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Move over, Las Vegas. After two years of national doldrums, crazy is on the rise again. From shrinks to drinks, The Daily Beast tallies who’s handling their stress—and who’s losing it.
Keep Austin Weird—the famous slogan from Austin, Texas, was conceived as a marketing tool, but it’s grown for some into a mantra. And why not? It’s been a rough couple of years. Those that don’t embrace a bit of zaniness risk having it consume them.
For these crazy times, The Daily Beast decided to rank America’s craziest cities—more specifically, the 57 largest metropolitan areas—using four criteria: psychiatrists per capita, stress, eccentricity and drinking levels.
Las Vegas, New Orleans and New York all put in solid top ten showings. The least offbeat city should raise some eyebrows. And the one that falls furthest south of normal? Here’s a hint: it’s a bit north (and east) of Austin and better known for chili than crazy.
#1, Cincinnati
Psychiatrists per capita: 31 out of 57
Stress: 5 out of 57
Eccentricity: 12 out of 57
Drinking: 17 (tie) out of 57
Colorful Character: Jim Bonaminio won a local contest by creating a suite that looked like a grubby port-a-potty on the outside, but really led to a 10-stall restroom replete with flowers, marble, soft tile and tropical pictures.
#2, San Francisco
Psychiatrists per capita: 1
Stress: 57
Eccentricity: 2
Drinking: 11 (tie)
Local Character: Samir “Sammy” Keishk spent 18 months and $12,000 working on a 2,260-pound rubber-band ball in a quest to set a Guinness world record.
#3, Providence
Psychiatrists per capita: 6
Stress: 38
Eccentricity: 21
Drinking: 7
Local Color: An local group last year created a 1,350-foot-long strand of red and white beads, breaking the Guinness world record.
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sophia5
Another inane "Top" List from the Beast.
Cincinnati . . . really ?
Skyline Chili makes the locals all whacky ?
#1 Crazy . . . the Numbnuts who "researched" this phenomenon.
textural
sophia5
Nice display of stupid.
It's a FUN piece you blockhead!
gee zuss christ on a cracker... watta fkn maroon...
Chris Shea
I'm proud to be the craziest city. Also, they mention the Naked Cowboy as a reason that New York is crazy - well the Naked Cowboy is from Cincinnati!
jaydeekay
Chris...
GE is one of the reasons we're the craziest. Don't you agree?
wishfoolthinkn
sophia5 have you ever been to the natti? I'm thinkn' probably not...
acharlesw
As if we needed proof of the East Coast bias of the media, please note that the "weird" attraction listed for Riverside, CA, is 256 miles away. It's like saying, "Visit New York -- they've got a weird pointy stone thing dedicated to George Washington!"
Noland
I don't know but we have a bumper sticker that's been popular around here for decades 'Keep Santa Cruz Weird' - I can't tell you that it was actually coined here, but there's not another town in the country that fits it better.
Santa Cruz Califorina
SirEdwardV
Well the problem here is that everyone is biasing their opinions based on what they think the most eccentric city is, which is understandable. Obviously New Orleans and New York, etc is going to be considered higher than the others in this area, and that is represented in this article. If you take a look, you will notice New Orleans scored poorly in stress and drinking, while New York scored poorly in drinking, which took them down in the rankings. Cincinnati did best because of it's even spread through all the categories.
I have been living in Cincinnati for about 4 years now (here for college), and it has been a good ride so far. I have had crazier experiences elsewhere, but they were for special events.
New Orleans: I was there for the Sugar Bowl, where University of Cincinnati (my school) got demolished by the Gators. This also included New Years Eve... Needless to say, this was an awesome and ridiculous event, but I was surrounded by Cincinnati fans (who were sooooooo much more rowdy than the Gator fans BTW, just a little to back up our craziness), and everyone was pretty shit-faced. Again, that factor could have just been the drunk-asses from Cincy crowding up the place.
Anyways, a few points to drive home Cincinnati's position on this chart:
1) We had our own fucking super hero! That's right, a caped crusader was traversing the streets of Cincinnati, stopping crime in style. (His name was Shadow Hare, look him up.)
2) Ochocinco lives here.
3) Bootsy Collins is from here.
3) New York's Naked Cowboy is from here. (http://www.nakedcowboy.com//legend.htm)
4) We have had a history of one of the most racist Police forces around (you have to be crazy to be racist!), although they are improving dramatically in the past few years.
5) Foxy Shazzam is from Cincinnati. They are a up-and-coming rock band, and they are fucking crazy. Look them up.
