These 10 small cities are the snobbiest in America

[IronLionZion]

Last edited Wed Jul 30, 2014, 11:09 AM - Edit history (1)

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/do-you-live-among-snobs-2014-07-29

If you have a bottle of Chateau Mouton Rothschild 1945 in your home’s wine cellar, you might reside in one of the cities atop this list.

Movoto.com, a real estate research and brokerage site, recently ranked more than 300 U.S. cities as what they considered the smallest but “snobbiest” locales, based on 2010 U.S. Census Data.

Did your small city (45,000 to 65,000 residents) make the Movoto cut?

According to Movoto, what counts is having the highest median household income, the highest median home values, the largest percentage of the population with a college degree, and having a good deal of art galleries, private schools and performing arts locales. And oh, the fewest “fast food” restaurants.

Perhaps not surprisingly, five of the top 10 are in California. Palo Alto, founded in 1894 by Leland Stanford of Stanford University — and now home to companies like Skype and Tesla TSLA+0.81% — tops the list of 309 cities with the highest median home price ($1 million), the fourth-highest median income and the fourth-highest percentage of residents with a college degree (over 80%). The city scored 61st on the list of fewest fast-food restaurants.

Stanford University, of course, is one of the most prestigious private universities in the country, with undergraduate tuition of $42,690 a year and an endowment of more than $17 billion.

I can personally verify that the snobs in Bethesda and Rockville are welcome to kiss my middle class ass. Expensive gas, gated communities, pretentious luxury shops, insane rent, rude people driving German cars, latino hired help, worst traffic in America, week long power outages, etc. I only go there for the Apple store or some good Chinese food. I pity the fools who have to work there. You'd think those rich folks might want to upgrade their city's infrastructure, but nope. You don't want the riff raff coming in on public transit.

[CanonRay]

1. I was born in Oak Park, it was never snooty

must have changed a whole lot.

[closeupready]

6. And it's in Illinois. What's to be snooty about?

Couldn't PAY me to live there.

[Neoma]

110. Huge houses are taking over.

Built for who knows who, no one can afford them.

[lunasun]

9. My thought exactly Oak Park? Someone was counting numbers not actually visiting IMO

Oh yeah and living near the Chicago west side off 290 bordering Austin and park Forest is tre snotty
Multiple culturaland progressive but not poor I will give you that but snotty ?
never got that when there
Plenty of other burbs could contend for that around Chi but Oak Park?
Oh and edit to add I believe 2 subway systems go to Oak Park No one being kept out or relying on cars

[AngryAmish]

13. It is the insufferable, holier than thou attitude.

Then there is Hinsdale...

[Enrique]

17. this data has nothing to do with attitudes

which is why it's so silly to use the word snobby, which is all about attitude.

[AngryAmish]

18. ok, but Oak Park is insufferable

[Enrique]

28. i'm interested...

i grew up there in the 70's and 80's. I see it as a nice place but i'm interested, what's your beef with Oak Park?

[Enrique]

19. Skokie is on the list too

I'm surprised Berwyn didn't make it.

[CanonRay]

26. Yeah, or Cicero

Which I think is Slovak for snooty.

[lunasun]

35. Skokie ? Plea

I thought maybe it was a typo and they meant oak brook for oak park but Skokie?
Yeah snobby is Skokie again the subway stops there and nothing is gated but some businesses at night
Berwyn is the home of Svengoolie and the mushroom fest so that may lead to some snobbery
LOL

[greatauntoftriplets]

65. I worked in Skokie for years.

Don't get how it ended up on that list.

[xmas74]

115. Berwyn could never make the list

Too many bad jokes and flying rubber chickens.

[CanonRay]

24. There's a couple of North Shore suburbs which are way, way snootier

and always have been. Not naming names here.

[AngryAmish]

41. What us wrong with saying Lake Forest?

[lunasun]

52. But Lake Forest has a Mc D so doesn't fit the article criteria. Of course it has an omelet station

And leather chairs but it is fast food
Oh no tacky arches please yes this would be a snob town example IMO

http://www.yelp.com/biz/mcdonalds-lake-forest

[CanonRay]

68. I was thinking Winnetka where my mother used to clean people's houses

when she was 15.

