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The most depressing f*cking shithole in the continental U.S.

Where is it?

by Anonymousreply 592September 2, 2020 2:15 PM

Somewhere I haven't been.

by Anonymousreply 1March 13, 2011 1:27 AM

There are too many candidates R23, you have to be more specific about what you consider depressing.

by Anonymousreply 2March 13, 2011 1:27 AM

Any high school.

by Anonymousreply 3March 13, 2011 1:31 AM

I've heard Youngstown, Oho is pretty bad but I haven't been. I'm in the Northwest and would say Aberdeen, WA, is one of the most depressing places in this region. Kurt Cobain's hometown which explains a lot about his music and suicidal tendencies.

by Anonymousreply 4March 13, 2011 1:40 AM

R4, he was murdered.

by Anonymousreply 5March 13, 2011 1:44 AM

Detroit. Period. No other major metropolitan city has ever reverted to farmland till Detroit.

by Anonymousreply 6March 13, 2011 1:46 AM

Phoenix

by Anonymousreply 7March 13, 2011 1:49 AM

R6 wins, it's a wasteland.

by Anonymousreply 8March 13, 2011 1:53 AM

Galveston, TX

by Anonymousreply 9March 13, 2011 1:53 AM

St. Louis is pretty grim. New Orleans, beyond the surface party sheen, is a filthy shithole. But McComb, Mississippi is probably the most depressing place I've ever spent time in. The mall was like the one from "Roseanne" - WalMart is the anchor store. There's just nothing there and no reason not to run far away.

by Anonymousreply 10March 13, 2011 1:54 AM

What's the situation in St. Louis?

by Anonymousreply 11March 13, 2011 1:57 AM

Memphis

by Anonymousreply 12March 13, 2011 2:00 AM

St. Joseph, Missouri. Dirty, decaying, empty, and full of the dumbest people I've ever seen. It's known for one thing and one thing only--Jesse James' House. We drove around for 20 minutes and must have asked a dozen people for directions to it, and not one damned person knew what we were talking about.

by Anonymousreply 13March 13, 2011 2:04 AM

Galveston

by Anonymousreply 14March 13, 2011 2:05 AM

Definitely St. Louis. The city has lost more than 2/3 of its population since 1950, it has the highest crime rate of any city in the country, the downtown area has 35% of its office space vacant, the entire metroplitan area continues to hemmorage jobs, the airport is under-utilized and half empty, and the inner ring suburbs that surround the city are quickly turning into crime ridden slums (Jennings, Wellston, Pine Lawn, Moline Acres, just to name a few). %0D %0D Yet the clueless people and the area's "leadership" think everything is just great the way it is and keep telling themselves they're better off than Detroit or Cleveland.

by Anonymousreply 15March 13, 2011 2:08 AM

I'm from rural Oklahoma originally. It could definitely be a contender.

by Anonymousreply 16March 13, 2011 2:08 AM

I've been to St Louis, Youngstown, and Galveston before. Of those three, Youngstown is the worst, with Galveston a close second. But there are certainly worse shit-holes in this country.%0D %0D

by Anonymousreply 17March 13, 2011 2:13 AM

This again? Okay, New York.

by Anonymousreply 18March 13, 2011 2:15 AM

Galveston has a beach - Detroit gets my vote.

by Anonymousreply 19March 13, 2011 2:15 AM

Indiana

by Anonymousreply 20March 13, 2011 2:15 AM

Gwyneth.

by Anonymousreply 21March 13, 2011 2:16 AM

Stockton California

by Anonymousreply 22March 13, 2011 2:17 AM

Bridgeport, Connecticut.

by Anonymousreply 23March 13, 2011 2:20 AM

Galveston's beach:

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by Anonymousreply 24March 13, 2011 2:22 AM

Barstow, CA

by Anonymousreply 25March 13, 2011 2:22 AM

Mississippi

by Anonymousreply 26March 13, 2011 2:25 AM

Crystal Beach is on the mainland, not Galveston Island.

by Anonymousreply 27March 13, 2011 2:26 AM

Agree about Bridgeport, Connecticut. It's almost like you're in the third world. Many CT residents do not get off I-95 in Bridgeport for any reason whatsoever. If your tank is on empty, you're about to shit your pants, etc. you just white-knuckle it till you cross into Fairfield. Sections of New Haven and Hartford are just as bad. %0D %0D Years ago, I got lost in Newark, New Jersey at 1:00 in the morning looking for the airport. Jesus Christ what a fucking shithole that place is.

by Anonymousreply 28March 13, 2011 2:34 AM

Isn't Bridgeport, CT where Ricky and Lucy moved to?

by Anonymousreply 29March 13, 2011 2:39 AM

Indeed r29.

by Anonymousreply 30March 13, 2011 2:44 AM

Ever hear of Imperial County, California? It's located in the far southeast corner of the state, brushing up against Arizona and Mexico. It's in the middle of a god-forsaken desert where the temperature often exceeds 120 degrees during the summer. The country's most polluted river, the New River, runs through it, carrying untreated sewage from Mexicali, Mexico, to the Salton Sea. Currently, the county holds an unemployment rate of 25.1%.

