What Is America’s Most Miserable City?

Voted #11, my hometown.

chicago, esp. at #7, doesn't seem like it belongs on this list but lol forbes i guess

lol forbes h8n on the central valley

kinda otm tho : /

Chicago only belongs on this list if you can't handle the cold (I can't), otherwise it's pretty much the best town.

In 2005, Forbes magazine listed Stockton as having 6,570 crimes per 100,000 residents — the highest listed; and 0.8% of engineers within total employment — the lowest listed. The city had the 7th lowest (of 150) educational attainment (bachelor's degree or higher over the age 25). However, in 2009, Forbes reported Stockton was no longer the most dangerous city, moving to number five.

In the February 2, 2011 issue of Forbes, the magazine gave Stockton the dubious distinction of being the "most miserable" US city, largely as a result of the steep drop in home values.

Central Connecticut State University surveys from 2005 and 2006 ranked the city as the least literate of all U.S. cities with a population of more than 250,000.

According to a Gallup poll, Stockton was tied with Montgomery, Alabama for the most obese metro area in the United States of America with an obesity rate of 34.6 percent.

welcome to beautiful fresno, ca

chicago dc and miami are kind of curious choices

anyway i voted detroit for the sense of grandeur - its hard to get too fired up abt some overgrown california cow town

almost voted dc out of hatred but irl id rather live there than almost all these places

I feel bad picking on cities that were once booming but have hit hard times, voted Jacksonville for being relatively large yet consistently shitty throughout history.

I would live anywhere in Michigan if I had a steady job there - great weekend recreation, lots of water.

They base these things on how unemployed people live!

central valley FTW

I voted West Palm Beach, I might have major panic attacks being stuck on a peninsula without a lot of money.

i thought about voting for west palm beach. my grandma had a condo near there. between the humidity and all the sickly pastel pink and the endless sprawl, i hated every second of my visits.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6YV5XkvI5NE

living one of those california cities that looks like grand island, nebraska is one of those "so close yet so far" things.

of the list, only been to DC and it sucks. city of boring, careerist transplants, crime, and overpriced drinks. soulless.

thank you article, forgot to mention the ridiculous traffic and road system.

Only been to Sacramento, Memphis and DC out of these - would prob vote for Sacramento

Out of the ones I've not been to, I'm not sure - Toledo or Ft Lauderdale possibly. Feel like Fresno should be the answer but there's something weird about its location that makes it seem sort ot interesting

fresno sucks, but bakersfield sucks worse. jacksonville's actually not bad. miami sucks, but, i can't vote for a niceweather place when flint, michigan is staring me in the face

As of 2008 Modesto ranked number 1 for car theft rate per 100,000 people

so is the california dream finally once and for all dead - people bouncing off the coast anding up in these busted inland towns seems to be saying something - no one really vibes to any california mythology anymore do they

except for lol europeans of course, they still love conceptual cali

only been to Chi, DC, and Cleveland. Abstaining bcz I got a really awesome lapdance in Cleveland.

(yawn, sigh) toledo

Memphis is more sad than it is miserable. Jacksonville, FL is fucking miserable.

there's nothing wrong with jacksonville

If you are living in Del Paso Heights, Sacramento, then yes, miserable times ahoy. But as much as home prices suck, public transport sucks a hairy one, I actually kind of like Sacramento?

How can the answer not be Bakersfield.

Maybe I just associate bad things with it because it's the last thing on I-95 that stands between me and getting out of Florida, haha! (But it's totally culture-dead and good for nothing.) xp

pfft culture sucks anyway

1. Portland, Ore.

Overall rank: 1
Depression rank: 1
Suicide rank: 12
Crime (property and violent) rank: 24
Divorce rate rank: 4
Cloudy days: 222
Unemployment rate (December 2008): 7.8%

http://www.careerbliss.com/press-releases/the-best-and-worst-cities-to-work

lol @ how many of the "best places to work" are on this "miserable" list, this stuff is all bullshit.

