Think a little sunshine day in and day out will bring you happiness? Think again! St. Petersburg has record-setting sunshine – it once soaked up a Guinness-certified 768 straight days of rays! Yet the people of St. Pete also have the darkest clouds hanging over their heads, according to Men’s Health. They put America on the therapist’s couch and discovered that not only is St. Petersburg our Saddest City, but Florida in general seems awefully depressed, too!
They calculated suicide rates (CDC) and unemployment rates (Bureau of Labor Statistics, as of June 2011). Then tapped SimplyMap for the percentage of households that use antidepressants as well as the number of people who report feeling depressed all or most of the time.
Here are the top 10 Saddest Cities:
1. St. Petersburg, FL (Grade F)
2. Detroit, MI (F)
3. Memphis, TN (F)
4. Tampa, FL (F)
5. Louisville, KY (F)
6. St. Louis, MO (F)
7. Birmingham, AL (F)
8. Miami, FL (F)
9. Reno, NV (F)
10. Las Vegas, NV (F)
But don’t let it get you down! There are plenty of happy cities out there, too. Here are the top 10 Blues-Proof Cities:
10. Plano, TX (Grade A-)
9. Burlington, VT (A-)
8. St. Paul, MN (A-)
7. Sioux Falls, SD (A-)
6. Madison, WI (A-)
5. Boston, MA (A-)
4. Omaha, NE (A)
3. Fargo, ND (A)
2. Manchester, NH (A)
1. Honolulu, HI (A+)
So what’s the secret to these Blues-Proof Cities? Well according to Men’s Health, Dutch researchers found that city dwellers living near parks and gardens were 25 percent less likely to be diagnosed with depression than those without. Study author Jolanda Maas, Ph.D., says that frequent exposure to nature may help people recover from the stress and mental fatigue of urban life. Go to capwiz.com/nrpa and urge your rep in Congress to vote for more public parks funding.
For the full list and to see where your city ranks, click here!