The county is home to some of the absolute shittiest cities and people; but an unincorporated area called Slab City, or just "The Slabs," takes the cake. The dictionary definition of dreary...

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by Anonymousreply 31March 13, 2011 2:49 AM

Detroit, no doubt.

by Anonymousreply 32March 13, 2011 2:59 AM

Another vote for Youngstown, OH. Depressing and symbolic.

by Anonymousreply 33March 13, 2011 3:02 AM

my bedroom?

by Anonymousreply 34March 13, 2011 3:27 AM

R22 you are wrong!

by Anonymousreply 35March 13, 2011 3:31 AM

If you think Detroit is bad you should drive north and check out Flint.

by Anonymousreply 36March 13, 2011 3:36 AM

Wow! That is hard to decide. There are so many god candidates!

by Anonymousreply 37March 13, 2011 3:41 AM

Kipper

by Anonymousreply 38March 13, 2011 3:47 AM

The state of Michigan is pretty much a mess. The remaining people aren't very nice, but that is understandable. I wouldn't call it a shithole, but I would say it comes pretty damn close.

by Anonymousreply 39March 13, 2011 3:48 AM

Apache Junction AZ

by Anonymousreply 40March 13, 2011 3:50 AM

R39 That's a very broad brush with which you are painting. There are many good and nice people in Michigan. Many of them have fallen on very hard times. And yes, there are some real shithole towns. Let's not throw the baby out with the bathwater.

by Anonymousreply 41March 13, 2011 4:07 AM

I'll second Flint and add Pontiac.%0D %0D Detroit is just a tragedy, but Flint and Pontiac have always been shitholes.

by Anonymousreply 42March 13, 2011 4:23 AM

Pittsburgh.

by Anonymousreply 43March 13, 2011 4:23 AM

Tie: Hazleton, Pa & Centralia, Pa

by Anonymousreply 44March 13, 2011 4:42 AM

Arlington, Texas

by Anonymousreply 45March 13, 2011 4:46 AM

Southwest DC

by Anonymousreply 46March 13, 2011 4:48 AM

I stopped to see Old Shawneetown, Illinois, the one the flood people refuse to insure since there is no levee. The first bank in Illinois is there, a place that gave money to establish Chicago. It is across the street from crumbling brick buildings. One of them, with the bricks mostly missing from the second floor, had an operating bar. The streets were worn down to nineteenth century brick paving. And when I stopped in front of the bank to read the plaque my car was surrounded by feral dogs who would not let me move forward or back for a good ten minutes.

by Anonymousreply 47March 13, 2011 4:59 AM

Bakersfield, Ca. is stiflingly hot and the people are miserable.

As far as shitholes go, I'd vote for Fort Stockton, Texas, which only exists as the only place within hundreds of miles to pull over and sleep when you're driving across hellblasted West Texas. It's truly Hades on earth.

When my partner and I stopped there, we stopped at a Godforsaken motel where the clerk wore a bolo with a turquoise crucifix. The only place open on a Sunday at 7 pm was Pizza Hut ('and you better hurry, 'cause it closes at 9"). Bars? They didn't have any, at least none that would dare open on a Sunday. When we got back to the motel, she glowered at us and told my partner "Here's the keys for you AND YOUR BROTHER."

We backed the car in to the cinderblock motel so no one could get in to the trunk. Every station on the TV was showing either home shopping or televangelists. I'm from a small town and can still be charmed by them; this was a place that would have driven any rational person to suicide within a week.

by Anonymousreply 49March 13, 2011 8:20 AM

Benton Harbor should be added to the Michigan cities list.