6) Apparently we also house the most dangerous neighborhood in the USA (based on crime rates per capita), which is a mere mile from the campus of UC.
Just because people don't know Cincinnati as a ridiculous place doesn't mean it isn't. Who would think to look in Ohio for this type of shit?
Beachman
These results have little to do with anything other than the weather.
Take out Vegas and New Orleans because, well, because they are Vegas and New Orleans.
You could argue to take out San Francisco for the same reason.
For warm weather climates in the top 25 you are left with Tucson and Austin. And well, Austin is Austin.
What you are left with is 20 cities that are cold, cloudy, and wet for most of the year.
contrary55
Wrong, Denver enjoys over 300 days of sunshine a year. Just don't tell anyone.
Beachman
True. I lived in up above Boulder in the canyon for five years. A piece of heaven but don't worry, I won't tell anyone.
textural
Beachman
Don't worry, I won't tell anyone. Telluride and Aspen are way more fun...
Lynne00
Denver?? Seriously?? Though in the grand scheme of things it's probably better that people think it's wet and gray here, maybe everyone will stop moving here ;-)
Jackie Pettit
False, Cincinnati has seasons including a very hot, very sunny summer and a mild, delightful spring.
missymiss
I'll try to remember that Cincinnati is "cold, cloudy and wet for most of the year" this summer when the thermometer on my patio displays 100 and the sky is blue and cloudless. Oh, and spring has arrived here. Just saying.
Also, we have a hilarious Fools' Day Parade involving lawnmower precision drill teams, lawn chair snapping drill teams, fake docs in scrubs doing dance numbers, etc -- well worth a visit!
SirEdwardV
...we do??? Why have I not been told about this before???
I want to go!
Ronin58
having grown up with Mummers in the neighborhood rehearsing for the parade , I would argue that Philly deserves the top honor here .
Other factors could include :
mustard on soft pretzels
the so-called" cheese steak" ,which is a sandwich badly replicated across the nation ....
a city that elected Frank Rizzo Mayor .
the posh suburbs are identified by the railroad tracks that run through them i.e. " Main Line".
The statue of William Penn on top of City Hall appears to the
arriving visitor to be relieving himself on the intersection of Broad and market.
Birthplace of Rocky Balboa.
Just a start...but I think the academy should reconsider its decision on #1 .
Aslanleon
Back in the seventies I was a State employee in Pennsylvania and was at a function that Frank Rizzo attended. He smiled at me, grasped my hand firmly, and said I was doing a great job. I had to boil the hand several times to get the sense of having touched pure evil off it.
Philadelphia's greatest institution after the Mummers is the Mutter Museum, which exhibits weird, grotesque, and disquieting abnormal body parts gathered in the last two centuries. They put out an annual calendar. And who can forget Mayor Goode's decision to firebomb a tenement where a loony commune was holed up to "smoke them out," killing a whole bunch of them?
Philadelphia wins the weird contest hands down for another reason-- they aren't even trying to be weird. They just are.
Ronin58
Perfect !
It may be a different situation now..but you reminded me of the Barnes museum ...the most exquisite collection of Impressionist works in the USA...
which no one was ever allowed in to see !
And as a member of the Philadelphia Diaspora, I mention where I was born and I get sympathy ...for no specfic reason ...
Love your Rizzo moment.
Aslanleon
Ol' Barnes was a distant cousin of mine, and a perfect example of full tilt bore Philadelphia madness. He built his whole fortune on Argyrol, a mildly dangerous patent medicine and put all his money in Picasso, Braque, and other masters when nobody would buy them. When the Philly museum rejected his collection of modern masters which was probably the best in the world at the time as trash, he set up his own foundation for art study using his masterworks and allowing nobody else to see them. Marvelous! Pure Philly!
kowKack
Ronin & Aslanleon
The Albert Barnes collection was not closed to view. In 1961, his collection was available to view. It was in his will. People had to make reservations to visit and view it. That was the only narrow restriction.
Your Philadelphia history perception is... pure Philly alright...
debbymcp
cincinnati elected jerry springer.
i'm just saying...
theamazingcorey
if food was a consideration then I hate to break it to you, New Orleans wins. We have stuff that will blow your "cheese steak" and pretzels with mustard out the water.
SirEdwardV
Cincinnati resident here, and I agree completely. The food I had down there was nothing short of amazing.
kowKack
Aslanleon
Former State employee of Penn?
You know of the "Mummer Parade"?
Then I wonder, where does the "right-lean" commentary coming from in your posts I see all up and down The Daily Beast?!
Will wonders never cease?
I think not...
p.s.
