Hometown Scores High on the Stress Test

It probably comes as a shock to no one that Philadelphia and Salt Lake City, Utah have little in common. With our lack of a salt water lake, gleaming mountains, and hordes of Mormons, Philly is more than just superficially different from peaceful, sleepy Salt Lake (did we mention they're also sans most major sports franchises?). In fact, according to Portfolio.com (owned by the same parent company as our own Philadelphia Business Journal), some of the more quantifiable differences between the two cities may just be key contributing factors to stress.

Salt Lake ranked as least stressful on the Portolio survey of 50 US cities. Philadelphia, on the other hand, having higher murder and unemployment rates, more robberies, more expensive mortgages, and less sunshine took the title for twelfth most stressful.

We can take a little comfort in the fact that A) At least we're still not Detroit. And B) Some of our sister ists landed themselves unenviable spots in the top 10. Sorry, Chicago, LA, and New York. But realistically, our stress factors: crime, income growth, air pollution—these aren't going to go down anytime soon. And we're definitely not giving up on our heart-stopping (or is it stomping?) Phillies, Eagles, or Flyers. So, best start practicing your yoga, Philly. Take up tai chi, feng shui, get a dog or join the roller derby. Unfortunately, in this economy, even finding a way to reduce stress on the cheap is stressful. Take it easy.