What Makes A City Unhappy?
DETROIT, MICHIGAN- JUNE 06: As the population of the inner city sections of Detroit decline, even the biggest churches such as the St. Agnes Catholic Church cannot survive. It was built in 1921 and abandoned in 2006. Detroit has tens of thousands of blighted, abandoned and burned-out structures. A program will begin soon to systematically tear many of them down.(Photo by Michael S. Williamson/The Washington Post via Getty Images)
DETROIT, MICHIGAN- JUNE 06: As the population of the inner city sections of Detroit decline, even the biggest churches such as the St. Agnes Catholic Church cannot survive. It was built in 1921 and abandoned in 2006. Detroit has tens of thousands of blighted, abandoned and burned-out structures. A program will begin soon to systematically tear many of them down.(Photo by Michael S. Williamson/The Washington Post via Getty Images)

I live in two of the country’s saddest cities. At least that’s if I’m to believe the results of a National Bureau of Economic Research working paper titled “Unhappy Cities.” It ranked Louisville—heart of bourbon country, home to a thriving culinary scene, and a friendly, growing place by all accounts—our nation’s third unhappiest city. Detroit—that mid-resurgence metropolis where I just bought a second home—landed fifth. My beloved cities were joined by places like Indianapolis, St. Louis, Pittsburgh, and Milwaukee.

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