A couple embraces while riding the subway in New York April 22, 2009.

New York has been rated the best US city for singles, bumping Atlanta out of the top spot.

The Big Apple also edged past Boston, Chicago, Seattle and Washington, D.C., which rounded out the top five cities in the Forbes.com survey.

Atlanta fell to No. 6, followed by San Francisco, Los Angeles, Milwaukee and Philadelphia.

It was the first time New York had won the title in the annual poll that assessed 40 of the largest US urban areas for coolness, cost of living alone, culture, job growth, online dating, nightlife and ratio of singles to the entire population in the area.

But it was online dating that pushed it to the No. 1 position because it has more people with active online dating accounts than any other city in the country.

"Wherever you live, even if it's Jacksonville, Fla., which falls dead last on our list, there's a community of singles making the best of that particular place," said Lauren Sherman, of Forbes.com.

"Whether that means embracing the great outdoors around Denver or buying the next round of tequila shots in nightlife-oriented Virginia Beach, there are plenty of other like-minded people on the prowl. And, right now, the easiest place to find them is online," she added in a statement.

Financial stresses felt by New Yorkers in the last year caused a shift in priorities, which may also have contributed to New York's success, according to Forbes.com.

Whereas New Yorkers may once have been preoccupied¹ with earning high salaries, they appear now to be putting a greater emphasis on finding love.

Compared with past years, Cleveland, Ohio, is the biggest gainer, moving up 24 spots from 38 to 14, while Providence², Rhode Island moved up 18 spots to No. 15.

Phoenix³, Arizona, performed less well, falling out of the Top 10 to No. 30.

纽约被评为美国最适合单身者的城市，把亚特兰大挤出了第一名的宝座。

排在纽约城之后的是波士顿、芝加哥、西雅图和华盛顿，它们是在福布斯网调查中排在前五名的城市。

亚特兰大掉到了第六位，其后是旧金山、洛杉矶、密尔沃基和费城。

这是纽约城第一次在这项年度民意调查中拔得头筹，该调查对美国40个最大的城区进行评估，评估项目包括“酷”指数、独居花费、文化、就业增长、网上约会、夜生活和单身者占该地区总人口的比例。

但是把纽约城推向第一名的评估项却是网上约会，因为纽约城拥有活跃的网上约会帐号的人比国内其他任何城市都要多。

“不管你住在哪里，就算是排名倒数第一的佛罗里达州的杰克逊维尔，单身团体也能对那里的资源进行充分利用。”福布斯网的劳伦•舍曼说。

她在声明中还说到：“不管是在丹佛周围小作旅行，还是到以夜生活为主导的弗吉尼亚海岸去买下一杯龙舌兰酒，都可以见到许多志趣相投的人群在四周徘徊。现在，最容易找到单身人群的地方就是网上。”

根据福布斯网的信息，去年的金融压力让纽约人调整了优先考虑的事情，这个调整可能也有助于纽约的成功。

纽约人过去也许过分注重高工资，但是现在他们似乎更注重寻找爱情。

和往年的评估结果相比，俄亥俄州克里夫兰的进展最为迅速，从38名上升至14名，上升了24个名次，而罗德岛州的普罗维登斯上升了18个名次，排在第15位。

亚利桑那州的菲尼克斯的表现就没那么出色，跌出了前十位，排在第30位。

Vocabulary:

round out: 完成

tequila shot: shot指“（烈酒等的）一口，一小杯”，一般都是一口一杯，通常用来盛放龙舌兰和威士忌等烈酒。tequila shot是一种喝龙舌兰酒的方法，加盐和柠檬片，以增加酒的辛辣，喝起来火辣辣的，所以叫shot，象开枪一样。

like-minded: 志趣相投的；看法相同的

on the prowl: 徘徊

priority: 优先权