Boulder, Colo.
Holland, Mich.
Honolulu, Hawaii
Provo, Utah
Santa Rosa, Calif.
Santa Barbara, Calif.
San Jose, Calif.
Washington, D.C.
Ogden, Utah
Oxnard, Calif.
Source: Gallup-Healthways Well-Being Index, www.gallup.com
Happiness is living in Boulder, if you believe the results of a new Gallup-Healthways poll made public Monday.
The new massive study of Americans’ attitudes and lifestyles concludes that Boulder is the prime U.S. location for general well-being and quality of life.
“The fact that Boulder is up there makes a lot of sense when you’re looking at what we know of happiness,” said Tim Wadsworth, an assistant professor of sociology at the University of Colorado. “For example, health is huge, and Boulder is known for its high level of health.”
The Gallup-Healthways Well-Being Index asked more than 353,00 Americans in 2009 about their jobs, finances, physical health, emotional state and communities when calculating the rankings.
Boulder ranked No. 1 in overall well-being out of 162 large and medium-sized cities. It also topped the list in work experience, rated No. 4 in healthy behaviors, No. 7 in physical health, No. 10 in access to basic needs for a healthy life and No. 27 in emotional health.
The top 10 happiest cities are mostly in the West — including in California, Utah and Hawaii.
Huntington, W. Va., and Fort Smith, Ark., ranked the lowest in overall well-being.
Wadsworth said he doesn’t know how seriously to take polls that ask people to subjectively report whether they’re happy. And if people genuinely are happy and healthy, Wadsworth said, it’s difficult to know whether to credit Boulder.
“Is it that living in Boulder makes people happy, or do happy people make life decisions to move to Boulder?” Wadsworth said.
Boulder does, however, have a lot of the attributes that are generally considered essential to a happy community. For example, many residents are educated and affluent. Younger and older people seem to be happier, Wadsworth said, and Boulder has a lot of students and retirees who fit into those groups.
“And weather matters,” Wadsworth said. “That’s one of the reasons I moved here.”
Good weather and proximity to trails, open space and the mountains make outdoor recreation easy, he said. And a lot of Boulder residents work either at CU, one of the government-run research institutions or for themselves, which allows them to work somewhat independently and have more flexibility in their daily schedules, Wadsworth said.
CU sophomore Katie Miller, 20, said she’s much happier living in Boulder than in her Connecticut hometown. Where she comes from, Miller said, people are much more stressed.
“Everyone works all day in New York — they don’t do anything else,” said Miller, who spent the weekend skiing at Breckenridge. “I don’t know if anyone works here.”
Marilyn Johnson, 60, said she’s lived in Boulder for 35 years and wouldn’t live anywhere else. With a home near Chautauqua Park, she walks her dogs daily in the foothills. Over the weekend, she went to the Boulder International Film Festival. Her family started a natural food business.
“It’s very easy to eat healthy here,” Johnson said Monday while shopping at Whole Foods. “And there’s just so much to do.”
If happy hour is an indication of the level of happiness in Boulder, Henry Pariser said the community is in good spirits. Pariser, kitchen manager at Southern Sun, said his restaurant has two happy hours — one at 4 p.m. and one at 10 p.m.
“This place fills up,” he said. “There are people waiting on both sides of the restaurant to get a seat.”
Pariser said he just moved to Boulder three months ago after living in Chicago, Napa Valley and Las Vegas, and he’s found his favorite spot.
“You wake up every morning and look at the Rocky Mountains — how could you not be happy?” he said.
