Chicagoans Apparently Love Tourists, According To Our Tweets

By Kate Shepherd in News on Aug 31, 2015 8:00PM

Lots of boat traffic around the DuSable Bridge (Michigan Avenue).

It's no shock to Chicagoans that we're one of the friendliest cities for tourists. Chicago was ranked the top tourist-loving city in the country by a new study reported by City Lab, confirming the "Midwestern Nice" stereotype that many of us know well.

The rankings were determined by an algorithm to assess the sentiment in geotagged tweets using the word "tourist." Chicagoans apparently must not be tweeting when they're trying to navigate the tourist-filled sidewalks of Michigan Avenue or Navy Pier on a summer weekend or while waiting in line outside the Art Institute.

The other tourist-loving cities include: 2. Atlanta, 3. Philadelphia, 4. Miami, 5. Portland, 6. Seattle, 7. Washington D.C., 8. Houston, 9. Paradise, Nevada and 10. Nashville.

the old cliche of southern hospitality apparently doesn't extend to Arlington, Texas, which was surprisingly named the top tourist-hating city. The Dallas Cowboys and Texas Rangers play in Arlington and there's a Six Flags, which might explain the anti-tourist sentiment.

New York City took second place with Las Vegas coming in at a distant third. Boston, New Orleans, Orlando, Greensboro, Phoenix, Los Angeles and San Francisco rounded out the top 10.

If you want Chicago to keep this ranking, make sure you don't send angry tweets about tourists with your geotagged location. But if you want to make your tourism-fueled rage known, tag away.