Las Vegas makes appearance on ‘most obscene cities’ list

By Steve Green

Thursday, Dec. 9, 2010 | 2:28 p.m.

Here's something you won't likely see in a Chamber of Commerce brochure: Las Vegas is tied at No. 10 in a new list of the nation's 10 most obscene cities.

A New York-based online publication called Business Insider came up with the list and posted it Dec. 4. It's based on data, broken down by city, on Internet searches by computer users of dirty words.

Since it was posted, the list has attracted attention in the nation's legal community because the rankings originated with a court case.

As Business Insider explains: "During the summer of 2008, a defense attorney in an obscenity case planned to use Google search data in a Pensacola, Fla., court to prove that the city's morals were abnormally lax, as indicated by residents' search terms."

Luckily for Las Vegas image promoters, Nevada's largest city doesn't actually show up on the new Business Insider list of obscene cities.

That's because Las Vegas tied for the 10th spot with Los Angeles and the benefit of the doubt went to Los Angeles. That is, if you consider that a "benefit."

"California's city of glamour actually tied with Nevada's sin city for the No. 10 spot. But we decided to go with L.A. because it showed up in the top 10 lists for four of the seven dirty words, versus Las Vegas only showing up in two," Business Insider reported.

The nation's most obscene city, according to the publication, is the Washington, D.C., suburb of Ashburn, Va.