I'll bet you the sandwich the folks on the boat don't feel stressed out. Nice photos.

I would have guessed NYC would be first, but second also makes sense.

Three California cities are also on the list, although I have no idea what, if anything, that means.

I have a book on "The Best Places To Live" because I'm a demographics/atlas nerd, and it ranks about 400 metro areas in stress factor. I believe my town got a pretty high stress rating because of poor healthcare, poor education and a declining industrial economy. And allergies and weather from hell. It's not a big town either, so there's no big-city amenities to offset things.

Writing this out has made me wonder why I don't move.

Way to torture the Chicago ex patriots with a picture of a Portillo's Chicago Style dog.

What do people in San Deigo have to be stressed out about? Too many days of 75 degree sunny weather?

@doctor_cos: Sandwich? That is a Chicago-style hot dog.

These Forbes lists are utter crap designed to promote the Forbes brand. There I said it now can we all just ignore the Forbes advertising in the future?

I hope DC was number 11, it's definitely up there.

It seems to me that the best way to determine the country's most stressful cities would be to, ummm, poll a random sample from each city about their stress level. But what do I know? Maybe air quality and unemployment are good proxies.

Still, that would make Morocco much more stressful than the US, which is opposite my impression from living there. Maybe they should factor in the availability of marijuana.

The parking in San Francisco is stressful. It once took me 40 minutes to find a damn spot. Now I take bart or caltrain and walk.

I'd imagine it's pretty stressful to live in Galveston, TX right now.

@FunPaul: Mmmm Portillos :) I could go for a jumbo dog on that poppy seed steamed bun with the works! Anyone want to go wit?

@AngrySicilian: With

In other polls Chicago is also the unhealthiest eating, most number of bars/beer consumption and I think most ardent professional sports fans. These are off the top of my head from dimbulb morning news anchors.

BUT add those in and by being drunk, eating glutinous food and watching sports I'm totally not stressing.

As a non-native Chicagoan I find it a very non-stressful city as big cities go. People are friendly which I think is a big attraction to folks like me when they relocate.

And besides the Junk food there is a booming restaurant scene here. I dare any city to match it right now.

"There are 7.2 million residents in the City by the Bay, and they've got cause for stress."

The 2006 census says 744,041. Did they mean the entire bay area?

Detroit is not the most stressful? The Armpit of the Midwest? The Devil's Navel? Well, maybe being resigned to both a life and death in hell is calming enough.

I kid, though. Keep on rocking, Detroit.

Salt Lake City??

That is NOT a hot dog -- it's a goddammed salad.

Chicago is #1 for stress…probably because the #1 worse airport is O'hare.

Florida's not on the list? :(
Do they not understand how much it sucks to be tripping over old/dieing people 24/7?

This is, as most people know, a meaningless poll. However, they are tons of ommitted variables that they should have considered like, "Average Work Week", "Ratio of Single Parent/Multi-Parent Households", "Divorce Rates", Crime, and a Restructured Munical GDP.

Anyhow, I don't really buy this list.

How about NOLA? Crime, poverty, corruption, hurricanes, idiot politicians, the list goes on and on.....

If you follow the links to the study methodology, this is based on housing prices and unemployment rates.

So if you rent and want to buy a house and are unemployed, these are the most stressful cities to live in.

On the other hand, if you already own your own place and are happily employed, there is near zero stress here in beautiful sunny San Diego except the occasional traffic snarl.

@AngrySicilian: No, no ... keep it the way it was! ... *wit* sounds good - kinda Chicago-y! ... I'll grab a dog wit' ya!

The best think that has happened to me since I moved to godforsaken Los Angeles is the opening of a Portillo's within 30 miles from here. I think I'll be going there Saturday.

@AngrySicilian:
I wish, the drives a little long for me.
You mind getting me one and sending it to Minneapolis?

Love visiting Chicago on business. Loved the people. Loved the food. O'Hare was one of the most efficient airports I've ever experienced up to three times a month for the two years that I used it on business trips. I'm just not buying Forbes' conclusion.

I'm 4th generation born and raised in California. Three California cities made the list! That I can buy. I've got some other cities in California that ought to get "honorable mention." San Diego seems odd to me though.

I was going to be pissed if Cleveland didn't make the list. We make EVERY bad list. We have the franchise on bad lists.

