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The Yelp Wordmap: Local knowledge revealed



With over 39 million reviews contributed to the site, Yelp plays host to a wealth of information on local businesses around the world. People come to Yelp to read and write reviews, look at photos and find business information, but that data houses even more local knowledge than we can see on the surface.

Enter the Yelp Wordmap: a heatmap showing density of keywords used in Yelp reviews to reveal fascinating patterns of local discovery. We chose some of the most interesting words to show hot areas for cocktails, typical tourist hangouts and hipster hoods in 14 of our Yelpiest cities: Austin, Boston, Chicago, London, Los Angeles, New York, Paris, Philadelphia, Portland, San Diego, San Francisco, Seattle, Toronto and Washington DC.

 

Paris-touristes

“Tourist” hotspots in Paris

 

Word choice in reviews shows intriguing underlying patterns as well. When you look at “cocktails” versus “BYOB” in Chicago, the former shows spots you can go for a classy concoction, with the latter lighting up nabes known for a more laid-back vibe.

 

Chicago-cocktails-byob

“Cocktails” vs. “BYOB” in Chicago

 

Whether you’re a local or plan to travel to one of these spots, check out the Wordmap for some insider info. You may be surprised at the patterns it reveals, or find some to be amazingly accurate. Either way, locals know best, and the information culled from their Yelp reviews will help you live like a local, too.

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