[lunasun]

42. And western suburbs too many to name are super snobs and I can not even figure out why

Last edited Wed Jul 30, 2014, 10:01 PM - Edit history (1)

Hinsdale all the way to Naperville IMO
Yes they have money but nothing there no cultural outlet at all except greed and golf so I agree with Wheaton and Downers Grove being in the top 30 fun die snobs too

At least the North Shore has some culture and education to go with the money and much more diverse although along the shore up north much is gated and heavily protected from the outsiders so yes north shore has plenty to place before Skokie
. That is why I ask Oak Park?
Oh and Skokie mentioned in the article is not North Shore!

[ancianita]

92. I'd say Oak Brook before Oak Park.

[WillowTree]

113. Winnetka is even worse. Lake Bluff, too.

[ancianita]

114. Those, too.

[Enrique]

14. look at the way they define snobby

ridiculous word to use.

[lunasun]

23. Yeah it is the anti educated no high falut'en art house needed give me a Big Mac discerners.

home values, the largest percentage of the population with a college degree, and having a good deal of art galleries, private schools and performing arts locales. And oh, the fewest “fast food” restaurants

[senseandsensibility]

2. lol

Before I even looked at the map, I knew that many of these cities would be in Northern California, near San Francisco, or what we call the Bay Area. I grew up here, but not in one of those cities.

[IronLionZion]

4. Some silicon valley snobs want to break up California

can't have those tax dollars going to "undeserving" folks.

[Tommy_Carcetti]

3. The town of Palm Beach (*not* West Palm Beach) has to be the snobbiest place I've ever been to.

But I believe the population is below the threshold for consideration on the list.

A couple of years ago there was an outcry about putting in a Starbucks in Palm Beach because they thought it might attract "the wrong crowd." Seriously. A Starbucks.

[steve2470]

20. in Palm Beach years ago, they tried to make it illegal to run without a shirt on...

for MALES.....

goes to Google...

[IronLionZion]

25. How about females?

[steve2470]

29. I don't know, I'm guessing the ordinance applied to them also nt

[Tommy_Carcetti]

27. That would make beach going pretty useless, don't you think?

All I know about Palm Beach is that when I went to a political event there a few years back, I remember seeing more than one affluent looking older gentleman and a considerably younger looking wife who simply would not look me in the eye as I passed them. It was the freakiest thing ever.

[steve2470]

30. It was a really dumb law, got struck down

I think Rush Limbaugh still lives in Palm Beach, at least part time.

[jberryhill]

70. Well, that would explain the driving concern there

[steve2470]

71. driving concern = Rush ?

Maybe they were thinking about him when they passed that dumb law

[jberryhill]

72. If Rush lived in your town, would that law seem so dumb?

[steve2470]

73. haha...less dumb but yea, still dumb

I'd have to map out Rush's exact jogging routes so I could avoid that visual insult.

[steve2470]

21. DeWeese v. Town of Palm Beach, 812 F.2d 1365 (11th Cir. 1987)

http://www.ahcuah.com/lawsuit/federal/deweese2.htm

Yep...my memory worked.

[Tommy_Carcetti]

31. Comments in a St. Pete Times article , 2006:

http://www.sptimes.com/2006/10/01/State/Palm_Beach_thinks_Sta.shtml


"I find it inconceivable that you think an influx of T-shirted coffee-drinkers, slopping down the Avenue, dropping their paper cups who-knows-where would be a panacea - or even a help - for any Palm Beach store or resident."

***

Letters, e-mails and phone calls poured in to Town Hall. Some called Starbucks' customers "transients," while others said that people would just hang around and surf the Internet, possibly barefoot after coming from the beach.

****


"My wife and I were in a state of shock recently to learn that the Town Council had granted a special exemption to Starbucks," wrote Clinton Wyckoff. "Never, to my knowledge, has a fast-food organization been permitted to operate on our island."


