By Edward Helmore,

July 26th, 2014

Happiness is a place calledCharlottesville, Virginia

To the residents of Charlottesville, it is a �tting coincidence that omasJefferson, principal drafter of the Declaration of Independence thatinstalled "Life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness" as three inalienablerights, lived only seven miles away.

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Cafes and shops on the pedestrianised Main Street are amongthe charms of Charlottesville, Virginia. Photograph: Alamy

Last week, this central Virginian town was named America's happiest city– or Joy Town, USA, as America's media quickly had it – by the USNational Bureau of Economic Research (http://www.nber.org) (NBER). It'squite an accolade. But an informal poll of residents didn't �nd too manywho rejected the �nding. "I don't know about the happiest but it'scertainly all right," says Jackson Greg, on Main Street late on Fridayevening.

While researchers recommended Charlottesville as the happiest place,they named Richmond and Newport News, both in Virginia(http://www.theguardian.com/world/virginia), as the happiest cities.Bottom of the feelgood listings came Scranton, Pennsylvania, New YorkCity, Pittsburgh and Detroit.

Here in Charlottesville, many said they would not be persuaded to moveeven if they were offered greater material security elsewhere. ey pointto a sense of community, broadly liberal values, a leading university (theUniversity of Virginia), a temperate climate, comprehensive public healthfacilities, good food, sophisticated cultural resources among elements thatmake it ideal for happy living. If there's one place in the US that has moreor less everything going for it, this is it.

"It's small, and it's surrounded by beautiful country, but it has all thethings you'd want from a big city," says Donnie Glass, chef at a leadingrestaurant, Public Fish & Oyster.

For years, Charlottesville has been picking up the prizes. It's been namedbest town for food lovers by Wine Magazine; best college town in thecountry by Traveler's Today; the country's favourite mountain town byTravel & Leisure; and one of the happiest and healthiest places in the US

by Business Insider. "It's a bastion of liberalism in the south," says buildingcontractor Jim Raymond, who arrived as a student in the late 60s andbuilt a life here.

Just two hours from Washington DC, C-ville (as the locals call it) offersquiet country retreats and horseback rides in nearby ShenandoahNational Park, the natural beauty of the Blue Ridge mountains, as well asa wealth of history that includes the homes of omas Jefferson andJames Madison. Its array of restaurants offer exceptional gastronomicvariety.

e legacy of Jefferson, whose rather serious-looking statue stands at theend of West Main Street, near where he �rst established the University ofVirginia, looms large over the town. "e inalienable right to the pursuitof happiness is a uniquely American concept," says C-ville researchneuroscientist Chip Levy. "We're told happiness is an allowable goal andwe're still trying to come to terms with it. What did Jefferson mean? Idon't know. He may have been talking about the drive for a forward socialprogression, not happiness itself."

Levy says that in C-ville – sometimes described as the northernmost tipof the south – people don't become so caught up in the pursuit ofhappiness, at the restaurants, walking in the mountains, drinking �newines, that they forget, in effect, to be happy. "We're happy to be happy,not just to pursue happiness."

According to John F Kennedy: "e natural beauty of the surroundingcountryside and the manmade beauty of Charlottesvillle combine toweave a tapestry of American history few other towns or cities can boast."

e concentration of restaurants – by some estimates, C-ville boasts oneof the highest densities for the population in the US – has made it a drawfor visitors. e historic main street is a popular destination for food,wine and music. "Twenty years ago, it was mostly boarded up anddangerous at night. Now it's �ourishing," says antiquarian book dealerScott Fennessey. "We've got Bob Dylan and the Rolling Stones comethrough."

As Kennedy found, and Jefferson before him, the region's rich farmlandremains its bedrock. "To know the land, you have to know the food," saysMeredith Lee, who helps run a company distributing local organicproduce. "It's one of the best ways to support local farmers."

Virginia vineyards are known for white and some surprisingly good reds,says Fennessey. "It's a nice place to live, and there aren't many places likethis in the US," he says.

Occasionally in C-ville, there's too much of a good thing. Ten years ago,Patricia Kluge, one of America's wealthiest women, expanded hercelebrated winery so aggressively that it collapsed under the burden ofloan repayments.

Given that the state of Virginia pulled off a happiness hat-trick with poll-topping Charlottesville, Richmond and Newport News, it should be nosurprise that America's musical poster-child for happiness is a Virginian.Last week, Neptunes producer and singer Pharrell Williams(http://www.theguardian.com/music/pharrellwilliams)'s hit Happybecame only the fourth single to be declared triple platinum (more than1.5m in sales) in 20 years. e track topped the UK singles chart inDecember and has not left the top 20 this year. Gennaro Castaldo, of the

British music body BPI, said the song has become a feelgood anthem for ageneration. e singer has his own views on happiness: he believesfeelings are becoming increasingly valued as other sensations becomereplicated by technology. Williams has said the success of the song –essentially a rewrite of the nursery rhyme If You're Happy And You KnowIt (Clap Your Hands) – shows people are searching for emotionalconnections, as an antidote to technology and virtual life.

"People want to feel. ey're over-inundated with thinking," he saidrecently. "We're a different species to what we were 15 years ago. e onlything we have left that reminds us that we are humans that cannot beduplicated is feeling."

But the NBER study also found that "humans are quite understandablywilling to sacri�ce both happiness and life satisfaction if the price isright".

It would be fair to say that Charlottesville's secret is now out, and someworry that publicity about the quality of life in C-ville might also be itsundoing. "Certain places become oases even as others become deserts,"says Raymond. "Who would want to say a thing like that? Propertydevelopers? e next thing you know they'll try to turn it into the newDubai."

For those fearing an in�ux of pleasure-seekers, however, there isconsolation in the NBER study. Joshua Gottlieb, one of its authors, notesthat people do care about more than happiness alone:

"e desires for happiness and life satisfaction do not uniquely drivehuman ambitions," the study says. "If we chose only that whichmaximised our happiness, then individuals would presumably move tohappier places until the point where rising rents and congestioneliminated the joys of that locale."

Perhaps New Yorkers and others highly placed on the unhappiness indexmay be more wedded to their misery than they may know.

One thing is certain. No one is moving from Charlottesville any timesoon. "It's psychologically draining to achieve even simple tasks in NewYork, and in LA you spend so much time in a car it sucks the life out ofyou," says C-ville resident Sivan Sherman. "e university attractsinteresting people – people following their passion – and if it all seems abit old-fashioned, it is. at's part of its charm."

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