20 happiest/depressed cities

[Ragone]

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


Interesting.. the happy cities must not have polled sports fans.. and the depressed ones must have been mostly sports fans :)

[ice4277]

My only complaint is that Detroit is not #1, although I can see a valid argument for Philly getting the top spot. I also think Salt Lake City should be higher on the list.

[daedalus]

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

[Ragone]

I think wichita is gonna drop fast at the rate the police are working

[Breeze]

13. Atlanta, GA: D



Would you be happy with leadership like ours? :rolleyes:

I think the combined IQ for all the leaders in Atlanta (city and Fulton County) can't be much above 150. Thank God I live WAY NORTH of the City.

[CraigSca]

I wonder how they made a determination of whether a city is happy or depressed? Ask it's friends? See if it's gotten out of bed the past few weeks?

[Jon]

Jersey City! WOOO!

Where did you get this list? I need the source in order to flaunt it to people I work with, who happen to live in NYC and they they are everything.

[Raven Hawk]

I'm curious why Tampa/St. Pete or Phoenix/Mesa/Scottsdale are on the depressed list. I thought those were places people liked to retire to. Why would you want to retire to a depressing city?

[Fonzie]

Jersey City! WOOO!

Where did you get this list? I need the source in order to flaunt it to people I work with, who happen to live in NYC and they they are everything.

I'm also curious about this - specifically about what metric they used to gauge "happiness." Linky?

[JasonC23]

But won't the citizens of those cities categorized as "depressed" see this...and get even more depressed?

[Raiders Army]

El Paso, happy? Pschaw. I support Fonzie's request for a link.

[Lathum]

Explain to me how in the world Jersey City is ahead of Honolulu?

[weinstein7]

Buffalo, the 11th happiest city in the US? Words can't even describe how ludicrous this is.

And I don't know how NY is considered so "depressed," unless this study was done right after Bush was re-elected.

[JeeberD]

The 20 Happiest Cities

2. El Paso, TX: A+



Booyah! :p

All it takes is a bowl appearance to make the city ecstatic... ;)

[JeeberD]

Dola-

I would like a link as well, please... :)

[Sharpieman]

Fresno and Sacramento? You've got to be kidding me. Those cities are in the middle of nowhere and have horrible weather. I would think there would be cities closer to the coast on the happiest list.

[Sharpieman]

My brother just moved out of Mesa, AZ because its a piece of sh*t and since he got his apartment robbed and his car too.

[DeToxRox]

Who can be happy living in New Jersey?!

(No offense all you NJ'ers!)

[Franklinnoble]

I call bullshit on this list.

As cities go, I was much happier with the city of Phoenix than I am with the city of Sacramento.

[JeeberD]

Looks like I found where this list comes from...Men's Health.

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1359647/posts

[Cringer]

1. Laredo, TX: A+

2. El Paso, TX: A+


This is because they are border cities. You are minutes away from cheap booze, women, fireworks, and the ability to commit crime and then bribe the police if caught. If this is not the perfect mix for a happy society, I don't know what is....

[JeeberD]

Or, as folks on MinerDigs stated, El Paso is also supposed to be one of the fattest, least literate, and most drunk cities in the country.

I think Dean Wormer was wrong when he said that drunk, fat,and stupid was no way to go through life... ;)

[Arles]

From the results:
information on antidepressant sales from NDC Health, suicide rates from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and information from the CDC's Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System
It doesn't surprise my that Phoenix is on the list then. With all the blue hairs out here, I'm sure we have the "prescription market" on antidepressants cornered. Plus, I have a feeling that places like Scottsdale and Tampa have a little better drug tracking system than El Paso (not to mention a much higher income to completely overmedicate each other).

[sterlingice]

I think wichita is gonna drop fast at the rate the police are working
Considering most people I know don't like to even drive through Wichita, much less stay there, it's kindof surprising.

SI

[Calis]

Well there's only two towns on that list I can comment on.

I'm surprised Wichita is in the happiest. Nothing horrible about it, but nothing to be that happy about.

I do much prefer it to the other city I'm familiar with in the list...

Salt Lake City, which I think rightfully belongs on the most depressed list. If I still lived there I might single-handedly move it up a couple spots.

[Tigercat]

Baton Rouge? huh. Must have polled the city just after the 2004 Sugar Bowl.

[Klinglerware]

Who can be happy living in New Jersey?!

(No offense all you NJ'ers!)

The people in Jersey City must be happy that they have full access to NYC, without actually having to pay NYC housing & living costs + city tax (though I suspect the gap is closing quickly)...

[Karlifornia]

San Ho-zay! We be so happy!!! We just lost the Silicon Valley Bowl, so I'm sure it's going straight down past Detroit and Philly ;)

[TwinCitiesFan]

Jersey City #3 that is very funny!!

[General Mike]

Who can be happy living in New Jersey?!

(No offense all you NJ'ers!)

Bitch

[kcchief19]

The prescence of WiShitita on the list suggests to me that either the methodology is seriously flawed or that ignorance is bliss. I get depressed just thinking about that place. It's not the armpit of Kansas (for that I'd nominate Lansing and Clay Center) but it's definitely somewhere on the ass.

[Danny]

Whoa, Stockton is on the good list.

[Crapshoot]

How is the Burgh not no 1 ?

[Craptacular]

The 20 Happiest Cities
15. (3-way tie) Madison, WI: B

Considering 90% of the people are either drunk, high, or gay (or all three), this seems obvious.

[Calis]

The prescence of WiShitita on the list suggests to me that either the methodology is seriously flawed or that ignorance is bliss.

WiShitita? That could be the worst play on a name I've heard.

There's got to be SOMETHING better than that to use. ;)

I dunno, I personally don't mind Wichita that much..but then again I don't live there. Wouldn't want to live there, but it's the closest city to me, so I've learned to live with it. I definitely don't think of it as one of the worst cities I've been to, but then again there's no attraction to it either, so I get why people don't like it. They make planes, that's what they do.

I would expect there to be more depressed folks though from all the layoffs, with Boeing doing so about every other week, and Cessna killing off celebrities left and right.

[kcchief19]

WiShitita? That could be the worst play on a name I've heard.

There's got to be SOMETHING better than that to use. ;)
That's when my uncle called it when he worked there for Boeing. In its defense, he has also worked in Philadelphia, Seattle and Dallas and I think Seattle depressed him more than Wichita. He doesn't like coffee and he hates rain.

[Solecismic]

I'm also curious about this - specifically about what metric they used to gauge "happiness." Linky?

I think they measured the length of, um, vital organs.

[ice4277]

I think they measured the length of, um, vital organs.
I dunno, the one in SLC is pretty big but they still made the bad list

http://www.diewiegels.de/Urlaub/Kalifornien/02Salt%20Lake%20City/OrgelLDS.jpg