****

From Jere Zenko, resident: "Those who, in general, partake of fast food operations do not then turn around and go to Tiffany, Cartier, Bulgari, Graff, etc. ... What keeps most of us off Worth Avenue in the first place (except for before November and after April) is the quality of the tourist which is no longer particularly attractive. ... Is Nike next? How about a Disney store?"

[steve2470]

33. yep it's undoubtedly the MOST snooty place in Florida, by far ! nt

[Tommy_Carcetti]

36. They actually did eventually get a Starbucks in Palm Beach, by the way.

And the Yelp reviews only reiterate why Palm Beach is one of the snobbiest towns in the country:
____________________________________________________________

http://www.yelp.com/biz/starbucks-palm-beach

PLEASE ADD A CLOVER MACHINE! Clover machines go to the highest grossing Starbuck's stores apparently. So what? This is WORTH AVENUE IN PALM BEACH! The most elegant and sophisticated brands, labels and styles PLUS the highest quality of goods are represented on this 4 block avenue in this 5-Star tiny town.

It should have been "de-facto" that Palm Beach's one and only STARBUCKS store has a Clover brewing method option available. After all, the store fought long and hard to ESTABLISH a "beachhead" in PB. The town is highly selective - let's not go there right now - but nevertheless, IT IS SELECTIVE, and Starbucks prevailed.

Now, show us what you've got! The coffee has its fans and critics alike. "Too strong, too this, too that!" Be that as it may, the CLOVER PROCESS tends to soften the taste and make it smoother and more elegant. You select the type of beans and they go into the $11,000 Clover machine. A few wisps by the barista while it's steeping, and then the vacuum PUSHES UP (versus drawing down a la a French Press ). You'll note the consistent grounds which are spent and wiped away.

The coffee that emerges is worth the wait and whatever the cost premium is. In fact, I have never actually checked the cost differential when I find a Clover machine in the store I happen to be in. I JUST PAY IT!

I make coffee at home, literally 3 blocks from the store. I am writing this early on a Saturday morning awaiting opening time. If there was a Clover in the store, I wouldn't have had my first cup of home brewed ITALIAN ROAST, rather, I would have waited to order a Venti French Roast Clover - and enjoyed it for maybe 2 hours straight.

You get my point and I hope you install a Clover Machine at the Palm Beach Starbucks in Worth Avenue very, very soon!

Thank you.

A neighbor

[steve2470]

37. learn something new every day, a clover machine ?

I'm surprised there's no demands for waiters to take your coffee order while you peruse the Wall Street Journal in your overstuffed armchair.

[IronLionZion]

45. Damn, I've never heard of that until now

I've been missing out.

[IronLionZion]

22. Starbucks does attract the wrong crowd

the types who like to pay too much for shitty burnt coffee.

[BobbyBoring]

74. and.....

Idiots that carry guns in airports!

[mnhtnbb]

5. LOL. My husband was born in Palo Alto pre-Silicon Valley era.

He'll get a laugh out of this.

[Aristus]

7. So not having fast food outlets in your neighborhood makes your town snotty, huh?

I thought that meant you were smart and had good judgment regarding food sources...

[IronLionZion]

10. higher income areas tend to have different types of restaurants

as fast food is associated with lower income people. Some of these places have strict zoning laws to stop the wrong kind of people from coming there for reasons other than mowing lawns.

[lunasun]

11. +1

[NV Whino]

8. St Helena, CA isn't on the list?

[Brother Buzz]

15. What's the population of St Helena?

I can think of a few communities near San Rafael and Palo Alto the belong on the list, too.

[NV Whino]

59. 5,907 (in 2012)

[Adsos Letter]

51. That was my first thought, too. n/t

[Demit]

12. Hoboken surprises me.

[pnwmom]

16. Me, too. n/t

[closeupready]

55. LOL - THIS is Hoboken ...

And Brooklyn, for that matter.

[BuelahWitch]

77. Maybe it has something to do with Sinatra?

[Kingofalldems]

32. Wait a minute--I grew up in Rockville.

[amandabeech]

61. I live in Rockville now.

Some areas are tony, but there's a McD right next to the Wendy's five minutes away on Rockville Pike, which isn't very pretty at all with all the auto dealers, auto repair shops and discount stores.