I have a photography artist collection. I have one from a photo artist who took an image from the Mummers Parade (mid-80's). I found it in an exhibition in Sacramento. It's so cool ass, it's the only color photo in my black-n-white collection.
Aslanleon
What you seem to be saying is that all state employees are Democrats or that conservatives don't know about the Mummers. That makes no sense whatsoever.
kowKack
of course it makes no sense
you are, after all, Aslanleon...
Joe Soja
I been stuck in Philly for over 6 years and I feel like I'm at death's door...this place is a joke! Only reason I'd think people may not be stressed here is because they don't know how much better it is in other places;
Peirce
Having lived in both Cincinnati & Philadelphia, I would say Philly might win by sheer human mass, given the greater population, but Cincinnati is no slouch: remember, they elected Jerry Springer mayor, they made Pete Rose & Marge Schott, and just last month a Cincy psychiatrist attacked a patient with a sword
DicedPeas
My in-laws are originally from Cincinnati and are always trying to get us to go with them to visit their old hometown. We have made lame excuses for years. Maybe we'll reconsider.
TampaBiker
Tampa/St. Pete Fl came in at #44... Our crazy law:"doors to public buildings must open outward" isn't crazy at all... All doors in this are open outward, because hurricanes would open them way too easily, and they'd be nearly impossible to close in a hurricane if they opened inward. It's not crazy, it's a necessity. Anyway, we're far crazyier than #44.
scott1607
As a recent immigrant to Tampa, I agree... I'm still getting used to driving down the street and noticing a strange pattern of buildings as I go along -- church, KFC, strip bar, church, Sonic, strip bar, church, BK, strip bar... it's all fast food, religion and pasties! Then again, I don't know if that's so much crazy as depressing.
Clara Rice
Well, Cincinnati just had a raging beer festival last weekend that began with a parade led by a motorized bathtub, some monks and a Trojan goat. Not to mention we have the largest Oktoberfest in the Western Hemisphere, the highlight of which is the World's Largest Chicken Dance, previously led by such notables as Bart Simpson, Eddie Money, and Weird Al Yankovic. And we have Bootsy Collins and Ochocinco. So, yeah, I think we qualify.
Panx911
It HAS to be the chili. Skyline isn't even that good. It's far too soupy if you ask me. The burritos are pretty good; but the chili itself I'll take a pass.
cruzer
Just thought I'd share something that made me laugh out loud. I am from Cincinnati and, for some reason, we are #1 even though it's kind of boring and seems pretty average here. As I was perusing through the rest of the list, I only got to #7 before leaving this comment. New York City's Colorful Character is listed as the Naked Cowboy. Well, guess where the Naked Cowboy is from? You got it, the suburbs of CINCINNATI!!! Too funny.
bmills
I'm from Cincinnati we not crazy just because we have a parde for everything and are football team full of convicts and the kkk rallys on are foutain square nice and the riots started by all the cop killings did I mentions then serial killer on trail right now and are mayor throws like a GIRL and all the good boycotts yeah we have good times no crazies here just good ole fashion rascism and hate and not just racial hate the rich hate poor poor hate the rich this neigbhor hood hates that one we spred the hate around evenly so no one feels left out and the profling is nice too. Got to love that Cincinnati, come see us again.TTFN
SirEdwardV
Another point for why we are crazy?
This guy above me!
oprcntangl
As a girl, I feel insulted that someone thinks the mayor throws like one. The mayor throws like a blind raccoon. A girl would have at least come within some sort of vicinity of home plate.
sebastion
After living, in NYC, Vermont, New Hampshire, Kentucky (uggh!), Illinois (yeah!) and now Cincinnati, I can say that Cincinnati IS CRAZY! It's dull, land-locked but most of all, it's just plain RACIST. Racism with a bit of "we won't say it to your face," but we will behind your back, all the while pretending friendship. Born and bred Cincinnatians are nuts, they believe in Fox News like it's from God himself...and don't get me started on the hypocrisy that rains here. It's the bible belt and again, most racist city (yet claims otherwise) there is. Oh, before someone from the city tells me to shut up and go back to where I came from, don't worry, won't be here long!
oprcntangl
Um, Cincinnati is not in the bible belt. Most of the city is Catholic. Are you sure you live here?
Treyphanus
This has got to be the worst list I've ever seen!!! I lived in Cincinnati most of my life and crazy is the last word I'd use to discribe it. Go downtown on a Saturday night, if you don't get shot or robbed, tell me how "crazy" it is compared to Vegas or New Orleans. I've been to most of the cities on this list and all of them are crazier then the Nati. Cincinnati the city so crazy the sheriff will not let you buy porn, and the city that tried to have an art exhibition shut down. That city is one of the most conservitive cities you'll ever go to. So if you're going to visit based on this, thinking your going to have a "crazy" time, be prepared to be disappointed!!!
