(Murfreesboro, TN) Out of 200 medium to large sized cities across the United States, Murfreesboro is ranked as the 125th best city for Lunar New Year Celebrations. Nationwide, the number 1 city for those celebrations was New York, New York, followed by San Francisco, California and Los Angeles, California at numbers 2 and 3. At the bottom of the list was Springfield, Missouri. Springfield was also ranked at the bottom of the list when it comes to their “Safety Rank.”
The Lunar New Year is a celebration that was first observed by East and Southeast Asian cultures. Celebrations took place in Chinese, Vietnamese and Korean Communities and those events lasted for multiple days. The Lunar New Year begins on January 22nd.
Throughout the Volunteer State, Nashville was the number 1 city for Lunar New Year Celebrations, followed by Murfreesboro at number 2, Knoxville at number 3 and then Memphis, Chattanooga and Clarksville followed suit at numbers 4, 5 and 6 – in that order.
When breaking down the numbers for Tennessee, Murfreesboro had the highest safety rating in the state with a score of 79 (1 was the best score for safety and 200 was the worst score in that category). Coming in 2nd for safety was Nashville at 113. Knoxville had the 3rd safest ranking, earning a score of 129. Memphis received a safety ranking of 136, making the West Tennessee city the 4th safest place to celebrate the Lunar New Year. Clarksville’s safety ranking was at number 5 on the Tennessee list, receiving a score of 176. At the bottom of the list for safety was Chattanooga, there – a score of 198 was assessed. Of course that means Nationwide, Chattanooga was ranked as the 3rd most dangerous city to partake in 2023 Lunar New Year Celebrations, which will occur this coming Sunday on January 22nd.
As for the best place in the United States for such celebrations, as mentioned previously, New York, New York takes home the gold. In fact, this is the second year in a row that New York has lucked out as the Best City to Celebrate the Lunar New Year.
Home to a whopping nine Chinatown neighborhoods, NYC has the largest population of Chinese and Chinese Americans out of all the cities in the rankings. NYC also has the highest number of Chinese and Asian “Meetup groups” and the third-highest number of Lunar New Year events and festivals.
Across the Nation (BEST Cities for Lunar New Year)
1. New York, NY
2. San Francisco, CA
3. Los Angeles, CA
4. Houston, TX
5. Honolulu, HI
6. Chicago, IL
7. Las Vegas, NV
8. Seattle, WA
9. Austin, TX
10. San Diego, CA
Across the Nation (Worst Cities for Lunar New Year)
1. Springfield, MO (Ranked 200)
2. Little Rock, AR (Ranked 199)
3. Shreveport, LA (Ranked 198)
4. Kansas City, KS (Ranked 197)
5. Syracuse, NY (Ranked 196)
6. Springfield, MA (Ranked 195)
7. Joliet, IL (Ranked 194)
8. Eugene, OR (Ranked 193)
9. Huntsville, AL (Ranked 192)
10. West Valley City, UT(Ranked 191)
Fortune frowns: Some cities in the South and Midwest aren’t ready to ring in the Year of the Rabbit. Apart from Chicago (No. 6), only two other Midwestern cities — Cleveland (No. 61) and St. Louis (No. 84) — landed in the top half of the recent rankings. Other cities like Kansas City, Kansas; Little Rock, Arkansas; and Shreveport, Louisiana, fell to the very bottom, alongside Springfield, Missouri, in last place. Each of these four cities had low scores across the board, with few or no celebrations planned and poor safety records.
The study and rankings were put together by a company called Lawn Love. Their rankings were labeled the 2023’s Best Cities for Lunar New Year Celebrations.