In fact, no matter what the locals say, pretty much all of Berrien County is depressing. Not one Starbucks in the whole county.

by Anonymousreply 50March 13, 2011 8:40 AM

Not one Starbucks, you say? That actually sounds... nice.

by Anonymousreply 51March 13, 2011 8:51 AM

[quote]It's known for one thing and one thing only--Jesse James' House. We drove around for 20 minutes and must have asked a dozen people for directions to it, and not one damned person knew what we were talking about.%0D %0D %0D Don't believe it for a minute. You just know they all said among themselves afterwards 'Hey who sent those two dykes looking for Jesse's house off on a wild goose in the wrong direction! Ha!' %0D %0D They're stupid in the right direction are local yokels.

by Anonymousreply 52March 13, 2011 9:18 AM

Where are you right now, OP?

by Anonymousreply 53March 13, 2011 9:23 AM

Cairo, Illinois is a nearly abandoned, depressing town on the Mississsippi River. ou always read about it on some urban planning forum.

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by Anonymousreply 54March 13, 2011 1:10 PM

Some parts of Michigan are still beautiful.%0D Ithas many top notched universities.

by Anonymousreply 55March 13, 2011 2:45 PM

Kemmerer, Wyoming. Dismal.

by Anonymousreply 56March 13, 2011 2:50 PM

Gary, Indiana.%0D I really think that some decay can been seen as beautiful.%0D I am inclined to believe those dreary border towns lacking any green are the most depressing.

by Anonymousreply 57March 13, 2011 2:55 PM

Marmet, WV

by Anonymousreply 58March 13, 2011 2:58 PM

Every Northern shit hole decaying city.

by Anonymousreply 59March 13, 2011 3:09 PM

r31, I had a great time at Slab City. Wouldn't necessarily want to live there, but the old timers took us in like family, protected us from even perceived harm, housed and fed us. And the parties are ridiculous.

by Anonymousreply 60March 13, 2011 3:15 PM

Fort Worth, TX

by Anonymousreply 61March 13, 2011 3:18 PM

Somewhere near Dick Cheney's testes.

by Anonymousreply 62March 13, 2011 3:28 PM

r61 has obviously never been to Fort Worth.

by Anonymousreply 63March 13, 2011 3:29 PM

Maywood, IL

by Anonymousreply 64March 13, 2011 3:36 PM

oh, honey. its so transparent. All this thread is is just one more insecure uneducated 20something from somewhere in the north trying to compensate for his own small world or lack of top-rate education or legitimate world travel by beginning a thread to bash places in the south and midwest so he can continue to live in his grandiose vision that he is worldly as he day dreams between fixing double decaf latte's on his second barista shift at some Starbucks in Trenton or New Brunswick.

by Anonymousreply 65March 13, 2011 3:44 PM

r29, the Ricardos lived Westport, not Bridgeport.

by Anonymousreply 66March 13, 2011 3:44 PM

R25 is correct: Barstow, CA. Scary and toxic-sludge adjacent.

by Anonymousreply 67March 13, 2011 3:50 PM

The governor of Wisconsin

by Anonymousreply 68March 13, 2011 3:53 PM

#65, me-OW. We can't all go to Harvard. Now pull your caftan out of your crack; I know it's starting to get real hot down there in Fla.

by Anonymousreply 69March 13, 2011 4:09 PM

R61 lived in Fort Worth for 16 years.

by Anonymousreply 70March 13, 2011 4:48 PM

r61 - then you must know that FW has a great downtown area and a lot of cultural events. Bass Hall is pretty amazing,Sundance Square, etc. I don't even think it qualifies as depressing much less a shithole. Yes, it has a few dreary neighborhoods but what city doesn't?

by Anonymousreply 71March 13, 2011 4:53 PM

Hello, Thread. Worcester MA here. I own this one. Move over, bitches.

by Anonymousreply 72March 13, 2011 4:58 PM

I've spent time in most of the big Midwestern cities. Detroit was awful the last time I was there (2002) and I can only imagine how much worse it is now. St. Louis is nearly as bad.%0D %0D I don't know much about the south beyond Texas. I've lived for weeks at a time in several different cities in Texas and they were all terrible. Not falling apart terrible, but hot and filled with loud, obnoxious assholes. Everyone said Austin was different, but it really isn't. It's just full of loud, obnxious asshole hipsters.

by Anonymousreply 73March 13, 2011 5:24 PM

Worcester ain't that bad. It has several great colleges, Lake Quinsigamond, proximity to Boston and leafy suburbs. There are far worse places. %0D %0D

by Anonymousreply 74March 13, 2011 5:46 PM

San Jose

by Anonymousreply 75March 13, 2011 5:48 PM

In that case don't bother giving me the directions

by Anonymousreply 76March 13, 2011 5:54 PM

Belle Glade FL Do a google maps street view search of SW 6th Street & SW Ave C Belle Glade FL

