Is your Hometown HAPPY or SAD?

[Maeve_Mari]

Does your city make you happy or sad? Here's the list of America's Happiest or Most Depressed Cities based on a number of factors, including: antidepressant sales, suicide rates, and the number of days surveyed inhabitants reported being depressed.

How does this survey measure up to your own experiences? Agree, disagree, stunned?

The 20 Happiest Cities
1. Laredo, TX: A+

2. El Paso, TX: A+

3. Jersey City, NJ: A+

4. Corpus Christi, TX: A+

5. Baton Rouge, LA: A

6. Honolulu, HI: A-

7. Fresno, CA: A-

8. San Jose, CA: A-

9. Lincoln, NE: B+

10. Bakersfield, CA: B+

11. Buffalo, NY: B+

12. Anchorage, AK: B+

13. Stockton, CA: B+

14. Shreveport, LA: B+

15. (3-way tie) Madison, WI: B, Montgomery, AL: B, and Des Moines, IA: B

18. Wichita, KS: B

19. (tie) Sacramento, CA: B and Omaha, NE: B



The 20 Most Depressed Cities

1. Philadelphia, PA: F

2. Detroit, MI: F

3. St. Petersburg, FL: F

4. St. Louis, MO: F

5. Tampa, FL: F

6. Indianapolis, IN: F

7. (3-way tie) Mesa, AZ: F, Phoenix, AZ: F, and Scottsdale, AZ: F

10. Cleveland, OH: F

11. New York, NY: D-

12. Salt Lake City, UT: D-

13. Atlanta, GA: D

14. (3-way tie) Yonkers, NY: D, Pittsburgh, PA: D, and Kansas City, MO: D

17. (3-way tie) Long Beach, CA: D, Los Angeles, CA: D, Nashville, TN: D

20. Portland, OR: D

[fencerontheline]

Does your city make you happy or sad? Here's the list of America's Happiest or Most Depressed Cities based on a number of factors, including: antidepressant sales, suicide rates, and the number of days surveyed inhabitants reported being depressed.

How does this survey measure up to your own experiences? Agree, disagree, stunned?

The 20 Happiest Cities
1. Laredo, TX: A+

2. El Paso, TX: A+

3. Jersey City, NJ: A+

4. Corpus Christi, TX: A+

5. Baton Rouge, LA: A

6. Honolulu, HI: A-

7. Fresno, CA: A-

8. San Jose, CA: A-

9. Lincoln, NE: B+

10. Bakersfield, CA: B+

11. Buffalo, NY: B+

12. Anchorage, AK: B+

13. Stockton, CA: B+

14. Shreveport, LA: B+

15. (3-way tie) Madison, WI: B, Montgomery, AL: B, and Des Moines, IA: B

18. Wichita, KS: B

19. (tie) Sacramento, CA: B and Omaha, NE: B



The 20 Most Depressed Cities

1. Philadelphia, PA: F

2. Detroit, MI: F

3. St. Petersburg, FL: F

4. St. Louis, MO: F

5. Tampa, FL: F

6. Indianapolis, IN: F

7. (3-way tie) Mesa, AZ: F, Phoenix, AZ: F, and Scottsdale, AZ: F

10. Cleveland, OH: F

11. New York, NY: D-

12. Salt Lake City, UT: D-

13. Atlanta, GA: D

14. (3-way tie) Yonkers, NY: D, Pittsburgh, PA: D, and Kansas City, MO: D

17. (3-way tie) Long Beach, CA: D, Los Angeles, CA: D, Nashville, TN: D

20. Portland, OR: D

This can't possibly be correct...
Jersey City get's an A+... cuz people from Jersey are miserable, wretches, committed to a life of stupidity...


Then again... Maybe it works with that adiom: "Ignorance is Bliss"

[prototoast]

This can't possibly be correct...
Jersey City get's an A+... cuz people from Jersey are miserable, wretches, committed to a life of stupidity...


Then again... Maybe it works with that adiom: "Ignorance is Bliss"

Or maybe they're just happy they don't live in new york!

[Maeve_Mari]

This can't possibly be correct...
Jersey City get's an A+... cuz people from Jersey are miserable, wretches, committed to a life of stupidity...


Then again... Maybe it works with that adiom: "Ignorance is Bliss"

I've never been to Jersey City, but admit that when I saw it on the A+ list I wondered how it could be true? Jeorzie Ceety is a grrrrreat place to live???

