Chicago: "third-most miserable city"? (Newark, Hammond: crime, how much, unemployment)

[1greatcity]

Not long ago, Forbes magazine ranked Chicago as America's third-most miserable city, based on factors such as lousy weather, long commutes, and rising unemployment.
Is the ranking is valid? If so, it would mean that Chicagoans are living in more daily misery than residents of places like Gary or Buffalo -- or even Detroit! Wow, I had no idea Chicago was that bad.

[soulful]

Originally Posted by 1greatcity

Wow, I had no idea Chicago was that bad.

Sounds shocking

Chicago isn't miserable at all. You should come check it out for yourself.

[Alacran]

no.

[jefffla01]

I think a lot of people who the evaluating on these surverys are from glitz and glitter destination cities----lots of sun, sunglasses, and sunscreen.

I am from the midwest----and in no way, shape, or form is Chicago anywhere near the third most miserable city in the country.

All these surveys generated have to be taken tongue in cheek----interesting to read---great to just move on to the next survey.

[OhAcid]

These rankings are all absolutely stupid. I don't care who you are or what you do or where you live. If your life is "miserable" haul yourself over to some country where you live in a shack on a dollar a day income and then tell me how much your life sucks living in a major US city.

Until then, the most miserable city in America doesn't exist.

If you're miserable in Chicago then you must be living under the State street bridge. And even the people I've met who do live there enjoy their lives in the city just fine.

[Irishtom29]

I'm a miserable son of a ***** wherever I am.

[radiojunkie2006]

That's ridiculous! What size population does Forbes cite? Chicago is worse than say Newark NJ? Dumb!

[jgardener]

1greatcity quote:
I should also mention that in 2009, Forbes ranked Chicago as the "third most miserable city", while STL ranked down at 10th place. So the OP-- who's apparently from Chicago -- has a LOT of nerve posting a negative thread like this about STL, when Chicago rated far worse!
Anyway, such rankings are not facts. They are simply one magazine's biased opinion. But CD threads are not required to be fact-based, right? They are forums of discussion and include a variety of opinions. Therefore, the third-place ranking that Chicago was given is also a valid thread topic.

I agree such rankings are not facts, the data is often skewed, as you should know being from St. Louis. Unfortunately in the past few years, St. Louis has been on a number of "Worst" lists, much if it from skewed information. The city being it's own entity and not in the same county as the suburbs, therefore the crime statistics are applied to a much smaller population and not the metropolitan area as it would be in most other cities.

That being said, it seems like you posted in the Chicago forum because you're ticked off. Someone with Chicago in their user name pointed out that St. Louis is on the Forbes list and you decided to retaliate by posting in Chicago.

It's not us against them, both cities are on the same list, and who knows if that person is even from Chicago. My mother's neighbor in St. Louis has a license plate on her car that says "CHI GIRL". While visiting I happened to have a conversation with her, and realizing she hadn't even heard of Lakeview (one of our more well known city neighborhoods), I asked her where she was from. She's from Hammond, IN and never actually lived in the city of Chicago let alone the state of IL.

Neither city really belongs on that arbitrary list and what does it really even matter in the whole scheme of things.

[gomexico]

Originally Posted by 1greatcity

Not long ago, Forbes magazine ranked Chicago as America's third-most miserable city, based on factors such as lousy weather, long commutes, and rising unemployment.
Is the ranking is valid? If so, it would mean that Chicagoans are living in more daily misery than residents of places like Gary or Buffalo -- or even Detroit! Wow, I had no idea Chicago was that bad.

If Forbes - a generally poor-quality publication - ranked Chicago in such a position, St. Louis proably ranked first. By a mile.

[ToriaT]

This is silly. chicago is no more miserable than anywhere else and is probably quite a bit more positive than many other places. its a world class city and one of the handful of cities that are actually vibrant and thriving in a number of ways in spite of the bad economy. It might be cold here but that is overplayed and the real bad weather only lasts a few months. we do not have life threatening floods, wildfires or earthquakes here. there are quite a few cultual activities and we have good sports teams (well sometimes). If you don't believe me come and visit and we'll show you how we roll.