LEAST favorite city in the USA

RockyIV wrote:

I usually like going to new places. I have a good time going to any new place really, even if I'm not necessarily going to hurry back.

That said, I was not pleased with Lincoln, Nebraska.

I was waiting for someone to mention Lincoln. Maybe it's bullying to pick on a "heartland" (read: we have nothing else to offer so let's pretend like we have a monopoly on good old fashioned hospitality and family values) hell hole that obviously doesn't have much to offer and never claimed to, but I've never been to a more depressing place. And I've been to a lot of midwestern towns. What it lacks in pollution crime and stench (like the Garys, Flints and New Jerseys of the world) it more than makes up for in desolation, isolation, rednecks and a complete lack of culture.

Omaha is also legendarily boring and I didn't find any charm in Oklahoma City, or just about anywhere in Oklahoma

Surely, it must be Lake Louise!

I was shocked...shocked to actually like Stillwater, Oklahoma. Expected flat, barren, wasteland. Instead it was mostly rolling hills with trees.

Never been there, but Fairbanks, Alaska sounds unbearable.

Miami. That city is a toilet.

I feel like Gary and Flint don't even count. They are in a class of their own. There is absolutely nothing redeeming about either place. It is a testament to some people's stupidity that anyone with enough money for a bus ticket out of Flint or Gary would still live there.

I think Detroit is very bad as well. However, it does have a couple of things such as pro sports teams and perhaps 2-3 blocks around the new Tiger's stadium with some restaurants and bars. Because of this, I don't rate it in that same special category of awfulness reserved for Gary and Flint.

It's easy to pick out cities one hates based on limited experience (judging NYC based on Times Square, Chicago on Navy Pier or Seattle on the homeless central that is around Pikes Market). It's also quite possible to have an irrationale fondness for a city based on having lived there for a very long time or not traveling at all.

A guy I worked with moved to Gary IN a few months ago. His wife got a job there and he had to quit his good job here and follow. When he announced it I thought of these 'worst cities' threads and laughed to myself.

Poor guy.

Least Favorite: Atlanta ( Basically the whole SE )

Favorite: Boulder, Eugene, Boston, NY

fail.

I don't mean to quibble here, but I would argue that being close to Philly is detrimental to Camden...

Trust me, I know Gary is awful. I've been there. I have experienced Gary. I understand it. However, has Gary, Indiana been named the US' "most dangerous city" TWICE? Is it a yearly top-five for most dangerous city? Do half of Gary's residents live in poverty? Has their mayor been connected to the mob? Is Gary, Indiana the poorest city in the country? Has Gary, Indiana been the subject of the most depressing 20/20 piece ever made?

Camden has all of the above. Camden, hands down, is the worst city in America.

Crowley Louisiana.

"you ain't from around here boy..."

Is a common saying.

And the police (that's pronounced POE-leese) are on the take.

Oh, yeah, it sucks to look at, shop in, and even the girls are pretty ugly.

living *in* NYC is expensive and stresful. Exciting for a while, then it wears thin really fast.

Phoenix sucks. More illegals than legals, crime, unbearable heat and traffic, pollution, yuk.

dean moriarty wrote:However, has Gary, Indiana been named the US' "most dangerous city" TWICE?

Yes, Gary and Camden are both two-time winners of that prestigious honour. Detroit is a four-time winner and the defending champion.

Gary has gotten better though.

New York sucks the worse. The smart ass knowitall attitude is the most pathetic aspect of the New York piss hole.

Yea, these chain corporations are ruining the cities. Most us cities besides a few look and feel exactly the same.

"I love these threads.

All the people from small towns talk about how large cities are "shit" based on a brief period of time they visited and are amazed at the "arrogance" of "all" the people that live there.

Instead of trying to find the same familiar things from your town, have you every considered exploring things other than tourist destinations when you travel? Nobody is asking you to move, just appreciate the differences in other parts of the country.

Ever notice on these threads there is no mention or debate about any museums or other cultural destinations in NY, Philly, Chicago, LA or San Francisco?

There is life outside of Applebees, mudslides at TGI Friday's and having a trampoline in your backyard. Just give it a chance"

-and we all love them too. believe me, people identifying big cities are not all from big cities. at least this one certainly isn't! i LIVE in one. and yes, it is shit. i regret following the money and moving here. and yes, the majority of the people i come into contact on a DAILY basis are arrogant and have an attitude. how do you know all of these people coming to the "big city" are tourists? answer: you don't. how do you know they are looking for familiarity? answer: you don't. how can you appreciate differences when the differences are shitty drivers, dirty sidewalks, and short statured angry little men with attitudes? ever notice that there is no mention of the cultural enclaves of stirling, kansas (spanish conquistador museum/santa fe trail)? redwood, california (obvious)? butte, montana? laramie, wyoming (oregon trail)? tahlequah, oklahoma (cherokee nation)? seaside, orgeon (lewis and clark)? do you REALLY think it has to be a big city to be some big cultural amazement? can you not appreciate anything else but overpriced drivel on a piece of paper that personifies someone's supposed psyche? is that what it takes to be a "legitimate" museum? try some real meat, man. try thinking out of that box that YOU have put YOURSELF in. there is life outside avante garde coffee houses with wannabe hippy students funded by their rich parents, cocktails at the met, and thinking that central park is true wilderness. go crazy and look someone in the eye tomorrow and smile- tell them hello. be a nut and open the door for a woman. let someone into the traffic lane. pick up a piece of trash that's not yours. i dare you to.

Hartford, CT. all-time worst.

Ivan wrote:

Miami. That city is a toilet.

I live in Miami. My major complaints are: rude people, "me, me me!" attitude, the worst drivers in the U.S., most men here act like sex predators, rat-race feeling that you can't escape from. Running here is a real challenge - I'll be lucky to survive to age 40.

Positives: cheap international airport to escape out of. Good weather in winter. Kayaking in the everglades (winter only). Lots of good restaurants, but HORRIBLE service. And, the Florida Keys are nearby, if you can survive the drive there.