Atlanta ranked No. 1 for nerdiness

We suspect real geeks might question the calculation that values DragonCon over GA Tech
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DragonCon 2012

Caroline Kilgore

This week’s news in ranking: according to the Movoto.com blog, Atlanta tops the nation in nerdiness. Of course, it doesn’t take a Ph.D. in mathematics from Georgia Tech to know that very few of these rosters pass statistical muster. But still; who can resist a list? Not us.

But then again, Tech wasn’t even a consideration for Movoto blogger Randy Nelson, who based his rankings on factors including sci-fi/fantasy conventions, comic book stores, computer stores, science museums, and “People per LARPing group.” For non-nerds: LARPing = live-action-role-playing, or playing video games online in person with your fellow geeks. (Thanks to the eagle-eyed geek and reader, Garrett, who alerted me to the error in the original post. His astuteness alone should count as a factor in our ranking calculation.) It’s a surfeit of conventions (DragonCon, MomoCon, etc.) that put the ATL into the top spot on Nelson’s list.

As Nelson writes:

It’s pretty clear that when nerds eventually take over the world, their new capital will be Atlanta. If you want to get a jumpstart on the crowd, grab your foam swords, comic book boxes, and bags of dice—the city where the real cool people live is calling.

Uh, thanks for the endorsement, Randy. We’re not offended being called nerdy, but just wonder about your methods. Forget about Tech, what about the CDC? Our ZipCars? All those cutting-edge medical geniuses at Emory? The Enterprise Innovation Institute? Our other recent top ranking, as the best city for young entrepreneurs? Our business incubators?

But then again, maybe quibbling like this just shows how geeky we really are.

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