Unbelievable squalor... and it goes on and on for city blocks and blocks and blocks...

by Anonymousreply 77March 13, 2011 6:00 PM

Isn't Belle Glade where they traced the start of AIDS in America to? Haitian hookers giving it to truckers who brought it north?

by Anonymousreply 78March 13, 2011 6:16 PM

Any border town with Mexico. Just awful.

by Anonymousreply 79March 13, 2011 6:34 PM

[quote]Agree about Bridgeport, Connecticut. It's almost like you're in the third world. Many CT residents do not get off I-95 in Bridgeport for any reason whatsoever. If your tank is on empty, you're about to shit your pants, etc. you just white-knuckle it till you cross into Fairfield. Sections of New Haven and Hartford are just as bad.

I used to visit a friend who was a grad student at Yale back in the 90's. The poor people I'd see on the street in New Haven scared me.

by Anonymousreply 80March 13, 2011 6:41 PM

I actually grew up in Bridgeport. It wasn't as bad in the 60s. Really went downhill in the late 70s. Too bad. It's a great location with a lot of potential.

by Anonymousreply 81March 13, 2011 6:51 PM

r77: Damn, did you live there?

by Anonymousreply 82March 13, 2011 7:10 PM

How come Madonna never 'beautified' Pontiac, with all her $$ ?

by Anonymousreply 83March 13, 2011 7:24 PM

Beautiful downtown Cairo, IL

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by Anonymousreply 84March 13, 2011 7:33 PM

Beautiful downtown New Madrid, MO from the levee.

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by Anonymousreply 85March 13, 2011 7:34 PM

The most depressing fucking shithole in the continental United States has to be the one attached to Dick Cheney.

by Anonymousreply 86March 13, 2011 9:04 PM

Buffalo NY

by Anonymousreply 87March 13, 2011 9:08 PM

Hartford, CT is pretty much a warzone now outside of the downtown business district, and even there you don't want to hang out after dark. As soon as all the offices close for business people high-tail it out of downtown to the suburbs.%0D %0D It's a real shame because Hartford has neighborhoods that could be beautiful - a lot of gorgeous Victorian homes and the brownstones are comparable to anything in the West Village, seriously. Unfortunately, the crime is epidemic and the state of CT wrote off Hartford decades ago.

by Anonymousreply 88March 13, 2011 9:14 PM

oh, come on Hartford is NOT that bad. It has some pretty nice architecture and urban renewal areas.

Exaggeration is not becoming on a man...

by Anonymousreply 89March 13, 2011 9:19 PM

Baton Rouge, LA.

by Anonymousreply 90March 13, 2011 9:20 PM

I would imagine Gary, Indiana.%0D %0D Haven't seen Gary in a long time, but it was a complete shithole going way back.%0D %0D For the person who listed the entire state of Indiana (is that you Evansville native who hates Indiana and always indicts a whole state?)....%0D %0D Indiana has some lovely beach towns on Lake Michigan with beautiful beaches such as Michiana Shores, Dunes State Park, New Buffalo....%0D %0D plus Bloomington, Indiana and nearby artsy towns are nice and picturesque including a Big Ten University - Indiana University which has a lovely campus

by Anonymousreply 91March 13, 2011 9:22 PM

The Slabs? I rememeber the slabs in the movie "Into the Wild". catherine keener's character and her husband would make a pilgrimmage to the area yearly. They kinda romanticized the place.

by Anonymousreply 92March 13, 2011 9:25 PM

Buffalo NY is a dump

by Anonymousreply 93March 13, 2011 10:47 PM

Beautiful Zug Island, Michigan over looking beautiful Ontario

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by Anonymousreply 94March 13, 2011 11:45 PM

Girls, girls, your whole country is a shithole!

by Anonymousreply 95March 13, 2011 11:55 PM

Utica, NY

by Anonymousreply 96March 14, 2011 12:05 AM

Lovely Tonopah, Nevada.

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by Anonymousreply 97March 14, 2011 12:19 AM

What is the primary ethnic group that's causing the trouble in Bridgeport, Waterbury, New Haven and Valley Forge?

by Anonymousreply 98March 14, 2011 12:24 AM

Cincinnati

by Anonymousreply 99March 14, 2011 12:51 AM

R98 I can't speak for Valley Forge but in the CT cities, it's a mix of races. Not one in particular.

by Anonymousreply 100March 14, 2011 12:56 AM

Camden, New Jersey across from Philadeplhia. Just laid-off 160 cops in a city whose major industry%0D is crime and drug dealing.

by Anonymousreply 101March 14, 2011 12:58 AM

Atlanta

by Anonymousreply 102March 14, 2011 2:57 AM

Uh . . . that would be Dallas.

