America's Most Miserable Cities

[dsvochak]

An odd story from Forbes:

URL America’s Most Miserable Cities

“Detroit relinquished its 2007 crown of most miserable city” and fell to 7th. The new chart topper: “Stockton, Calif., which was the runner-up on our list last year.”

I know how miserable conditions are in Detroit. If Forbes is correct and there are 6 cities more miserable than Detroit in the US, with Stockton being the worst, living in Stockton must be like living in the suburbs of hell.

[killer]

What on earth is attractive about living in a city?

[RealBlackStuff]

Deer walk around in my (2 acres) backyard.
The nearest shop is 2 miles away, the nearest pub nearly 5 miles, the nearest shopping centre nearly 12 miles, the nearest town (Scranton, PA) nearly 15 miles.
Nearest neighbour about 1/2 mile.
I love my area!

[GomJabbar]

Deer walk around in my (2 acres) backyard.
...the nearest town (Scranton, PA) nearly 15 miles.

Yeah, I think I would want to stay away from town.
I hear that Scranton Pennsylvania is "as hard-scrabble a place as you're going to find." - and worse

[jdhurst]

What on earth is attractive about living in a city?

Absolutely everything!

Easy walk to: Express bus to downtown, Food Store, Pharmacy, Home Depot, Canadian Tire, Church, Bank, Coffee Shop, Parks and the river, my granddaughter's home, and more. I never really need to drift more than 30 minutes from home by foot to have everything I need.

On top of that, I live in a residential area bounded by an east-west thoroughfare up the hill and out of sight on the north, a river on the on the west, a super highway down the hill and out of sight and hearing on the south and just housing on the east. Peaceful and quiet.

One of the more interesting features of where I live is that it is pretty much as far south as one can get in Canada. So while we have winter (and more snow this year than I wanted), it is very good weather 9 months of the year, and city life is attractive in warm shirt-sleeves weather.

I did appreciate your sentiment, but there is a lot to like where I am. .... JDH

[mattbiernat]

anyplace that is at least 100F during summer and no less than 60F during winter is a good place to live.

[beGi]

Well, every coin has two sides...

I live(d) in village and i lived in a city, and both of them have advantages...

You have your own peace of mind in village ( and sea), but as jdhurst pointed out, you have everything else in city...

It's the matter of taste (not sure for the word), and as we in Croatia know to say you don't discuss about tastes (it's not taboo, it respect for other people preference)...

It is funny though, when I'm in the city for longer time I dream to come home (to my home island, especially during summer), and then when i come home i would rather go back to the city (except during summer ) because i get bored very quickly (i hate winter)...

[RealBlackStuff]

I hear that Scranton Pennsylvania is "as hard-scrabble a place as you're going to find." - and worse

I'm not going to defend Scranton. It's just a city in the area where I live, and it's not half as bad as people say.
Your observation out of context makes it sound rather bad-a s s.
Scranton got into the news because of VP Joe Biden.
Scranton is also the city where the sitcom "The Office" was made, a hugely popular program.

Living in NEPA is perhaps not as glamorous as in California or Florida, but the people here are extremely friendly and helpful.
When you go to the shop or the service station, or you meet one of the local authorities, they know you by name.
On top of that, living here is cheap (and we have an added bonus by having access to the military PX stores).
We could do with a bit less snow though!

[GomJabbar]

I was teasing, RBS. That quote was taken from a Saturday Night Live parody of the VP debate between Biden and Palin.

http://www.nbc.com/Saturday_Night_Live/ ... en/727421/

[Superego]

Well, every coin has two sides...

I live(d) in village and i lived in a city, and both of them have advantages...

beGi hit it on the head. You can look for the bad or look for the good in each place you live. I've lived in "towns" as small as 50 people in Montana, large cities in the Midwest and East coast, and everything in between....and I've loved and hated things about both.

I like knowing just about everyone in a small town, having bears walk through my front yard, and the general serenity associated with being in the middle of nowhere On the other hand, I love to cook and it's hard to find really good, fresh seafood or produce in rural Wisconsin...not so much of a problem in Minneapolis (or Boston!). Also, I love the concerts and shows that are available in cities (I managed to run into Robin Williams a few months ago...never would've happened in rural Utah!).

That being said I have to agree with most of the list. I wouldn't exactly call all of them miserable (not what I think of when I think of Miami) but they're all certainly not my first choice for a place to live.

Personally, I'd just like to have the financial freedom to enjoy the best of both worlds....A place near a large metropolitan area and my summer home for relaxing ! Just have to wait out this economy!

[RealBlackStuff]

Now is the best time to buy that summer cottage!
Get a list with foreclosures in your desired area and pick up a new/used residence for a song!

[TheRedFox]

I like city life, because of many of the same reasons as JDH. I like not having my life necessitate cars. I'd imagine that in the country if I wanted to do something exciting I'd need to go a long way, wheras in the city, I can usually walk toward something interesting or hop onto a bus.
but I can imagine every situation has pros and cons. I do like forests and lakes and stuff, so I can imagine that there would be an advantage in that sense in living in the country. I'm going to withhold my judgement of the suburbs...