Althouse: The Singles Map.

April 2, 2008

The Singles Map.

In case you want to pick where to live based on the supply of singles of the sex you prefer, Richard Florida has the info depicted nicely on a map. That map is telling me to get out of New York City — and back to Madison.

By the way, this idea that you should go where the sex ratio is best is called "the Jan and Dean rule":

I'm not sure which one is Jan and which one is Dean. I'm going to assume it's Jan on the left, because we read left to right, and moviemakers were probably trying to help us. But the first few seconds of that video are quite interesting, and I don't mean just as a study of nonactors not even trying to act. Why does "Jan" already have his 2 girls? It doesn't fit the dialogue (unless the point is supposed to be that Jan is an idiot and girls find Dean hopelessly unattractive). I think it's because without the girls, the dialogue would make Jan seem gay.

Which reminds me: Florida's map leaves you on your own to figure out the extent to which an oversupply of one sex means a lot of gay people choose to live there. But he's already telling us that New York has a huge oversupply of women.

Footnote: Richard Florida did a Bloggingheads recently.

53 comments:

George M. Spencer said...: Poor Jan.

He rammed a parked car at high speed and suffered a devastating brain injury, severing the corpus callosum (the cord thing-y) deep in the skull that connects the brain's hemispheres.

He had a hard, hard life thereafter and passed away a few years ago from a seizure.

Dead Man's Curve....no place to be.; 4/2/08, 7:21 AM
The Drill SGT said...: That analysis would be more useful if it used percentages rather than absolutes. for example, it says that there are 200,000 more single women in NY and only 50,000 in DC, but NY at 8 million plus is ten times larger than DC at 800,000.

secondly, one should note that in some markets, the gay count plays a factor. e.g. all of those excess men in SF aren't competing in the same market.; 4/2/08, 7:26 AM
J said...: I can see Jan's point about hodads - for reasons that aren't clear, chicks seem to dig them more than regular guys, so if there aren't any around obviously your chances are better. But it doesn't matter what the ratio is for gremmies, since most women won't give a gremmie the time of day. Until his software company goes public.

I hadn't listened to all the words of Surf City before. Nice to hear somebody acknowledge that surfing in CA generally requires a wetsuit.; 4/2/08, 7:56 AM
Hazy Dave said...: Yes, Dean O. Torrence is the blond guy on the right. One of the 2 record Jan & Dean collections included a chart of all their hit singles including the number of vocal overdubs on them, what their cars were at the time (lots of Jaguars and Corvettes), and who their girlfriends were at the time of each release. The amusing part of that is how the same girls keep turning up in both Jan and Dean's column, swapping back and forth, and the same girl in both columns for at least one record (but probably not "Surf City"). Jill Gibson was one long-time GF of Jan's, and she was evidently briefly in the Mamas and the Papas when Michelle Phillips was fired by her estranged Papa John...; 4/2/08, 8:38 AM
Hazy Dave said...: Watching the video (what's up with the audience/laugh track?), Jan and Dean do address each other by name toward the end.

As for the map, I've heard it said that Alaska is the place for women looking for single men, with the caveat, "the odds are good, but the goods are odd." ;->; 4/2/08, 8:50 AM
dbp said...: Ann: "That map is telling me to get out of New York City — and back to Madison."

It may not be telling you this at all. It all really depends on if you would rather do the kinds of things women like or the kinds of things men like. Opera, museums, long walks and photography all seem like things either a man or a woman could enjoy.

If you go shopping with a woman, she might purchase something--then you won't have to (purchase more than one thing). Men will sometimes accompany a woman while shopping is done but he won't purchase anything--unless he is involved with the woman and it is for her.

Plus, he might wear shorts if the weather is nice.; 4/2/08, 9:02 AM
Ruth Anne Adams said...: Whoa, whoa, whoa. What about the hidden value of the single life?; 4/2/08, 9:15 AM
Ann Althouse said...: Ruth Anne: And your point is? You're assuming the reason singles want to find singles for the purpose of marriage.; 4/2/08, 9:19 AM
Ruth Anne Adams said...: Althouse: As a woman who was a marriage-waiting-to-happen, I'd have to say, 'yes.'; 4/2/08, 9:21 AM
Trooper York said...: “If you go shopping with a woman, she might purchase something--then you won't have to (purchase more than one thing). Men will sometimes accompany a woman while shopping is done but he won't purchase anything--unless he is involved with the woman and it is for her.”

