I found this Forbes article to be interesting and the photos to be hilarious. Strip malls to me are the epitome of misery. Not surpring they turn up in several of the pics. 

“Misery is defined as a state of great unhappiness and emotional distress. The economic indicator most often used to measure misery is the Misery Index. The index, created by economist Arthur Okun, adds the unemployment rate to the inflation rate. It has been in the narrow 7-to-9 range for most of the past decade, but was over 20 during the late 1970s.”

Their #1 pick is not surprising to me. I used to have to go to Detroit for work with my client General Motors, often, and it is a shit hole. There is not much redeeming about D-town except for it is close to the Canadian border—semi-decent skiing, drinking age of 18, and gambling :) Kid Rock and Eminem don’t count for me, in fact, they make it worse.

1. Detroit

Commute times 80
Income tax rates 87
Superfund sites 135
Unemployment 149
Violent crimes 150
Weather 95

Misery Measure* 696

*love this! Funny and sad at the same time.