In an interview with NPR’s Tom Huizenga, Gramphone editor-in-chief James Inverne says the survey came down as a “triumph of character.” That’s sort of like what I was saying above, about there not really being a “best,” but a string of differences and nuances.

Still, I can’t help gloating. We have the next President, we have (according to the world’s most insightful critics) the greatest orchestra in the US, we have a shot at getting the 2016 Summer Olympics, we have several reportedly outstanding chefs whose restaurants I can’t afford to eat in, we have theaters and art-house movie theaters and architecture and casinos and breweries, and we have …okay, we don’t have the public transportation thing completely worked out yet, the Cubs folded like a flan in a cupboard last fall, and you need to wear a sweater in the winter. Still. Cheezborger!