TOLEDO, OH -- Toledoan's are not as miserable as residents of Cleveland or Flint., but we're more miserable than people living in Detroit or Youngstown. This according to Forbes.com in their annual ranking of the 20 most miserable cities in America.
Toledo ranked 12th on the Forbes list. Cleveland came in at number 10 and Flint at 11. Youngstown ranked 14th and Detroit 15th.
Among the criteria used by Forbes were what they considered to be water cooler issues that people "gripe about." Among them are taxes, crime, and unemployment. Also figured into the mix are the quality of local sports teams, home values, and foreclosure rates.
Last year, Cleveland ranked as the most miserable city in the nation. This year, that title is held by Stockton, CA. California cities, plagued by high foreclosure rates and plummeting housing prices, dominated the top 10, with five California cities in the top 10. Toledo was ranked 15th in the 2010 survey.
In ranking Toledo among the most miserable cities in the country, Forbes' evaluators cited unemployment as chief among their concerns. According to Forbes, unemployment in the Glass City has averaged 10.6 percent over the last three years and a recent analysis of the Toledo employment picture indicates that the Toledo metro area will not return to pre-recession employment levels until 2025.
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