Somehow, reading over the results of this study, it makes sense in America. A recent study has revealed that younger Americans are willing to trade happiness, for better prospects of acquiring a job, or lower housing prices in declining cities. The analysis, as co-authored by Joshua Gottlieb, of The University of British Columbia's Vancouver School of Economics, suggest people are deciding to trade happiness for other gains. The research as derived from the working paper "Unhappy Cities" as released by the U.S. National Bureau of Economic Research, utilized survey information, that asked participants about their satisfaction with their lives. The survey's interpretation of the data, suggest that individuals are willingly to endure less happiness, in exchange for higher incomes, finical security or lower housing costs. "Our research indicates that people care about more than happiness alone, so other factors may encourage them to stay in a city despite their unhappiness," -Joshua Gottlieb. Further research into the survey, found that people in particular regions or cities were unhappy, or less satisfied with their lives and these levels coincided with the overall levels of decline with the cities these people resided in. The happiness/satisfaction of newcomers and long term residents in these declining cities, are equal and suggest that overall unhappiness persist overtime. Historically it have been shown that the happiness levels, did not change even when these unhappy cities are prosperous. Top 10 happiest metropolitan areas with a population greater than 1 million (as of 2010): 1. Richmond-Petersburg, VA 2. Norfolk-Virginia Beach-Newport News, VA 3. Washington, DC 4. Raleigh-Durham, NC 5. Atlanta, GA 6. Houston, TX 7. Jacksonville, FL 8. Nashville, TN 9. West Palm Beach-Boca Raton, FL 10. Middlesex-Somerset-Hunterdon, NJ Top 10 unhappiest metropolitan areas with a population greater than 1 million (as of 2010): 1. New York, NY 2. Pittsburgh, PA 3. Louisville, KY 4. Milwaukee, WI 5. Detroit, MI 6. Indianapolis, IN 7. St. Louis, MO 8. Las Vegas, NV 9. Buffalo, NY 10. Philadelphia, PA U.S. metropolitan areas with the highest reported happiness: 1. Charlottesville, VA 2. Rochester, MN 3. Lafayette, LA 4. Naples, FL 5. Baton Rouge, LA 6. Flagstaff, AZ 7. Shreveport, LA 8. Houma, LA 9. Corpus Christi, TX 10. Provo, UT The least happy American regions are: 1. Scranton, PA 2. St. Joseph, MO 3. Erie, PA 4. South Bend, IN 5. Jersey City, NJ 6. Johnstown, PA 7. Non-metropolitan West Virginia 8. Springfield, MA 9. New York, NY 10. Evansville-Henderson, IN-KY [HR][/HR] The following image displays the various regions in the United States and their levels of happiness. View attachment 7233 [HR][/HR] References: University of British Columbia. (2014, July 22). Study reveals 'unhappiest' cities in the U.S.. ScienceDaily. Retrieved July 23, 2014 from www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/07/140722103917.htm
This strikes me as rather silly. Financial security is a major component of happiness! Few people can have everything they want. If attending concerts, theater and ballet, taking nice vacations, skiing, eating in five-star restaurants and driving a large, safe, comfortable, snow-competent car are important to you, and you want to have children, yet you and your wife have jobs with modest salaries, you're not going to be able to also live in a large house with trees in an upper-middle-class neighborhood. If the up-scale home is more important to you because of safety and security concerns, neighbors with similar priorities, peace and quiet, a dog for the children (every child should have one so there is one figure in his life who always stands by him), a garden and trees, then you're going to have to make some hard choices about the entertainment and other conspicuous consumption. We all have choices to make. Duh? These three actually comprise one large metropolitan area. I live in the Washington-Baltimore corridor and I can attest to the fact that people are indeed happier here than in other places I've lived. Surely because we're close to the Capitol Building and money just oozes out through the cracks. All you have to do is stand there and catch it. Unemployment is much lower here than the rest of the country; people come here to find jobs. You've got some crime problems in those places, although NYC has cleaned itself up considerably in the past couple of years so I don't believe its ranking is accurate anymore. But note that many of these cities are in the Rust Belt. No one is happy in a city that's falling apart due to changes in the way civilization works. Detroit??? Really? It's almost a ghost town! The city is bankrupt and the population is decreasing rapidly. I get sad just thinking about it; I can't imagine what it's like to actually be one of the few people who still live there!
