The list is bunk, anyway, due to two glaring omissions: New Orleans (nothing says miserable like living in a trailer because your home was washed away with the rest of the city) and Houston (wealthy, yes, but people live in isolation, take three hours to get to work, and I don't know if anyone notices the weather reports, but instead of seasons, it's three months of summer and nine months of Hell).

Vegas is strangely absent from the list. We have been slammed by the housing meltdown here because we have some many people moving to Vegas on a regular basis that they needed to keep building and building and expanding our city.

Then BAM! everything pops and people are loosing houses left and right, people stop spending money which puts more people out of work, ect.

Plus we have tons of easy access to gambling and that's a surefire way to make people poor and miserable. The CAT transit system is wholly unreliable and esspecially in the extreme heat of summer waiting 45minutes to an hour and a half for a bus can be brutal.

Our city is ugly too, only a handful of green places. Mostly all concrete, dirt, and steel.

I do find the inclusion of Stockton and Modesto hillarious. I spent a lot of time in my 20s in central/northern California and can attest to those being pretty miserable places to call home. Modesto does have a really awesome taco place on highway 120w which I can't recall the name of to save my life. But if you're ever driving through Modesto and see a taco stand on the highway stop in.

I guess no ones been to Camden, NJ. Has to be the most depressed city in the US. Plus it gets bonus points for being across the river from Philly.

That's why I live in Vermont, best of all worlds. Hills, Trees, Boston or Montreal in about 3 hours by car or NYC in 6. Oh and we have fewer people in our state than some metropolitian areas. Sure I have to drive an hour to get to a shopping mall, but there is always the internet. @vastrightwing:

Juneau is part of the North American continent, but because of all the mountains and ice fields we're landlocked. Only way out is by a ferry boat down to Prince Rupert, BC or Bellingham, WA. Or to fly out of here. The winters are cold, dark and harsh and the spring/summer/fall it just rains 95% of the time. I've been pinching my pennies to save up to escape this land locked prison.

And our new city councilman is neither corrupt nor old!

I've lived close enough to Chicago, Flint, and Detroit to be able to say that, yes, they are pretty miserable.

And the fans in Philly revel in the "Broad Street Bullies" and players like Chuck Bednarik, who tackled Frank Gifford so hard it took him out of football for over a year. I've worked with guys who've bragged about how many murders have occurred in their neighborhood.

Yes, Philadelphia has a lot going for it too, and I personally love working there, but it really is as bad as people say.
Philadelphia is a rough town in general and the fans deserve the reputation they've earned.

"Did somebody say 'boston'!? no? well let me talk about boston"

11 years in Las Vegas puts that POS city at the top of my list. The memory of living in that cesspool makes my life in Chicago a lot easier. Bring on the snow! Bring on the tornados! Our sports teams might suck, but at least we have some!

you forgot balto md....i was a police there for 28yrs...it's a seedy dirty place now...if you hap;pen to go there ,stick to the inner harbor area or camden yards...that's where all the police protection is....when i grew up in balto, it was a pretty nice place to live....

If not for the murderous cost of living in NYC, I'd live there. I wouldn't raise a family there, but as a single bachelor it's one of my favorite places to burn a weekend at. The average commute is 36 minutes? That's only 1 minute more than I already have to waste daily, while doing about 15-20 miles over the posted limit. Violent crime is not that bad either, I feel far safer walking the streets of NY than Reading and Philadelphia.

No Atlanta? Baltimore? St. Louis? NEW ORLEANS? Washington DC?

I have spent weeks in each of those cities and given the option of spending the rest of my life in one of them or death, I would need to think about it.

These people clearly didn't do enough travelling. They were right on the money with Flint, Detroit and Philly though.

Most of the big Philly apologists I have met moved out of their beloved city years ago. I always make sure I have at least a half tank of gas when driving through Philly so I will not need to get out of the car.

Seriously, no Minneapolis? It was -15 degrees the other morning when I walked my dog. It's like 5 degrees today and people are talking about how "nice" it is. Winter starts in September and ends in April. Yeah, it's clean and there's stuff going on, but have you ever felt -40 wind chill?

We have THE most painted murals in the country, but no one else knows about it. Philadelphia has a FANTASTIC music scene, no one knows about it. We also have some VERY good restaurants in town. All people know Philadelphia for is cheesesteaks, crime and the Liberty Bell.

Newsflash: Street hasn't been mayor since 2007.

