Hey, Memphis: Are you happy? Are you sure? Because Men's Health magazine isn't so certain.
Last week, in a list of the "saddest U.S. cities," Men's Health ranked Memphis, with its subtropical climate and legendary music scene, as the third-saddest city in the country. Clearly the place has taken a dive since February, when Forbes reported that Memphis is the sixth-happiest city to work in. Memphis is apparently a little slice of heaven -- as long as you're sitting at the office.
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But for some some reason, these lists never seem to quite mesh with reality. Financial Times writer Edwin Heathcote pointed out recently that many of the places that top the "most livable cities" lists are places no one really wants to live -- it's always (no offense, guys) Provo, Utah, and Ann Arbor, Mich., and Manchester, N.H. "What, you might ask, no New York? No London? No L.A. or H.K.?" asked Heathcote. To reduce a city to metrics "is to strip out all the complexity, all the friction and buzz that make big cities what they are."
Why Memphis' 'sad,' 'miserable' city rankings get it all wrong
If you're tired of all those city rankings that always seem to find Memphis somewhere near the worst of the worst -- here are a couple of recent ones -- then check out this piece from Salon in which the author calls out blogs and websites for peddling "foolproof click-bait."
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Deputy Online News Editor Mark Richens takes you through all the news about Memphis from sources outside the Mid-South.
What an awful thing these lists do to cities...not just Memphis but any city unlucky enough to be listed as "sad", "miserable", "unhealthy", etc. People who do not live here have little choice but to accept what the media are saying. Then at their first opportunity they parrot the erroneous info to others thus perpetuating an opinion. I wish this list mess would just go away.