Quantifying misery sounds unscientific at best, but we were still interested to see Forbes rank the 20 most miserable cities in America.
A few cities were obviously going to make an appearance — we’re looking at you, Detroit — but the number of Florida communities on the list surprised us. Sure, our state isn’t the greatest, but when Miami, West Palm Beach, Ft. Lauderdale and Jacksonville all showed up on the list, we immediately looked into the method the magazine used.
Forbes took into account the usual reasons for urban despair such as unemployment and crime rates.
They also factored in taxes, weather, commute times and the records of local sports teams.
Most of these factors are understandable, but we question the sports decision.
People didn’t stop partying during the football team’s “interesting” season last semester. We may have frowned at the games’ outcomes, but we moved on within the span of a few hours.
Other factors seem to have more of an effect on the local mood.
Perhaps an active club scene should be considered. What about the number of cultural activities available to residents? Does the number of parks and other green spaces in a metropolitan area affect people’s moods?
What bums us out varies from person to person, so these questions make quantifying misery look as silly as using formulas to find the source of happiness.