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Elliot Mabeuse
I don't understand. SF has 1 shrink "per capita"? That means everyone who lives there is a shrink. What am I missing?
anova9
It's a ranking based on the per capita number of shrinks. I had to check it too, the wording is misleading.
Maxine
Cincinnati is odder than New Orleans? The most eccentric person is the woman running ghost tours?
Mardi Gras, Southern Decadence, go cups, 24/7 bars, Mardi Gras Indians, St. Joseph Day altars, The Cameltoe Stompers dance group... these are what we call 'mainstream.'
These guys need to get out more.
psgoodguy
i agree. and don't forget the drag revue "them leftover bitches."
Aslanleon
I love New Orleans nuttiness, but without the Mutter Museum and the Mummers, it's still number two, but a real strong number two. After all, New Orleans relies on tourists to up the level of nuttiness. Philadelphia exports it. And who can fault the concept of little black specks of vanilla bean in the ice cream, without which no true Philadelphian would eat it? South Street can stand up to the French Quarter every day, and all with home grown moonbats.
Ronin58
Fascinating background on your cousin Barnes !
perhaps you can clarify for me something that remains in a fogged up mirror of memory :
Which was the "Real" Bookbinders ? Bookbinders or the Original Bookbinders ?
BTW ...your last comment seals the deal ...Philly ,has a balance of payments surplus on its weird exports !!!
Aslanleon
That Bookbinders question has me stumped. I know that Bookbinders served the best snapping turtle soup forty years ago, but it gets hazy after that (hint: fresh turtles-- saute in dry sherry) Both restaurants closed and then reopened, but I'm not sure if they kept anything except the name. I do know that when they tore down the original Snockys with the tin ceiling and the plaster sea critters that real working class seafood suffered a terrible blow. The new one further south was plain depressing.
rchrgirl
As a born and raised Philadelphian who has lived and worked in the City of New Orleans for eleven years I can tell you that New Orleans trumphs Philadelphia in the eccentricity market by a significant margin. New Orleans most certainly does not rely on any tourist for its level of nuttiness I can assure you. Tourists come and go. It's the ones who come and stay who get it and add to the nuttiness. Tourists come to watch the show that is New Orleans. For the most part tourists don't spend a year thinking about a costume they will wear on one day of the year. They throw a boa around their neck and wear beads at the wrong time of the year. It is the locals and truly the ones who were born and raised in New Orleans that make this place wacky and special. I have lived here for eleven years and am still amazed and always pleasantly surprised. In Philadelphia you have your characters for sure but nothing truly unexpected ever happens. It's the same old same old. That's why I got out. South Street? You have to be kidding me. A big yawn. South Street actually used to be cooler but now it's a bunch of high end boutiques with shades of what it used to be and I guess you could argue the same about the French Quarter in some respects. But the FQ still trumphs South Street- please. And neither one of these places represents the whole cities we are talking about. And the Mummers. Another yawn. I'm from there. I know. Standing out in the freezing cold with no to-go cup watching a bunch of drunk ham heads strut in feathers. There are no surprises there. New Orleans knows how to celebrate in style and doesn't wait to do so. The tourists know that. That's why they come. The locals know how to do it right.
Maxine
Lol... We keep the tourists locked up on Bourbon St so they don't get freaked out. Seen the Mummers. Very tame. Nice, but predictable. Mutter is unique, but one attraction does not a crazy town make.
Aslanleon
You have to remember that the Mummers are basically ten thousand Rocky Balboas dressed up in ten thousand dollars each worth of feathers and sequins. Pure surrealism!
diane56
Aslanleon,
I'm a native of New Orleans, now living in Atlanta, another crazy city. But you're dead wrong about Nawlins importing nuts. I've been going to Mardi Gras since I was in diapers, and I've been to the French Quarter on Mardi Gras Day many times (including this year). When you've got one day a year when you dress up crazy and go out in public to drink and act silly, it leeches to other areas of life. The craziest people there are always the locals; the tourists tend to just watch. NO really does import tourists to up the drinking, but didn't rank too high on that, surprising me.
theamazingcorey
New Orleans should be #1.
chgosaint
Seriously? For Chicago "Local Flavor" you include a Museum 160 miles southwest of Chicago? Come on, we have our share of wackiness IN THE CITY. Really a awful ranking and write-up.
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