I think it’s that we can wear hiking socks with sandals and get rained on constantly, really. :D Brightens *my* day!

And I’ve been to Utah… you have to love it to live there. No one in their right minds would purposely live in the open desert unless they liked living in the open desert. Of course, New Mexicans are unhappy about the whole immigration b.s. and the bad publicity it gives them.

What’s so great about the Northwest? That they can travel out of state and feel special when told, “I’ve never met anyone from there before”?

“Satisfaction with place of residence” wouldn’t appear to me to have much to do with all-around happiness, although the impact is obvious. During the years I lived in California, I was often quite happy with life in general (aided in large part by the nice weather, social tolerance, and great food). But in a survey like this, I would’ve cited a lot of dissatisfaction with my location. Why? Because I just plain couldn’t afford it. I thought I’d be a lot better off if I could pay the rent with only one job, or not have to live in crowded houses full of psychos, so my place of residence was a big problem.

One thing I notice with the places with high dissatisfaction rates is that their major population centers are among the country’s most expensive (California, NY, Mass., DC/MD) or their unemployment and poverty rates are among the highest (Miss., Michigan, West Virginia, Louisiana). People associate these problems with their location, regardless of how happy they are with life in general.

One hypothesis would be that relative availability of jobs and low cost of living are more impotant to feeling “satisfied” with location than climate, natural environment, politics/ideology, and population density. Or in other words: it’s the economy, stupid. :-)

the farming areas of the central valley and the deserts in the southwest are poor and have high unemployment.

the coasts and the mountains are among the most beautiful on earth.

And as a few others said, the bible belt states seem the happiest and the others don’t. Does it have to do with how we view the world? Californians see how California could be better, and are therefore less satisfied than Utahns who believe everything is happy and cheery unless you are a bad person. By admitting you aren’t happy, you are admitting that you are not chosen.

But, bottom line, 12% in a study based on something not quantifiable really doesn’t mean much except as a point to initiate discourse.

As a Minnesota resident, I ALSO hate those happy cow ads. Why wouldn’t cows be happy in MN? I find that Minnesota residents are pretty happy about where they live. The winters are pretty hard, and so many of the people who remain here pride themselves on their strength, or endurance, or something. Minnesota is a great place to live – which surprises a lot of people. The cities have tons of cool stuff to do, a great theater scene, good coffee shops and restaurants. It’s sort of a hidden gem.

Sorry for the travel brochure, but I really do love it here! (although ask me again in January)

I am, by far, the happiest here.

All three states are apparently similar in their levels of happiness, but I suspect that it’s also somewhat self selective…

Hyperbole aside, I find this map kind of interesting, however they came up with it. I am in the process of two moves (my “permanent residence” is moving, and I am going to another state for graduate school), and I’m both pleased and disappointed to see that according to this map, both of my new states are less happy than my home. It sucks that people are so dissatisfied in those places, but I’m proud that Wisconsin’s such a pleasant place to live. I’m really quite happy here, and if I had the choice, neither of these moves would be happening for me. I hope to come back here when I’ve got my own home.

I’m kind of surprised about New Mexico–I would’ve expected a higher level of satisfaction there.