The latest investigation into happiness by destination comes from Andrew Oswald of the University of Warwick (UK) and Stephen Wu of Hamilton College (NY) who have ranked all fifty states and DC using two data sets. One from the Centers for Disease Control compiles responses from 1.3 million Americans who were asked this: “How satisfied are you with your life?” The other is research conducted at the University of Southern California on indicators of quality of life such as sunshine, crime and environmental health. Surprisingly, Louisiana came out on top even in the aftermath of the Katrina disaster. And Mississippi is in the top six. At the bottom of the list? New York and Connecticut. There’s clearly little or no correlation with income per capita. The authors found a high degree of correlation between the subjective survey responses and the more objective indices. They speculate that “liberal angst” might be playing a role.

I’ve spent time in both New York City and New Orleans, and if we could measure the velocity of life, I think it would go a long way toward explaining these findings.