Assuming you enjoy urban/city life and you are a man here’s a quick breakdown on how to tell if a city is worth visiting.
The Filtering Process:
Filter #1 Population: As soon as population size approaches 500K+ you’ve hit critical mass with a major city. If it is below this mark you may run into the same faces at bars and clubs so it is best to avoid for prolonged stays. Off the top of our heads easy targets with this demographic include: New York City, Miami, Rio de Janeiro, Tokyo and Chicago.
Filter #2 Logistics: Once you’ve pinned down a city for its population size you need to look into central locations for night life, transportation and accommodation. At this point you’re simply asking “how hard is it going to be to get from my date/nightlife venues to my apartment/condo”. If it’s less than 10 minutes you begin to see a large diminishing return on your time invested. As an example Los Angeles clears the hurdle on population, then subsequently, it gets blown out by logistics.
Filter #3 Standards: Even if you don’t date online, we recommend most don’t from the get go, set up 3 fake online profiles. Profile one will be an average man, profile two will be yourself or a picture of someone similar to you and profile three will be an attractive man with all the correct boxes ticked off. Use this as a measuring stick. Profile 1: If it receives neutral to positive remarks you can add it to the list. Profile two: if you meet girls you deem attractive add +1 point and that will be your average for day and night game. Profile 3: if this gets zero traction, be prepared to cross the city off the list. As you can imagine if a city has a high concentration of hippies or feminism, it’s going to falter when going through this filter.
Filter #4 Competition: Instead of simply asking where all the attractive girls are you should always ask “where the average dude is succeeding”. Take a note of average income, average height, average body type and average car and you’ve got a decent idea of what your competition has up his sleeves. If you see men dating down in terms of looks you’re in a lot of trouble, always look for the opposite. Finally, the additional push you get by being able to bribe/tip the right people will prevent you from waiting in lines at clubs/bars and will allow you to quickly make yourself known in the right way at the venues you frequent.
Filter #5 Ratios: While you can overcome bad ratios, you always want the reverse, more girls relative to guys within the segment of the city you are staying. Now it is practically impossible to know the ratio before you enter a city since age and other factors are not taken into account, but you can do a quick scan by 1) plotting the number of near by universities, 2) search out YouTube videos by obscure people not promoting special events, 3) polling women in your social circle who have visited the city, if they hated it that’s a plus.
Filter #6 Drugs: We have written about drugs before but this is also a good time to take note of what type of drugs people tend to consume. Unless you’re into burners/hippies/people who don’t shower, finding a city that is heavily focused on trees is doing to do more harm than good. If the drug of choice is an upper or X you’re in the right demographic, each city has its own vibe and you should be privy to dissecting the difference.
Filter #7 Obesity: A good filter for obesity is wealth, as most rich people are in decent to good shape. If you’re strapped for cash you can always simply turn to a quick study such as the gallup poll. Notably, a good way to sanity check the obesity rates is to look up fitness groups within the city, you should be hammered with positive results.
Filter #8 Tattoos and Flip Flops: Generally speaking if the city is over run with girls that have many tattoos and wear flip flops you should begin searching elsewhere. If you approve either tattoos or flip flops on a woman please get your testosterone levels checked immediately.
Filter #9 Business Prospects: Robust economic opportunities, NYC and Silicon Valley for example, should be taken into account during your younger years as it will allow you to save your money for a much better lifestyle in your 30’s. We’re using this as the final filter as we assume you may be visiting a city instead of simply deciding to live there.
Example Domestic Cities:
Los Angeles: The population meets the bill, the women are generally more attractive and business prospects are high. Negatively you’ve got stark competition and standards with women being surrounded by Actors/trust fund babies/athletes and terrible logistics.
Score: 4/9 (Overall not great, better for a lifestyle type person who values weather)
New York City: Population, ratios, logistics, business prospects and low competition due to 2:1 ratio of women to men (Manhattan) makes NYC one of the best cities in the USA. The downside to NYC is the cost relative to business prospects for a lot of industries and some bad weather.
Score: 8/9 (Good for both younger and older men)
Miami: Competition and Standards are high, however the caliber of women is also high. Logistics are fine if you have money in your pocket but it is certainly less dense than a city like New York. Negatively, business prospects are generally lighter relative to places such as Silicon Valley/New York City this is offset by a rampant drug scene if that is your actual line of business (joke).
Score: 7/9 (Likely lower 6 or less if you’re young, higher at 7+ if you’re older with money in your pocket)
San Francisco: Population, logistics and business opportunities are the highlights of this city, after that it begins to go downhill fast. One of the capitals of feminism expect tattoos, hippies, high standards and bad ratios.
Score: 4/9 (Likely higher if you’re building a career lower as you age, reverse of Miami)
Seattle: Unfortunately, a few of our writers have had to spend a sizable amount of time in this city and this is by far the lowest on the list. Bad weather, tattoos, skrillex haircuts, high suicide rates as many people suffer from depression and a nightlife that is destined to disappoint just about everyone.
Score: 3/9 (Avoid at all costs)
Austin: Great overall city here, lower costs of living mixed with a college vibe and above average night life. The downside here is lower biz opportunities (excluding oil and gas) and the city is no where near as dense compared to San Francisco or New York City.
Score: 6.5/9 (hard to stand as equal to Miami)
Chicago: This is essentially New York City light. You’re trading less blow outs (head turns) for a lower population and slightly harder logistics. Overall not a bad trade, like the city and would lean heavily into the approval section.
Score: 7/9 (NYC light)
Concluding Remarks
We figured this filter would be a good way to determine if your lifestyle/interests are similar to our writers. Generally speaking, if a city scores above a 5 it will get a positive review from us. With that said, be sure to adjust the importance of each filter for where you are in your career, as you get older your tastes will inevitably change.
