Forbes has ranked the most miserable cities in the United States. They looked at 200 of the largest metro areas and in U.S. for the rankings and factored in everything from unemployment rates, foreclosures, taxes, political corruption, violent crime and home prices. Other metrics included weather, commute times, and sports team.
Detroit, Michigan ranked first. Forbes reported that violent crime was down in 2011 but it is still the highest rate in the country with 1,052 violent crimes committed per 100,000 people.
Some officials aren't so happy with the ranking."I think they need to come to Detroit and take a look," said City Council President Pro Tem Gary Brown to The Detroit News. "The perception doesn't really meet the reality."
Another Michigan city, Flint came in at number 2. "Flint razed 775 abandoned homes in the year ending October, 2011 to try and change the city landscape. The state of Michigan appointed an emergency manager last year to take over Flint's budget and operations Crime remains a severe problem with the violent crime rate the third worst in the U.S," reported Forbes in 2012. This year they said that Detroit is the only city that has a higher net out-migration rate and ranks third in the country for violent crime just behind Detroit and Memphis.
Rockford, Illinois due to its economy and high unemployment came in third while the Windy City, Chicago came in fourth. "Chicago has passionate supporters, but residents must endure the misery of long commutes, plummeting home prices, brutal winters and high foreclosure rates. The migration rate out of Chicago is the sixth worst among the 200 largest metros," reported Forbes.
The California city of Modesto came in fifth due to 6,859 foreclosures in 2012 and unemployment was at 15 percent while another modern California city, Vallejo came in fifth due to being bankrupted for three years, ending in 2011. They still reportedly have issues with unemployment and foreclosures.
Others in the top ten include Warren, Michigan; Stockton, California; Lake County, Illinois and the big apple, New York City.
See the full list here.
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