The city of Cleveland has had a colorful history. The Cuyahoga River, which runs through the city, famously caught fire in 1969 thanks to rampant pollution, and it wasn't the first time. In 1978 it became the first U.S. city to default on its debts since the Great Depression. Cleveland sports fans have had to endure more anguish than those in any other city. The city has been dubbed with a less than endearing nickname: the Mistake by the Lake.This year Cleveland takes the top spot in our third annual ranking of America's Most Miserable Cities. Cleveland secured the position thanks to its high unemployment, high taxes, lousy weather, corruption by public officials and crummy sports teams (Cavaliers of the NBA excepted).
Misery was on the rise around the country last year. Sure the stock market was up big, but so were unemployment, foreclosures and bankruptcy filings. Meanwhile housing prices, the U.S. dollar and approval ratings for Congress continued their downward spiral.
The widely tracked Misery Index initiated by economist Arthur Okun, which combines unemployment and inflation rates started 2009 at 7.3 and rose to 12.7 by the end of the year thanks to soaring joblessness. That is the highest level since 1983.
Our Misery Measure takes into account unemployment, as well as eight other issues that cause people anguish. The metrics include taxes (both sales and income), commute times, violent crime and how its pro sports teams have fared over the past two years. We also factored in two indexes put together by Portland, Ore., researcher Bert Sperling that gauge weather and Superfund pollution sites. Lastly we considered corruption based on convictions of public officials in each area as tracked by the Public Integrity Section of the U.S. Department of Justice.
More Here..
Goldman Sachs and other big banks aren't just pocketing the trillions we gave them to rescue the economy - they're re-creating the conditions for another crash
More Here
Goldman Sachs and other big banks aren't just pocketing the trillions we gave them to rescue the economy - they're re-creating the conditions for another crash
More Here
Being from the midwest and living in Cleveland currently, I don't think this is the most miserable place to live. Yes the weather is terrible 7 months out of the year, but there are plenty of good spots around here.
ReplyDeleteI would rate Canton, Youngstown, Toledo, Akron, Detroit, Gary IN, Flint, and Buffalo all ahead of Cleveland.
8:12 Misery may not be measured from your neighborhood. Perhaps you should take a drive through the blighted neighborhoods, read the paper and call the mayor to determine the struggle first hand. It appears the information given was based upon the numbers... have you personally ran the numbers and compared them to the rest of the country.
ReplyDeleteIn that they use "Sports teams success" as a factor, the credibility of this survey in my opinion is somewhat questionable. Of course the dumbed down idiotic sheeple love their sports.
ReplyDeleteIt looks like the "rust belt" cities continues to be the worst places to live according to this survey.