It’s a small, small world after all. It’s a small, small world after all. The happiest place on earth is said to be Disneyland or Disney World. However, I don’t live near either happy place. I live in Portland,Oregon, so according to Business Week I must be unhappy. I honestly didn’t know how unhappy all of us were in Portland until I read it in the newspaper. I mean every where I go people are smiling. They are stopping to help people with car trouble. People always say hi. Road rage is very rare. People at work are nice. However, we are unhappy.
BusinessWeek.com ranked 50 of the largest metros based on a variety of factors including depression rates, suicide rates, divorce rates, crime, unemployment, population loss, job loss, weather, and green space. The most heavily weighted factors were the depression, suicide, jobs (unemployment and job loss), and crime rates. The depression rate is based on drug company data on antidepressant sales. The rate of depression within a place, the total number of reported depression cases divided by the total population. The suicide rate is for 2004 and comes from “The 2007 Big Cities Health Inventory” compiled by the National Assembly of County & City Health Officials (NACCHO). The crime risk indexes for property and crime used for the scoring were based on FBI crime reporting for the seven most-recent available years. Divorce rates and 2009 population change come from the U.S. Census. The number of cloudy days came from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. The unhappiest city in the United States was:
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%
No. 2 . St, Louis, Mo.
No. 3, New Orleans, La.
No, 4. Detroit, Mi.
No. 5. Cleveland, Oh.
No, 6. Jacksonville, Fl.
No. 7. Las Vegas, NV.
No. 8. Nashville, TN
No. 9. Cincinnati, Oh.
No. 10. Atlanta, Ga.
Milwaukie, Wisconsin came in at 11 and Seattle, Washington ranked 20th. I really thought California would have a lot of cities in the top 20 with the state almost bankrupt to the point that the State of California didn’t send out taxpayer refunds until this week because there was no money until then. Yet, the only California city in the top 20 was Sacramento at number 12,
What surprises you about this list? Tell me about your city, would you classify your city as a happy one or a depressed one? Are people curt, crude and rude or are they kind, smiling and approachable? Any road rage? Are people in your city telling people they are number one in your life with that famous one finger hand gesture? I'm waiting for the happy responses!
About Me
- William J.
- First, I think the birth sign is wrong. 6-21, some papers say Gemini, some Cancer. Guess that means I have so many personalities that I can do group therapy alone. For those that don't know how to read Google profiles I have put what I really mean in ( ). Hot (Good looking enough to be in movies(if I buy at ticket). A body like a God (Buddha). Romantic (Thinks begging is foreplay.) Physically fit (Heart trouble. Put 911 on speed dial before we get initmate.) Good Provider (has good life insurance in case you forget to put 911 on speed dial.) Loyal (has reference letters from Mom and parole officer.) Intelligent (scored 1600 on his SATS but you have to total the scores of the four times that I took the test.) Looking for someone compatible (Be between 30 & 99 and not inflatable.)
10 comments:
Interesting list, Bill. And a rather surprising one, too. I'd also expect L.A. to be right up there.
Right here in Burbank, I'd say we're fairly happy as a general rule. Most of us like Burbank in most ways, and we all love our police and fire depts. But it's hard to generalize, as we're right in the middle of L.A., and so go back & forth a lot. I have the impression there's more road rage than previously since the economy went into the tank, but I could be mistaken. I'm rarely the target of it, but I observe it, and I hear more honking than usual, it seems.
Hi Pat
The list surprised me as much as the cities that made the list like Jacksonville as the ones that didn't like LA.
I would think Burbank, Santa Monica and some cities in LA would be happy ones but I didn't think they wold be happy enough to override the sad ones or the California economy.
Thanks for the post, Pat
Bill
You know, I don't even think about the happiness quotient here, because we're in a town of 50,000 rather than a big city. I have lived her now so long that it surprises me when I go to a city and find out that people can be rude and downright nasty. I never see that here. So I guess even tho we are only 12 miles from Sacramento, we must be OK on the happiness scale.
Hi Bev
First, thanks for mentioning be on your blog yesterday it brought several people here from all over. You have an amazing following!
Even when I leave my small little enclave of Sherwood it doesn't seem that unhappy in Portland!
