The article, “How happy are? A census wants to know” by John Tierney is about a city named Somerville. The government wanted to try something new this year for the census. Somerville received a new question, On a scale from 1-10, how happy are you?. The government asked this question so they can measure one’s happiness. Psychologists and economists feel that to measure one’s happiness it should be monitored a different way reporting your feelings on a questionnaire isn’t as accurate it goes by the mood the person’s in at that point in time. Everyone has different preferences and perspectives when it comes to happiness, what make them happy and what satisfies them. Happiness has a lot to do with satisfaction whether in a community or individually. The government’s trying to figure out how happy people are so they can try and attempt to improve it, ” should we build more parks or highways? Should workers get longer coffee breaks or more vacation days?”.

More than 7,500 people responded and mailed back the survey without efficient answer’s whose to say the people of Somerville put in enough effort to take the survey serious. Happiness cannot truly be measured. A small thing such a height can effect one’s happiness, In response to the question, ” How satisfied are you with your life in general?”, One man gave himself only a 6 explaining ” I would like to be three inches taller and speak Quechua fluently”. Everyone have different meanings of it what may make one person happy may not make the next person happy,

Mayor Joseph A. Curtatone wants to change the Somerville community for the better a  whole ,” Somerville is a great test tube for such a experiment”. Changing the community around making it a better environment overall to live can effect the people’s response’s to the survey and their happiness to a certain extent. Curtatone wants to be more involved in the community worried about the communities well- being as well as individuals. If you satisfy what people may want they’ll only be satisfied but for so long you have to find out what the people may need as a community ( fulfillment).

Trying to improve the community and be involved reassures the people of Somerville that thing can change. The things that are important in well-being would be love, happiness, satisfaction, family, & success .Everyone individually should live their lives to the fullest and focus on what make the happy as a person first before it can be on a community level. The survey is a great start in improving the community and promoting happiness.