I'll probably take a bunch of flak for this, so let me state right off that it's a purely subjective commentary from an opinionated old broad. I will also freely admit that I have grown wussy in my old age and hate cold weather, but the political climate in most of the warmer states is such that I really don't want to move to any of them either. I currently live in rural northern Virginia, outside of a small city in which there are both a fairly large state university and a smallish Mennonite university. It's located in the Shenandoah Valley, between the Appalachians and the Blue Ridge Mountains, and is very beautiful. We have a decent climate weather wise, although the winters are colder and snowier than I prefer, but the political climate frankly sucks. Our congressional delegate is disgustingly smarmy and rightist, a complete tool of the poultry producers who seem to dominate the area economically, and the few Democrats in the area can't seem to mount a credible challenge to him. Why do I live here? Well, because several years ago, a charming gentleman who had been courting me for awhile managed to convince me…..and the rest is history! I packed up and moved from Richmond, where I thought I had permanently relocated myself, and which I liked for a whole number of reasons, and moved up here, and despite occasional grumbles about weather and amenities, I've been quite happy since…..which proves (to me, at least) that happiness is a subjective thing.
So the other day I came across this article on HuffPo entitled "The 10 Cities With The Highest Quality Of Life". I couldn't resist reading it, of course; I had to know what cities these were, who thought so, and why. Turns out it was a study by Nerdwallet, and according to the article, it was based on a variety of factors, including the median price of rent (as a percentage of median income), the average number of hours residents spend commuting to work and working, the percentage of residents with health care coverage and the unemployment rate for the 100 largest U.S. cities. Results, with my comments, below the orange squiggly.
1. Madison, WI Now, I love Madison. I really do. But live there? Uh-uh. I lived there from the age of 7 until I was 29. Great political climate, an island of sanity (mostly) in an otherwise kind of backward place, good schools, good public transportation, plenty of culture, not to mention UW. But come on, people. The cost of living there is ridiculous for a city that size, and always has been! And the job situation….well, unless you're employed by the university or the state, it's always been a little chancy. That's one reason we left. The other was the climate….it's just too cold for too long. One winter with a small baby was all it took for me. And like a lot of places, Madison takes itself entirely too seriously.
2.Lincoln, NE Now I KNOW someone is kidding! Freezing one's essentials off 8 months a year on the prairie in a dark red state, and frying for most of the other 4? I lived there for a year as a kid and the weather is about all I remember. At least it has a state university.
3 and 4. Minneapolis and St. Paul, MN What can I say? Great cities, both of them, but way too cold for way too long, and mosquitoes from hell in the summer. Good places to visit in summer though, and fine places if you like cold weather. Note: I can't figure out whose idea it was to settle Hmong and Somali people in that climate.
5. Omaha, NE See Lincoln, above, minus comments about living there, and no state university. I once visited Omaha in winter (not my idea) and would not wish that on anyone.
6. Buffalo, NY Ugly industrial city. Lake effect snow. The Bills. My parents lived in Syracuse for 5 years and we used to joke that Syracuse got all the snow Buffalo didn't use.
7. Lexington, KY Probably the most livable city on the list, IMNSHO. I've spent considerable time there visiting friends, and it's a nice town. Climate similar to here. Of course they have Turtle McConnell and Li'l Randy Paul, but that can be fixed….
8. Lubbock, TX Flat. Awful weather. Texas Tech, which can be either a plus or minus, I suppose.
9. Fort Wayne, IN Another one of those "you gotta be kidding" reactions. I have a friend who is living in Fort Wayne and can't wait to get out of there for a variety of reasons. She'd prefer to live in Bloomington, which at least has IU to recommend it, but would prefer not to live in Indiana at all. She feels like the only Democrat in the state.
10. Fremont, CA I had to look this one up, and even after looking it up, I'm not sure what distinguishes it from any other Bay Area community. They seem to bleed into one another. Nothing about it seems to be terribly outstanding one way or another, at least to my eye. I'm not particularly attracted to the area, despite the fact that both brothers have lived there and one still does. I seem to be firmly rooted in the east, just because that's where I've spent much of my life.
After I perused that list and thought about it for awhile, I went looking for other lists of similar type and found a couple of interesting ones that purported to rate "happiness". One ranks cities in terms of "happiest and healthiest" (this one was done by Prevention magazine) and the other in terms of an "overall happiness" scale, which was a Gallup poll based on a series of questions about life evaluation, physical health, heathy behavior, emotions, work, and something they called "basic access".
The "happiest and healthiest cities" per Prevention are:
1. San Jose, CA
2. Salt Lake City, UT
3. Minneapolis-St. Pal, MN
4. Anaheim, CA
5. San Diego, CA
6. Fargo, ND
7. San Francisco, CA
8. Madison, WI
9. Honolulu, HI
10. Sioux Falls, SD
and the "overall happiest" per Gallup were:
1. Boulder, CO
2. Lincoln, NE
3. Fort Collins-Loveland, CO
4. Provo-Orem, UT
5. Honolulu, HI
6. Madison, WI
7. Cedar Rapids, IA
8. Gainesville, FL
9. Bridgeport-Stamford-Norwalk, CT
10. Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV
Note that Madison, WI is the only one that made all three lists. I guess if you don't mind winter and a high cost of living, it might be the place you'd like. As for me, I'm still looking for a place where "white Christmas" is more likely to refer to sand than snow and the politics aren't TOO crazy….and the same charming gentleman is still with me.