I've never heard a group of cheerleaders chanting the phrase, "We're Number 67! We're Number 67!," before, but that's how Bakersfield ranked on a "quality of life" survey by business journal
portfolio.com. That places us
dead last in the survey, which analyzed census data from 2006-2008 on twenty factors including the economy, education, traffic, and cost of living. Among the "highlights" -- just 1 in 10 adults in Bakersfield holds a college degree. Thankfully, the survey didn't mention our air quality, which is the second-worst in the country after our neighbor to the south (Los Angeles).
Before moving to Bakersfield, I worked in Naperville, Illinois, a far-west suburb of Chicago that consistently ranked #1 in national surveys -- the best place in America to raise children; the best library system in the country, and so on.
I've been thinking about the impact of news like this on our collective psyches. How does this impact the lives, and particularly the aspirations, of those who live in such places?
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