That’s why the smart retailer makes his store husband and boy-friend friendly. I put plenty of comfortable chairs around the store for the men to perch and set up a mens clubhose in the back room. We have three lazy boy recliners and a TV with cable. During the Giants run to the Superbowl, I always had a full house watching the game, drinking coffee and eating pastries and there might even have been an adult beverage or two as the Giants won game after game. The women would be busy trying on clothes and periodically stick their heads into the back room to see how their husband was doing. “No problem honey, I just watching the game, keep shopping, knock yourself out.”; 4/2/08, 9:34 AM
Ron said...: mmmm...I'd like one of NYC ladies...set me up there, would you? Pretty please?; 4/2/08, 9:50 AM
former law student said...: 1. Is his name really Richard Florida? His name makes me think of the previous trend expert whose name cropped up everywhere -- Faith Popcorn.

2. The big red dot over DC confirms that the intern-rich city is a happy hunting ground for young and not-so-young men.

3. Age data is significantly missing from RF's analysis. If the single women were all candidates for The Golden Girls, guys might not be in such a hurry to move there.

4. RAA: I suspect that although many or most women's goal is marriage, being married once would make many women question the desirability of that goal.

5. To see the consequences of men's, especially techies, moving for their career, see this:
http://www.metroactive.com/papers/metro/08.03.05/man-jose-0531.html; 4/2/08, 10:04 AM
rhhardin said...: It looks to me like a map of welfare queens and Mexicans.; 4/2/08, 10:15 AM
Richard Fagin said...: The March 25, 1986 edition of the Corpus Christi "Caller Times" isn't available on line to explain my emotional connection with Jan Berry - on the front page you'd see my very unhappy face standing in front of my 1965 Corvette conertible upside down on the freeway. I still have no idea how I walked away from that one.

I didn't find any demographic breakdown of the singles in each metro area in the Florida study. Exactly who are these singles? That could have as much bearing on whether your odds are better in a particular place as the raw numbers. I have an hypothesis about the numbers in NY and DC but it's probably too un-PC to print here.; 4/2/08, 10:15 AM
Anonymous said...: Richard:
"I have an hypothesis about the numbers in NY and DC but it's probably too un-PC to print here."

You might as well print. I'm already thinking it as are half the current blog members.; 4/2/08, 10:30 AM
Anonymous said...: Florida's map leaves you on your own to figure out the extent to which an oversupply of one sex means a lot of gay people choose to live there.

It tells us nothing of the sort. Gay men live in Miami, if they choose to live in Florida at all, and Miami is the only city in Florida with an oversupply of women. Unlesss we are to imply the following:

1) Gay men attract lots of fag hags
2) Straight men are so scared of gay people that they abandon cities where gay men live.

But #2 is disputed by other cities.

Lesbians, of course, are irrelevant. They live in the burbs, as they want to be near bowling alleys and parks where they can play softball.; 4/2/08, 11:04 AM
Trooper York said...: "Lesbians, of course, are irrelevant. They live in the burbs, as they want to be near bowling alleys and parks where they can play softball"

Is that a crack about Hillary challenge Barack to a bowling match? Not cool dude.; 4/2/08, 11:15 AM
Peter V. Bella said...: dtl...
Lesbians, of course, are irrelevant. They live in the burbs, as they want to be near bowling alleys and parks where they can play softball.

Don't like lesbians much? I live in a major urban area. There are large numbers of them and they do not all live in clustered gay neighborhoods.; 4/2/08, 11:17 AM
Anonymous said...: Do I like lesbians? I don't particularly choose to hang out with them, because I have nothing in common with them. But I have nothing against them.

Of course they don't live in clustered gay neighborhoods. They live in the burbs. Gay men live in the cities. And lesbians do like to play softball (or other sports). Am I stereotyping? Of course. But there is a lot of truth in what I'm saying. That's why most lesbian bars all have pool tables, darts, buffalo wings and pizza.; 4/2/08, 11:27 AM
Anonymous said...: And I meant they were "irrelevant" in terms of this study, because lesbians don't predominantly live in urban areas. Some do, of course, but it's a wash.

Gay men overwhelmingly live in urban areas. But only select cities. Like New York, Chicago, LA, San Francisco. You won't find many gay men in, oh - let's say -
Wilmington, Delware.; 4/2/08, 11:30 AM
former law student said...: That's why most lesbian bars all have pool tables, darts, buffalo wings and pizza.

[smacks forehead with sudden realization] My god, I've been going to lesbian bars my whole life then.

What about bars with those long wooden shuffleboard tables? Lesbian or straight?; 4/2/08, 11:44 AM
former law student said...: Gay men live in Miami, if they choose to live in Florida at all

Percentage wise, it's all about Key West.; 4/2/08, 11:46 AM
Anonymous said...: That's bullshit about Key West. Key West is very homophobic and many gay people have stopped going there.; 4/2/08, 11:47 AM
Anonymous said...: I've personally had anti-gay slurs hurled at me in Key West and wouldn't step foot in that town again.; 4/2/08, 11:51 AM
Peter V. Bella said...: downtownlad said...
Gay men overwhelmingly live in urban areas. But only select cities. Like New York, Chicago, LA, San Francisco.

