| Topic: |
Science > Philosophy |
| User: |
"Sir Frederick" |
| Date: |
31 Jan 2008 03:06:54 PM |
| Object: |
On Misery |
Best places for liberals to live :
-----------------------------------------------------
America's Most Miserable Cities
Kurt Badenhausen 01.30.08, 6:00 AM ET
http://www.forbes.com/business/2008/01/29/detroit-stockton-flint-biz-cz_kb_0130miserable.html
Imagine living in a city with the country's highest rate for violent
crime and the second-highest unemployment rate. As an added kicker you
need more Superfund dollars allocated to your city to clean up
contaminated toxic waste sites than just about any other metro.
Unfortunately, this nightmare is a reality for the residents of Detroit.
The Motor City grabs the top spot on Forbes' inaugural list of America's
Most Miserable Cities.
In Pictures: America's Most Miserable Cities
http://www.forbes.com/2008/01/29/detroit-stockton-flint-biz-cz_kb_0130miserable_slide_2.html?thisSpeed=15000
Misery is defined as a state of great unhappiness and emotional
distress. The economic indicator most often used to measure misery is
the Misery Index. The index, created by economist Arthur Okun, adds the
unemployment rate to the inflation rate. It has been in the narrow
7-to-9 range for most of the past decade, but was over 20 during the
late 1970s.
There also exists a Misery Score, which is the sum of corporate,
personal, employer and sales taxes in different countries. France took
the top spot (or perhaps bottom is more appropriate) with a score of
166.8, thanks to a top rate of 51% on personal incomes and 45% for
employer Social Security.
But aren't there other things that cause Americans misery? Of course. So
we decided to expand on the Misery Index and the Misery Score to create
our very own Forbes Misery Measure. We're sticking with unemployment and
personal tax rates, but we are adding four more factors that can make
people miserable: commute times, weather, crime and that toxic waste
dump in your backyard.
We looked at only the 150 largest metropolitan areas, which meant a
minimum population of 371,000. We ranked the cities on the six criteria
above and added their ranks together to establish what we call the
Misery Measure. The data used in the rankings came from Portland, Ore.,
researcher Bert Sperling, who last year published the second edition of
Cities Ranked & Rated along with Peter Sander. Economic research firm
Economy.com, which is owned by Moody's, also supplied some data.
Detroit in the top spot, with its sister city Flint ranked third, is
probably not a great shock. "If Detroit were a baseball team, we'd say
they are mired in a slump," says Sperling. Both Detroit and Flint have
suffered tremendously from the auto industry downturn. Flint's plight
was immortalized in the Michael Moore movie Roger & Me, which chronicles
Moore's attempts to meet with then General Motors Chief Executive Roger
Smith.
Crime and unemployment are closely linked, according to Sperling. Our
three most miserable places bear that out (Stockton, Calif., ranks
second). All three are among the eight worst cities in terms of both
unemployment and violent crime.
The United States' two biggest cities both induce a ton of misery. New
York was the fourth most miserable city by our count, while Los Angeles
clocked in at sixth. The Big Apple has the longest commute times (36.2
minutes) and the highest tax rates (10.5%) in the country. As the
financial capital of the world and home to write-down kings Merrill
Lynch and Citigroup, New York appears poised for more misery in 2008.
The people of La-La Land have some of the best weather in the U.S. (it's
ranked seventh) but scored poorly when it came to commute times,
Superfund sites and taxes. And we did not even factor in air quality,
where Los Angeles is the worst in the nation by far, according to
Sperling.
The biggest surprise on our list is Charlotte, N.C., which is ranked
ninth. Charlotte has undergone tremendous economic growth the past
decade, while the population has soared 32%. But the current picture
isn't as bright. Employment growth has not kept up with population
growth, meaning unemployment rates are up more than 50% compared with 10
years ago. Charlotte scored in the bottom half of all six categories we
examined. It scored the worst on violent crime, ranking 140th.
So take heart, Detroit, you are not alone. After all, misery loves
company.
In Pictures: America's Most Miserable Cities
http://www.forbes.com/2008/01/29/detroit-stockton-flint-biz-cz_kb_0130miserable_slide_2.html?thisSpeed=15000
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| User: "turtoni" |
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| Title: Re: On Misery |
31 Jan 2008 11:29:17 PM |
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"Reactions to events, often a loss in some form, are perhaps the most
obvious causes. This loss may be obvious, such as the loss of a loved
one, or having moved from one house to another (mainly with children),
or less obvious, such as disillusionment about one's career prospects.
A lack of control of one's environment can lead to feelings of
helplessness. Domestic disputes and financial difficulties are common
causes of a depressed mood. Other causes of depression are climatic
conditions, such as a rainy weather and a lack of sunlight,
loneliness, and feelings that one isn't cared about by others." --
wiki
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hE0ODrmaiFE
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| User: "Day Brown" |
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| Title: Re: On Misery |
31 Jan 2008 03:25:44 PM |
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Conversely, the best are not cities at all, but mid sized towns of up
to, say- 30,000. Which is how big Athens was at its peak of
creativity.