Bill
I'm amazed at the rating Portland got. given I know how you like it and I have another email bud there who feels the same. St. Louis and Nashville also surprise me. I didn't think there were unhappy towns in the midwest (g). And when we spent the day in Nashville last spring, people were happy, having fun, kind, for the most part. Yeah, I can see Jax, FL as unhappy, from what I know of it, as well as Detroit, Cinci, even Atlanta. I know many in the latter city who'd as soon be elsewhere, as well as many who've left.
Here in Greenville -- I'd say we're a pretty happy group. What's not to like? Downtown, we've got culture - Bilo Ctr and Peace Ctr bring in everything from the circus to opera, from country stars to River Dance to Celtic Thunder. There are half a dozen little theatres, street fairs, art shows, free music concerts or Shaekespeare every night during the summer months. We have two major universities, one of which has a stated committment to serving the community and has an open campus for all to enjoy, and exceptional health care facilities and options. And all of this within sight and driving distance of the foothills, the Blue Ridge, fishing streams, myriad state, county and city parks, with campsites, Lake Hartwell.
OTOH, if they used current numbers, rather than those a few years old, I don't know how we'd fare when it came to unemployment, depression, crime, job loss. Those have gotten increasingly grim, with the mill closings and so much of the work here going offshore. I know our homeless numbers have gone up and the food banks are always in need. Fortunately, the people here are generous and share what they can, when they can, and local charities are very good about the high percentage of donations of cash going directly to programs and not administrative or advertising costs.
Interesting list and criteria. I think I'd like to see them include other causes for depression, such as congestion and income averages and homeless. I don't think sales of anti-depressants is totally accurate, since anti-depressant drugs are used for a lot of other health issues, from smoking cessation to cancer and arthritis treatment, none of which are depression. So, okay, I think maybe some of their data is skewed. Granted, grey skies aren't great (remember, I spent almost ten years in Juneau, AK), but as I recall, Portland has a lot of green space and when I lived in AK, a day of glorious sunshine sparkling off the channel and the snow on the mountains made up for a whole lot of gray days. I also have to wonder what the affects of excess development -- which creates less green space, more dirt, more cement, less natural environment -- are on people's feelings about a city/town. Over-development was a major factor in our leaving Juneau and changing our minds about St. Croix and why we'd not return to the area we so loved in FL, when we lived there.
Much more than you wanted in response, I'm sure!
I saw that study and was surprised too. I would have rated Seattle higher than Portland, based on my experience with both, and we have much less sun and more rain than you do.
In my personal life, people seem pretty happy most of the time, though there are a lot more health issues than usual right now. At work, though, people are desperate. So sad. Much more sadness and frustration being directed my way than ever before.
So I guess I am surprised Seattle rated so far down the list.
Hi Dr
The listing has been big news here in Portland and all of us living here are surprised!
I would imagine there are some cities in Iowa unhappy (g)
Detroit to me makes the most sense of any city on the list with the auto industry tanking and their high unemployment.
Just the name Greenville makes me smile. So yes I would imagine it is a pretty happy city with a lot of Southern charm.
I can't help but wonder with what is going on know if we just aren't a happy country right now. We have the same problem here with homeless shelters and food banks and even some charities are suffering.
Aging pareant or an aging population in cities should have been a factor in the ratings because both can cause depression.
Portland is a very green city and actually has less annual rainfall
And know it wasn't much more than I wanted to know.
Bill
Hi Mary
Just barely over a month to go!
I would classify both Seattle and Portland as happy cities, Portland basically Seattle without the traffic.
I have been noticing a lot of refunds this year. People didn't make as much as they have in the past and when they estimate 2009 income for estimated purposes they are really, really negative. Makes for a tough tax season.
Bill
We have lots of people getting Earned Income Credit who never have before, and it makes their returns much more expensive. Lots and lots of teaching going on this year. And after nearly 3000 returns going through my office, I haven't seen a single Sch D with a profit on it. Not one. Sobering.
Hi Mary
Come to think of it we haven't had a schedule d with a profit either. And the sad thing is that isn't where most of the losses are. Most of the losses are in the retirement funds that don't show up on the returns. It is really the worst it has been since I first started out in the business.
Bill
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