DTL,
I live in Chicago. Beleive me larger numbers of lesbians do live IN the CITY than the burbs. They just choose not to live in all gay neighborhoods.; 4/2/08, 12:44 PM
titusruntippiruntippi said...: Big Gay Urban areas are so much more fabulous than cities with a small gay population.

We clean up the neighborhoods, open fabulous little out of the way cafes, and then have to move out because the yuppies come in and increase the real estate and then we do it all over again somewhere else.

It's a tough life being a mo.; 4/2/08, 12:48 PM
titusruntippiruntippi said...: Also, this map does not evaluate the "quality of the singles.

Chances are you would meet a more interesting single in NYC than Madison.

But do you really care?

Are you looking?

Why not celebrate your singlehood rather than questioning where you should live based off where singles are.

I just need to know that there is a large inventory of grade A quality hog.; 4/2/08, 12:50 PM
d_in_washington said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 4/2/08, 2:19 PM
d_in_washington said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 4/2/08, 2:40 PM
d_in_washington said...: A sad fact about the biggest female-heavy cities: Many or even most of the missing men are behind bars.

You'll notice the largest red dots are for Washington D.C., Baltimore, Memphis and Atlanta. (I've excluded New York because of the somewhat vague "northern NJ.")

These four cities have majority-black populations.

In a nation where 1 in 9 black men are imprisoned (per a February Pew report), a sizable portion of the male stock is missing from these cities.

It's no surprise that places like Baltimore would register the loss most acutely and show up as "female heavy."

Using the national 1:9 figure, a quick calculation shows that in a 600,000-person city like Baltimore, which is 65 percent black, you could expect to find 21,000 of its black men behind bars. That alone could explain Baltimore's lopsidedly female nature.

The math yields the same results for Atlanta and Memphis, where the map says women outnumber men by about 20,000.

Washington -- my home -- apparently has about 50,000 more women than men. It's unclear though what areas are included, as Mr. Florida references "greater Washington D.C."

In any case, the phenomenon doesn't necessarily imply a mating bonanza for guys in these East Coast cities. If the above theory holds true, there are racial and economic differences in the singles scene that could pose barriers.; 4/2/08, 2:43 PM
Peter V. Bella said...: d_in_washington said...
In a nation where 1 in 9 black men are imprisoned (per a February Pew report), a sizable portion of the male stock is missing from these cities.

So what? They are there because that is where they belong. They are called convicted criminals. They are not there because they are altar boys or honor students!

Look at crime stats in major urban areas. The vast majority of crimes are committed by Blacks and Hispanics. If they are the largest number of criminals, then they will form the largest prison population.; 4/2/08, 3:07 PM
dick said...: When I was stationed at the Pentagon DC had a huge oversupply of women compared to men. A lot of the young women from WV and western Maryland and Virginia and Pennsylvania came to DC after high school or college to get jobs.

I was married then but my brother in law was stationed there in the Marines. The bars where the servicemen went would seat the men at the tables as they came in earlier. When the women came in they would seat them with the men and let nature take its course. The apartments where the girls lived ended up with weekend long parties started from the bars. He finally ended up marrying one of the girls he met there. Don't know if it still works that way but I would not be surprised.; 4/2/08, 3:14 PM
titusruntippiruntippi said...: What i want from my city is exotic hog. Not just white bread hog. White bread hog is always the same but with exotic hog you never really know what to expect and that can be exciting.

Except in the case of Paki hog-too much skin, indian skin-again too much skin and mexican skin-when you pull back the hood a little salsa meringue usually unfolds and smells like ass.; 4/2/08, 3:42 PM
Simon said...: d_in_washington said...
"A sad fact about the biggest female-heavy cities: Many or even most of the missing men are behind bars. ... In a nation where 1 in 9 black men are imprisoned (per a February Pew report), a sizable portion of the male stock is missing from these cities."

I don't see that on their website; could you provide a link? Also, what is the comparable figure for latino and white males?

Whether it's sad depends on why they're incarcerated, which in turn affects how relevant to the subject at hand that absent number is. Women are typically looking for eligible men, not just men, and a crack dealer doesn't fall into that category whether he's on the streets or staying at Club Fed.; 4/2/08, 3:42 PM
titusruntippiruntippi said...: I once pulled back the hood of this really hot mexican and he had a perfect circular soggy cheeto that was orange and smelled like one of the rare clumbers poopies.