[parrythis]

11. Buffalo, NY: B+

BULL{cough}HIT

I'm not sure who they surveyed, but certainly not the residents of the region. With the economic decline, the loss of jobs and people, the utterly gross mis-management of government funds, the loss of public services - like county parks, etc. - this has got to be one of the country's top 10 most depressing places to live - and that's BEFORE you consider how short our summer is. (We got what I hope is our last snowfall of the season yesterday - 4/25.)

[Bayou Bum]

Very interesting results. Actually, opposite of what I expected. I'm from Louisiana where they got an A but left because everything was always so depressed. The economy, jobs, education, people, everything and everyone always seemed depressed. It is a beautiful place with the bayou, cyprus trees, alligators, great food, and the best looking women in the world. I was born there and lived there almost all my life but the people (relatives included) always seem so depressed.

Unless .... maybe they are just that way when the are around me?

[scrapinpeg]

You can't just say "New York City." Quality of life varies dramatically from neighborhood to neighborhood and from borough to borough. People who live in the South Bronx have a different happiness quotient than people who live in Stuy Town. Floral Park ain't SoHo. Park Slope ain't Washington Heights.

There are more than three hundred distinct neighborhoods throughout the Bronx, Manhattan, Queens, Brooklyn and Staten Island. I think you can lump those into about a hundred larger regions of town with similar character (the Upper East Side with Turtle Bay and Yorkville, for example, or Astoria with Ditmars and Steinway). But that's about it -- there's just so much variety from place to place.

So unless the statistical sample is representative of all the variety in quality of life here, it is meaningless to refer to "New York City" as a single entity for comparison with Honolulu or Indianapolis.

[Philistine]

The 20 Most Depressed Cities

1. Philadelphia, PA: F

We're No. 1!

--Philistine

[Philistine]

{snip}
So unless the statistical sample is representative of all the variety in quality of life here, it is meaningless to refer to "New York City" as a single entity for comparison with Honolulu or Indianapolis.

This would thus be the inevitable "the poll is flawed" choice...

--Philistine

[scrapinpeg]

Aw, I was saving that for Inq.

[Maeve_Mari]

I don't survey them, I only search and post 'em! Here's where I got the article from, but it doesn't say too much more than what I posted.

http://articles.health.msn.com/id/100103843

I have recently been thinking that doing lifestyle surveys might be a more fun way to spend my days. Right now I am thinking of resort hotels and facilities as a good survey topic.

[Inquartata]

Pshhh! Seattle, the world center of depression, doesn't even appear on the list. That alone should tell you something...

[AndrewH]

I really can't see Jersey City inhabitants being all that happy, I mean just drive by it on the turnpike sometime and you'll see what I mean!

[LUDICROUS]

I like my city, but coming from a country with one of the highest teen suicide rates around, my opinion might not be so widespread.

[Elendae]

The 20 Most Depressed Cities


10. Cleveland, OH: F

I think this is the first time I've seen Cleveland not come in as first on the "bad" list lately.

[azfencer]

I've been to El Paso and I can't even IMAGINE it being on the happiest cities list. What exactly does it have to be happy about? My main memories are of strip malls and stores everywhere, lots of freeway, and scary areas near the mexican border. (I'm open to actual answers about the good things by the way, not just looking to bash the city.)

[oiuyt]

Whereas I've been very happy since my recent move to Philadelphia.

Of course I was also very happy in Easthampton, MA prior to the move.

Mmm, perhaps that just says more about me than where I live.

-B :)

[TooLoftheDeviL]

I'm very, very sad to live in Clemson, SC.

[Cipher]

I'm from Phoenix and I thought it was a pretty nice place. Good weather, good job market, good education, lots of girls wearing skimpy outfits in the summer heat... what's not to like?

Also, Portland, OR is a fairly nice place too, Wichita on the other hand is bad enough to make me contemplate joining the Army again.

[swordwench]

I can't understand why Boston didn't make either list. I really expected it on the Depressed list. Almost everyone I know is on antidepressants (and the rest of us fence). Maybe it has to do with residents' rabid devotion to the Sox and the Pats, neither of whom can continue to win championship series forever. Well, I say they ought to do that poll again once the season is over, at which time I'm sure we'll regain our proper place.