According to Forbes magazine, DC is the 9th most stressful city in the US. Only Boston, Detroit, San Francisco, Providence, Cleveland, New York, Los Angeles, and Chicago outrank DC. According to the article, DC would be higher, but its low unemployment rate (thanks Government!) makes up for other shortfalls.
I completely agree that DC should be in the top ten. There is definitely an air of pressure to do well and to be successful quickly. Most people that I know what to be on a career path to bring them straight to the top before they reach 40. Plus it is an expensive city so that does not help anyone's stress level!
I am sure that other cities have a similar atmosphere, but I feel like DC's is exaggerated because of all of the politicians, staffers, and lobbyists.
I am usually stressed out so I guess I am not helping DC's reputation. Maybe I should start passing out copies of the Serenity Prayer on the metro. . .
I guess I'm mostly surprised by Providence. The others I can see as being stressful because of the employment rate and the rate at which big business is closing down or abandoning them or just being fast-paced, expensive cities overall. I find the Northeast (though I'm including DC in that description) is very fast-paced which increases the stress level. Plus, many places on the list also have high traffic rates. Traffic totally bumps up the stress level. I can be stressed out before doing any actual work, just the commute raises my blood pressure!
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