Unhappiest Place in the Country

The most unhappy place in the country is New York, apparently.

Followed closely by Connecticut and New Jersey.

Apparently, when researchers combined a variety of studies, they found that people in NY et al (subjectively) reported less happiness and satisfaction AND (objectively) experienced in greater proportions the most common factors in decreased happiness: high cost of living, hard or long commutes, unhealthy environments, and poor schools.

Hmmm, I don't usually associate Connecticut with poor schools or unhealthy environments. But the first two, absolutely.

Then why do so many people live here? I would say it has to do with ambition, challenge, curiosity, competition, excitement, at least for those of us who choose to be here. And of course, none of those really lead to contentment and satisfaction; maybe New Yorkers wouldn't be happy anywhere because of who they are. Which is why they end up in New York (or its neighbors). For the researchers, the fact that lots of people move to NYC is part of the problem--people hear that the places are great and exciting places to live, which drives up the congestion and cost of living and hard commutes.

The happiest place: Maine. Others in the Top 10 were Alabama, South Carolina, Montana, Mississippi, Arizona, Tennessee, Florida, Hawaii, Louisiana. Louisiana!!!???? Yes, apparently even with Katrina.

And, for my loyal Texas readers, I can't find where you rank. So, apparently, you're not super happy or very miserable.

The article reporting the studies was clever and acerbic, concluding with

Not to be unkind, but some states that made the Top 10 are among the poorest in the country. Are people there truly happy, or are they wearing “What, me worry?” smiles.

More important, might contentment be overrated? Seriously, isn’t restlessness, even outright discontent, often a catalyst for creativity?

We’re from the Harry Lime school. If you’ve seen the film classic “The Third Man,” you will remember that character’s admonition: “In Italy for 30 years under the Borgias they had warfare, terror, murder and bloodshed, but they produced Michelangelo, Leonard da Vinci, and the Renaissance.

“In Switzerland they had brotherly love. They had 500 years of democracy and peace, and what did that produce? The cuckoo clock.”