Phoenix Ranked the Most Miserable City in the U.S. (houses, unemployment)

[PhoenixAirConcerns]

We see a variety of viewpoints in the forum. Dow Jones and Wall Street Journal's take is that Phoenix is the most miserable major city in the U.S. There are a variety of factors which went into their numbers.

What do you think? Could it really be true?

DJFX / Misery

[observer53]

I'm certainly not surprised you're the one to find this and post it, as it agrees with how you feel. That link says NOTHING about how that data was obtained, what was asked (assuming people were polled). Ridiculous. And, this thread will simply spawn the same responses as all the other "do you hate/like it and why?" threads.

[mistygrl092]

Originally Posted by PhoenixAirConcerns

We see a variety of viewpoints in the forum. Dow Jones and Wall Street Journal's take is that Phoenix is the most miserable major city in the U.S. There are a variety of factors which went into their numbers.

What do you think? Could it really be true?

DJFX / Misery

Not that I disagree (just validates my feelings), but they don't really even go into any sort of explanation as to why - or did I miss that part? Oh, just noticed there is a one liner up top. But that really doesn't explain anything. As to housing woes, well, I can most definitely agree with that.

[EnicAZ]

It's sad but I'm not surprised, we have been really struggling here. [mod cut-- off topic]

[mistygrl092]

[mod cut-- orphaned... responding to off topic info]
I think what has really hurt this city is 1) housing and falling values 2) very low wages and 3) high unemployment.

And it goes without saying that long and hot summers are not a plus.

[AZ bound]

It's obviously not based on opinion.
It's unemployment, gas and home values.
They probably used the worst numbers as most miserable and went down the list.
A perfect example of how to skew statistics, because Portland couldn't be any more different than Phoenix, and they're number two?????

[Captain Bill]

What else can I say?


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1okb5EIo1nw

[observer53]

Originally Posted by EnicAZ

It's sad but I'm not surprised, we have been really struggling here. [mod cut-- off topic]

There's that "sad" word again. The gloom and doomers, of course, are not surprised, because they want to agree with this link and don't really care what information was used to get the posted percentages, which the link doesn't bother to show. Are there problems here? Surely there are. But, I put no stock in this survey or whatever it was, whatsoever.

[mistygrl092]

And I also made the point about lack of diversification in terms of sustaining this economy. Construction in housing really drove this town a few years ago - construction which is now no longer really taking place due to a glut of houses on the market. Plus, call centers (now being outsourced at a rapid pace which is no fault of Phoenix - just that there happened to be quite a few here) and resorts do not make for much room in terms of jobs available, although if one is in health care one has it made.

[maseyjean]

Originally Posted by PhoenixAirConcerns

We see a variety of viewpoints in the forum. Dow Jones and Wall Street Journal's take is that Phoenix is the most miserable major city in the U.S. There are a variety of factors which went into their numbers.

What do you think? Could it really be true?

DJFX / Misery

OMG Man,

Well according to Forbes.com, Phoenix isn't even in the top 20:

America's Most Miserable Cities - Forbes.com


The point is, there is no clear-cut way of knowing which city is the most miserable because these types of surveys go off of different factors which brings them to their conclusions.

That survey you found looks like nothing more than a powerpoint presentation