The other day I heard the morning crew at one of the local radio stations lamenting the fact that Minneapolis had moved up on BusinessWeek’s list of “America’s Unhappiest Cities.” According to this report, our overall rank is 19 (our depression rank is #9 and our crime rank is #10). Obviously this isn’t the kind of list with a coveted number one spot.

With these rankings in mind, I was a little surprised when I came across this WCCO story claiming that Minnesota ranks fourth on the list of happiest states in the country. So, are all the happy people just staying clear of Minneapolis? Perhaps all these happy Minnesotans should venture into “the city” to spread a little good cheer.

I actually like glancing at these types of ranking reports. Folks like Bert Sperling have made a nice living for themselves establishing creative criteria and studying what locales are the healthiest, greenest or even, sweatiest.  And, despite the fact that findings need to be taken with a grain of salt, the tactic tends to be a tried-and-true way to garner a little attention from local media. It’s just a bit funny to see somewhat contradictory rankings within the same week.  Since I live in a local suburb and only work in Minneapolis, I guess I’ll consider myself a “happy Minnesotan” rather than a somewhat depressed Minneapolis resident.