America Unhappiest Cities acc. BusinessWeek - aka another dumb-ass U.S. city POLL

economic downturn could lead to higher crime, divorce, alcohol and drug abuse, depression, and suicide

my kinda towns

seriously, get me a first class ticket.

weird list

btw what are we voting on?

who needs hugs

i could hug a couple of em, but detroit mainly needs cash i think

lol i need to read

all my friends from stl seem happy enough, and NOLA just had mardi gras, so i'm voting for detroit.

(ive got family in st louis but uh, they report things there seem ok?)

I read a "happiest cities" list 6-8 months ago with chicago on top, then about a month ago I see it on a "most unhappy cities" one.

frankly I'm just a manic-depressive chicagoan.

Chicago is also on Forbe's Top 10 Faggiest Cities, so it's a hat trick

If this keeps even more people from moving to Portland, I'll all fer it.

Portland needs to suck it up. What fucking right does it have to be unhappier than a white-flighted ghosttown like Detroit or a city like N.O. that was a hellhole even before it was destroyed?

that city is 99.999% white. it's all upper middle class ennui.

78% white, but whatevs

and median income is $40,000

Apparently being the 5th most dangerous city in some other dumb-ass poll doesn't make Oakland unhappy enough to be one of the unhappiest cities. Camden New Jersey's #2 most dangerous ranking apparently hasn't fazed them much either.

apparently rankings also are based on # of cloudy days, hence the relative contentment of Oakland and, presumably, Compton.

yeah, shitty economies and bad weather are the only two patterns I can identify in this list.

I lived in Las Vegas for a few months recently, and there's no way anything else beats it. Everyone I know there has a sad story. They (/their parents) moved to that shithole for economic reasons and economic reasons alone. Jobs. Houses. And now...

I have a personal fondness for the city because I had a really good time, but god, I've never heard so many sad stories in my life.

+ there's the horrible Nevadan libertarian+lack of caring about the world

detroit. check out the before and after aerials in the second link.

http://www.sweet-juniper.com/2008/10/open-campus.html

http://www.sweet-juniper.com/2008/11/follow-up-jane-cooper-school.htmlhttp://www.sweet-juniper.com/2008/10/open-campus.html

i thought this post was cool too.

http://www.sweet-juniper.com/2007/11/it-will-rise-from-ashes.html

i voted for detroit but it was a tossup between that and jacksonville. you know, at least with detroit i could find some beauty in the urban ruins and maybe see little glimmers of hope here and there that it could be a thriving city again. but florida can eat a dick.

kc for the royals fans

Cinci has to be up there. I had a dream last night I was in a hotel conference room trying to give a presentation, and realized I was in fucking Cincinnati and I was instantly depressed.

Especially since more likely than not a hotel convention in cincy is going to be in Covington or Newport Kentucky. You want to talk depressing, take a walk around Newport Kentucky. There's a reason Mark Kozelek references that city so much in SunKilMoon and Red House Painter songs, and it's not the bitchin' stage at Southgate House (birthplace of the Tommy Gun).

I voted for Portland, OR, my hometown. Do not come here. Everyone here is ugly and nasty-tempered. Taxes are sky-high. All the rumors about how great the place is were floated by desperate realtors hoping to unload 1000's of dumpy old homes on hapless newcomers. We also have an ongoing outbreak of the bubonic plague that the media is hushing up. Stay away if you value your life!

Did I mention that Greg Oden was recently diagnosed with rickets, shingles, sleep apnea, opthalmia and premature baldness?

And that our newly elected mayor was caught lying about his relationship with an intern? Can unhappiness sink any lower?

oden thing probly true

but Aimless, Go To Beau : The Breedlove Chronicles is due out anyday now, and you're bumming out the hype, man

http://www.ahiphiwire.org/wellbeing/

fancy maps and charts comparing the well-being, including emotional health of states and congressional districts in the U.S. Silicon Valley is most contented, Compton hates life.

A suspicious lack of east-coast cities here.

I mean, Newark is more depressing than Minneapolis.

I AM FROM NEWARK. what hv you seen besides the airport, hon?

St. Loo and Cincy no surprises for bummer inducement. Portland?

you know, at least with detroit i could find some beauty in the urban ruins and maybe see little glimmers of hope here and there that it could be a thriving city again.

Watch footage of any Detroit city council meeting, and you may feel differently.

I've seen all there is to see from inside the comfort of the NJ Path.

Swap out Philadelphia if it makes you feel better, Morbs.

you can't see Branch Brook Park from the PATH.

a friend of mine moved to Jacksonville and was in prison within a couple years.

I haven't been there, but Portland at #1 seems really o_0

bicycling = unhappiness

08 Nashville/Davidson, TN

this one baffles me - lived there from '95 - '99 and it was a great place to live. I remember reading a similar survey around in '95 identifying nashville residents as the most friendly in the country. maybe death of the publishing/music industry have taken their toll? ah well at least they still have their football stadium.

And living in NY, CA or TX apparently = happiness

there are 10 cities in new jersey alone that are more unhappy than these

Still, I always want to see Minneapolis win, so ...

There was an article in the Financial Times magazine last weekend about Detroit. Made me really feel for it for the first time even though I've never been. http://www.ft.com/cms/s/2/2b815a94-0863-11de-8a33-0000779fd2ac.html

I'm honestly tired of seeing Pittsburgh on these lists because it's really such a fun place that's improving every day with such good natured people...even if they do get a little violent regarding their local sports team. I feel like the predicament is the same for many others on the list, they're just stuck on it year after year without those putting them together actually doing any new research.

detroit is on some next-level shit as far as urban dystopia goes. i don't think anywhere is close. at least, i hope not.

Automatic thread bump. This poll is closing tomorrow.

Automatic thread bump. This poll's results are now in.

"Pittsburgh....even if they do get a little violent regarding their local sports team"

You'd be violent too if you had to watch the Pirates on a daily basis.