With bad news about the economy just piling higher and higher, somebody sooner or later just had to do a story about the unhappiest cities in America. Business Week has stepped up to the plate, picking Portalnd, Ore., as the absolute worst:
These are major cities that were ranked based on their rates of suicide, depression, divorce, unemployment, job loss, population loss, crime, amount of green space, and cloudy days. We gave most emphasis to suicide and depression rates, crime, and economic factors.
Portland is a beautiful city in a beautiful part of the country; if you'd be unhappy there, you'd probably be unhappy anywhere. Is number of cloudy days really that important? Most of the other Top 10 aren't as surprising. St. Louis and Milwaukee are part of forgotten flyover country. New Orleans wants to be party central, and Las Vegas already is. (Hey, another good reason to have more gambling here!) Nashville and Jacksonville, no big shock there. But isn't Atlanta supposed to be the jewel of the South? Indiana doesn't have any cities in the Top 10, but Ohio has two -- Cleveland and Cincinnati. Buck up, Buckeyes.
