately lists the top 25 big cities, mid-sized cities and small cities: 75 total. More so, it seems to go by the strict definition of city limits which places for example, Miami in the mid-size class while Tucson is in the big class; nevermind that the county Miami’s in is almost three times as populous as the one that claims Tucson; and that no one in their right mind would call Miami a mid-sized city and put it in the same class as Colorado Springs. Perhaps next time they should go by Metropolitan Statistical Area, hmmm?
Sarasota Opera
But misguided classification aside, Sarasota was 5th on the list of small cities. Florida made a big splash in general, however: St. Petersburg was 1st among the mid-sized cities, Tampa 7th, and Miami 10th; Key West was 7th among the small cities, Bradenton was 10th, and Naples was 18th. Below, the top five in each category; the lists are compiled from a poll of the magazine’s readers.
- New York
- Chicago
- Washington D.C.
- San Francisco
- Boston
- St. Petersburg, FL
- Savannah, GA
- New Orleans
- Charleston, SC
- Scottsdale, AZ
- Asheville, NC
- Santa Fe, NM
- Gloucester, MA
- Saugatuck, MI
- Sarasota, FL
From American Style, via The Herald-Tribune
Perhaps we should focus on the fact that we made 10 on the list, nevermind how they classify cities!