Typical economic thinking...key in on high taxes and the amount of time someone spends sitting in their car. Here's a tip: make the taxes work for the area, and find a new way to commute! I don't mind a half an hour commute if I get to read or get exercise while doing it. But if the 40 GB HD in the Escalade is full of boring MP3's, then yes, that's miserable. But that's not the city's fault.

Also, Philadelphia is the home of the Eagles. And in the word of The Dude: "I fuckin' hate the Eagles, man."

Hate on Boston all you like, but let's face it. There are far worse cities. Like Springfield. I'll take small roads and impossible driving conditions over feeling like a little slice of Detroit got planted in the middle of New England.

Also, Boston has the Red Sox. And by the way, when did everyone suddenly start hating New England sports?

Eat: Primanti Bros sandwiches, Mad Mex, India Garden, Lulu's Noodles, Abay
See: Carnegie Museums, Andy Warhol, Mattress Factory, Wood Street Gallery, Cathedral of Learning, Mount Washington, PNC Park

There were the things I missed when I moved to New York City.

Philadelphia's not for pussies. You're better off staying away.

@mycroft2000:

In the world of southeast Michigan, higher taxes are simply a sign that more of your money is going outside of your town to prop up the City of Detroit and its corrupt leadership.

San Fran has such friendly and helpful bums, too.

The only part of LA I liked was the beach communities.

What really turned me against the whole idea was when I decided to go outdoors at night. It was about 8 pm. Before I'd walked 50 feet, I heard gunshots, coming from a block or two away. I'd been in some of San Francisco's worst neighborhoods in the middle of the night before. Once, there was a shooting a couple blocks from where I was. People started coming out of their homes to gawk. In Philly, everyone who was on the street immediately ran inside.

Clearly anything I thought might have prepared me, didn't.

I kept walking and I was accosted by three drunk teenagers. Maybe 12-14 years old. (First of all, they're like 14 and they're stumbling drunk on the street. Second...it's fucking 8 pm and they're already stumbling drunk.) They start trying to pick a fight with me. As they get closer, two of them think better of it, and start trying to talk down/hold back their stupid friend.

I'm big, and they were small. And drunk. I was in no danger, and they were in great danger. But that's one of those fights that even if you win, you lose. I doubt it would have been particularly healthy to be the 200 pound white guy who beat up 3 scrawny black teenagers in a 90+ percent black neighborhood.

I left the next morning. Law school can wait.

@yetiwisdom:

Seemed like a lot of things were improving...though I have to wonder how the sub-prime meltdown is affecting their urban renewal programs. And sure, maybe things will be great 20 years from now. But it isn't NOW.

Oh, and if there's one thing they're doing right in North Philadelphia, it's that they're not going whole hog on the gentrification. The only way in which yuppie condo neighborhoods do not suck as badly as stabby druggy neighborhoods is that you're less likely to die there. But you probably want to die just as badly.

Yes, Charlotte totally sucks. Please don't even think of moving here, especially all of you from up North and from California. I know you wouldn't enjoy our 65 degree February temps in our decent houses under 250K.

Heck, our Ikea won't even be completed until 2009, we only have 2 Trader Joe's, and Whole Foods still hasn't finished their store yet.

Nope, nothing to see here, move along.

@gyroball: I'm currently looking at $300K for a 2 bedroom condo outside NYC without central air and shared laundry facilities. It's all about location.

Let's say you have a decent 4 bedroom house that you bought for 63K in South Bend, Indiana. The same house (on the same lot) within 10 miles of Manhattan is 500K+.

baltimore maryland belonges on the list somewhere...i was a policeman there for 28 yrs and i can tell you it,s a dirty, mis-run city.....it's a shame ,'cause when i was growing up there ,it was a pretty nice place.....

.

YOU MISSED BALTIMORE MARYLAND...I WAS A POLICE THERE FOR 28YRS.....IT'S MIS-GOVERNED AND DIRTY...TIS A SHAME CAUSE WHEN I WAS GROWING UP THERE IT WAS A PRETTY GOOD PLACE.......

Meg, you should be ashamed of yourself. You know we Chicagoans put up with the Sports, Snow, Cold, Public Transportation Woes, etc because in the Summer... this is no better city in the country.

And as crooked as the politicians are... we keep electing them and are happy to do so.

And before someone jumps all over it, yes there is a reason for the final "h" in Pittsburgh.

I'm not clear on how the unemployment rate makes an employed person miserable, either.