Bethesda, Chevy Chase and Potomac I can see, but not Rockville.

I read the full article and they also mention Gaithersburg. Gaithersburg has large down-scale neighborhoods and some gang issues, unfortunately.

Really, this is a case of lies, damn lies and statistics.

[Kingofalldems]

93. You are absolutely correct.

The three you mentioned are quite snotty.

[IronLionZion]

96. I see I have lots of DUers nearby

My own neighborhood of downtown silver spring is getting yuppified really quick. I might have to move to PG county or something soon.

[amandabeech]

99. There have been quite a few DUers in and around Montgomery County

during my tenure here at DU.

Folks do move in and out, though. I have spent 2/3 of the last four years in Michigan due to family issues.

Faygo Kid used to live in Silver Spring, but I think that he may have moved to Traverse City, Michigan, a great tourist and retirement location, by now. Michael Moore spends a good amount of time there, particularly in the summer.

[yeoman6987]

102. No move to Anne Arundel

Specifically Arnold where I am the only Democratic person. I need so liberals near by.

[oldandhappy]

34. Encinitas has a great gluten free bakery

Last edited Wed Jul 30, 2014, 11:45 AM - Edit history (1)

The people are nice and the food is excellent. The bakery is 2Good2B on El Camino north of Encinitas Blvd if gf is your thing. Place smells wonderful! And you can eat anything in there!

[lunasun]

46. Now you have me thinking of Swami's beach. Again another place I do not think snobbery fits

[frylock]

76. yeah, i don't understand the inclusion of Encinitas

[IronLionZion]

38. The article's rankings are based on data, not people's attitudes.

According to Movoto, what counts is having the highest median household income, the highest median home values, the largest percentage of the population with a college degree, and having a good deal of art galleries, private schools and performing arts locales. And oh, the fewest “fast food” restaurants.

[Gormy Cuss]

63. And the data were chosen without regard to whether they are measures of snobbiness.

MOVOTO did this ranking as click bait and it's working marvelously.
I wonder how San Mateo would rank using these metrics -- oh wait, it has 100K people so it's excluded.

[IronLionZion]

87. Is there any reliable data on snobbiness?

[Gormy Cuss]

90. I don't know of any, but one could be constructed, tested, and put out there for peer review

but that's not what was done here. This ranking has slightly more merit than a bunch of drunks holding a straw poll.

[Nye Bevan]

39. Yeah, people who don't eat fast food really are the worst kind of snobs. (nt)

[kelliekat44]

40. hey, I live in Bethesda!

There are a lot of snobs in Bethesda. And most of them are EU, Russian, Indian newbie immigrants over the pat 20 years. You are right about high rent and high-stores and poor infrastructure. You are also right about the number of private schools and gated communities but a fair number of residents do not live in these communities and we suffer because of the high cost of everything that these wealthy newbies have caused the rest of us. And they are among some of the worst bigots I have ever met.

There may be a few moving in to nearby Rockville but the long-time residents of Rockville were and still are hard-working middle to low middle income folks who themselves are suffering from the symptoms of gentrification and hve lost their paid-for homes to new development. They are struggling to survive as all around them is turned into cookie-cutter convos for the working class at high prices or the Bizzaire-looking Balkan-Scandinavian or Russian-looking architecture that looks so dismal and dark. I don't know what it is called but it is ugly. I just don't know where the working families are moving to.

The snobs are taking over..you are correct AND most of them do not speak English in public but the average GOPers among us do not mind that. It's only when the help speaks Spanish that they complain.

[Gormy Cuss]

43. This isn't a study, it's a freak numbers crunch.

Nowhere do the authors defend any of their metrics for defining snobbery or snootiness. Moreover, the population slice is an oddly narrow band (45,000-65,000) and I'm guessing that was chosen in part to make sure that certain cities would be positioned to fit the author's views.

Encinitas on the top ten? That's laughable. The author must be smoking Cardiff crack.

[Coventina]

44. Surprised Scottsdale, AZ didn't make the list.

Or Park City, UT.

