Do you live in one of the US's most stressful cities?

[BlueRidge]

I don't. :summer:

America's Most Stressful Cities 2010 (Yahoo)
(http://realestate.yahoo.com/promo/americas-most-stressful-cities-2010)

Top 5:


1. Las Vegas, Nev.
Metropolitan Statistical Area: Las Vegas-Paradise, NV Metropolitan
High Unemployment Rank: 1
Long Commute Times Rank: 32
Long Working Hours Rank: 6
Limited Health Care Rank: 3
Poor Physical Health Rank: 2
Limited Exercise Rank: 1

2. Los Angeles, Calif.
Metropolitan Statistical Area: Los Angeles-Long Beach-Santa Ana, CA
High Unemployment Rank: 7
Long Commute Times Rank: 6
Long Working Hours Rank: 26
Limited Health Care Rank: 2
Poor Physical Health Rank: 1
Limited Exercise Rank: 11

3. Houston, Texas
Metropolitan Statistical Area: Houston-Sugar Land-Baytown, TX
High Unemployment Rank: 26
Long Commute Times Rank: 10
Long Working Hours Rank: 1
Limited Health Care Rank: 1
Poor Physical Health Rank: 5
Limited Exercise Rank: 11

4. Tampa, Fla.
Metropolitan Statistical Area: Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater, FL
High Unemployment Rank: 5
Long Commute Times Rank: 17
Long Working Hours Rank: 10
Limited Health Care Rank: 13
Poor Physical Health Rank: 4
Limited Exercise Rank: 9

5. Riverside, Calif.
Metropolitan Statistical Area: Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, Calif.
High Unemployment Rank: 2
Long Commute Times Rank: 3
Long Working Hours Rank: 26
Limited Health Care Rank: 6
Poor Physical Health Rank: 7
Limited Exercise Rank: 16


click to the pictures of the most stressful cities to see the top ten

[DickButtonFan]

Wow no NYC or chicago?

[BlueRidge]

NYC and Chicago are in the top ten but not the top 5.

Here's the rest of the top 10:

6. Miami
7. Dallas
8. NYC
9. Chicago
10. Detroit

[Aceon6]

Wow no NYC or chicago?

They're both in the top 10.

[DickButtonFan]

Oops I meant in top 5.

[genevieve]

I'm surprised Detroit is only #10

[Amy L]

I'm going to choose to think of my city not as stressful, but as winning a bronze medal in something!

[Jenna]

It's fun to visit big cities, but I could never imagine living in one. The sound of horns honking would drive me to the insane asylum alone. NYC is especially dreadful.

[Orable]

I was shocked to see that Chicago's not in the top 5, but then there it was, holding onto it's spot in the top ten. I note that traffic ( :yikes: ) and the insane commute in Chicago is ranked at #4. Quel surprise :P

[Anita18]

:rofl: LA is only #6 in long commute time?

[deltask8er]

NO, I do NOT! :angryfire Why do you ask?!

:P

[Bostonfan]

It's interesting when you consider that many people feel East Coast folks are fast-paced and intense compared to their more laidback, slow-paced, and supposedly health conscious West Coasters. You would think more East Coast cities would be deemed stressful.

[Lara]

NYC won the long commute time. :scream:

Interesting that it scored third in lack of exercise - I guess that's due to counting the metro area as a whole? Those are the two categories that hurt.

[BlueRidge]

I think these two factors may have skewed the rankings a bit, Limited Health Care and Poor Physical Health. East Coast cities often have better services and a better safety net so those two aspects might lower their rankings, but I'm not sure that's exactly what we are all thinking of when we think stress.

D.C. is known for its workaholics, but actually outside of the hard-driving politicos its quite laid-back. I think. Or maybe that's me that's laid-back. :lol:

On the exercise thing though, there are so many people out running in my neighborhood it looks like its an outdoor gym.

[Aaron W]

The only thing that truly stressed me while living in #3 Houston were the frequent traffic jams on the highways in town. Other than that, I didn't feel all that much stress.

As for Chicago, again, any stress I felt generally was the result of traffic jams going to/from work (I lived in the city, but worked out in the suburbs). After my first year there, I no longer needed to do that commute and I couldn't have been happier in Chicago.

I guess the theme of the story for me is driving. If I don't have to deal with driving & frequent traffic jams, I feel relatively happy and much less stressed. That's why I'll always prefer locations like Boston, NYC, Philly, DC, Chicago, and San Fran... all of which offer a more realistic chance of avoiding the freeways and instead either walking or using rapid transit to get to work.