Detroit isn't a nerdy city?

Just recently, an article was featured on movoto.com stating the top ten nerdiest cities in America.

Following Furry Connection North in Novi, Michigan, I started to think about how "nerdy" Detroit is, and what it would take in order to get on this list.

Here's what Movoto looked at to determine this list:

• Number of annual comic book, video game, anime, and sci-fi / fantasy conventions
• People per comic book store
• People per video game store
• People per traditional gaming store
• People per computer store
• People per bookstore
• People per LARPing group
• People per science museum
• Distance to the nearest Renaissance faire

So, for Detroit proper, this would pretty much be down to Youmacon, the Michigan Science Center, and 53 miles from Campus Martius to the Ren Fest.

However, expanding to the recognized metropolitan Detroit area, these numbers drastically change.

The number of conventions expand to include: Go!Daiko Con, Motor City Comic Con, Furry Convention North, Detroit FanFare, The Steampunk Convention, and a large number in the Novi/Wixom area and the Dearborn area.

The number of comic book stores in practically nil within Detroit, but expanded to Royal Oak/Ferndale/Clawson, Novi/Wixom/Farmington, Dearborn/Dearborn Heights and even if Ann Arbor is counted, the number of comic book stores are surprisingly high in the metro area.

People per video game store. Can we say GameStop? There seems to be two in every city.

People per traditional gaming store. I have to admit, I'm not really sure what this means outside of that board game store in 12 Oaks.

People per bookstore. This is something which has changed drastically with the closing of Ann Arbor's own Borders. But even with A2 being the home of a major bookstore chain, the metro area is still home to some of the oldest independently owned bookstores in America.

Michigan is 3rd, behind California and Texas (respectively), in LARPing groups. Appropriately, the Metro Detroit region ranks Los Angeles County, Metro San Diego, and Metro Houston, but still ranks
among the top five.

Science museum is too specific when it comes to defining museums. The Henry Ford Museum is one of the first museums that comes to mind when it comes to Detroit Museums, but since it's listed as a historical museum, their nerdy displays aren't counted.

Michigan is blessed to have one of the top five Renaissance Festivals in the country. With annual attendance well over 200,000, the Michigan Renaissance Festival is up in the running to compete with the larger festivals in Texas, Minnesota, and Maryland.

So, given these thoughts, is Detroit proper a nerdy town? Oh hell to the no. But, for those of you who claim Detroit citizenship while travelling, you could possibly be living in the nerdiest metropolitan region in the counry.