The weather is the least miserable thing about Chicago/Detroit in my opinion. Yeah it's cold but you always have something to talk about. Instead of standing there awkwardly with your boss's boss, you can say, "Man, can you believe all this snow?" or "Wow, what was the wind chill last night?"

Terrible winter weather is one of the most powerful networking tools I've ever seen. The only thing that trumps it is smoking.

Besides, the misery index is another crappy indicator that economists use to make themselves seem important. Unemployment rate + inflation rate = misery? That's all? Come on.

The way the rank them miserable is stupid. If you live in NYC you work in NYC and can take the train. Also the weather is not that bad . Also the cost of living is not that bad considering it can be cheaper then living in the surrounding states.

Forbes Should know better then this.

@Wimpkins: Umm, no, the hockey team is downtown...the arena looks over the river to Cananananada. Curious as to where you got this idea?

Boston...just curious, why do people who have no affiliation with MIT or Harvard say it makes it great for living here? The people of MIT and Harvard look at you as ignorant townies. Does the intellectualism seep accross the river and make people in Boston, Back Bay or South B smarter? I do not think it does though the residents of those areas seem to believe so.

New Orleans should be on the list but I don't think you can say bad things about the city yet.

After reviewing the article and the criteria, wow, stupid. I could just as easily argue Boston on to the list. Also, there should have been areas to earn back points. Providence - great food. New York - 24/7. Detroit - Red Wings. Seems to me that the magazine needed to fill some pages.

@rodeo40:

It's 75 & breezy where I'm at. Also I guess you don't eat any citrus fruits or vegetables?

LA has traffic, a high cost of living, and pollution. But where else can you surf, golf, and ski all in the same day?

I spent 30 years of my life in Philly and I wholeheartedly agree with their #5 ranking

@VeritasNoir:
Pollyanna, if I didn't have something to kvetch about, I wouldn't have a life!

@bbbici: The hockey team is in the burbs.

I am tired of this Philadelphia bashing. Santa was drunk as a skunk and deserved to be boo'd (we also threw snowballs at him). What kind of example was he showing our kids?!

@BESCHIZZA

I moved back to Pittsburgh in August (was here for grad school 2003-05). I primarily moved back becasue I love the city, medium sized, lots of stuff to do. My one big gripe is that everyone claims it is CHEAP, which is a huge fallacy. It may be cheap to purchase a home in the suburbs, but the commute stinks and it is costly to park downtown. I would think most young professionals want to live in Shadyside or the Southside and both of those areas are extremely expense for renters and don't even think about trying to buy. People from Manhattan will probably laugh at this, but I moved here from Hartford, and I don't see the cost of living savings.

No, that's not the only thing; we can work to change the government!! I'm really excited about the 3 new city councilfolk that just took office.

Pittsburgh is great!! Low cost of living, there ARE jobs here despite the common wisdom, and there's a lot of cultural activity for our size. And Bears fans are welcome-- it's Browns fans that aren't greeted with open arms ;)

Don't cheesesteaks, soft pretzels and Wawas count for anything? Truth be told the hideous public transport situation has been improving. And the Belgian Beer bars are freakin' awesome! See you @ Monk's, Bishop's Collar, Eulogy, Abbaye ...

@xanadu1979: I shoulda been clearer...it's a GREAT place to visit. None like it in the western hemisphere. Cheap, great food and music everywhere, you can take your beer out onto the street (gasp!), it's about 70 outside right now, and you can get around mostly by walking.

But, to pay insurance, property taxes, while trying to find a contractor that isn't related to Satan makes it hard to live here.

A Seattle native who moved to California 'cause the traffic is better here. Really.

As far as transit, yes the CTA is probably mismanaged and so forth but the real problem is a lack of funding and patronage. Judging by the state of congestion on the roads (even in SPITE of the potholes you alluded to), people have yet to wake up and start embracing alternatives to driving. When they do, transit will improve. Until people are ready to support change then nothing ever will.

It's still a great place to visit though, really, we need your money....badly.

The list is somewhat bogus in that Forbes, as would be expected of it, includes higher taxes as an indicator of "misery," whereas in the world I live in, they are often a sign of higher-quality municipal services, which, although I suppose they don't instill unbridled joy in one's breast, don't really make one miserable.

There are downsides that the "BEST PLACE TO LIVE IN AMERICA!" hype misses, however. Government is hopelessly corrupt and broke, for example: the only thing to do it pretend it doesn't exist, and don't plan on starting a business there.

