I recently posted on my Facebook Page the the list of Happiest Places in California as determined by Zippia.com. One of my followers responded by posting the 10 Most Boring Cities in California as reported by RoadSnacks.net. It’s interesting to note that there’s a fair amount of overlap.
Happiest
- Los Altos
- Los Altos Hills
- North Tustin
- Atherton
- Gold River
- Hillsborough
- Woodside
- Orinda
- Piedmont
- Saratoga
Most Boring
- Ross
- Hillsborough
- Woodside
- Los Altos Hills
- La Habra Heights
- Portola Valley
- Atherton
- Saratoga
- Rolling Hills Estates
- Indian Wells
Here are the criteria Zippia study used to assess happiness
- Being well educated (Population with at least a bachelor’s degree)
- Having a job (As measured by the unemployment rate)
- A short commute to work (God do people hate traffic)
- Low cost of living (Relative to Income)
- Having a family (Getting, and staying married, has a ton of happiness benefits, on average)
- Owning a home (That’s a big plus)
- And the poverty rate (Money definitely helps out)
Here are the criteria RoadSnacks.com used to assess “boring”
- % of Population Over 35 (Higher is more boring)
- % of Married Household (Higher is more boring)
- Average Age (higher is more boring)
- % of Households With Kids (higher is more boring)
- % of Households with People Over 65 (higher is more boring)
- Population density (lower is more boring)
After reflecting for about 5 minutes on this, here are my thoughts
- I’m HAPPY to be BORING by these standards
- Sunnyvale, Mountain View, and Cupertino deserve to be on either/both of these lists
- When did 35 become old?
Sources
https://www.zippia.com/advice/happiest-places-in-california/
https://www.roadsnacks.net/these-are-the-10-most-boring-cities-in-california/