I live in one of these and have been to several. Of those, I'm voting Ft. Lauderdale, which I absolutely fucking hated every second I was there, from the humidity to the tacky-ass Hyatt Pier 66 with its revolving restaurant to being in Florida which I dislike anyway.

of the list, only been to DC and it sucks. city of boring, careerist transplants, crime, and overpriced drinks. soulless.

OTM. Lived in Fairfax, VA for seven years and only went into the city to drop off my wife for work or if I absolutely had to.

Cloudy days: 222

None of the California spots mentioned come close to the REAL jewel of the Central Valley...

http://www.syix.com/yubacity/art/yclogoart.gif

My mom spent her middle/high school years there. She left town as soon as she could and never returned.

And if you ever wanted to know more:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yuba_City,_California

"Prune Capital of the World"

so is the california dream finally once and for all dead - people bouncing off the coast anding up in these busted inland towns seems to be saying something - no one really vibes to any california mythology anymore do they

― ice cr?m, Wednesday, February 9, 2011 8:45 AM (33 minutes ago)

Think it's more like corporate america looking for cheaper leases and lower cost of living to save CapOpsExp. Trying (and failing) to turn rural aggie towns into burbs, most of this was explored and forecasted accurately by Mike Davis in City of Quartz. Nobody ever thinks of any of those towns in reference to "California" except for maybe Steinbeck scholars.

Oh and yes, this was my mom's high school...and that was the nickname:

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/e/eb/Yuba_City_High_School_class_of_1988_sign_2009.jpg/800px-Yuba_City_High_School_class_of_1988_sign_2009.jpg

CapOpsExp?

You're making a pretty sound case here, Ned.

yeah my dad grew up in modesto left at 17 and never looked back - but back then it was just a hot dry little town in the middle of farmland not the list topping sprawl you see today

I like cloudiness fwiw, and if the UR was still under 8% I'd ramp up my desire to move to PDX.

Nobody ever thinks of any of those towns in reference to "California" except for maybe Steinbeck scholars.

And even then most of them stop at Salinas because that way they're not too far from Monterey or Santa Cruz.

You're making a pretty sound case here, Ned.

My own brief encounter with the place was enough.

Central Valley was yuck just to drive through, I can't imagine living there.

At least in Redding I could escape up into the mountains in an hour.

CapOpsExp?

― Princess TamTam, Wednesday, February 9, 2011 9:24 AM (33 seconds ago)

capital and operating expenses

yeah my dad grew up in modesto left at 17 and never looked back - but back then it was just a hot dry little town in the middle of farmland not the list topping sprawl you see today

― ice cr?m, Wednesday, February 9, 2011 9:25 AM (2 minutes ago)

american grafitti

er.. graffiti

Also, should Belle Glade, Florida be on this list?
― cherry blossom, Thursday, February 10, 2011 12:35 PM (7 hours ago) Bookmark

Good call, Belle Glade is a totally evil little town.

Labelle is worse.

that whole stretch of road between Ft.Myers and WPB is horrible. I hitchhiked it once and was in a car accident, picked up by a tweaker, and then by a guy who thought I was a hooker.

Explain!

had to get from Sarasota to WPB and I didn't have a car!

also, was poor.

Belle Glade or LaBelle once had the highest HIV infection rate in the country.

I'm an epidemiology dork and I've heard about that (I think it was BG)! Conception Bay North in Newfoundland was a similar story: shit town with only a few people, but they've all got HIV.

its a p nothing town for sure, but on the other hand we all have aids so

really makes u think

kinda fitting that half the list is basically "homes of the Zodiac Killer and the Original Night Stalker."

Northern / Central California: serial killers are us! Don't forget Dorothea Puente and The Vampire of Sacramento, among others...

I would just like to quickly pop my head in and say thanks to everyone who has said that Chicago is not miserable, and does not belong on this list. Not even thanks, just... you're right. Chicago is fantastic. There's not another city in the world where I could live as cheaply, as efficiently, and as close to a giant, beautiful freshwater lake that's basically an ocean. The older architecture is astounding, and the buildings in the Loop span the entire history of high-rise buildings very neatly. Outside of the loop, the pre-war architecture is consistently amazing and thick on the ground, and surrounds you with that feeling, while you're walking down the street, of, "This is a good and permanent and real place," more than any city in America outside of New York or New Orleans. I live on a street that's had the exact same buildings on it for at least 60 years, and the building I live in is nearing 100 years old. That may sound silly to Europeans, but this is an old city in American terms. It's one of the most solid and atmospheric and assuring and comforting cities we've got.

