30 Photo-Friendly Cities

[lputman]

I saw this at PopPhoto.com, thought you guys might be interested.

I'm quoting the beginning but you'll have to click through for the rest.

30 Photo-Friendly Cities
PopPhoto.com Features 30 Photo-Friendly Cities
Which of the 30 biggest burgs are best for photographers? The results will surprise you.


By Neal Matthews Posted March 31, 2009

As a photographer, does it matter whether you’re in Chicago, Nashville, or Seattle? We think there’s much more to a great photo town than dazzling architecture, lively street life, and picturesque scenery. A host of other factors—from the weather to the culture—combine to make a place hospitable to photographers.

To measure the differences, we compared the 30 most populous cities in the United States across 10 categories, including annual average percentage of sunny hours, number of days with measurable precipitation, per-capita number of camera shops and museums and galleries that exhibit photos. We even counted private security firms, since we’ve found that the more rent-a-cops, the harder it can be to take pictures in public.

Our sources? Municipal websites and federal databases from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, General Services Administration, Federal Bureau of Investigation, and Environmental Protection Agency, as well as private sources such as online yellow pages.

Each city was ranked 1 through 30 in each category (1 being the best). We asked our editors to assess the relative importance of each category for photographers, then used their responses to weight the scores, so that high marks in, say, parks and zoos counted more heavily than photo processors. For more on our methods, see page 4. The final ranking, along with each city’s rank by category, is page 2 and 3.

Here are profiles of four of the cities in our top 10 and what makes them so photo-friendly.

[Nicole]

I saw this in my email this morning but hadn't had a chance to check it out yet... headed there now.

[douglas]

Very interesting. However one can find interest in any city or town. These of course all have a "name " from a touristic point of view. My local cities are unknown to most people, but are still intersting. Just a thought.

[wattsbw2004]

My city is rated #11 and I still find trouble looking for places to photograph.

[Jim Bryant]

whooooooooo hoooooooooooo look at Seattle #6.

[lputman]

Originally Posted by wattsbw2004

My city is rated #11 and I still find trouble looking for places to photograph.

I hear ya! I almost fell out of my chair when I saw Memphis on the list!

[Murtasma]

Well at least Detroit made it on some list that didn't involve unemployment or crime rates. LOL

[daft_biker]

Originally Posted by douglas

Very interesting. However one can find interest in any city or town. These of course all have a "name " from a touristic point of view. My local cities are unknown to most people, but are still intersting. Just a thought.

I agree, interesting but I think most places have their charms.

Then again I kind of spoiled as I'm in Edinburgh (UK, not USA so it doesn't count on the list). It's great for pics any time of year but when the festival is on something else.....it's a photographer's paradise