So I Live in the Ugliest City... Really?

[PirateLover]

I'm not really offended per say but I think it's absolutely ridiculous that a travel magazine would actually rank "ugliness"... I mean cleanliness I get, obesity rates I get, but as far as the overall looks of the inhabitants? Come on. I thought that stuff was left to likes of Maxim and Playboy...
The comment from a local councilman in the brief article below made me laugh out loud.


Survey Names Philadelphians 'Ugliest People' in Country

Philadelphia receives a dubious distinction. Travel and Leisure Magazine has named Philadelphians the ugliest people in the country!

The magazine asked 60,000 people to rank 25 major cities and Philly came in dead last. It says Philadelphia not only has the ugliest residents, we also have a big weight problem. Miami came in number one.

Councilman Frank Diccico says the study is ridiculous. He says "How you can compare a city like Miami where everyone walks around in <skimpy clothing> all the time with Philly where we're covered up with hats and gloves five months of the year."

For what it's worth, San Diego and Charleston were named the prettiest people.

[mttafire]

You know the ole saying...."Beauty is skin deep but ugly is to the bone"

[GenieOfPA]

personally, i think a woman with philly cheesesteak all over her face and shirt is quite beautiful, and not ugly in the least. hahaha jk. what were they basing these results on? its not our fault that we have philly cheesesteaks, soft pretzels, water ice, and tastykakes...we're in the prime reality of food!

[magicofdisney]

Coming from someone who lives in a city once ranked number one, in years past, I have only one comment. Don't hate me because I'm beautiful!

Honestly, that is pretty ridiculous. Of course we all know how scientifically accurate 60,000 opinions are.

[GAN]

After witnessing the 1980 World Series final versus KC and the Super Bowl down in Jacksonville against the Patriots, I would not only say that it's probably true but that it's been true for a while now. I'm not sure what the article referred to, but I'm not just talking about looks of the people -more about the way they act. Sorry Philly.

[John]

After witnessing the 1980 World Series final versus KC and the Super Bowl down in Jacksonville against the Patriots, I would not only say that it's probably true but that it's been true for a while now. I'm not sure what the article referred to, but I'm not just talking about looks of the people -more about the way they act. Sorry Philly.

As a Philly native, don't confuse sports passion with ugliness. Unless you live there and realize how starved they are for any sort of title, you just don't get it.

Anway, I'll take Philly over Miami any day...

[Ian]

Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha!

You know I live here and I'm not even sure I'd argue much.

[drummerboy]

Way back when I lived in South Jersey, the only thing I remember being ugly in Philly was the accent--it was even worse than ours.

[Scar]

W. C. Fields would be proud.

[drummerboy]

W. C. Fields would be proud.

Ah yes, old William Claude Dunkenfield. I'd rather be in...

[disneydeb]

When I travel, I never think about the looks of the people I might see, but I sometimes worry about the impression I might leave with others.

[PirateLover]

Wow. I didn't expect responses indicating that Philadelphians have ugly personalities. I was just saying how silly I thought it was and now we have people looking for a deeper meaning. This "Honor" doesn't really offend me as I said. It makes me chuckle. This survey wasn't based on whether buildings were aesthetically pleasing, whether people were helpful, or whether sports fans were pleasant. It was based on the physical looks of people! And I just think something like that is crazy!
I know we aren't the best city. We have a sky high murder rate and yes our fans are passionate but you know what? We've never rioted. We've never had anyone killed in a celebration. How come it didn't make national news when Arizona fans started peppering the field with their trash and the Rockies actually had to retreat to the dugout during the NLCS? Crazy sports behavior occurs everywhere. People like to single us out because we are the most "tortured" city. It makes a good story.

But I still don't get ranking "ugliness." I mean were these people hanging around the backstreets? Did they go door to door and measure how parallel everybody's face was?

[GAN]

As a Philly native, don't confuse sports passion with ugliness. Unless you live there and realize how starved they are for any sort of title, you just don't get it.

With all due respect, you don't need to tell me that -I waited 40 of the 86 years it took for my team to win a championship!

We've never rioted. We've never had anyone killed in a celebration.

You must be young, Pirate Lover. Or at least too young to remember the World Series I mentioned because there was a huge riot. I just briefly cover what I witnessed; cars tipped over, public buses stripped down to bare steel frame(don't ask me how), women raped while driving through intersections.....I'll stop there for Philadelphia's sake, it is after all the city Ben Franklin is best known for. I can't guarantee anyone was killed, but can't rule it out either. The crowd that showed up for the Super Bowl was just as bad, a large percentage didn't see the game I'm sure -they were in prison. I know that is a poor representation of a great city, but it is one way the reputation becomes looked down upon.

[PirateLover]

I am editing out my original response to GAN because I really didn't want this to turn into me defending Philadelphia's honor. I just thought it would be fun to laugh about the fact that magazines feel the need to rate a city based on how pretty their people are. These 60,000 people did not study the history of fan behavior and I really don't think it's relevant to the topic. As far as your accusations, you are correct in that I was not born yet, but if you'll take a look at my avatar you see a little 3 year old girl in an Eagles helmet. That is me. I was raised on Philly sports as my dad is a nut. Something like rape in the streets is a serious accusation and so before I responded I did my homework. I have asked my dad about your claims and he said he did not witness or read about anything of the like. (We live 5 mins away from the stadiums). I searched the internet and even just called into a local radio program. No one so far has supported your claims. I am not calling you a liar but I would ask that you not perpetuate these claims anymore as they don't relate to the topic and cannot be substantiated except from your own eyewitness account.

[Ian]

How come it didn't make national news when Arizona fans started peppering the field with their trash and the Rockies actually had to retreat to the dugout during the NLCS?

Easy ... because it didn't happen in Philly.

That actually really irritates me. Diamondbacks fans can throw garbage at the opposing team and no one pays any attention to it (I also seem to remember Broncos fans throwing batteries on the field a few years ago and no one mentioned that either), but God forbid one Philly fan boos at a game ... we have to spend the next 20 minutes talking about how we "booed Santa" (which is a totally bogus story, I might add) and how "tough" we are on our sports teams.

[J9]

Dear Whatever Travel Magazine this is:

Thank you for calling me ugly. I'm not happy about that.

I guess I won't ever buy your magazine now.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

But seriously, what kind of a stupid survey is this? How could anyone possibly gauge the looks of an ENTIRE city?

[GAN]

I'm not going to drag this out any further..... I was there and it did happen.

[drummerboy]

MODERATOR NOTE:

This thread was not started as a forum for discussing all the ills of a given city. We could all probably go on forever about ugly behavior in any city.

The original topic was about a magazine that rated people on their supposed physical ugliness, and was started on a lighthearted note. Let's try to keep it that way.

Thanks.