“I’m going to Greensboro because it’s one of the sexiest, most fun places in America,” said no one ever.
Recently, Miss Travel.com conducted a study that named Greensboro the least sexy city in America. Miss Travel is an online dating website where wealthy members fly attractive subscribers to cities around the world for free in exchange for their company. According to the study, subscribers rejected 100 percent of trip offers to Greensboro.
“Greensboro has a lot of historical tourist attractions but not a lot of nightlife or appealing activities that would attract tourists to the area,” said Jennifer Gwynn, public relations manager for Miss Travel, in an email interview. “Greensboro is essentially boring, and the city center needs to grow in order to enhance its sex appeal. Right now, the highest rated tourist attractions in Greensboro are the Bog Garden and the Science Center. For history and nature buffs that might be sexy but not to the masses.”
According to Miss Travel, the ten sexiest cities in American are Miami, Dallas, Maui, Austin, Orlando, Charleston, Boston, Telluride, Los Angeles and San Antonio.
“As you can see, these are all appealing destinations for our members,” said Gwynn. “Every city on this list is somewhat known as a tourist destination with lots to do and see. When you sign up for a travel dating website with dreams of traveling around the country or maybe even the world, I would imagine that Greensboro, N.C., would not be a that top of your wish list.”
Among the other least sexy cities were Richmond, Fort Worth, Beverly Hills, and Chattanooga.
So, what makes Greensboro so unsexy?
“I think Greensboro got voted least sexy city due to its lack of accessibility, nightlife and all around places and things to go and do on a regular basis,” said junior Zach Kronisch. “I feel bias having spent two gap years in Austin, Texas, where the University of Texas — a school with over 80,000 students — was voted the number one party school in America, as well as the number one place for young people to live.”
“I think because there isn’t much that makes Greensboro unique in terms of its scene,” said senior Tali Raphael. “It’s such a typical southern city that it has no means to make it stand out. There’s no pull to this city if you are a single person, unless you’re a student.”
This study might leave some wondering how a city’s sexiness can be quantitatively measured.
“I honestly don’t know what makes it the least sexy city,” said senior Mellissa Beeh. “I am not even sure how to interpret that. Not to go all ‘Guilford sociology minor,’ but the view of what society considers sexy is skewed anyway. And honestly, let’s be real, you’re not going to find top models in every city.”
“If I wanted to meet people or really put myself out there, I suppose there are options,” said Raphael. “But there aren’t places of similar interests for me — no hockey games, a lack of dive bars with a good beer selection, no golf courses — so really what are the means by which I’m going to express my interests?”
“It is kind of easy to meet new people if you make the effort,” said Beeh. “I go out, go to bars and clubs, go do things (and) party. You end up meeting people from all over the area.”
Even though Greensboro is a city full of colleges and universities, it still struggles to establish itself as a vacation destination.
“Greensboro itself is not an attractive city to be in,” said senior Kyle Travis. “However, beauty or being sexy is in the eye of the beholder.”
The good news is that now the only direction Greensboro can go is up.