Even the Lip Gloss And Prada Queens feed off of each other for lack of anything better to do!!!!

by Anonymousreply 103March 14, 2011 3:03 AM

The worst I've ever been to is Aberdeen, Washington. It's Kurt Cobain's hometown, and as soon as you see it you instantly realize why his music was so depressing.

by Anonymousreply 104March 14, 2011 3:05 AM

Buffalo is NOT a dump nor a shit hole. Compared to these examples it is Shangri-La.

by Anonymousreply 105March 14, 2011 4:52 AM

I second Atlanta. A dumb, fat, whore of a city.

by Anonymousreply 106March 14, 2011 4:55 AM

I've never been to Atlanta, but everybody I have ever known who has been there hated it.

by Anonymousreply 107March 14, 2011 6:28 AM

Does it have to be continental U.S.?

by Anonymousreply 108March 14, 2011 6:34 AM

Yo, Wasilla, you are continental.

by Anonymousreply 109March 14, 2011 6:44 AM

Not according to UPS and FedEx.

by Anonymousreply 110March 14, 2011 7:25 AM

Any town that's had a big military presence. They leave a huge, destructive footprint wherever they are and manage to make things even uglier when they're shut down.

by Anonymousreply 111March 14, 2011 7:58 AM

Rumford, Maine.

by Anonymousreply 112March 14, 2011 8:08 AM

You are correct R71, Fort Worth has some truly lovely neighborhoods, and areas. The problem with them is that they are (for the most part) populated by bigots, rednecks and (gasp) devotees of Fox News. If memory serves me correctly, it is the only of the "large" cities in Texas to vote McCain/Palin. Houston, Dallas, San Antonio, and El Paso supported Obama.

by Anonymousreply 113March 14, 2011 8:10 AM

[R72] wins it. Worcester MA is the "most depressing f*cking shithole in the continental U.S." Went to college there, and somehow thought that it would have the best of Boston and the Berkshires. Boy, was I wrong. If the world ever needed an enema, they'd put it in through Worcester.

by Anonymousreply 114March 14, 2011 4:26 PM

R72 here. Thanks for the shout-out, R114.

by Anonymousreply 115March 14, 2011 11:45 PM

Augusta "Disgusta" Georgia -- the city with an open-air sewage treatment plant on one end (next to the airport...welcome to Augusta) and a paper mill at the other. Nothing in the world smells as bad as a paper mill.

Throw in a population of Bible-thumping, homophobic, pig-ignorant racists, an economy in the crapper, a downtown as dead as any rust belt city, and summers with the thermometer and the barometer both in the 90s.

by Anonymousreply 116March 15, 2011 6:27 AM

Atlanta. Populated by welfare trash acting like Southern aristocracy.

by Anonymousreply 117March 15, 2011 6:29 AM

Hands down, Alamagordo, New Mexico.

by Anonymousreply 118March 15, 2011 7:45 AM

Levittown, PA and surrounding communities.%0D %0D Absolute FILTH.

by Anonymousreply 119March 15, 2011 11:11 AM

[quote]thermometer and the barometer both in the 90s.%0D %0D Oh, my!

by Anonymousreply 120March 15, 2011 11:24 AM

Las vegas%0D Camden%0D Gary

by Anonymousreply 121March 15, 2011 11:43 AM

[quote]You are correct [R71], Fort Worth has some truly lovely neighborhoods, and areas. The problem with them is that they are (for the most part) populated by bigots, rednecks and (gasp) devotees of Fox News.[quote]%0D %0D Then if that's the criteria for a depressing shithole, then you can say most of this country is a shithole, including parts of NYC and Boston.%0D %0D I think the OP was talking more about places like Camden, Detroit and East St Louis.

by Anonymousreply 122March 15, 2011 8:24 PM

Either Detroit MI or Newark NJ

by Anonymousreply 123March 15, 2011 8:27 PM

LA tops my list. What a soulless, empty, vapid, cultureless cesspool.....

by Anonymousreply 124March 15, 2011 9:10 PM

I find LA to be one of the most beautiful places on earth.

