@aGuyOnClematis

Funny Story – West Palm Beach Rocks & Forbes knows it!

 

Moral of the story: Read to the end of the story, and  check the date on the article. No really please do!

So yesterday I woke up with an email in my inbox with a link to yet another article from Forbes that singled out West Palm Beach as the 4th “Most Depressing City” in the US.

My immediate reaction was…

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I kicked into gear and fired off an email to some of the most awesome West Palm Beachers I know asking what the deal was, and whether the numbers that Forbes was using were accurate. This triggered a 20-email chain between them discussing all the great things about West Palm Beach and Palm Beach County.

Things like:

PBC is the #1 Real Estate Turnaround Market

turnaround

June had an unemployment rate of 7.5%

According to the BDB June  is the 6th consecutive month that the unemployment rate of Palm Beach County has fallen beneath the national average.

West Palm Beach business is booming

And I have bullet points to prove it!

  • There were 17,979 advertised job openings in Palm Beach County in June 2013
  • More than 100 new businesses opened in West Palm Beach’s downtown district since 2009
  • $40 Million direct investment in the Clematis District
  • In the past year, more than 150,000 square feet of new business leases have been announced at CityPlace
  • Over 25 exciting events like Fourth on Flagler, SunFest, Soulfest, Moonfest, Taste of Palm Beach and the Palm Beach International Boat Show attract more than 500,000 visitors to West Palm Beach each year
  • Events like the Cityplace Christmas Tree break records with over 20,000 residents coming out.

I even went out and got a picture of the West Palm Beach natives to prove that they are not depressed!!!

(Do these look like the faces of the inhabitants of the 4th most depressed city in the US?)
Do these look like the faces of the inhabitants of the 4th most depressed city in the US?

Gathered even more evidence.

I sent out a tweet asking people what they liked about West Palm Beach and got an OVERWHELMING response. Comments on our culture, small town atmosphere, people, neighborhoods, walkability.

Yes, we truly live in an amazing place.

I set out to write an epic blog entry that would skewer Kurt Badenhausen, the reporter who “covers sports business with rare dip in education & local economies” and DARED to call us the “4th most miserable city in the US.”

I wordsmithed until midnight when exhausted, I set my alarm clock for a few hours of sleep and collapsed into bed.

Ring Ring Ring

I jumped out of bed at 5am, made a cup of coffee and grabbed my computer to finish off this most epic of blog entries. The first thing I saw was the DATE on Forbes’ article, it was February 2012!

The article I was reading was from last year!!!

I quickly google for the 2013 list of “Most Miserable Cities” to discover that… After two years in a top-10 spot for “Most Miserable Cities” West Palm Beach has dropped off the list entirely.

West Palm Beach is awesome! And Forbes agrees!!!

So here I am, wiping a bit of egg off my face, thanking everyone profusely for taking the time to respond to my (albeit misguided) call for help!

I think the responses that I got prove that despite being home to American’s most trigger happy blogger, West Palm Beach is an amazing place to live!

The things I love about West Palm Beach — big city events and culture while still retaining its small town appeal; I love my neighborhood of Flamingo Park; I love our waterfront; I love that I have a city government that is approachable and responsive; I love that I feel safe in my city; I love my hometown newspaper and news stations; I love the support that local non-profits and houses of worship receive in helping those in need; I love living in the sub tropics!

~ Margie DeFord Yansura

West Palm Beach has such diversity in culture and things to do. The restaurants are amazing and so many to choose from all up and down Clematis Street and in City Place. Cultural events, with music, art, movies,music venues and charity events. You can take the trolley or catch a horse driven carriage ride. Water fountains for the kids and free concerts every Thursday night. All on the water in the most fabulous weather you can imagine. You can dress up or wear shorts and flip flops. What’s not to love?

 ~ Pamela Stoyka Bishop

Do I have to tell you . I love our spectacular community events and our fabulous weather which allows us to celebrate 52 weeks a year. WPB….Where Paradise Begins!

~Mary Grafton Pinak

On Twitter we had everyone from Mayor Jeri Muoio to local business people, urbanists and bloggers weighing in

 

 

 

 

 

 

Thanks again for reading! And for your help letting everyone know why…

West Palm Beach Rocks

Have a great weekend, and I’m sure I’ll catch up with you on Clematis Street!

Aaron “aGuyonClematis” Wormus

Aaron Wormus