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PROVO -- There are fun things to do in Provo, right? Go to the movies. Go to the mall. Go out to dinner. Hike in Rock Canyon. Boat at Utah Lake.
One publication apparently decided there is nothing fun about Provo at all.
Portfolio.com rated the most fun and least fun cities. Provo was rated "least fun," lumped at the bottom with hot, dry places like Bakersfield and Modesto, Calif., and with cities with large water towers, like McAllen, Texas.
Provo Mayor John Curtis disputes the ranking.
"We'll show them what fun is," Curtis told KSL Newsradio Friday morning. "You won't wake up with a hangover and you'll still have your money in your wallet."
An explanation on the Portfolio website of how the rankings are compiled says the study's authors compiled federal statistics about businesses, and cities were graded on the volume and concentration of those businesses. Casinos, restaurants and golf courses were among the establishments taken into account.
The authors then grouped the results into categories of fun - shopping, food and drink, culture, popular entertainment, gambling and high-impact and low-impact sports. The better scores apparently went to cities that rated better in a wide variety of categories.
Curtis is now trying to sway the authors that Provo really isn't that bad.
"We're all convinced in Provo that it's a great place to live and we also think it's fun," Curtis said. "Matter of fact, we're preparing an invitation to the authors of this study to come to Provo and have fun with us."
New York ranks as the most fun city in the survey.
E-mail: aadams@ksl.com
