You know those silly lists like "America's Most Miserable Cities"? Well, uhm, you should probably ignore them. Seriously, just walk away. 'Cause the city that I live in, the city that I plan to live in for a long long time, the city that two of my brothers have moved their families to....was ranked number 9. Gulp.
Yeah, we have a lot of violent crime. We moved here straight from Provo, and watching the news was sometimes scary. We would go, "Uhm, I recognize that intersection where someone was car jacked." Instead of a murder once or twice a year that was breaking news, like it was in Provo, you would hear about a murder every few days, and it would be, like, no big deal. BUT, there are definitely the safer parts of the city, and the parts to stay away from, and after you hear about a couple of murders at Eastland Mall, you just don't go there any more (yeah, I wish someone had told me to never go there in the first place!) Honestly though, Chad used to work nights and I never once felt unsafe in my home at night, even when I knew that our neighbor was buying "hot" big screens. And the neighborhood we are in now....I mean, I haven't heard a police siren once since we moved in last summer.
As far as our unemployment rate goes (which is apparently not great), I had no idea. I guess I just live in a happy bubble with a husband who has held two great jobs here.
I didn't see anything about housing....which is one of Charlotte's huge appeals, in my opinion. Normal, work-classing people can easily afford a home here.
When I first read the title of the list and didn't see what was on the list I thought, "I bet there are a lot of people living in those 'miserable' cities who absolutely love them." Turns out I am one of those people. So bite me forbes.com.
