Do I look unhappy?

So Minneapolis is an unhappy city, huh? An Idea Peepshow post from last week proclaimed that the undisputed pretty sister of the Twin Cities with all the great culture, lakes, communities, businesses and restaurants is actually not very happy. 

As a guy who was born and raised in Minneapolis, I do not appreciate such banter. We can play the rankings game. I guess Minneapolis is so unhappy because it was named the #1 city to earn a living in. Or maybe we’re so upset because we were ranked the #1 city in the country in terms of most affordable places to live well. 

Or maybe it’s the report that ranked Minneapolis the 7th best place to raise a family that has got us depressed. And let’s not forget that Esquire magazine named a MPLS bar the #1 bar in the country. No, it’s got to be because Minneapolis was ranked the sixth smartest city in America. No one likes to be called smart. It’s the worst.

I think that’s a pretty solid rebuttal, but I welcome all challengers and naysayers. Aside from rubbing in how actually fantastic my hometown is, this post goes to show that there is an abundance of rankings out there that can be used to state your case and also to refute someone else’s case. So rankings should be taken with a grain of salt. Sample size and credibility of the researcher have to be taken into consideration, but preferences should be based on personal experiences. Except when the topic is Minneapolis. It is undeniably the #1 city in the world.