Let's hope the prediction for an earthquake tomorrow through the 26th is erroneous.

by Anonymousreply 125March 18, 2011 4:04 PM

Disgusta, GA. There is a good reason people call it that. When I was there while stationed at Fort Gordon, I remember reading at least once a week a letter to the editor in the local paper how gays should be sent to prison. I mean seriously. It has to be the most homophobic city I have ever lived in.

by Anonymousreply 126March 19, 2011 8:20 AM

Fox News headquarters.

by Anonymousreply 127March 19, 2011 12:06 PM

Puerto Amboy, New Jersey.

by Anonymousreply 128March 19, 2011 12:21 PM

Clermont-Ferrand, France, makes most of these places look like NYC.

by Anonymousreply 129March 19, 2011 12:29 PM

Any large city in the US has sections that could fit the bill as "the most depressing fucking shithole in the continental US. And any large city in any country on earth has sections that could easily be considered "the most depressing fucking shithole on earth".

But of course, on DL and most any other online chat board a city's worth is always based on it's worst areas or attributes, mainly because too many people who frequent these boards are mental cases who thrive on shitting on some one, some thing, or some place else.

by Anonymousreply 130March 19, 2011 1:26 PM

R129, is that good or bad?

by Anonymousreply 131March 19, 2011 2:13 PM

[quote]But of course, on DL and most any other online chat board a city's worth is always based on it's worst areas or attributes, mainly because too many people who frequent these boards are mental cases who thrive on shitting on some one, some thing, or some place else.

I think I love you!!

by Anonymousreply 132March 19, 2011 3:20 PM

I've said it before and I'll say it again, Minneapolis is the worst place I've ever lived. It's fallimg apart from the inside out, a few years ago a bridge collapsed, a few weeks ago a major urban gas line burst into flames. There is no money for even basic maintenance of the city. People are working sixty hour weeks just to pay for cheap apartments and running around with broken teeth and cheap shoes because wages are so low. But just as another poster on this thread said about a different city, people are just as happy as can be, freezing their asses off for nine months of the year with huge simles on their faces. Sort of like a sick, not funny at all Mayberry.

by Anonymousreply 133March 19, 2011 4:19 PM

Nine months, R133? You are ridiculous - it's only chilly in Minneapolis from November thru early March - that's only 4 and a half months.%0D %0D It's in the 50's today and will be in the 50's most of the rest of March.%0D %0D When you exaggerate so wildly, it deflates any argument you might possess and feel.%0D %0D Washington DC is MUCH WORSE with is horrible, incessant high humidity and heat.%0D %0D And you seem to be running around with people who have very low level jobs - sorry to hear that. There is a whole world of people not in low level jogs.%0D %0D Also, as an aside, the bridge is not the responsibility of Minneapolis - it is the responsibility of the State of Minnesota which does inspectio

by Anonymousreply 134March 19, 2011 4:45 PM

The entire state of New Jersey (with a special aromatic mention of Elizabeth).

The only good thing about NJ is it's on the way to somewhere else.

by Anonymousreply 135March 19, 2011 5:21 PM

I am not a proponent of New Jersey, but it has many beautiful parts and beautiful counties toward the western and middle parts of the state - WHICH YOU APPARENTLY HAVE NEVER SEEN.%0D %0D Why would you judge an entire state by solely it's eastern corridor when the rest of the state has many lovely, upscale, garden-like areas?%0D %0D It makes you appear ignorant and uninformed.

by Anonymousreply 136March 19, 2011 5:26 PM

Beaumont, Tx

by Anonymousreply 137March 19, 2011 6:46 PM

New Jersey does indeed have some beautiful areas. It's a shame that more people don't know that.

by Anonymousreply 138March 19, 2011 6:48 PM

[quote]Clermont-Ferrand, France, makes most of these places look like NYC.

[quote][R129], is that good or bad?

After about 30 seconds there and you'd have your answer.

C-F is pretty much the Akron of Europe. It's the headquarters for Michelin. The city and the whole surrounding area are involved in tires and other car-related manufacturing.

Now, to be fair, if you're interested in geology, the area around C-F is full of fascinating extinct volcanoes, giving some parts an almost lunar feel to them.

But to live or spend any time in C-F, no thank you.

by Anonymousreply 139March 19, 2011 7:41 PM

I can't believe more of you didn't vote for me!

by Anonymousreply 140March 19, 2011 10:41 PM

Cheryl's.

by Anonymousreply 141March 19, 2011 10:44 PM

R140, because it is ignorant and stupid to indict an entire state.%0D %0D Florida has a good number of very nice, lovely, enjoyable places to live - such as Naples, Florida which is right on the ocean.%0D %0D If you want to name certain cities in Florida, or couties, or a certain region minus the nice towns/cities within, then go ahead.

by Anonymousreply 142March 20, 2011 12:11 AM

sorry, counties

by Anonymousreply 143March 20, 2011 12:15 AM

After Googling Ohio, I'm starting to believe the posters who said the whole state is a shithole.

