S.F. is best for singles, Forbes says, but what do the real city folk say?

The San Francisco Chronicle reports:

Have you heard? San Francisco is the best place in America to live if you're single.

Our fair city recently took first-place honors on Forbes.com's seventh annual "Best Cities for Singles" list. Using U.S Census Bureau information, Forbes judged the largest 40 American cities on such factors as job growth, culture, the cost of living alone, nightlife, the number of singles, online dating and coolness. With its strong marks in culture, nightlife and cost of living alone (?), we beat out New York and Los Angeles in a stunning upset that sent former champion Denver tumbling to 16th place.

Not to be content with merely a single win, San Francisco also placed high up on the "Most Romantic U.S. Cities" list (theknot.com), the "City with the Most Physically-Fit Singles" list (Match.com), and Men's Health magazine's "Top Cities to Find Single Men Over 35" list (a sign of such hope for 30-plus single women everywhere, apparently, that Oprah - on behalf of her best bud, Gayle - features the magazine's findings on her show).

Last week was National Singles Week, sponsored and promoted by the National Singles Association in Atlanta and recognized by proclamations in 42 cities, although, interestingly, San Francisco is not among them. Nevertheless, Yahoo Personals used the occasion to release a poll that showed that 88 percent of unmarried adults described themselves as "just as happy, if not more, than their married counterparts."

While these statistics, classifications, events and lists are very useful to developers, advertisers and the local tourism industry, the results seem at odds with the city's reputation for being a notoriously difficult place for singles of all genders and sexualities. As one jaded dater put it: "San Francisco is a great city to be single in, if you want to stay single."

We've got to wonder what Forbes magazine is thinking.