We’re not much fun, some website claims

Betsy PriceCulture, Featured, Headlines

Welcome to Delaware sign at the Biden Welcome Center (VisitDelaware.com)

Welcome to Delaware sign at the Biden Welcome Center (VisitDelaware.com)

An assessment “with pure enjoyment in mind” has the opposite conclusion in mind for Delaware.

WalletHub today ranked Delaware No. 48 on its 2021 list of the most fun states to visit in America. And dead last in entertainment.

The site, one of many known for ranking anything in all sorts of ways to publicize itself, considered 26 qualities for this number crunching.

California topped the survey with a score of 60.81. Delaware was 15.87, lording over only Mississippi and West Virginia.

Such rankings are “destined to spark controversy,” Thrillist wrote earlier this year in reporting on a YouGov that placed Delaware 32nd in fun-ness.

Three criteria accounted for almost a third of WalletHub’s rankings: number of attractions; variety of arts, entertainment and recreation establishments; and ideal weather.

Add in three more – government expenditures on parks and recreation; restaurants per capita, and personal expenditures on recreation – and you get half the grade.

The other categories: amusement parks per capita; golf courses and country clubs per capita (considering recent redevelopment projects, that number’s diminishing); movie theaters per capita; arcades per capita; fitness centers per capita; skiing facilities per capita; marinas per capita; shoreline mileage; beach quality; access to scenic byways; number of state fairs and events per capita; access to national parks; average beer and wine price; movie costs; nightlife options per capita; access to bars; time of last call; music festivals per capita (no extra credit for Ladybug, America’s largest festival featuring female performers?); performing-arts theaters per capita; casinos (no extra points for ours being racinos?) per capita.

It was no surprise to see California at the top of WalletHub’s separate entertainment and recreation list. Ditto for Nevada (and all its casinos) in nightlife. Also in the top five were tourist favorites New York and Florida. But Wisconsin as No. 2 in nightlife? Really?

The site collected data from the U.S. Census Bureau, Bureau of Economic Analysis, National Park Service, Council for Community and Economic Research, American Gaming Association, TripAdvisor, Beachapedia, America’s Scenic Byways, NOAA Office for Coastal Management, CarnivalWarehouse.com, Music Festival Wizard, Discotech and other sources.

It reached a similarly dismissive conclusion about Delaware in 2019. 

It linked the new post to a 2019 assessment on America’s most fun cities. That placed Wilmington 135th out of 182, with Dover at No. 164.

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