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by Anonymousreply 144March 21, 2011 8:09 PM

Oh please, R144, the entire state of Ohio is not a shithole. I left Ohio over 15 years ago, but college towns like Granville, Gambier, and Yellow Springs are lovely.

by Anonymousreply 145March 21, 2011 9:42 PM

Aren't there a lot of colored people with guns and knives in Beaumont?

by Anonymousreply 146March 24, 2011 5:34 AM

r35, I guess you haven't been to Cape May.

by Anonymousreply 147March 24, 2011 8:13 PM

Is Datalounge on Saturday night a place?

by Anonymousreply 148March 24, 2011 11:47 PM

Stamford is pretty nasty. For a town founded in 1641 there's really not much left beyond 1960. They should also use it as a how don't for urban planning it's just awful and depressing.

by Anonymousreply 149April 6, 2011 6:46 PM

Tonopah Nevada!! This God forsaken wana be town has nothing ,no jobs a group of people who think tere keeping it together,actually the only thing it has is a road going trough it to Vegas

by Anonymousreply 150December 21, 2011 7:54 PM

R24 that was Crystal Beach, not Galveston. To be fair they'd just had the worst hurricane since 1900. I'd say any of those ugly failing rust belt cities that used to thrive on the steel industry.

by Anonymousreply 151December 21, 2011 8:01 PM

A beach with a big, black seawall.

by Anonymousreply 152December 21, 2011 8:12 PM

R31, I've hung out at Slab City and it's far from depressing. The people are great and the party never ends.

by Anonymousreply 153December 21, 2011 8:13 PM

Silicon Valley -- third world sweat shops in a dusty backwater overgrown by steroids into San Jose.

by Anonymousreply 154December 21, 2011 8:23 PM

Detroit?

by Anonymousreply 155December 21, 2011 8:27 PM

Wilkes-Barre, PA wins this hands down.

by Anonymousreply 156December 21, 2011 8:30 PM

Decatur, AL. Hands down.

by Anonymousreply 157December 21, 2011 8:33 PM

This topic would make a great series on TV. I love looking at squalor.

by Anonymousreply 158December 21, 2011 8:55 PM

Gilette Wyoming.

by Anonymousreply 159December 21, 2011 8:59 PM

Memphis, TN is Detroit's neighbor to the South.

Really depressing. I would dare say only about thirty five to maybe forty percent of that city has properly habitable housing.

When they had that minor flood, their Mayor did not even give a shit about the lakes, creeks, and estuaries which followed out the very humble neighborhoods. He just let them go and focused on next to nothing short of going on t.v. and speaking of the Downtown area of the city still being open.

by Anonymousreply 160December 21, 2011 9:01 PM

followed=flooded

Sorry about that I have a headcold and am drunk on Ny Quil

by Anonymousreply 161December 21, 2011 9:06 PM

The Coachella Valley, followed closely by the Texas Rio Grande valley near McAllen,

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by Anonymousreply 162December 21, 2011 9:11 PM

Camden, NJ looks like a war-torn third-world shithole. A friend and I took the wrong exit and got lost there late one night. HOLY SHIT! You almost can't believe you're in the United States. Horrifying.

by Anonymousreply 163December 21, 2011 9:12 PM

Sacramento CA

by Anonymousreply 164December 21, 2011 10:15 PM

Detroit wins. Jacksonville, Fl is a close second simply due to the abject TRASH (white, brown, black, you name it) that inhabits that hell hole.

by Anonymousreply 165December 21, 2011 10:19 PM

r156, that must be why W-B gets top-rung acts to come to its various venues.

Wilkes-Barre, like much of NE PA, is old, with old-timey dwellings (the kind with porches and shingle-siding); but it is humble, not wretched.

by Anonymousreply 166December 21, 2011 10:33 PM

Cairo, IL

Waveland, Miss.

Offsite Link
by Anonymousreply 167December 21, 2011 10:38 PM

Ditto R19

by Anonymousreply 168December 21, 2011 10:52 PM

Tallulah, Louisiana for the win, Bob.

I dare any of you to get off I20 late at night and stop at the convenience store across from the wretched Days Inn (run by the nastiest East Indians I've ever met). Migrant workers in mass, broken glass everywhere, spit and shit and anything else gross you can think of.

