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Poll: You are happy, probably

by Daniel DeBolt

According to a national poll, Mountain View and the surrounding region is the happiest place in the whole country.

The Gallup Healthways Well Being Index, which tracks national happiness levels on a daily basis, recently began breaking down the results by congressional district. Ranking at the top is California's 14th Congressional District, which includes Mountain View, much of Silicon Valley and the Santa Cruz Mountains.

"Of 435 districts in the country, people in Congresswoman Anna Eshoo's district apparently feel happier than in any other district in the country," said city manager Kevin Duggan. "I think it's great."

He added, "It's good that people feel good about their circumstances in such trying times."

The city of Sunnyvale has pounced on the Gallup poll results, and now claims to be "the happiest place in America" in a press release on its Web site. The accolade comes from TV personality "Dr. Oz," who for his Nov. 9 show contrasted Sunnyvale to the city of Hazard in Kentucky, which is in the least happy congressional district in the country, according the poll.

The 14th congressional district stretches from Sunnyvale through Mountain View and Palo Alto to parts of Redwood City, Belmont and San Carlos to the north. It also stretches to the coast to cover Half Moon Bay, Ben Lomond, Scotts Valley and other less densely populated areas in Santa Cruz County.

Gallup says the survey sample represents 98 percent of the adult population, including households that have begun using cell phones instead of landlines. On a daily basis, about 1,000 people are asked dozens of questions about everything from job satisfaction to how often a person laughs.

The poll's results by district are available at www.ahiphiwire.org/wellbeing. A map of the 14th district is available on Eshoo's Web site, www.eshoo.house.gov.