Happiest City in the U.S.: NYC

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New "Poll" (or at least an "index")
Since polls are being looked at - Here's one according to the London-based Institute for Quality of Life’s recently released 2025 Happy City Index.
NOTE: NYC came in at #17 world-wide - so don't thump yourself on the chest too much if you reside in NYC - there are at least sixteen "happier" places to live on the planet. Another caveat: "Of course, the methodology is not perfect. The Institute for Quality of Life acknowledges that there’s no one-size-fits-all approach to happiness and that cities are constantly changing. Additionally, only cities with reliable, measurable, and comparable data were considered. “We have no doubt that there are many beautiful places to live around the world, as well as cities that deserve to be part of our analysis. However, in some cases, we have been unable to find sufficient information on their achievements and performance,” the Happy City Index stated in the methodology section of its report.'"
  1. New York City, New York (17)
  2. Minneapolis, Minnesota (30)
  3. San Diego, California (34)
  4. Washington, D.C. (43)
  5. Salt Lake City, Utah (56)
  6. Columbus, Ohio (63)
  7. Los Angeles, California (70)
  8. Seattle, Washington (80)
  9. Baltimore, Maryland (84)
  10. San Antonio, Texas (89)
Further down the list are Boston, Massachusetts; Houston, Texas; Indianapolis, Indiana; Orlando, Florida; Phoenix, Arizona; Portland, Oregon; and San Jose, California.

 

The 20 happiest cities in the world​

  1. Copenhagen, Denmark
  2. Zurich, Switzerland
  3. Singapore
  4. Aarhus, Denmark
  5. Antwerp, Belgium
  6. Seoul, South Korea
  7. Stockholm, Sweden,
  8. Taipei, Taiwan
  9. Munich, Germany
  10. Rotterdam, Netherlands
  11. Vancouver, Canada
  12. Vienna, Austria
  13. Paris, France
  14. Helsinki, Finland
  15. Aalborg, Denmark
  16. Berlin, Germany
  17. New York City, United States
  18. Dresden, Germany
  19. Brussels, Belgium
  20. Geneva, Switzerland
 

The 20 happiest cities in the world​

  1. Copenhagen, Denmark
  2. Zurich, Switzerland
  3. Singapore
  4. Aarhus, Denmark
  5. Antwerp, Belgium
  6. Seoul, South Korea
  7. Stockholm, Sweden,
  8. Taipei, Taiwan
  9. Munich, Germany
  10. Rotterdam, Netherlands
  11. Vancouver, Canada
  12. Vienna, Austria
  13. Paris, France
  14. Helsinki, Finland
  15. Aalborg, Denmark
  16. Berlin, Germany
  17. New York City, United States
  18. Dresden, Germany
  19. Brussels, Belgium
  20. Geneva, Switzerland
As far as the European cities on that list go, there's a lot of overlap with cities the Dead played on their Europe '72 tour. The gift that keeps on giving...
 

The 20 happiest cities in the world​

  1. Copenhagen, Denmark
  2. Zurich, Switzerland
  3. Singapore
  4. Aarhus, Denmark
  5. Antwerp, Belgium
  6. Seoul, South Korea
  7. Stockholm, Sweden,
  8. Taipei, Taiwan
  9. Munich, Germany
  10. Rotterdam, Netherlands
  11. Vancouver, Canada
  12. Vienna, Austria
  13. Paris, France
  14. Helsinki, Finland
  15. Aalborg, Denmark
  16. Berlin, Germany
  17. New York City, United States
  18. Dresden, Germany
  19. Brussels, Belgium
  20. Geneva, Switzerland
I’m one lucky, happy SOB. I lived in Zurich for 4 years, and visited 12 other cities on that list. And every last one of them is cool as all get out.
‘Bout never made it out of Christiania in Copenhagen. Haha!
 
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