America's 10 Most Miserable Cities

[Boxkicker]

According to Forbes.com

1. Stockton, CA
2. Memphis, TN
3. Chicago, IL
4. Cleveland, OH
5. Modesto, CA
6. Flint, MI
7. Detroit, MI
8. Buffalo, NY
9. Miami, FL
10. St. Louis, MO

Full article here: America's Most Miserable Cities - Forbes.com

 

[W2R]

They didn't include New Orleans, probably because it is so much smaller since Katrina that they think it doesn't even qualify as a city.

No complaints here - - I'm outta here as soon as I can manage it, after ER.

 

[PX4sc40sw]

They didn't include New Orleans, probably because it is so much smaller since Katrina that they think it doesn't even qualify as a city.

No complaints here - - I'm outta here as soon as I can manage it, after ER.

I wondered the same thing. On a recent visit to NO, I sensed things were getting worse, not better. Everyone seemed resigned to leaving.

Wonder if funding for recovery is part of the bailout?

 

[W2R]

I wondered the same thing. On a recent visit to NO, I sensed things were getting worse, not better. Everyone seemed resigned to leaving.

Wonder if funding for recovery is part of the bailout?

I don't know. Even with funding, it will take a long time so I don't think New Orleans will be on any "Top 10 Cities" lists in the near future.

 

[DougViages]

As a SE Michigan Resident...

I really think that Flint and Detroit richly deserve to be ranked 1 & 2 worst cities. Am optimist at heart, I am a realist about these places being the 13th level of Hell!

 

[ziggy29]

They didn't include New Orleans, probably because it is so much smaller since Katrina that they think it doesn't even qualify as a city.

I think they are putting a premium on the unemployment rate right now. They also mention long, horrible commutes. Stockton qualifies on both counts, as well as a crashing housing market.

 

[Free To Canoe]

Every person I met who has lived in Chicago loved it. Probably doesn't belong on the list.

Free

 

[bbbamI]

I think they are putting a premium on the unemployment rate right now. They also mention long, horrible commutes.

Exactly.

I lived in St. Louis (Ballwin) for eight years and would move back there again.

 

[Steve O]

Chicago has been going down the tubes for a long time now with no end in sight I've lived here my whole life and I plan on getting out soon...

 

[saluki9]

Every person I met who has lived in Chicago loved it. Probably doesn't belong on the list.

Free

If you are young, single, and don't care too much about your personal freedoms Chicago is a fun place to live.

I find it miserable.

1. The weather sucks, period.
2. The taxes suck, property, sales, you name it. We have the highest sales tax in the nation.
3. Traffic is terrible, but that's not unique.
4. A culture of political corruption so deep that not even our US Attorney can believe it, or break it

The food is really good so that's a plus, and we have the Bears.

 

[ziggy29]

If you are young, single, and don't care too much about your personal freedoms Chicago is a fun place to live.

I find it miserable.

1. The weather sucks, period.
2. The taxes suck, property, sales, you name it. We have the highest sales tax in the nation.
3. Traffic is terrible, but that's not unique.
4. A culture of political corruption so deep that not even our US Attorney can believe it, or break it

The food is really good so that's a plus, and we have the Bears.

Of course, if you love foie gras you're in Hell.

 

[saluki9]

Of course, if you love foie gras you're in Hell.

Not any more, the ban was lifted

 

[Khan]

I've lived in two of them: Stockton and Detroit.

 

[ziggy29]

Not any more, the ban was lifted

Ah. Guess the city got tired of declining revenue from taxes paid by restaurants. I hadn't heard they repealed that.

 

[travelover]

I really think that Flint and Detroit richly deserve to be ranked 1 & 2 worst cities. Am optimist at heart, I am a realist about these places being the 13th level of Hell!

I agree. Why can't we get no [-]dis[/-]respect?

 

[youbet]

4. A culture of political corruption so deep that not even our US Attorney can believe it, or break it

Yes, but it's turned into a nice export business. We have it to spare and others are eager to pay dearly for it!

 

[Trek]

While Miami has it's issues, I don't think of it as a miserable place. I used to live about 3 hours away and have spend some enjoyable time there. And besides, Miami will always be cool thanks to Miami Vice. It would suck there if you're extremely impoverished, but so would anywhere.

 

[haha]

They could save ink and just name Stockton 10 times. Nothing could be even remotely close to that place.

Ha

 

[Khan]

They could save ink and just name Stockton 10 times. Nothing could be even remotely close to that place.

Ha

It wasn't all that bad 35 years ago.

 

[ziggy29]

They could save ink and just name Stockton 10 times. Nothing could be even remotely close to that place.

it's not big enough to qualify, but the most depressing, soul-sucking God-forsaken place I've ever been was Blythe, CA. We were there in 2003 while we were driving from San Jose to Houston when I took a job transfer.

We made the mistake of spending the night there (it just happened to be the right distance to plan a stop for the night), and it was just a barren, desert town that looked abandoned as if a nuke had gone off not too far away. It's right along I-10 near the Colorado River, just before the Arizona border.

It reminded me of the saying, "Abandon hope all ye who enter." We were only there for a few hours and then left right after sleeping in a motel there, but we really felt like we were body-snatched by soul-sucking aliens while we were there. We had two cats with us, and they seemed to be lifeless too (though maybe that was thge sedatives we gave them to mellow them out on the long drives in their crate).

 

[unclemick]

it's not big enough to qualify, but the most depressing, soul-sucking God-forsaken place I've ever been was Blythe, CA. We were there in 2003 while we were driving from San Jose to Houston when I took a job transfer.

We made the mistake of spending the night there (it just happened to be the right distance to plan a stop for the night), and it was just a barren, desert town that looked abandoned as if a nuke had gone off not too far away. It's right along I-10 near the Colorado River, just before the Arizona border.

It reminded me of the saying, "Abandon hope all ye who enter." We were only there for a few hours and then left right after sleeping in a motel there, but we really felt like we were body-snatched by soul-sucking aliens while we were there. We had two cats with us, and they seemed to be lifeless too (though maybe that was thge sedatives we gave them to mellow them out on the long drives in their crate).

What! Blythe and to a lesser extent Desert Center were screaming hot spots of action and enlightenment - When I visited my BIL in 1977 up the side road to Eagle Mountain - aka Kaiser's big open pit iron mine.

These things are relative. I will be in New Orleans aka Slidell somewhere between Mardi Gras and March.

 

[aaronc879]

Every person I met who has lived in Chicago loved it. Probably doesn't belong on the list.

Free

Chicago in the winter is the most horrible place i've ever been. In the summer it's one of the most beautiful cities anywhere. The traffic is still hell though if you live there and can't avoid it because of your work schedule. If your visiting in summer and can avoid the worst of the traffic then it's great. I wouldn't live there because of the snow and lack of room for cars that it creates.

 

[Ed_The_Gypsy]

I have lived in Chicago and worked in Buffalo.

They both deserve to be on this list.

I later worked in Sarnia, Ontario, which is an industrial (chemical and refinery) town in decline, but a relatively nice place. Being in Sarnia is like watching somebody dieing. Being in Buffalo is like watching the body decay.

 

[CuppaJoe]

...
The food is really good so that's a plus, and we have the Bears.

The Art Institute
The Chicago School of Architecture

My relatives--not sure which category they go in?

 

[saluki9]

My relatives--not sure which category they go in?

For me they go in the only category other than my job that keeps me here.