Detroit most miserable city in US

Detroit has topped the Forbes list of the most miserable cities in the United States, amid high unemployment and financial crisis in the city.

Forbes’ released its list of the top miserable cities in the US on Thursday, with Detroit leading the pack.

Flint, Michigan, Rockford and Chicago in Illinois and Modesto, California followed Detroit in the list.

“Detroit’s problems are hardly news. It has been in a four-decade decline paralleling the slide in the US auto industry,” Forbes stated on its website.

Forbes said Detroit consistently ranks as one of the most crime-ridden urban areas in the US, placing first on the Forbes list for 2010 with 1,111 violent crimes per 100,000 residents. The city is also plagued with high unemployment, a dwindling population and a financial crisis.

The city managed to edge out Miami, which was the titleholder last year.

Forbes compiled the list by ranking cities based on factors including crime rates, foreclosures, taxes, home prices, commute times, weather and decreasing populations.

Earlier in the week, a state-appointed review team determined that the “Motor City” is in a fiscal emergency and potential bankruptcy, with “no satisfactory plan to resolve a serious financial problem.”

The review team went on to advise Governor Rick Snyder to appoint an emergency manager to lead the city out of its economic doldrums.

Andy Dillon, a member of the review team, said, “The cash condition has been a strain on the city.”

“The city has been running deficits since 2005… masking over those with long-term borrowing,” Dillon added.

According to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, the unemployment rate for Detroit rose 0.1 percentage in December 2012 to 10.8 percent, with the city experiencing a population exodus drop of 25 percent – to 713,777, from 951,270 in 2000.