Birmingham tops list of ‘most exciting cities in Alabama’

The Movoto Real Estate blog is out this week with a complete ranking of the “most exciting” cities in Alabama with a population of 10,000 or more.

Topping the list is the state’s largest city, Birmingham, largely thanks to its abundance of nightlife options.

But before we get to the rest of the list, let’s take a quick look at how Movoto compiled its rankings.

To create this oh-so-exciting list, we started by making a stop to the 2010 U.S. Census. There, we found all of the places in Alabama with populations of 10,000 or more, which left us with a total of 64 places. Then, we looked at each in terms of the following eight criteria:

– Nightlife per capita (bars, clubs, comedy, etc.)
– Live music venues per capita
– Active life options per capita (parks, outdoor activities, etc.)
– Arts and Entertainment per capita (movie theaters, festivals, galleries, theaters, etc.)
– Fast Food restaurants per capita (the fewer the better)
– Percentage of restaurants that are not fast food (the higher the better)
– Percentage of young residents ages 18 to 34 (the higher the better)
– Population density (the higher the better)

After averaging the rankings from each of those categories to give each city its overall score, here were the places that made it into the top 10:

1. Birmingham
2. Florence
3. Montgomery (tie)
3. Mobile (tie)
3. Fairhope (tie)
6. Huntsville
7. Tuscaloosa
8. Enterprise
9. Phenix City
10. Selma

Here are some other interesting nuggets from the Movoto rankings:

Auburn is the Alabama city with the highest percentage of its population between the ages of 18 and 34. Fort Payne has more music venues per capita than any city in the state. Center Point has the highest percentage of non-fast food restaurants. And Fairhope has the most “active life” options per capita.

For a full breakdown of the rankings, head over to the Movoto blog.

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