Here’s a multiple choice question, City of Providence. Answer truthfully – your image is at stake here. How are you feeling today? a.) Miserable, b.) Fun, c.) Artsy, d.) Skinny, e.) All of the above
The correct answer is “e,” at least according to four separate reports published by national magazines in the past year.
Most recently, Providence buzzed last week with news that Forbes Magazine had named the city one of the most “miserable” cities in the nation. The magazine ranked Providence No. 10 on its inaugural “America’s Most Miserable Cities” list, including Providence among such other sorrowful towns as Los Angeles (No. 6), New York City, (No. 4) and Detroit (No. 1).
Providence’s high income tax rate was the main culprit for the city’s inclusion on the list, which Forbes compiled by comparing data regarding unemployment, taxes, commute times, weather, crime and toxic waste for the nation’s largest 150 metro areas. (READ MORE.)
But in fact, the ignominious Forbes ranking was one of a number of lists on which Providence has recently appeared.
In the past year, USA Today named Providence’s Federal Hill one of the “Top 10 Little Italies in the country.” (“READ MORE)Food & Wine magazine hailed Providence as one of the “hottest dining cities in America.”
American Style magazine cited Providence as one of the nation’s “Top-25 Arts Destinations” for the third consecutive year. The Medical News Today Web site ranked Rhode Island the 48th least obese state in the country. And Providence made Men’s Health magazine’s “Angriest Cities” list (coming in at No. 22, infuriatingly.)
“There are hundreds of these types of rankings out there, and the city can be on any number of them for any reason at any time,” said Martha Sheridan, president and CEO of the Providence-Warwick Convention & Visitors Bureau, speaking about Providence’s inclusion on Forbes’ “Most Miserable Cities” list.
“My immediate reaction was, ‘Well, we’re in good company with big cities like Chicago, New York and L.A.’ But quite frankly, a ranking like that is so dependent on the criteria utilized – and when one particular criteria slants our ranking so greatly, obviously we try not to put too much stock in that.”
Providence’s being named to the Forbes list was variously met by raised eyebrows, shrugs and just a bit of hand-wringing among the convention, tourism and economic development officials whose business it is to promote the city to the outside world.
Laurie White, president of the Greater Providence Chamber of Commerce, said Providence’s inclusion on the list was evidence of the city’s very real fiscal crisis. Speaking to a group of women business leaders on Feb. 6, White read to them the Forbes report’s mention of Providence’s “crushing tax burden” as part of a rallying cry to preserve the state’s flat tax, capital gains tax and historic tax credit.
“We have to hold the line on taxes,” she said.
Dale Venturini, president and CEO of the Rhode Island Hospitality & Tourism Association, said Providence’s inclusion on the Forbes ‘Miserable Cities’ list could hurt efforts to woo tourists and large conventions to the city.
The media is powerful, she said. People tend to believe what they read, especially from a source as respected as Forbes.
“I think it’s damaging,” Venturini said. “When I saw that article, I have to tell you, my stomach fell.”
Competition for large conventions capable of filling the R.I. Convention Center is very fierce, pitting Providence against cities like Worcester, New Haven and cities even as far away as Pittsburgh and Santa Fe, N.M.
In such an environment, Venturini could not help envisioning scenarios in which the Forbes report torpedoed efforts to woo a large convention to Providence.
“I’m about to make a choice about where I’m going to bring my very important meeting, and I’ve got 600 delegates that are depending on me to pick a great place that they’re going to enjoy,” she said. “And now I’ve got a board of directors I’m sitting with that has got to make the choice, and everything about Providence is great. And all of a sudden somebody walks in with that magazine.”
Acknowledging the power of the media to shape Providence’s image, the PWCVB pays a New York City-based public relations firm to score positive press for the city.
Those and other efforts have recently resulted in glowing stories about Providence in such magazines as Travel & Leisure and OK Magazine. In December, US Airways’ in-flight magazine ran a lengthy story about the city.
In August, a travel writer for the Wall Street Journal listed Providence in a story about the world’s “Top 10 upcoming hotspots.” (READ MORE) Providence was the only American city named to the list, which included such exotic destinations as Montenegro, Rwanda, Saadiyat Island and Abu Dhabi.
The PWCVB now includes mention of Providence’s ranking in the Wall Street Journal’s “travel hotspots” report in virtually all its marketing materials, said Kristin Adamo, the bureau’s vice president of marketing.
“We do try to maximize the good ones, obviously. That’s our job … to promote this city as best we can,” she said.
As for the less flattering lists on which Providence occasionally winds up – including Forbes’ “Miserable Cities” list – Adamo seemed unfazed.
“You have to have a sense of humor about yourselves,” she said. “I’m actually thinking of writing a letter to Forbes and seeing if they’ll upgrade us to ‘mildly disgruntled.’ ” •