Commutes are no more than a couple miles, with no traffic jams. Yet
this size, from 10.,000-30,000, has the full range of modern
amenities. Hospitals, schools, shopping centers, broadband, and
economic entrepreneurism.
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| User: "kevirwin" |
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| Title: Re: On Misery |
31 Jan 2008 11:44:13 PM |
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On Jan 31, 4:06=A0pm, Sir Frederick <mmcne...@fuzzysys.com> wrote:
Best places for liberals to live :
-----------------------------------------------------
America's Most Miserable Cities
Kurt Badenhausen 01.30.08, 6:00 AM EThttp://www.forbes.com/business/2008/0=
1/29/detroit-stockton-flint-biz-...
Imagine living in a city with the country's highest rate for violent
crime and the second-highest unemployment rate. As an added kicker you
need more Superfund dollars allocated to your city to clean up
contaminated toxic waste sites than just about any other metro.
Unfortunately, this nightmare is a reality for the residents of Detroit.
The Motor City grabs the top spot on Forbes' inaugural list of America's
Most Miserable Cities.
In Pictures: America's Most Miserable Citieshttp://www.forbes.com/2008/01/=
29/detroit-stockton-flint-biz-cz_kb_013...
Misery is defined as a state of great unhappiness and emotional
distress. The economic indicator most often used to measure misery is
the Misery Index. The index, created by economist Arthur Okun, adds the
unemployment rate to the inflation rate. It has been in the narrow
7-to-9 range for most of the past decade, but was over 20 during the
late 1970s.
There also exists a Misery Score, which is the sum of corporate,
personal, employer and sales taxes in different countries. France took
the top spot (or perhaps bottom is more appropriate) with a score of
166.8, thanks to a top rate of 51% on personal incomes and 45% for
employer Social Security.
But aren't there other things that cause Americans misery? Of course. So
we decided to expand on the Misery Index and the Misery Score to create
our very own Forbes Misery Measure. We're sticking with unemployment and
personal tax rates, but we are adding four more factors that can make
people miserable: commute times, weather, crime and that toxic waste
dump in your backyard.
We looked at only the 150 largest metropolitan areas, which meant a
minimum population of 371,000. We ranked the cities on the six criteria
above and added their ranks together to establish what we call the
Misery Measure. The data used in the rankings came from Portland, Ore.,
researcher Bert Sperling, who last year published the second edition of
Cities Ranked & Rated along with Peter Sander. Economic research firm
Economy.com, which is owned by Moody's, also supplied some data.
Detroit in the top spot, with its sister city Flint ranked third, is
probably not a great shock. "If Detroit were a baseball team, we'd say
they are mired in a slump," says Sperling. Both Detroit and Flint have
suffered tremendously from the auto industry downturn. Flint's plight
was immortalized in the Michael Moore movie Roger & Me, which chronicles
Moore's attempts to meet with then General Motors Chief Executive Roger
Smith.
Crime and unemployment are closely linked, according to Sperling. Our
three most miserable places bear that out (Stockton, Calif., ranks
second). All three are among the eight worst cities in terms of both
unemployment and violent crime.
The United States' two biggest cities both induce a ton of misery. New
York was the fourth most miserable city by our count, while Los Angeles
clocked in at sixth. The Big Apple has the longest commute times (36.2
minutes) and the highest tax rates (10.5%) in the country. As the
financial capital of the world and home to write-down kings Merrill
Lynch and Citigroup, New York appears poised for more misery in 2008.
The people of La-La Land have some of the best weather in the U.S. (it's
ranked seventh) but scored poorly when it came to commute times,
Superfund sites and taxes. And we did not even factor in air quality,
where Los Angeles is the worst in the nation by far, according to
Sperling.
The biggest surprise on our list is Charlotte, N.C., which is ranked
ninth. Charlotte has undergone tremendous economic growth the past
decade, while the population has soared 32%. But the current picture
isn't as bright. Employment growth has not kept up with population
growth, meaning unemployment rates are up more than 50% compared with 10
years ago. Charlotte scored in the bottom half of all six categories we
examined. It scored the worst on violent crime, ranking 140th.
So take heart, Detroit, you are not alone. After all, misery loves
company.
In Pictures: America's Most Miserable Citieshttp://www.forbes.com/2008/01/=
29/detroit-stockton-flint-biz-cz_kb_013...
That's kind of startling to see Stockton at #2.....I was stationed at
Castle AFB in the mid 80's, maybe 30-40 miles south of Stockton. Used
to go shopping there...I guess alot can happen in 20 years..........
K e v
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