[lunasun]

48. Yes Snobsdale for sure

[Zorra]

105. Oh, yeh, Scottsdale, no doubt ~

[Coventina]

111. HAHAHAHA! I'm not a SP fan, but I happened to see that episode.

And LOOOOOOved it!

Soooo funny!!

But then, whenever I come across a Butters themed episode I usually watch it because they seem to be funnier than most of them.
Also, the Mormon one (dumb, dumb, dumb, dumb, dumb!) and the one where Cartman forms the Christian rock band. Oh yeah, the NAMBLA one is pretty good as well.

[alarimer]

47. If this is snobbery, I'll take it over dumb-ass redneck southern small town.

Which is where I am. Those sound like pretty good places to live to me.

So, yes, I am a snob of sorts.

I like art galleries and museums and the performing arts. I want them near me. I want to live in a community with a high percentage of college graduates. I have lived in many places (including this one) with uneducated populaces and the ignorance kills me.

I'd also prefer to live in a place with no fast food joints at all. Actually make that, no chain restaurants at all. They represent all that is wrong with this country. The homogenization of the country has gone on long enough.

Actually this town is less redneck (except for the weekly tractor pulls in summer) than just dumb-ass, churchy, and preachy. Typical southern niceness to your face, then talking about you behind your back. "Bless her heart."

[Sissyk]

100. That's so sad that you have to live somewhere like that, if that's not what you want.

Is it because of your work? What state?

[steve2470]

49. Beverly Hills, CA didn't make the cut ? nt

[aint_no_life_nowhere]

53. I've always hated the master-planned community Laguna Niguel

The vibe there always makes me want to drive away as soon as possible (my accountant moved down there). I used to like driving through parts of Orange County, California when you could see ranches with cattle and enormous open stretches of hills and desert. That was back in the 1970s before it became a highly developed, master-planned wasteland. Developers decided to try to make it look fertile and civilized. I don't like it or the people I've met from there. You almost never, ever see a black or brown face, unless it's a gardener. And adjacent Mission Viejo is just about the same type of enclave.

[BuddhaGirl]

78. I grew up in O.C.

in the 70's and I can remember when there were LARGE swathes of undeveloped land along PCH, Newport (Back Bay envions) etc...it looks absolutely crazy now...if there's open land, it MUST BE BUILT ON.

[Marrah_G]

54. Brookline?

Pretty sure Massachusetts has much snobbier places.

[Gormy Cuss]

62. The Green Line and all those students really make Brookline snob central, don't they?

Or MAYBE it's because JFK was born there.

[hughee99]

69. I don't think it's THE snobbiest small tow in MA, but I understand how it got on the list.

Weston probably edges it out.

[WinkyDink]

56. As Leftist as I am, I still can't see how "wealth" equates to "snobbiness." And "rude people driving

German cars"?? Means what? It's ipso facto snobbery to drive a Mercedes or a Volkswagen? Someone cut you off one day?

Good grief.

[IronLionZion]

82. BMW owners especially

[WinkyDink]

116. Maybe! I'm just an old F1 McLaren-Mercedes fan, is all!

[unblock]

57. hoboken??? seriously, hoboken???

not short hills, but hoboken????




on edit: ok, i see, specifically 45,000-65,000 population. short hills is too snobby to have that many people.

still... hoboken??? seriously, hoboken???

[RebelOne]

98. My thought exactly.

I lived in New Jersey for a few months many years ago and Hoboken was fairly run down.

[fishwax]

104. Hoboken is fully gentrified now -- I wouldn't call it snobby

but it's definitely not run down. They've transformed the waterfront into a nice walkway with several parks on the piers and great views of Manhattan. There are a lot of luxury high rises (and more being built). A lot of old brownstones have been restored and are worth a small fortune. You can rent a one bedroom apartment in Manhattan for cheaper than you can in Hoboken these days.

[smokey nj]

103. Yes, Hoboken.

While I wouldn't call Hoboken "snobby," it has been gentrified over the last 25 or so years.

[Quantess]

58. Didn't you mean "10 of the most boring small cities"?

[Throd]

60. I live in a similar town. The attitude can be difficult to take at times.

Like everywhere else, most people here are friendly, but there are definitely enough to reinforce the stereotype.

