Is El Paso One of America’s Most Forgettable Cities?

That's the claim by the website fivethirtyeight. It's based on a quiz that you can take that asks you to try and name the 100 most populous cities in the United States.

Of course, everyone is going to list New York City because, well, it's the Big Apple. But fivethirtyeight.com adjusts for the population of each city. New York is memorable for a lot of reasons but since it has 8.3 million residents it doesn't rank as high as Boise, Idaho which is number one on the list. Boise has a low population ( a little over 200,000) but a lot of people who took the quiz on Sporcle named it as on of the largest U.S. cities. Therefore, Boise is memorable.

On the other end of things, El Paso is a city with a large population (almost a million) that very few people taking the quiz listed. El Paso isn't dead last but it is in the top ten Most Forgettable cities. My pet theory on that is that El Paso is largely isolated. Unlike most of the cities in the top 100, El Paso is hundreds of miles away from the nearest large city. If you've never traveled the long haul on I-10 you've probably never been through El Paso.

Also, I think a lot of the cities that ranked highly as being "memorable" are vacation destinations (Orlando, Florida is number 2). People remember where they took the family to grossly overpay for a mouse-inspired theme park.

Many of the highly "memorable cities" are large, but not major, cities that have very high profile sports franchises (Pittsburgh and Buffalo, New York) or have had their name in the title of a popular movie or TV show (Reno. As in Reno 911)

The cities that really get snubbed ,though, are the large cities that are connected to an even larger city. Mesa, Arizona came in as the overall Most Forgettable City. That's because Mesa is actually just the eastside of Phoenix. You might get the distinction if you're an actual resident. But if you visit, chances are you'll just remember you were in Phoenix even if you were actually in Mesa or Scottsdale or Tempe most of the time. Fort Worth is "Forgettable" for the same reason, I suspect.

However, I think El Paso is very memorable for people who've actually visited, even if it was just passing through. When I came to interview for my job with KLAQ I spent one day and then flew out. Even if I hadn't taken the job and never came to El Paso again, I would never forget the city of El Paso.

Here are my top five things that made El Paso unforgettable the first time I visited

1.) Women

Hotter than the un-shaded pavement in July. I've always had a thing for dark complexions and, believe it or not, this was a big factor in my decision to move here all those years ago.

2.) Mexico

You can see if from the Interstate! Do you realize how unique it is to be able to look right over into a completely different country from you city? It blows people's minds when they come to visit for the first time.

3.) The Star on the Mountain

They weren't lighting it year-round when I visited the first time, but it was around Christmas. You're probably so used to it you don't even notice anymore but it really makes a first impression.

4.) The Mountain Itself

I grew up a flat-lander in Oklahoma. The big mountain in the middle of town might as well have been Everest.

5.) The Women

You deserve 2 mentions on this list, ladies. That's how much I love you.