Charleston has apparently fallen out of favor with the readers of Condé Nast Traveler, hence forth referred to as Condé Nasté Traveler. After receiving a No. 1 in the world ranking in 2012 and a No. 2 last year, the Holy City is no longer among the Top 30 cities around the world.
To make matters worse, Charleston can no longer claim the honor of being the No. 1 city in the U.S., a title it held for four years. Condé Nasté has divided the best in the U.S. category into two lists: Best big city and best small city. Guess which one we were on? The small one. And there we ranked No. 1. So yay! They still like us after all.
However, none of that has stopped folks from proclaiming that Charleston was named the No. 1 Best Small City in America for the fifth year in a row. That’s incorrect. We’re the No. 1 Best Small City in America for our first year.
I know these lists don’t really matter. They’re horseshit to begin with. But facts are facts and in no world that I’m aware of does 1 = 5.
Update 7:38 am, Oct. 21: Some folks have pointed out that Charleston didn’t make the Best in the World list because American cities were excluded from that list. However, the absence of any American city from that list — without a note from Condé Nasté indicating an exclusion — does not necessarily mean that was the case. However, that seems to be the case.
As it appears now, the entire way in which Condé Nasté has categorized cities is something of a course correction. I mean, Charleston … the Best City in the World? Over Florence, Venice, and Rome? And those are just Italy’s top contenders.
Truth be told, Charleston scored higher — significantly so at 88.130 points — than any other city in the U.S. or without. For comparison’s sake, Vienna scored 86.020, Budapest 86.090, and Florence 86.529, the so-called Condé Nasté best city in the world.
Now, I love Charleston, you love Charleston, and we all think it’s the best city in the world, blah blah blah. But do you really think that Sante Fe, N.M. is better than Rome (they scored 85.861 and 85.408, respectively? Or Park City, Utah (84.866) over Venice (84.232)?
This year’s rejiggering more or less amounts to an admission on Condé Nasté’s part that their entire Readers’ Choice Awards are busted and have been busted for some time.
But then again, who takes this shit seriously in the first place beside your local CVB?
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