Having just visited NYC, I'm surprised to see it on the list. I really liked NYC--walking instead of battling traffic--taking a subway (even when crowded) also beats battling traffic. Plus the food, even the food on the street, is delicious.

I have also driven through Modesto a few times. I was surprised by the number of homeless I saw in Modesto--especially cause it's a small town. Yes, you see the homeless in SF and LA, but Modesto?

So sports teams were irrelevant to the list and you had to have more than just bad traffic to make the list.

What I don't understand is why they didn't include poverty or homeless rates.

So tack on a few hours drive if you want to travel in or out of Charlotte for a decent fare, as it means flying out of Raleigh/Durham or heading to South Carolina.

NYC would be great to live if you are fabulously wealthy and not fond of nature. For all others, it is miserable.

Detroit can't be all that bad or it couldn't have such an amazing hockey team.

Why does the list act like bad traffic only happens in these few cities? Clearly someone hasn't tried driving on 285 or 85 getting out of Atlanta during rush hour.

Wasn't surprised to see my old hometown Philly show up on there. Kinda funny that people STILL bring up that Santa thing, considering it happened what, over twenty years ago?

WTF? This is rationale? Sure those are the big employers, but there are more than a half-million people working in the Charlotte area, which means a small - albeit well-paid - fraction could *potentially* be affected *if* there are extensive layoffs at *both* banks at the same time. Plus, both tend to target their layoffs in other cities so as not to disturb the rather disgusting love affair they have going on with the city/county government.

Pick better reasons to say Charlotte sucks donkey butt, like the shortage of fine arts and cultural happenings, the extremely poor city/county planning, the way the real estate developers hold the entire area by the cojones, the modernized segregation that has led to an entire corridor of foreclosures along I85, the multitude of drunks that descend on the lake areas for the races in Concord or the boat festivals in Cornelius, the recent debacle with something as simple as appointing a new County Sheriff...There are so many!

Milwaukee and SE Wisconsin are just fantastic this time of year. Thanks for asking.

@Meg:
I know there's "Gaper's Block" in every megalopois, but it's so not surprising to discover that the term was coined in our fair city.

I drive the IKE daily, and often arrive home hoarse from shouting in vain at the various assholes, some of whom I've seen coming to a complete STOP on a 4-lane just to look at carnage in the adjacent lanes. It's infuriating and- in the context of the social compact to which we all implicitly agree when piloting a vehicle on the public roadway- utterly irresponsible.

WAIT! DC wasn't on there....We're continually blighted by "patriotic" tourist's...you know the type, they that think wearing a star spangled tube top makes you patriotic....Politicians, need I say more....ineffectual city government....it was recently found that our own tax department emplyees stole somewhere over $20 million over the past decade...predatory meter readers, violent random crime, ... oh, and August. If you think you have huidity where you live....IO invite you to DC in August. We may have jobs....but it just means we still have to go to work.

Where is North Las Vegas at? It should be #3 or #4.

I've never lived there but I loved visiting my sister in Rhode Island, everywhere you go is near the water.

They forgot Boston.

For all it's flaws (like being the most likely city in the US to get shot by a police officer) & being slightly boring at times, I still <3 Jacksonville.

Seriously. The rest of you fuckers stay the hell away.

Detroit and Flint? They should just put the whole damn state on the list. At least the Michigan "government" (and I use that term loosely) acknowledges those cities. They don't really care about all the other miserable places in the state.

The most positive thing to happen in Michigan is that the Democrats were pissed about the primary move and we only had half the amount of stupid political fighting this year.

I have no personal reason to feel bad for Detroit, but I do. Same reason I feel bad for central New York (Syracuse, etc). It's obvious that until fairly recently, fifty years or so, they were doing really well economically and were viable destination cities for people looking to relocate. Troubled cities make me sad. I want to fix all of them.

Just avoid certain areas after dark and take the back roads instead of the expressways and you're fine.

You can pretty much like any NFC team you want and no one will bother you. In fact you'll probably get a good deal of respect since the Bears are one of the few teams that Steeler fans find respectable (Bears, Packers... that might be it).

All are welcome... All are welcome (excpet for anyone who likes anything to do with: Cleveland, Cincinatti, Philladelphia, Baltimore and anyone who likes the Seahawks at the moment).

Aaahh..nothing like basking in the glow of providing an extensive answer to a rhetorical question.