It dropped onto my sheets and I screamed.; 4/2/08, 3:45 PM
titusruntippiruntippi said...: The cheese that is formed in the uncut cock is called smegma.

It usually consists of piss, pubes, sweat, dirt, underwear remnants, and has a grainy texture.; 4/2/08, 3:48 PM
titusruntippiruntippi said...: In some locales the smegma is a delicacy but i wouldn't want to spread it on anything or dip anything into it.; 4/2/08, 3:49 PM
titusruntippiruntippi said...: There was this artist in Chelsea that did a show of paintings with smegma.

The show stunk.; 4/2/08, 3:50 PM
David said...: Jan is the one with the woodie. The girls liked him a lot.; 4/2/08, 3:52 PM
titusruntippiruntippi said...: If the uncut cock was at the beach there may be sand in the smegma also.

Or if they went rock climbing little stones.

Or swimming a little guppy or shrimp.; 4/2/08, 3:52 PM
titusruntippiruntippi said...: Also, if the uncut hog was clipping their toenails sometimes they fly up into the uncut area and can become a part of the smegma.; 4/2/08, 3:53 PM
titusruntippiruntippi said...: Uncut hogs get paid less than cut cocks in the porno industry.; 4/2/08, 3:54 PM
titusruntippiruntippi said...: Oh, also if the uncut hog was eating while naked sometimes little crumbs can get in the smegma.

Sugar, granola, salt, bread, salad dressing, etc. may also appear in smegma at times.; 4/2/08, 3:55 PM
The Counterfactualist said...: All the single women I know are single for a reason, and it isn't choice. Though that's what they tell themselves.; 4/2/08, 4:22 PM
d_in_washington said...: Simon,

The 1 in 9 figure comes from this Pew report:

http://tinyurl.com/2ybpma

There's a link on the page to the entire document. The comparable number for jailed white men is 1 in 30. The Latino number might be in the report, I haven't looked.

I don't think it's sad that criminals are locked up. I do think it's sad that the black community has deep-seated problems -- many of their own making -- that lead to astonishing incarceration rates.; 4/2/08, 4:55 PM
Kirby Olson said...: How many are widowers? Widowed?

How many have sexual diseases?

How many are Lutherans?; 4/2/08, 7:15 PM
Dust Bunny Queen said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 4/2/08, 7:16 PM
Dust Bunny Queen said...: Titus, I suggest you associate yourself with a more hygenic class of men. My first husband was not "cut" and had none of these problems. Of course, he was aquainted with soap, water and the concept of bathing as well as brushing his teeth and other routine bodily function maitenance procedures.; 4/2/08, 7:18 PM
Simon said...: d_in_washington,
Thanks for the link; I'd qualify your comment ("In a nation where 1 in 9 black men are imprisoned") a little - the one in nine figure is for black men aged 20-34; the figure for all black men over 18 is one in fifteen. Report at 6. Nevertheless, that's still a startling figure, as compared to white men over 18 (one in one hundred and six) and hispanics over 18 (one in thirty-six). Something has gone very wrong here, and it'd be interesting to look at these figures adding the extra dimension of how long the sentences are relatively-speaking; I wonder to what extent this has to do with the crack sentencing disparity? As I understand it, the primary problem with the crack sentencing disparity is that crack is the drug of choice for poor black men in much the same way that meth is the drug of choice for poor white people, with the result that the disparity has a disproportionate impact on blacks to wat we'd expect with relatively uniform distribution of drug preferences across race.; 4/2/08, 7:52 PM
Trooper York said...: "All the single women I know are single for a reason, and it isn't choice. Though that's what they tell themselves."

It is too about choice. They choose to be nasty twats. See Maureen Dowd above for a primo example.; 4/2/08, 8:44 PM
titusdindada said...: DBQ, you are divorced?

I lost respect for you.

I believe in the sancTITy of marriage.; 4/2/08, 9:01 PM
Paddy O said...: It's very interesting to me how there is a line between east and west. The West is blue, the East is red (with some pockets of blue).

The exhortation "Go west, young man" apparently has been followed.

Someone needs to send the young women west now.

Of course, this doesn't get into particular social communities. Churches, for instance, are exceedingly imbalanced in favor of single women. Single men don't seem to go to church. And once the single men who go to church just to meet single women are filtered out (because such single women aren't interested in such) the imbalance is enormous in my experiences.

And this is true even in those big blue dot SoCal cities.; 4/2/08, 9:29 PM
Dust Bunny Queen said...: DBQ, you are divorced?

And remarried for the last 14 years to a great man.

I lost respect for you.

Awww..and we were getting along so well.

I believe in the sancTITy of marriage

Me too. That's why I kicked my first husband to the curb :-); 4/3/08, 9:32 AM