But don't tell anyone. My rent will go up. Just keep talking about how the weather sucks, and we'll all be happy.

If I had two votes on the best global cities thread, Chicago woulda been my #2. I lived there for years and miss it every day.

Automatic thread bump. This poll is closing tomorrow.

Vallejo declared bankruptcy a few years ago, and has very few cops, and a high rate of foreclosures. On the other hand it is a short drive to Napa/Sonoma wine country, Marin, SF etc. and the climate is very mild. As long as you can avoid getting murdered it is a decent place to live.

decent place to die then too eh?

Yes, your dismembered corpse might be found at sunset near prime San Pablo Bay bird watching spots.

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

http://www.calculateme.com/MySpace/background-images/say-yes-to-michigan.gif

I would just like to quickly pop my head in and say thanks to everyone who has said that Chicago is not miserable, and does not belong on this list. Not even thanks, just... you're right. Chicago is fantastic. There's not another city in the world where I could live as cheaply, as efficiently, and as close to a giant, beautiful freshwater lake that's basically an ocean. The older architecture is astounding, and the buildings in the Loop span the entire history of high-rise buildings very neatly. Outside of the loop, the pre-war architecture is consistently amazing and thick on the ground, and surrounds you with that feeling, while you're walking down the street, of, "This is a good and permanent and real place," more than any city in America outside of New York or New Orleans. I live on a street that's had the exact same buildings on it for at least 60 years, and the building I live in is nearing 100 years old. That may sound silly to Europeans, but this is an old city in American terms. It's one of the most solid and atmospheric and assuring and comforting cities we've got.

But don't tell anyone. My rent will go up. Just keep talking about how the weather sucks, and we'll all be happy.

― I am Woolen Man. The scarf and I are one. (kenan)

otm (can't wait to move back tbqf) though i would include san francisco in there w/nyc and nawlins too.

which onea you jerks voted for Sacramento? :)

I'd be interested, when I come over, to compare some of these miserable US cities to some places in the UK that I visited, which were so oppressively miserable they made me greatful I live where I do. Seriously the UK midlands is some bad juju and I dont know how people live there and not kill themselves.

(but I wont assume Chi is miserable, it looks like a snowy Melbourne!)

Who the heck voted for Chicago? I am not upset or angry, just curious, largely b/c I have never met anyone who hated Chicago for being Chicago (just, as I said upthread, for being a big city).

yeah idg Chicago rating in this poll at all

More for Cleveland than Bakersfield? Whatevs.

was just looking at my dads modesto childhood home on google earth with him tonight - hell be disappointed to learn his town didnt get any votes - that is if i could explain ilx to him w/o appearing deranged

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/23/us/23detroit.html

detroit lost more people than new orleans! crazy

Detroit Going to Hell: Should We Care?

stockton probably still is shit.

I'm super excited to be moving to chicago in like six weeks and was all wtf when I saw this, but comments here are comforting. The only other cities I've been to on this list are memphis, d.c., miami, and jacksonville. Jacksonville is obvious: it's all strip mall sprawl. Still, I had fun in my two days there. Memphis is certainly full of problems, particularly violent crime and racial tension, but it had so much character. It's easily my favorite southern city and I could even see living there one day. I don't have you have complete picture of America if you haven't been to Miami. Still, I wouldn't live there. D.C. is whatevs. I hung-out there as a teenager, but I didn't look at it with a critical eye then, so idk.

Atlanta is easily the worst city I've ever been to, but people who like cars and shopping malls think it's swell so whatever

and with all the negative press abt Detroit, it's kind of hard to believe that its only 15th

negative press is overblown tbh

I'm sure it is, but OTOH Detroit is the only place I know of where a friend had most of her wedding presents stolen from the reception along with the car she and her new husband were supposed to take to their honeymoon suite, so my perspective on it is possibly a little biased.

