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PLUNK GENEALOGY -- see "Family" label on this blog and/or write Mike at mdplunk@hotmail.com

Wednesday, February 24, 2010

Forbes Calls Memphis Miserable






It reminds me of Bonnie Tyler’s hit, “It’s a heartache, nothin’ but a heartache.”

Forbes, the prestigious business magazine, just named Memphis #2 in its top 10 list of the nation’s most miserable cities. What a shame. Mike and I grew up in Memphis when it earned the title of the nation’s cleanest city. It also garnered the honor of the country’s most quiet city. The education system was outstanding. We graduated from East where – every year – more than 95 percent of the graduating class went on to higher education. I’m not sure that our school currently meets the State’s minimum standards. Memphis was a beautiful city with a great reputation.

And then, over the years, all the city’s major institutions became corrupted by incompetence. I would remind you that when we returned to the area, we chose to live in a neighboring suburb that has great schools and a low crime rate. We still miss being in Memphis.

In evaluating Memphis’ misery index, Forbes cited an uncomfortably high record of violent crime, second only to Detroit and twice as high as that rate for New York City.
They also took into account that Memphis has one of the highest sales tax rates in the nation and a high incidence of government employees committing crimes.

Read the whole story at http://www.forbes.com/2009/02/06/most-miserable-cities-business-washington_0206_miserable_cities.html

1 comment:

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