Forbes List: 10 Most Miserable Cities

Before arriving in the suburban hamlet of Stockton, California I did a little research. My only knowledge of Stockton up to that point were the jokes made about it when living in San Francisco. The few positive facts I found out were overshadowed by these glaring tidbits:

- 3rd Highest Unemployment in the state after Bakersfield and Fresno.
- 3rd Highest Percentage of methamphetamine addiction in the nation after Las Vegas and Bakersfield.
- 3rd Highest Percentage of grand theft auto in the nation after Detroit and Las Vegas.

When I came across Forbes Listing of the America's Most Miserable Cities I was expecting Stockton to be in there. You may think I am being pessimistic, but I am merely being a realist. Then I read the criteria for the listing

We looked at only the 150 largest metropolitan areas, which meant a minimum population of 371,000. We ranked the cities on the six criteria above [Commute times, weather, crime, pollution, unemployment, and personal tax rates] and added their ranks together to establish what we call the Misery Measure.

Hands down Stockton has got one of the worst crime and unemployment rates in the nation. Since most everyone works somewhere else reverse commute times can be horrid, but I doubt they counted those. With all the wonderful agricultural and industrial runoff starting in the Sierra Nevada and making its way down the Central Valley to end up here the water pollution here in the Delta is pretty high.

The only catch I could see was the population minimum of 371,000. From all appearances the population of Stockton should top out at 250,000 - 300,000 at the most. With a slight sense of disappointment I opened Forbes' slide show of Misery.

First was Detroit. Not a big surprise there. The Motor City, the Birthday of Motown, and the world's most famous White Rapper has been having a rough time even during the economic boom of the 1990's. With the current mortgage collapse and recession it could only have gotten worse.

Number two was . . . Stockton.

'Really?,' I thought 'This shithole suburban city has more than 371,000 people living in it?'

That was the fact that the was most difficult to swallow. The rest of it - crime rate, unemployment, environmental impact - were not that hard to believe. But it was really difficult for my mind to accept the concept of Stockton having a population bordering on 400,000.

As I flipped through the slides another surprise jumped out: Modesto made number eight. Those of you scratching your head wondering where Modesto is have good reason. Modesto's population density makes it look like Mayberry compared to Stockton. They are relatively close to each other, but in different counties. Stockton is on one side of the San Joaquin/Stanislaus county line. Modesto is on the other. This may explain their separate listings. The only other reason I could see for separating it from Stockton was to highlight the net worth of its most famous Modestian, George Lucus, compared with Modesto's financial woes.

To verify Forbes' population I went to the one true source for reliable information on the Internet - Wikipedia.Under to State of California's Department of Finance the population of Stockton is 289,789 and the population of Modesto is 207,010. What the hell? To be fair to Forbes, the US Cenus Bureau lists the "Core Based Statistical Area," of Stockton to be 673,170 and of Modesto to be 512,138. These are also the exact population numbers for the entire county of San Joaquin and Stanislaus respectively. In my opinion if a publication is going to put together a list of "Cities" they should be just that.

One last complaint about this article is the picture the editors used for the slid show. I swear I am not making this up.

I mean, come on, that is just lazy editorial style. To the uninitiated this photo makes Stockton look like the corporate headquarters of Borders Books. As a side note, that particular strip mall is off of Eight Mile Road.

There is no link to the article because why should I reward unsubstantiated research. For the record here is the complete list:

Detroit, MI - Motown is the worst in the country when it comes to violent crime, with an annual rate of 1,251 crimes for every 100,000 residents. Unemployment in the area is below the double-digit rates it hit in the early 1990s, but at 8.5% over the past three years, it is still the second-highest in the country among the 150 largest metro areas

Stockton, CA - The population of the Stockton metro area soared 28% over the past 10 years as people looked for affordable options to the pricey Bay Area. The population flow helped home prices jump 158% between 2000 and 2005, but they have fallen the past two years, as Stockton has one of the highest foreclosure rates in the country.

Flint, MI - Flint's decline has corresponded with the downturn in the U.S. auto industry. The Flint metro area has experienced a net migration out of Flint every year but one since 1990. One upshot of living in Flint is cheap housing. The median home price was only $104,000 last year, according to Moody's Economy.com.

New York, NY - The Big Apple is the nation's center for financial services, publishing, advertising and countless other industries, making job opportunities plentiful. But the costs can make all but the super-wealthy miserable. Housing costs are through the roof, and income tax rates are 10.5%, more than twice the U.S. average. Commuting times are also the worst, at an average of 36 minutes each way.

Philadelphia, PA - How miserable is Philly? The residents of the City of Brotherly Love once booed Santa Claus and pelted him with snowballs at an Eagles game. Maybe it's the long commutes, violent crime and plethora of toxic waste sites that has people grumpy. Philadelphia scored in the top 20 in all three areas.

Chicago, IL - Residents of the country's third-largest metro face long commutes (31 minutes on average) and high violent crime rates (619 crimes per 100,000 residents). Another chief complaint: the bitter-cold winters. And as for misery, nothing tops being a Cubs fan. The team has not won a World Series since 1908, the longest winless streak in baseball.

Los Angeles, CA - In sunny L.A., the weather is almost perfect. Everything else, not so perfect. If you are not stuck in traffic or forking over your earnings to put a dent in the state's massive budget deficit, chances are, you are choking on the city's polluted air.

Modesto, CA - George Lucas of Star Wars fame was born in Modesto, and one of his first movies, American Graffiti, was about teenagers cruising the streets of Modesto at night. Modesto could use some of Lucas' $3.9 billion fortune, as unemployment was an unseemly 8.7% in 2007. Of course, that is down from the early 1990s, when it topped 15%.

Charlotte, NC - Charlotte ranked in the bottom 50% of all six categories that we examined. Its worst showing was in violent crimes (838 crimes per 100,000 residents). As home to banking giants Bank of America and Wachovia, Charlotte could see an uptick in unemployment, thanks to the problems at those banks.

Providence, R.I. - Only New York City fares worst than Providence when it comes to income tax rates. The top rate for all of Rhode Island is 9.9%. Residents are fleeing the area, with a net migration of 20,000 out of the area over the past four years.