A new study suggests public goods like libraries make people happier. (Photo: Priscilla Du Preez/Unsplash)

In November, new research suggested the possibility of an Eden for urban planning: Appeasing citizens could be as simple as providing safe access to a public park. As Pacific Standard reported last month, the study in question found that people are happier in states that spend more on public goods such as libraries, highways, natural resources, and police protection.

Some readers, however, were skeptical of the report's results when they were publicly released this week. In a country with an ever-widening wealth disparity, these public goods are not evenly distributed, just like the income that pays for them.

Baylor University political scientist and study author Patrick Flavin accounted for this problem, issuing his own caveat. "It could be that happier citizens self-select by moving to states that spend comparatively more on public goods," he said. "It also is possible that happier citizens support higher spending on public goods and elect state officials to deliver on that policy."

Here, "happier citizens" could just as easily be "wealthier citizens." Money may not buy happiness, but a large body of research has found that poor people face significant mental health disparities.

While Flavin controls for the effects of income and location in his study, it's impossible to separate socioeconomic status from the benefits bestowed by public goods. Income taxes fund these goods, making those who pay even happier. But there's another way to look at it: People with more money, who have experienced firsthand the benefits of investing in public goods like parks and education, and who live in neighborhoods with higher property values, might also be more likely to support greater funding for these goods.

Moreover, not everyone lives in a state where governments are willing to spend as much on public goods. The country's biggest spenders often have a need, but the differences in funding also depend on socioeconomic factors. According to the Washington, D.C.-based social policy think tank Urban Institute, states with a small population spread over a longer distance (i.e. Alaska) and those with lots of traffic (Maryland) spend the most on highways. D.C. spends the most on parks, followed by states with a lot of national parks. And despite its low crime rate, New York spends the second most on police. Overall, Alaska, with one of the highest median household incomes in the country, spends the most per capita—but it's frequently ranked dismally low on lists of the happiest states.

So where does this happiness really come from? It's a question one study alone cannot answer, but others may provide more context: