Thursday, January 31, 2008

Charlotte? A Miserable City?

Forbes reported that Charlotte ranked 9th in their Most Miserable Cities in the U.S.! Even to them it was a surprise.


The biggest surprise on our list is Charlotte, N.C., which is ranked ninth. Charlotte has undergone tremendous economic growth the past decade, while the population has soared 32%. But the current picture isn't as bright. Employment growth has not kept up with population growth, meaning unemployment rates are up more than 50% compared with 10 years ago. Charlotte scored in the bottom half of all six categories we examined. It scored the worst on violent crime, ranking 140th.


Detroit was number one. So what went into factoring this? Things like unemployment rates, taxes, commute times, weather, pollution and crime. Those factors may be true - we do have quite a bit of traffic - but what do you think? Do we deserve number 9 on the misery scale?

Read America's Most Miserable Cities from Forbes.com

- Rosie Reilman

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Wow! I'm floored. We might not be perfect but we are a far cry from seriously troubled. Most Charlotteans I know are more bored or unhappy with the cultural climate, not the cities climate. Growth is booming, green is everywhere, fantastic developments, and at heart some really swell people.

-a

The Employment Guide said...

I agree Andy, I was pretty surprised as well. I think that these measurements, like you said, don't take in account the people who live in the cities' perceptions of it either. Thanks for your feedback!

-Rosie