Topic: SHR: WSJ's 10 most miserable cities list...

[lovetheherd2]

I thought I was skinny until I traveled out of state....then I realized I was fat.

Yep..it is that bad.

You got 10% that work, 20% too old to work, 20% that can't pass a drug test to work, 20% who just won't work..and the remaining 30% that are on some sort of check from the federal govt.

Gonna get worse too..with todays anti coal announcements.

And it's not the cities, it's the state..and too some measure most of Appalachia.

At least we r centrally located! ;D

Wish I had a solution.

I live in Florida but try to make it back for a game every year and hit one or two road games each year.

I would be a little more generous on the % that work. Cabell Htgn, St. Marys & Marshall probably add up to 15% to 20%??? Adding in the few hotels and small business employees, gottta get closer to 25% to 30%.

When I went to school, Owens Illinois, C&O RR, Houdille Hershey, INCO all had some pretty decent jobs & salaries in addition to the three still left.

If the State and City could woo just one plant or tech operation to start the ball rolling, that would help keep some Marshall grads in town and maybe the pendulum could swing back.

Is it tax laws, lack of airport connections or ???.

[bbcard1]

You got 10% that work, 20% too old to work, 20% that can't pass a drug test to work, 20% who just won't work..and the remaining 30% that are on some sort of check from the federal govt.

In all fairness, there are many who won't work AND can't pass a drug test.

[BHFIOHIO]

mY sis got her mastes plus a gazillion and retired at 55 teaching Cabell co. She gets 16 hundred SS(shes 62 now) plus 3100 state teachers pension. She likes Huntington and surrounding area A LOT.

[_sturt_]

As we all know, Gallup is one of the nation's most prominent research firms. If you go to gallup.com, they discuss their methodology in some detail. There's reason for confidence that they know what they're doing.

[BHFIOHIO]

Huntington is like the inner city anywhere pretty much. The burbs consists of Proctorville-Rome, South Point, Chesapeake, Ceredo-Kenova, Barboursville etc. Metro area is around 350,00. You can find what you want in housing from 30 grand to several mil. When I retired 4 yrs ago hourly people were working more OT than they wanted at INCO. My friend that I still see giving her vegetables from my garden is hourly and has made over 80 thou the last 5 yrs. I figure in Wal-Mart near Richmond or Lexington I will see some folks that remind me of the ones I see on Rt 60 or up near the Huntington Mall(biggest in the state). I sat just inside the door for 65 minutes 5 days ago at Huntington Internal Medicine Group waiting for my Dad to have a breathing test and see the lung doctor. The doors never stayed still for even a minute. I was amazed at the traffic going in and going out. I wondered how much money was involved in that one short period? Every day going back and forth there is no shortage of 30000 dollar vehicles on the road so someone must be doing OK here. My Mother and Father are 91 and 88 yrs young and were born here and resided here all their life so the health issues must not be atrocious. Employment is a diff thing all together bu we have industry(INCO and Steel of W.Va) within 3 blocks and two miles of the stadium. We have teachers(my sister), nurses(St Marys and Cabell) within the city limits. We have doctor grads from Marshall School of Medicine(my daughter) and MU is the biggest employer in the tri state. I figure if someone wanted to live here they could find a profitable job in several diff fields. I think their survey needs to be taken with a grain of salt.

[Johnnyherd]

First off this is a stupid way to evaluate...

Did you notice the average house hold income in Charleston was nearly 50K, compared to 30K in most of those ghetto's...Charleston had more educated people than the Ghetto's as well...

Secondly, CAMC throws this system way off because they service like 26 counties and the majority of the level I trauma...So if you're sick and dying in WV 70% chance you live in Charleston....Charleston has a couple huge nursing homes and 2-3 psych facilities also...So if your crazy and want treatment you live in Charleston....Charleston has 4 homeless shelters with budgets of a million dollars or more so if you want to live free and be fed and clothed and walk the streets you live in Charleston....I won't even start on the housing projects but Charleston has about 6....

Take out that population and I bet things change...

[_sturt_]

Really guys?

I think I just had this discussion with my 23 year-old son a month ago who contended that because it is his experience and that of his friends that pot smoking doesn't cause man boobs, the research that was featured on CNN last year must be all bunk.

Here's the thing.

When researchers design a study, a fundamental premise is to reduce bias to as small a factor as possible, and where it is a factor, it is the routine that in any article describing their study, there will be a limitations section where they acknowledge it.

When my kid or you or I reach our own anecdotal conclusions... what do we do to reduce bias?

Exactly.

It's not like they all huddle together and decide how to pick on Huntington West Virginia this time. No, it's not pleasant. A similar thing came out last year or the year before and my city was #1... so, if you've got something to cry about, I've got twice as much... the researchers just seem to follow me around and beat up whatever city I choose to live in... (that's a joke, in case you weren't sure).

It serves no purpose to be defensive. As said early in this thread, studies like this just make it all the more possible for non-profits and government agencies to make the case for attracting federal money to the area. Just be matter-of-fact about it, and realize that as much as you like things as they are, they could be better in a few ways, and for some people, they could be a lot better in many ways.

[HERDFAN1999]

This study doesn't mean squat and doesn't do squat.  They can kiss my ass.  I'm gonna go get a hot dog.
 

[field pass]

No doubt Hton and Charley west can get better.  But that title is misleading, it's a health survey and Appalachia / wv historically and culturally and economically won't do well there.

I travel nationwide regularly, lots of great places to be but I have never been anywhere that I said Wow, I have to get out of wv.

Lastly, any list titled that way that doesn't include Detroit or other cities of urban blight is inaccurate.  Why don't they include murder rates, violent crime rates, or other criteria to determine most miserable

My thoughts after reading...health surveys in an aging population. ..of course!  Bad methodology..bax reasoning...junk article..that used a preexisting survey.

[mckayt]

Nobody "polled" me.  I'm not miserable.

[_sturt_]

lol... wasn't that what Romney supporters were saying in October 2012?

[rvntx]

Just thought this was more of a "Tavern off the Green" forum subject than on a sports forum.... My Bad!!!!