5 reasons Chicago is the best place in America to be single

Chicago's steamy dating scene has attracted the attention of "The Great Love Debate," a nationally touring series that examines love, relationships and "single-ism."

The show named Chicago "America's best city for dating" after gathering the opinions and demographic data from more than 35,000 singles who attended the shows since 2014.

Chicago-area author and psychologist Dr. Karin Anderson Abrell talked to Good Day Chicago about co-hosting  "The Great Love Debate," which will run from March 30 to April 17 at Greenhouse Theatre.

"There’s a lot going on in the dating landscape, it’s tough and ‘The Great Love Debate’ provides an alternative opportunity for people to meet each other, to get out of their phones, away from their screens and meet face to face,” Abrell said.

The interactive show, which is produced by Adam Carolla, features a town hall-style forum where audience members, divided by sex, and panelists grapple with the question, "Why is everyone still single?"

Abrell and her panel will interact with the audience to discuss the current state of dating and why there are more single people than ever before.

"We’re going to have the men on the right, the women on the left, and we’re going to just talk town-hall style, bring up the issues, the expert will weight in, people will raise their hands, say what about this, get the conversation going, and afterwards we’ll meet at a bar,” Abrell said.

"The Great Love Debate" tour has made 137 stops across 78 different cities in North America.

After all her journeys, Abrell said she concurs that Chicago's dating scene takes the cake.

"Yes, I think Chicago is one of the best--especially now that I'm teamed up with the Great Love Debate which has given me a better understanding of the dating culture in other cities," Abrell said.

Here's five things that make Chicago dating scene's the most lovely in the land, according to the Great Love Debate's research:

  • Diversity
  • Attractiveness of its population
  • Vibrancy of its social scene
  • Sense of civic pride
  • Confidence within its dating community