L.A. ranks low as ‘staycation’ destination, study says
For Americans still trying to bounce back from the recession, the operative word for the summer may be “staycation.”
But a report by a personal finance website concluded that Los Angeles falls pretty low—68 among the nation’s 100 biggest cities—on a ranking of the best places to enjoy a staycation.
Los Angeles ranked behind Irving, Texas, and Columbus, Ohio, but ahead of San Bernardino, according to the study by WalletHub.com. The top staycation destination was Buffalo, N.Y.
The report ranked the cities based on several factors, including the number of public golf courses per capita, bicycle lanes per square mile, zoos and museums per capita and average mid-summer temperatures.
Odysseas Papadimitriou, chief executive of WalletHub, said Los Angeles offers plenty of summer activities but the city’s huge population means big crowds and long lines.
“You may have more swimming pools than Cincinnati,” he said. “But if you have 200 people per pool and Cincinnati has only 20 people per pool, it doesn’t feel like a vacation to you.”
Los Angeles tourism officials don’t buy the ranking, saying L.A. residents have access to miles of beaches and hiking trails, restaurants and other entertainment in neighboring cities.
“We have a lot to offer that a lot of smaller cities and big cities don’t,” said Matt Myerhoff, a spokesman for the Los Angeles Tourism & Convention Board.
[For the record: 9:15 a.m. PT, June 9: An earlier version misspelled the name of Los Angeles Tourism & Convention Board spokesman Matt Myerhoff.]
