BusinessWeek ranked the 20 unhappiest cities in the U.S. last week and found Portland, Ore., in first place.
Basing its rankings on rates of depression, suicide, crime, divorce, unemployment, cloudy days and other criteria, Portland earned its title with the help of the highest depression rate in the country, 222 cloudy days a year and Oregon’s high unemployment.
The most recent data on suicide rates are nearly four years old, but BusinessWeek turned to crisis hotlines for its ranking on suicide rates and found that calls to Oregon’s suicide, drug and alcohol help lines were up 71 percent in January 2009 from January 2008. Portland ranked 12th-highest in the country for suicide.
The city also had the fourth-highest divorce rate.
In an interview with the Emerald in January, state labor economist Art Ayre said Oregon’s consistently high unemployment is due in part to the state’s residential desirability.
With its diverse, green landscape and temperate Northwest weather, families love Oregon, Ayre said, and while many move to Oregon, few leave. Oregon’s strong draw leaves it with too few jobs, he explained.
While Oregon may be an attractive place to move to, BusinessWeek’s new list indicates that its gloomy days and joblessness may be wearing on Oregonians.
BusinessWeek ranked Portland, St. Louis, New Orleans, Detroit and Cleveland the top five unhappiest cities, respectively. Also on the list: Las Vegas, Sacramento, Calif., and Seattle.
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