Memphis' violent crime rate was down 23.6% during 2010!!

http://www.memphiscrime.org/theresults

(unless MPD is jukin the stats)

Florida and Texas are the two states where I hear this kind of thing about specific towns:

Also, should Belle Glade, Florida be on this list?
― cherry blossom, Thursday, February 10, 2011 12:35 PM (7 hours ago) Bookmark

Good call, Belle Glade is a totally evil little town.

― kate78, Thursday, February 10, 2011 11:39 PM (1 month ago) Bookmark

I'm super excited to be moving to chicago in like six weeks and was all wtf when I saw this, but comments here are comforting. The only other cities I've been to on this list are memphis, d.c., miami, and jacksonville. Jacksonville is obvious: it's all strip mall sprawl. Still, I had fun in my two days there. Memphis is certainly full of problems, particularly violent crime and racial tension, but it had so much character. It's easily my favorite southern city and I could even see living there one day. I don't have you have complete picture of America if you haven't been to Miami. Still, I wouldn't live there. D.C. is whatevs. I hung-out there as a teenager, but I didn't look at it with a critical eye then, so idk.

Atlanta is easily the worst city I've ever been to, but people who like cars and shopping malls think it's swell so whatever

whoa, i am not a car person or shopping mall person by any means, but i really enjoyed atlanta when i was there. for me it exemplified things i really enjoy about the south-- a more deliberate pace of life when contrasted with, say, the n.e., strangers being genuinely friendly in a way that is not found so much up north, and just a refreshingly oddball cultural environment that seems to naturally incubate cool things

i enjoyed what little time i've spent in chicago; good luck! you will never lack for amazing food there.

miami is definitely fascinating, but i also felt kind of creeped-out there, like the place is just crawling with some seriously sinister organized crime shit

del, have you spent time in other parts of the South? I have mixed feelings about the South, I love some areas and aspects, and hate others, and Atlanta is solidly in the "hate" group. For me, Atlanta exemplifies some of the stuff I hate about the South: sprawl and and attendant dependency on cars and the attendant traffic and lack of walkability and public transit, ubiquitous cookie cutter national chains (restaurants, retail, coffee, bars) instead of unique local stuff, and a weak downtown. That last part may have changed, as I read about efforts to improve it, but I'm a little dubious.

On the "love" end of the South are places like New Orleans (of course), Charleston, Boone, NC, Wilmington NC, and even Myrtle Beach and surrounding seedy beach towns. Besides the obvious tourist areas, there are some things I like about Charleston, WV and Richmond, VA - they do have unique local feels, beautiful surroundings, and lots of character.

yes. i guess i just happened to be staying in a weird nook of Atlanta when i visited there, b/c i remember it being very walkable and there being loads of little locally-owned businesses. granted, this was like, uh, fifteen years ago. and i do remember the traffic around the city being a mess. and my friend who lived there recently and loved it happens to be one of those people that just loooooooooves driving...

hate those people so much

atlanta's downtown sucks, but who gives a fuck. there's good parts of the city and bad parts... does it matter if they're downtown or not

Oh yeah. I think I voted for Chicago, because that one time I was there, people kept getting in my way on the sidewalk. Also the whole new parking meter and museum price fiasci.

Detroit is badass.
All yall haters should reveal yrselves so I can swing by & burn yr houses down

Chicago is a miserable, chickenshit shithole. I was just there recently and no one has any life in them anymore. People just don't really care about anything there, they live in a beautiful city but are too selfish, narcotized or lazy to give a shit. All they do is fret about their futures and their retirement.

Gorgeous city, awful people.

it must have been very tiring for you, meeting every citizen of chicago like that

Someone who grew up in a neglected part of the city might feel that way, yes.

Sorry you're so quick to react and take what someone says too seriously.

i live in chicago and pretty much all i do is fret about my future so otm

i live in chicago on earth and pretty much all i do is fret about my future so otm

I'm happy someone finally posted reasons they hate Chicago. I don't see where they're coming from at all, but still interesting.