Chicago, Stress Champion

I like lists. They provide a great platform for discussion and disagreement. When you see how the lists are compiled, the discussions can become downright stressful. With that having been said, here is Forbes Magazine's list of America's 10 Most Stressful Cities, the list the gave Chicago a coveted championship.
10. Philadelphia
Forbes says its expensive to live there and very densely populated. Duh. That's city life. W.C. Fields' epitaph is "Better Dead Than in Philadelphia". I think Philly is like New York without the charisma. This is definitely a top 10'er, Philly.

9. Providence, R.I.
Expensive and lots of unemployed people, says Forbes. It's Rhode Island, I think the real issue is that they're all worried about being small.

8. Salt Lake City
I got nothin'. It UTAH, what do they have to stress about?

7. Cleveland
Fourth fewest sunny days per year. But they have the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, that's good. The Drew Carey show took place in Cleveland, that was fun. That was then and this is now: Drew Carey's doing The Price Is Right (awful), the Indians suck (although they KO'd the White Sox) and Brady Quinn is still an understudy. Maybe it's the name...how about renaming it something desirable, like Orlando. Orlando, Ohio. Nevermind. Cleveland, you're screwed.

6. San Diego
One of the best places on the planet. Imagine having every day being climate controlled, sunny and warm, and the Pacific Ocean over by there. Play golf, play in the ocean, play play play. You think you've got stress in San Diego, call Cleveland.

5. San Francisco
A jewel of a city. Ever been on the Alcatraz tour? Awesome. Golden Gate? An icon. Great food, highly livable, a little run to wine coutry to the north, Big Sur to the south, and no snow when Buffalo is getting 19 feet per hour all winter. San Francisco. I like it.

4. Los Angeles
Forbes says it's expensive, has the worst air quality and gas costs a lot. It's also full of Angelinos, who are goofier than squat. There's East LA, ugh. On the other hand, there's the USC football team, the USC cheerleaders, the USC marching band. Hollywood. Maybe better skip Hollywood. Surrounding LA are great places to plany, like Manhattan Beach, Marina del Rey, Malibu. I still wouldn't want to live in LA. The freeways are the worst! Definitely a stressful place.

3. Detroit
Do they still burn everything on Halloween? This is absolutely a high stress town, but no, Devil's Night, um, burned out. They replaced it, no kidding, with Angel's Night, no kidding.

2. New York
Big, bold, brassy, NY is America. It gets on your nerves a little, but that's part of the character. Lousy pizza, regardless of what they tell you. I like New York. It's high energy. When the NY'ers start bragging, change the subject. They forget what they were bragging about and go with the new topic.
1. Chicago
Some of the good: theatre, sports, architecture, the lakefront parks, the food, neighborhood taverns, spring/summer/fall, the universities, the museums.

Some of the bad: the politicians, the winter, the expressways, the winter, the sports venues, the winter, the taxes and the public schools.

The city has been reborn over the last two generations. What the list sees as stress, is, like NYC, energy. Tap into it.

Or avoid the stress and just go visit when you need an energy fix.