Which do you want first, the good news or the bad news? Okay, we'll take the bad news first: ten American cities have been named "most miserable" by Forbes.com. Sucks, eh? They rated cities by unemployment, personal tax rates, commute times, weather, crime and the amount of nearby toxic waste. Uh...so what's the good news? It's that every city has its good points as well as its bad ones. And every city has within it a viable community, if you only know where to look.  

But first let's go back to the Misery List, shall we?

At #1 is seemingly our favorite city to bash, lovely Detroit. But have you had a look at Sweet-Juniper's eloquent homage to a city many have given up on? There's a lot more there than meets the eye. 

Two cities I grew up near, farther-out bedroom communities of San Francisco, made the list (Stockton and Modesto). Maybe it's the three-hour commutes? But these are nice communities, and the fact that they're a heck of a lot more affordable than close-in communities means a lot.

You'd expect to see New York, Chicago, and Los Angeles on the list: big cities with known big-city problems are sure to be miserable. But they're also wonderful, exciting, stimulating places to live, filled with culture and resources you can't find other places.

And that's the trade-off about any city. Every city is undergoing transformation, and sometimes it doesn't look so pretty. But if you look underneath, you see what's real, and you see what is, for so many people (and with good reason), home. 

P.S. My city made #5.

Photo: www.surrealplaces.com