People like lists, and not just David Letterman's nightly top 10 list. They like best dressed lists, worst dressed lists, the world's 10 best beaches, the nation's best places to retire.
The problem with all such lists is that while they promise the clarity of mathematics (10th, 9th, 8th) and the excitement of anticipating the No. 1 spot, they really are highly subjective compilations, based on somebody's idea of what should be counted as important -- somebody whose values are far different from yours or mine.
That's the case with Forbes.com's "10 most miserable cities" list released Tuesday (February 10, 2009).
Michigan has two cities -- Flint at No. 6 and Detroit at No. 7.
So what are the criteria for arriving at the worst cities in the country? Nine factors: Commute times, corruption, pro sports teams, Superfund sites, taxes (both income and sales), unemployment, violent crime and weather.
In its explanations, Forbes says high unemployment and crime doomed Flint, while Detroit suffered because of the conviction of its former mayor Kwame Kilpatrick, the 16 losses of the Detroit Lions, and the losing season of the University of Michigan football team. The last one didn't make much sense. U of M isn't even in Detroit, and if you want to count all state schools, Michigan State's football team did pretty well. And the Pistons and Red Wings usually pull through for their fans.
Detroit got one high mark -- for its 6 percent sales tax rate, much lower than the 9 to 10 percent levies of other cities on the list.
So why fixate on those nine criteria? What about opportunities for the arts, which abound in Detroit in the Detroit Institute of Arts, the Detroit Symphony Orchestra, the Fischer Theater and elsewhere? How about outdoor recreation? That's pretty important to a lot of people who like lakes for swimming, boating, and fishing, and forests for hunting, camping, and hiking. And is Detroit's weather any worse than Minneapolis, which is much colder in the winter? And why should hot, humid, hurricane-creating weather be considered so much better than a Michigan winter?
Forbes.com never explained its rationale for picking the criteria. Makes me wonder if they drew up the list of "miserable" cities first, and then came up with the criteria.
2 comments:
So...is it your contention that Detroit is a great city? A fine place to live? If so, you have to wonder why your wonderful governor chose to live in that hellhole of Northville when she was working in Detroit? Wouldn't it have made more sense...and saved gasoline...if she lived where she worked? Especially since Detroit is such a great city.
And it is a great city...if you ignore the crime, the dangerous schools with among the nation's worst dropout rate, the lack of services, the empty buildings, the abandoned homes, the corrupt city government, the incompetent city government, the pay-to-play culture...
Wait, maybe Forbes was right. Maybe Detroit does suck.
Waiting for a response.
Do you think Detroit is or is not a miserable city?
Consider before answering: the city's infant mortality rate (higher than some third world countries); the astronomical unemployment rate; the crime rate; the unsafe schools; the scandalous high school dropout rate; the lying, cheating former mayor; the FBI probes into much of the city government; the pay-to-play landscape; the ineptness of school officials and the waste (theft?) of school construction money...stop me if you've heard this before.
With or without Forbes list, do you think Detroit is one of the better major American cities; in the middle of the pack; or one of the worst?
Simple question... will you answer it? Or will you make trivial remarks about a Forbes survey?
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