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Feeling Fat, Energetic or Unhappy? America's Got a City for You!

Unorthodox Rankings Show Off America's Good and Bad Qualities

Feeling sad? Bursting with energy? Enjoying the invigorating swagger of being a man's man? There's a city out there for you.

Mostliest cities
From the fattest city to the fittest, there's a place for everyone in America.
(ABC News Photo IllustrationABC News Photo Illustration)

A variety of research organizations and published reports take pride in ranking the nation's towns and metropolises on numerous fronts. Some are helpful -- such as the safest city and the most dangerous -- while others are more for bragging rights.

"We're not trying to cure cancer in some of these instances," said Burt Sperling of Sperling's BestPlaces, which has put out several study-based lists over the past 20 years.

Sperling's first study ranked Flint, Mich,. as the worst place to live in 1987. In 2007, it ranked West Palm Beach, Fla., as the worst place for fleas.

"There's always a feeling: How are we doing compared to other people?" Sperling said.

Here are a few examples of cities where Americans congregate to get fat, stay healthy, be depressed and more.

Manliest City

Nashville, Tenn.

Monster truck rallies, NASCAR and an abundance of snack food made the home of the Grand Ole Opry the best place to be a guy -- or to find one, perhaps.

Related

Commissioned by Mars Snackfood US and its Combos brand, a study conducted by Sperling's BestPlaces showed that Nashville ranks No. 1 in terms of manliness. The study came with the launch of Combos' Ultimate Man Zone Sweepstakes

Among the criteria that earned the city its top spot are its Major League sports teams, its consumption of salty snacks, the popularity of hardware and tools, concentration of barbecue restaurants and the aforementioned monster truck rallies.

Cities lost points in the study for having too many "emasculating" qualities, including too many home furnishing stores, high minivan sales and subscriptions to beauty magazines. Last on the list? New York City, though the Big Apple did score well in the bowling category.

Unhappiest City

Portland, Ore.

Portland, with 222 cloudy days per year, is the biggest downer in the country, according to Business Week.

Portland was tops among a study of 50 of the largest metro areas that looked at a variety of factors, including the rates of depression, suicide, divorce, crime and unemployment, as well as the weather and the amount of green space.

Among the 50 cities, Portland also ranked No. 1 for depression, as well as No. 4 for divorce.

With a December unemployment rate of 7.8 percent, the city ranked No. 12 for suicides and 24 for crime.

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