Which U.S. cities are the most well-read?
Pictures: The most well-read cities
According to Amazon, the most well-read city is Cambridge, Mass. That shouldn't be a surprise. Not only is Cambridge the home of Harvard University, but Cambridge and Boston together have more than 3,337 colleges and universities within their borders (an estimate). Is it possible that the lack of reading at B.U. knocked Boston entirely out of the top 20?
Of note: Seattle places ninth on the list. Amazon is based in Seattle. Other things Seattle has: Rain and coffee, both of which are good for reading.
Lame jokes aside, many of the cities on the list are college towns. Alexandria, Va., is in second place. Schools there include George Washington University and Virginia Commonwealth University, which have satellite campuses. Next were Berkeley, Calif., and Ann Arbor, Mich. They're both cities with a strong campus presence. Gainesville, Fla., eighth on the list, is home to the University of Florida. St. Louis, Mo., no. 17, is home to Washington University.
According to Amazon's data, Boulder, Colo., orders the most books in Cooking, Food & Wine; Alexandria, Va., reads a lot of bedtime stories; and Florida has the most cities in the top 20 with three - Miami, Gainesville and Orlando.
The top 20:
1. Cambridge, Mass.
2. Alexandria, Va.
3. Berkeley, Calif.
4. Ann Arbor, Mich.
5. Boulder, Colo.
6. Miami
7. Salt Lake City
8. Gainesville, Fla.
9. Seattle
10. Arlington, Va.
11. Knoxville, Tenn.
12. Orlando, Fla.
13. Pittsburgh
14. Washington, D.C.
15. Bellevue, Wash.
16. Columbia, S.C.
17. St. Louis, Mo.
18. Cincinnati
19. Portland, Ore.
20. Atlanta