7th? Eh... we'll try harder next year.

Chicago was also the number 6 most miserable city in the country. [consumerist.com]

I'm so happy I moved here from San Jose. All that sunshine and awesome weed was a real bummer.

@Crabby Cakes... (formerly Ali..): Moving to LA was one of the worst decisions I've ever made. I can't wait until I save up enough cash to get out of this god damn city.

@theblackdog: dc must be 11 of the whole list is bullshit.

@Sinflux: I agree. I just keep telling myself that every day is one day closer to getting the hell out of here. I'd take Chicago over L.A. in a heartbeat.

Meh. Really don't care what the polls say, I still love Chicago and am happy to have lived here most of my life.

I live in SLC and I'm not stressed, what is there to be stressed about?? The lowest average age group, largest families per capita, one of the highest gas prices in the country, large population of illegals, oppression of liquor laws, lake effect.....yeah I'm not stressed.

I would have much preferred the "least stressful cities" list, so I could check job offerings there.

Wasn't Chitown just ranked the 11th best city to live in? I guess not being in the top ten has really stressed us out! And how the heck is Detroit only 3rd, they need to be numero uno, dammit! I would much rather live in Chicago than Dtown.

@OldHack: Exactly, which is why it is healthy and good for ya!

"and in city where everybody drives to get around"

That would be a neat trick as Chicago is the city with the 2nd most public transportation riders. The "survey" fails right there.

@B: I live in San diego, and besides the traffic and it being cloudy by the beach 250 days / year, I have no idea what's stressful about SD.

Hey, stressful and good aren't mutually exclusive. I drive through lots of shitty areas on a regular basis where there isn't a lot of stress.

Sometimes, the good stuff comes with a lot of stress!

Got no job, no house, no spouse, no money?

Well, then you got no worries about promotions/raises, no mortgage payment, no nagging, no concern over the value of your 401(k), and no stress!

A majority of the rich people I know with fabulous houses, cars, boats, etc... are always stressed, but they have the best "stuff."

Mmm Portillo's. One of the reasons I miss living in Chicago. Other reasons include Giordanno's, Garrett's Popcorn, and Heaven on Seven.

San Diego... great weather, great activities... lousy traffic, high housing costs, and lousy pay.

@FunPaul: Wayne's in NE Portland has Chicago dogs, Old Style on draft, and shows the Cubs games...

@Rabbi Dave:

They also put too much stupid crap on their hot dogs.

@JosephFinn: Yeah, most of my friends here *don't* drive. I sold my car over two years ago after 3 years of not driving it. Also, since gas prices have gone up even more people rely on the CTA. I think LA is probably the city where everyone drives to get around.

@kerry:

By LA, you're hopefully including Orange, San Diego, Riverside, San Bernardino and possibly Ventura counties. ;)

I've lived in NYC, Detroit (and I mean Detroit proper, as in, the view from my apartment was surrounding projects and arsoned lots), and LA. NYC is so much more stressful than either of the other two that I don't even know how they can be on the same list. Maybe it's just me, but I'd rather be stuck in traffic than jammed into a subway car with my nose stuck in someone's armpit and some random person groping my ass because it's so crowded I can't turn around to confront them. Seriously. Give me a random LA traffic jam any day.

I strongly dislike living in NYC. It's a fun place to visit, but living here (3.5 years now) has begun to wear on me and my mental health. It's sort of like if almost every day of your life is an overcrowded party. It's fun for awhile, but sometimes you just want to kick back and watch a little TV and not be around so many damn people all the time. And forget about privacy - you can't value your privacy and stay sane here.

Yes, moving here less than a year after spending several months in rural Wyoming may have been a bit too big of a shock to the system...(by the way, I'd go back to rural Wyoming in a second, tweekers and oilmen be damned.)

@AngrySicilian: Yea got a Portilio's right down the street from my house, Meet you there at 7?

@Sinflux: Good luck, some people have tried to get out of here for years.

@kerry: Yep and it shows, I'd love to take the train, but the schedule sucks and the busses are overrun with illegals.

@varro: Now they just need Al's I-talian Beef, Mario's I-talian ice, and a good stuffed pizza, and they'd be set.

@ThickSkinned: San Jose should be on there, there may be lots of sun and weed but ironically the people totally suck...