Not sure where the power outage reference comes in. Rich people would never put up without air-conditioning.

[IronLionZion]

83. Bethesda, MD has massive serious power problems

and no one knows why they don't fix it. Its discussed after every big storm. It's probably unrelated to wealth.

[otohara]

64. Boulder CO

I remember during the JonBenet Ramsey murder my friend from Boulder was worried all the coverage would encourage people to move to Boulder.

Breaking News, not everyone is clambering to move to snobby Boulder.

[IronLionZion]

89. I thought Boulder was liberal?

[justiceischeap]

66. I just started a new job in Bethesda and was shocked

to see gas prices near my work are almost a dollar more than my neck of the woods in Silver Spring. I can also agree about the traffic, it's pretty darn bad and I'm told that during the school year traffic is worse.

[IronLionZion]

80. What's up neighbor!

I live in downtown SS

I exaggerated a bit about Bethesda, but not by much. It gets more snobby as you head west.

[justiceischeap]

81. Heya back!

I don't live anywhere near downtown SS but I'm still under the SS umbrella.

I'm not exagerrating about the gas prices. There's an Exxon on the corner of Del Ray and Old Gtown Rd. and regular gas is 4.99/gal. In my neck of the woods (last I saw) it was $3.59/gal. So that's actually more than a dollar.

[Tuesday Afternoon]

67. "Don't go back to Rockville" is all I have to say about that ;-)

[Coventina]

112. Hahahaha! I had the same thought.

Glad you acted on it!

Great song!

[frylock]

75. Encinitas numbers are skewed by Rancho Santa Fe..

Encinitas is really a rather chill beach community.

[BuddhaGirl]

79. San Rafael (CA)??

and not Mill Valley, Kentfield, San Anselmo or Ross??

[Warpy]

84. Funny, when I was a little kid

Bethesda was the land of large houses on large lots--had cousins there--and Rockville was tract house city, more slumburbia than snob community. My folks lived in Rockville and it remains my favorite kid place since everybody else had mobs of kids.

Out west, the rich snob communities are Taos, Telluride, and Aspen. The university snob place is Boulder, with Missoula starting to advance in the rankings.

[IronLionZion]

85. Potomac, Great Falls, VA and McLean VA are probably more snobby

as far as republicanism, but the article's author used a pretty narrow definition of metrics

[musiclawyer]

86. Lake Oswego ?

Kidding. Few galleries and private schools probably takes Lake O off the list. And contrary to popular belief, I find everyone quite warm and hospitable in Lake O. Almost zero fast food too.

[IronLionZion]

88. The complete list of 50 small cities

Movoto Real Estate's Snobbiest Small Cities In America

http://s3.amazonaws.com/movotoblog/2014/07/snobbiest-small-cities/table.html

[Xyzse]

91. Y'ouch, I live close to Rockville and Bethesda. Perhaps you're talking about Potomac?

[IronLionZion]

94. Perhaps

I live close to those places too.

They used a narrow set of metrics for this list that I bolded in the OP.

[Xyzse]

95. I see.

Yeah, I know Potomac has gated communities.

There is also a small strip from Bethesda going towards DC that could fit that narrative.

[Warren Stupidity]

97. Hoboken was, just a few decades ago, a backwater slum of NYC.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

101. Minnetonka, MN?

No, no, no.

It's just a garden-variety suburb. Now if they had said Edina or North Oaks, then they'd be talking.

[Arugula Latte]

106. As far as Walnut Creek, I'd put the nearby town of Orinda above it.

Walnut Creek is bigger and has a middle class segment. Orinda is $$$ all the way. ... I guess maybe they're thinking that Orinda doesn't qualify as a "small city" though.

[fishwax]

107. the definition of snobby seems pretty sketchy

The only town on there that I know particularly well is Hoboken, which is gentrified, but not one of the snobbiest places I've known.

[smokey nj]

109. I don't think Hoboken is all that snobby at all.

[Vattel]

108. Encinitas is the best place to live in the US