What is it that makes Huntington the worst place to live?

Sometimes the story behind the story is the one that really matters.

A Website known as 24/7Wall Street did an article the other day rating America's "Most Content (and Miserable) Cities." There weren't many surprises on the lists, except maybe for Provo, Utah, being at the top of the good list.

Then again, I've never been there.

Content cities are more boring in this context, though. To paraphrase Tolstoy's remark about families from "Anna Karenina," all content cities are alike; every miserable city is miserable in its own way.

So let's look at the most miserable city on the list.

At the very top -- or bottom -- of the list is Huntington, W. Va., or actually the metropolitan area that includes Ashland, Ky., and some suburbs across the river in Ohio.

Why is it the worst place to live?

According to the survey, median household income is just $39,160, just 19 percent adults have college degrees and 29.2 percent of adults are smokers.

Unhappiest city in America

Huntington adults were more likely than adults in any other American city to report serious health problems, with exceptionally high rates of diabetes, cancer and chronic pain. More than a third had high cholesterol, 46.9 percent had high blood pressure and nearly one in 10 results had had a heart attack.

Nearly 40 percent of adults were obese, and a higher percentage of adults said they were worried or depressed than in any other city in America.

Pretty awful, huh?

But what we don't know is why. What is it that makes Huntington such an awful place to live? Why would people be so completely unhappy about living there?

Well, there are reasons.

Betamax

-- Even as far back as the 1980s, the video stores had only Beta tapes.

-- The only bread you can buy in the grocery stores is white bread, and most of it is day old.

-- The movie theaters only show movies by Pauly Shore or Jim Varney's "Ernest" movies.

--  The best restaurant in town is Taco Bell.

-- They're a little off the circuit for the top concerts. They couldn't get Miley Cyrus, but they did get that group that did "Who Let the Dogs Out" 15 years ago. They couldn't get Justin Bieber, but they got his little brother Dustin.

-- The biggest stars who came from Huntington were "Hollywood Squares" host Peter Marshall and comedian Soupy Sales.

-- There are only two Saturdays per month.