Boston ranks high for singles

Now, if Bostonians would just learn to let loose a bit more and not be so uptight when mingling in social settings, this area would rock!

I always find these studies curious...do they include college students in the definition of single? Most people more than two years out of college are not trolling the local college campuses for dates, at least not for long term relationships.

What value does this info offer? I grew up in East Orange, NJ, and its got to be the ABSOLUTLY worst city within a major metro area ever. The schools, the Police dept., the residents, City Hall... the anus of the country.

If you're a gay single, maybe. It's the hardest place I know of for a strait person to get some affection.

Any article suggesting that Hoboken is the most desirable singles scene is suspicious. Hoboken?! I guess it's a great place if you like the overgrown fratboy scene. Somerville would also fall into that category, IMHO.

So what your saying is I have a chance!

Not that there is anything wrong with that ey 123456

Not sure they're "uptight"; rude and unfriendly, and unwilling to let anyone into their cliques, definitely.

How do they define single? Not married or not in a relationship? The number seems a little high...

Any poll suggesting that Hoboken is a desirable social scene is suspicious, unless you're fond of the overgrown fratboy scene. Of course, that is the common thread among many of the cities/towns listed above.

Hartord in the top 20? You must be kidding........ This alone makes the list suspect.

They should really break it down into more interesting categories - some people are single for very good reason (and I'm not referring to the sane ones who choose to be single). Also, the Boston area, not so bad if you're a single woman, who is short (sorry guys), easy, and somewhat vapid.

Oh, I'm sure there are people are snickering at all the comments here because they have no problems dating here. Oh, tell us, dating wunderkinds, how do you do it?

What needs to be added to this study is a breakdown between genders... it's pretty useless without it as there is no context to it. It could mean that boston's 50.3% singles represent 80% female, or something. As another poster suggested, they need to define "single." I realize it is not in any way a scientific study, but having some basic definitions would make this quite interesting.

Well, I'm a single dad, that makes it even tougher! (if your'e a cute single mom...hell... drop me a line! cristafer at yahoo dot com.
Hey what they hell ya know! (great tix to pats ;-)

Let's be clear about this....it's a great town for WHITE singles...

Their definition of single is clearly based on marital status alone, and includes those "singles" over 30 who are in relationships or just aren't looking, meaning the actual number is much, much smaller than 50%. To be fair, this area has a good number of single women (and presumably men) who will go out once, decide you're not absolutely perfect then give you the cold shoulder for nebulous reasons... if you even get that. You stay classy Boston singles!

Interesting. it would be great if the article also gave the best places where singles meet

That list seems to be very heavily weighted toward towns that have large student populations ....

this whole list is suspect. many more of us spank it, than go out on dates around here. let's be serious. it is what it is, a list.

I couldn’t agree more with the posts! I was shocked by how friendly people were in California compared to the Boston area during a recent extended trip. Other areas of the country are really much more outgoing, making it so much easier to strike up a conversation and meet new people. I didn’t fully realize it until recently, but in living here the last couple of years I’ve slowly become more withdrawn and all but given up on the dating scene. That’s a sucky way to live on top of having to grab my ankles each month when the exorbitant rent is due. I really don’t understand why so many people in the area, especially if this study is true (which I don’t), are so closed off. Whatever the reasons, I’m looking to move.

I'm not sure why the study focused only on the over-30 crowd. There are other age groups that are equally interesting to analyze.

Case in point, 100% of those under the age of 12 are single in Boston, whereas in Kentucky the percentage of singles under the age of 12 drops to 85% & West Virginia drops to 50%, primarily due to sibling relationships.

Too Poor to Marry?
Urban unstable Employment Crisis
Using a detailed event history survey carried out in Burkina Faso in 2004 this article studies the effect of unstable employment conditions in the late 1990s on
dating and marriage. The results show that being single is NOT the choice for
vast majority men and women in their 30's and 40's. The study demonstrate the
strong link between stable employment and marriage. The article conclude that
most people don't marry when they are looking for jobs or between jobs or on a
job less than 18 months.

If you are strait male and in your late 20's and older, you're likely to have a tough time finding dates in metro Boston, this is a fact. The Money magazine article is clearly misleading if it doesn't also provide a breakdown by age, as a large percentage of singles in Boston are transient undergraduate students.

I can see that. We Bostonians have a wall up when we meet people so this really doesn't come as a shock to me.