The buses & trains barely work.
It's impossible to walk anywhere now because of all the unshoveled snow on the sidewalks 10 days after a big snow & now it's all turned to 3 inches of solid ice.
The streets are potholes filled with more potholes because of all the salt dumped every snow. Even when the snow has melted, the streets are still white from the salt, so everything rusts, everything!
Every single politician in Chicago, Cook County & Illinois is a crook!
Who constantly raise taxes.
On top of that, the governor is a mentally ill whack job!
Local TV news is either going on panic watch & screaming that a huge rain/snow/thunder storm is coming or some useless sweeps crap.

Being from Philadelphia I just can't stand seeing the words Pittsburgh.

Detroit is probably the most miserable place to live in America, so at least the list got that right. The suburbs can be nice, but even there the cost of living is high due to manufacturing / engineering wages.

The lack of Newark on the list is a huge black eye though. That place is a dump.

New Orleans would be #1 by a mile (our murder rate is the highest, notwithstanding Forbes' claim) if we weren't always eating and getting drunk. Perhaps they measured for misery during Mardi Gras?

I'm a Boston driver, and *I* have trouble navigating Providence. Yeah.

@Bladefist: On top of that, a lack of eye candy because a) no beaches and b) why bother burning hours and hours to look good three months out of the year? (I live in Indep.)

@Canerican: Yeah, because we all know that Dallas, San Antonio and Houston are such thriving metropoli! (I assume they were exempt from this study because there is no there there, right?) And Miami, Orlando and Tampa Bay -- if I can't make it there, I won't be able to make it anywhere! (Do any of the red states have actual cities, or just places where people come to work by day and drive like hell to get out of at 5 pm each night as they return to their vinyl-clad suburban shacks?)

Why isn't Washington, DC, on the list? Crime and politicians; what could be worse?

Don't forget, our transit system sucks too!

@RowdyRoddyPiper:
Pittsburgh is incredibly underrated; very nice city in a lot of ways.

@missdona:
True, but if you go east from the downtown area, the Portuguese Ironbound section has many excellent restaurants and nightlife and is very safe.

Meg, being from Pittsburgh I can tell you we welcome all fans of the NFL game. We are sure that even if you are a Bears fan you'll quickly fall in love with the Steelers...they're seductive. If you're a Cubs fan you'll fight right in with all the Pirate's fans too. Give us a glimpse as to what the next 85 years should be like.

@missdona:

I have to agree, this list can't be correct! There aren't any NJ cities on it!!

No NY NY ?

Why not? I love waiting in line...for everything.

I moved from NJ into Manhattan and I'm actually paying less rent, and my utilities are about a third. Plus I don't need a car, so I'm feeling pretty flush.

@ClayS: When we go to the airport (McCarter Hwy?), it seems awful.

I've lived in the Metro areas of San Francisco, Miami, Seattle, and Des Moines (the one in Iowa). Miami and Des Moines were by far the most miserable to me because of the oppressive, isolating weather. Des Moines has the added detriment of not having much to do, but I have imagination - I could always find something to do. But get sick of doing everything inside. It's almost always hideously hot or hideously cold. And that is just MISERABLE.

@missdona:
Some parts of Newark are very nice, like the Ironbound. The areas to the south though, pretty scary.

The misery of Detroit is a totally different beast than the misery of Chicago or NYC.

Certainly these people have never seen Newark, NJ.

@majortom1981:
Because its expensive to live in NYC. When it comes to expensive housing, its a matter of supply and demand. If a particular city is desirable, more people want to live there and housing is naturally going to be more expensive than a less desirable place. Personally, I would expect to see San Francisco on the list instead of NY, since it is not only expensive to live there, but bums roam the streets freely and crime is much higher.

Sure, Boston has high taxes, expensive housing, tunnels that collapse and kill people (Search:Big Dig), corrupt politicians, etc. etc., but we also have the Red Sox, Patriots, Bruins, Howie Carr, "Mumbles", MIT, Harvard, more Irish pubs than Ireland and the entertainment value of the city's reaction to LEDs (search: Boston hoax device) is priceless.

If you love a city without major grocery chains, an incompetent city bureaucracy, a thoroughly corrupt administration, huge taxes for both residents & non-residents (and corresponding lack of services), Detroit is your kind of place!

Things were looking upbeat for the city & the region under the previous mayor (Archer), but he declined to run for reelection because he was fighting a one man battle for the city.

Your city must be on there then.

How is NEw York City one of the most miserable? They have tons of people trying to moe there. IT cant be that miserable. HEck its cheaper to live in Manhattan then it is to live here on Long Island.