New York City has cleaned up its act over the past year.
The Big Apple is looking fresher these days, according to a new poll, after ranking as the country’s dirtiest city just last year.
A survey conducted by Travel + Leisure magazine found that New York, ranked the dirtiest city in 2010, was only the fifth filthiest.
“Voters seem to champion New York because of its less-than-sterile vibe, and not in spite of it,” the magazine said.
Toppling New York at the top of the list this year is New Orleans, famous for its Bourbon Street rowdiness, Mardi Gras parades and all-night street parties.
“Both tourists and Mother Nature have sometimes been hard on the Crescent City, which readers voted the dirtiest in America,” the magazine found.
Travel + Leisure compiled the list of the 20 dirtiest cities in the country in connection with its June issue and its annual America’s Favorite Cities survey.
In second place is Philadelphia, which the magazine said, “The locals may not be helping with those first impressions — they ranked near the bottom of the style category, as well as in the bottom five for being environmentally aware.”
Los Angeles came in third place, followed by Memphis.
“Nothing is tidy about barbecue or the blues, two of Memphis’s biggest tourist draws,” the magazine said.
Round out the top 10 was Baltimore, which came in sixth place, followed by Las Vegas, Miami, Atlanta and Houston.
This year’s American State Litter Scorecard, published by the American Society for Public Administration, put both Nevada and Louisiana in the bottom five — mirroring the opinion of Travel + Leisure readers who ranked Las Vegas and New Orleans among America’s dirtiest cities.
2011 America’s Dirtiest Cities:
1. New Orleans
2. Philadelphia
3. Los Angeles
4. Memphis, Tenn.
5. New York
6. Baltimore
7. Las Vegas
8. Miami
9. Atlanta
10. Houston, Tex.
11. San Juan, PR
12. San Francisco
13. Dallas-Fort Worth
14.Boston
15. Washington, DC
16. San Antonio, Tex.
17. Orlando
18. Chicago
19. Kansas City
20. Anchorage
Source: Travel + Leisure