SAINT LOUIS, Nov. 11, 2015 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Noting an increase in macchiato swirls, poetry readings, Moleskines and animal acupuncturists, San Francisco has been named as "America's Most Pretentious City" in Cafe Valet's first annual Pretension Index, a quantitative analysis of pretension levels in America.
Developed by a team of data scientists, the Pretension Index examines where these modern day latte art lovers are most concentrated, mining data from a variety of sources including the U.S. Census Bureau, Facebook, local business data and more in the 50 most populous U.S. metro areas.
San Francisco earned a Pretension Index score of 85 out of a potential 100, besting San Jose (64), San Diego (59), Denver (56) and Portland (56).
"As the standard-bearers for the 'Regular Joe,' we fear for San Francisco's future," said Andrew Barnett, who led the analysis for Café Valet. "The notion that people are paying $100 for civet coffee to drink while wearing a woolen cap in the summertime is a problematic trend."
The Pretension Index examines not only America's most pretentious cities but also the least pretentious ones, noting major U.S. cities that eschew the trappings of the cultural elite (such as art galleries on every block downtown, Whole Foods that are leading the way to gentrifying neighborhoods and the struggling poets who are just a little bit better than you and me).
Birmingham and Riverside, California led the list of the least pretentious cities with a score of 18, followed by Detroit (20), Dallas (20) and St. Louis (22).
"It's good to know there are cities remaining in America where people still hate Sting, know their mechanics by their first names and would rather go four-wheeling than play squash," added Barnett.
METHODOLOGY
Café Valet analyzed the top 50 U.S. metro areas, each with populations of 1,000,000 or more. The Pretension Index was calculated based upon a combination of metrics from three categories.
Local business concentration (63% of the overall score) is based on the following five metrics from business data providers Infogroup and Localeze:
Area interests (25% of the overall score) is based on the following five metrics from Facebook Audience Insights.
Area activities (12% of the overall score) is based on two metrics from business data providers Infogroup and Localeze.
About Café Valet
Since 2003, Café Valet's (CafeValet.com) 100 percent Arabica coffees have been enjoyed by millions of consumers in hotels across the United States. Today, more than one million hotel rooms feature Café Valet's patented single-serve coffee system, with more than 100 million servings annually. Café Valet's parent company, St. Louis-based Courtesy Products, has been serving the lodging industry for more than 60 years. For more information, visit CafeValet.com.
Photos accompanying this release are available at: