Chattanooga wins Facebook vote in Outside magazine's 'Best Town Ever' contest

photo An aerial view of AT&T field and Downtown Chattanooga looking East.

Chattanooga has won the online voting component of Outside magazine's "Best Town Ever" contest for 2011.

With voting now closed on a special Facebook page, Chattanooga beat second-place Tucson, Ariz., by 1,509 votes.

Still, Chattanoogans will have to wait until fall to learn if the city is the ultimate winner of the contest because their are other elements to the judging.

"The winner won't be announced until the October issue of Outside magazine hits the newsstands," Jada Williams, the magazine's publicist, said in an email today.

The winning city will be featured on the cover of the magazine and on a segment on Outside Television.

The three-week online contest featured 10 finalist cities from around the United States nominated by the editors of Outside. Chattanooga and Tucson emerged early in the contest as the leading vote-getters.

This is the first time the magazine has used social media to help choose the winner.

According to contest rules: "The winning town will be determined through a combination of total votes, overall support as a result of content [such as photos and testimonials] submitted, and creativity."

The final vote counts of the 10 finalists:

  1. Chattanooga, 7434 votes
  2. Tucson, Ariz., 5925 votes
  3. Charleston, S.C., 2251 votes
  4. Boulder, Colo., 1701 votes
  5. Ashland, Ore., 1154 votes
  6. Burlington, Vt., 786 votes
  7. Madison, Wis., 750 votes
  8. Portland, Maine, 704 votes
  9. Portland, Ore., 685 votes
  10. Santa Fe, N.M., 585 votes

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