Eight months ago, Mayor Vince Gray vowed to make the District the coolest city in America, declaring to an audience in Georgetown of all places that the District was “going to be the hippest city in the United States!”

Today, Gray found out that all his hard work (and maybe a few D.C.-funded ads in New York magazine, which today declared the District not cool, but passé) has paid off. A new ranking from Forbes puts the District right at the top of a list of coolest cities, ahead of Seattle, Austin, and even Houston.

In a press release about the coolness list and another ranking based on fitness, Gray spiked the football.

“Once again, the District of Columbia has been independently ranked the best city in the country in two new major quality-of-life categories, and I continue to be incredibly proud of our amazing city,” Gray says in his release.

While the Gray administration basks in its reflected coolness, LL worries. With Gray headed out of office, can the District retain the top spot?

Photo courtesy Andrew Lightman/Hill Rag