[lit-ideas] We Try Harder
- From: "Mike Geary" <atlas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: <lit-ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Fri, 6 Feb 2009 23:59:24 -0600
Singing the blues, again -- Memphis No. 2 on misery index
The Commercial Appeal
Friday, February 6, 2009
Memphis has come in second - after Stockton, Calif. - in Forbes magazine's
annual ranking of "America's Most Miserable Cities."
It's hard to believe, but our town beat out Chicago for the No. 2 spot.
The ranking considers commute times, corruption, pro sports teams, Superfund
sites, taxes (both income and sales), unemployment, violent crime and weather
(Hey, we can't do anything about that!).
As the magazine points out, we have the second-highest crime rate in the
country (behind Detroit), public corruption to beat the band and an "onerous"
sales tax.
Reporter Kurt Badenhausen really let himself go on the Grizzlies.
"Pro sports has been a mess in Memphis in recent years as well," he writes in
the article that's on the magazine's Web site, Forbes.com.
"The city's lone major franchise, the Memphis Grizzlies, has lost 74 percent of
its games during the past three years, the worst in the NBA."
We do score points for not having a state tax on earned income. And there's a
tip of the hat to FedEx, our biggest employer.
The other miserable cities on the list, counting down from No. 4, are
Cleveland, Ohio; Modesto, Calif.; Flint, Mich.; Detroit, Buffalo, N.Y.; Miami
and St. Louis.
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