Houston geeks out as No. 7 city in America for gamers, comic book fans, collectors, and more
nerds welcomed
Heads up gamers, a new surprising report has deemed Houston one of the geekiest cities in the country, with two other Texas neighbors in the top 10.
Houston ranked No. 6 in the categories for accessibility to collectibles stores (board game, video, comic book, and trading card shops) and variety of "geeky" events, according to the report by Lawn Love. The city also ranked as the fifth-best city for its variety of costume/cosplay stores.
Houston is home to some fantastic board game and comic book stores, like Bedrock City Comic Company, Dragon's Lair, Nan's Games and Comics, and Asgard Games, which all host fun events and meetups for different groups.
Other factors that helped determine Houston's overall rank as the No. 7 geekiest American city include the number of Dungeons and Dragons groups, LARPing groups, comic cons, Renaissance fairs, and much more.
J. Richard Stevens, the department chair of the College of Media, Communication, and Information at the University of Colorado, Boulder, says the rise in "geeky" community spaces and activities can be attributed to social media obscuring the boundaries "between consumption and commentary about entertainment texts."
"Fan conversation is much more visible in a larger-scaled way than it used to be," Stevens said. "While most fans and audiences still don’t comment on the objects of their passion, those who do are increasingly bundled into tight networks, which amplify their taste politics. Finding virtual fan communities is much easier than it used to be, though there are many more flavors of fan networks for any given fandom, making finding the right one tricky."
Other Texas cities that made it in the top 10 are San Antonio (No. 3) and Austin (No. 6), both with high scores in the categories for collectibles and costumes. San Antonio has third highest number of board game and trading card shops, such as Heroes and Fantasies, Texas' largest comic book and collectibles store.
The top 10 geekiest cities in the United States are:
- No. 1 – New York City
- No. 2 – Los Angeles
- No. 3 – San Antonio
- No. 4 – Chicago
- No. 5 – Las Vegas
- No. 6 – Austin
- No. 7 – Houston
- No. 8 – Atlanta
- No. 9 – Orlando
- No. 10 – Indianapolis
The full report can be found on lawnlove.com.
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This article originally ran on CultureMap.
