These Washington cities are the 'most cultured' in the US, according to new report
Refined. Intellectual. Enlightened.
You might be able to use these terms to describe the communities on Holafly's "Most Cultured Cities" in America list. The travel website and international eSIM provider recently analyzed 100 of the most populous cities in the U.S. to "establish where you can find America's cultural hotspots."
Holafly created a "culture score" for each city by tracking the number of theaters, live music venues, museums, arts galleries, and landmarks per 100,000 people.
New Orleans ranked first with a cultural score of 126.07, followed by San Francisco (second, 116.93) and Nashville (third, 63.95).
Here's what to know.
Seattle, the highest-placing Washington state city on the list, ranked 18th in the nation with a cultural score of 44.6, according to the report.
Juan David Soler, a travel expert with Holafly, said Seattle is a "cultural gem" of the Pacific Northwest that marries nature and art.
"For the Seattleites that call it home, they're spoiled with surrounding lush green forests and stunning areas of natural beauty like Lake Washington right on their doorstep," he said in an email. "Aside from a bustling music scene, it's also home to a host of renowned museums and art galleries, with almost 20 galleries per capita."
Soler pointed to the Seattle Art Museum and the Museum of Pop Culture as must-visit destinations.
Spokane ranked 41st, with a cultural score of 24.39, and Tacoma ranked 42nd, with a cultural score of 23.55.
Elsewhere in the Northwest, Portland ranked 15th, scoring 45.51. Boise ranked 27th with a score of 32.76.
New Orleans, Louisiana
San Francisco, California
Nashville, Tennessee
St. Louis, Missouri
Honolulu, Hawaii
Boston, Massachusetts
Arlington, Virginia
Miami, Florida
Washington, District of Columbia
Richmond, Virginia
See the full "Most Cultured Cities" in the U.S. report and methodology on Holafly's website.
(This story was updated to fix a typo.)
This article originally appeared on Kitsap Sun: Seattle is a top 20 'most cultured' US city, according to new report
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