Two fighting cats ran over my foot when I got out of the car. They were like a welcome wagon compared to the rest of the citizens.

by Anonymousreply 169December 21, 2011 11:06 PM

Jacksonville, Florida

by Anonymousreply 170December 21, 2011 11:12 PM

It is most certainly Wasilla, Alaska, which is on the continent unless one of the underlying earthquake faults splits in just the right place. Hope springs eternal on that one.

by Anonymousreply 171December 21, 2011 11:32 PM

Reno NV without a doubt. Although Tahoe is quite nice.

by Anonymousreply 172December 22, 2011 1:19 AM

A tie between Gary, Indiana & Flint, Michigan. One tied all its hopes & dreams to the steel industry and the other to the auto industry. Both lost. Gary's despair is seemingly made worse by its location. The magnificence & cosmopolitanism of Chicago is just to the north, and the natural beauty of Michigan gems like New Buffalo, Warren Sand Dunes, and St. Joseph are just to the east.

I grew up in the Detroit suburbs. Yes, there is a great deal of shithole. But believe it or not, there are some lovely places within the city limits. The Whitney, the Book Cadillac Hotel, the Detroit Athletic Club, the Fisher and Fox Theatres, the Whitcomb Conservatory on Belle Isle, the Palmer Park neighborhood, the Detroit Golf Club. Not to mention the second gay bar I ever ventured inside - Menjo's! It is literally in the hood, but holds a lot of great memories.

by Anonymousreply 173December 22, 2011 1:52 AM

Lawrence, MA

by Anonymousreply 174December 22, 2011 2:20 AM

You people really are peculiarly selective. Detroit truly is awful, but even a place like St. Louis is amazing for contrasts, diversity, and healthy life behind appearances to the casual observer.

Shithole? Try Salt Lake CIty.

Get your priorities straight.

by Anonymousreply 175December 22, 2011 2:27 AM

I haven't spent much time in the continental US. Born and raised on Long Island, I now live in Manhattan and the Hamptons. Spend my summers all around the Hamptons, Montauk, Block Island, Cape Cod and the Vineyard. I have been up and down the East Coast from Canada to the Keys.

I don't think I've been very far west. PA, that's about as far as I've gone. Haven't been as far west as Buffalo.

I don't like being away from the ocean.

I pretty much don't know the continental US.

by Anonymousreply 176December 22, 2011 2:55 AM

[quote]How come Madonna never 'beautified' Pontiac, with all her $$ ?

Because she knows that you can put lipstick on a pig, but it's still a pig.

by Anonymousreply 177December 22, 2011 6:57 PM

Waco, Tx. Decrepit and ghostly. Freight and highways take massive industrial loads through the town.

Kiryas Joel NY. Orthodox community with mammoth houses for families of 12 kids plus two kosher kitchens. No trees. Unfinished construction everywhere. Most inhabitants live on food stamps.

Chester PA. Dungpile between Philly and Wilmington, visible in all its tattered misery from Amtrak. Casino and soccer stadium have not helped.

Memphis, earlier posters were right. Poverty and generations of bad urban planning have cut the heart out of the city.

by Anonymousreply 178December 22, 2011 7:23 PM

W&W for R177.

by Anonymousreply 179December 22, 2011 7:37 PM

The most depressing cities I've ever visited are Spartanburg, South Carolina, and South Bend, Indiana. 30 years ago I would have said Chattanooga,Tennessee, too, but Chattanooga has improved drastically in the past 30 years. Now it's quite a nice smaller city. So props to Chattanooga for that.

East St. Louis, IL, Camden NJ, and Detroit MI all deserve their bad reputations.

The people who have listed Atlanta & Dallas here must not have seen 98% of those cities, since they are both great cities. Atlanta especially is about as pretty and vibrant as can be found in the US.

I have found Norfolk-Virginia Beach to be very depressing due to the massive military & religion influences on those cities. There are some nice enough spots there, but over-all the military & religion crap are still depressing.

by Anonymousreply 180December 22, 2011 7:54 PM

r166 - the only reason WB gets acts to come is it is located on the interstate 2 hours from NY and Philly with huge market bases who can get tickets cheaper than in NY and Philly. The dowtown was once a nice college city that went belly up because of drugs, prostitution and an influx of lower economic classes who flock to the depressed cities of PA for government benefits. They also have more meth labs and drug violence than most cities in the rest of PA except North Philly. There are no jobs. Its a crap hole, not humble. And if getting good acts defines an area's success, Atlantic City should be your idea of Oz.

by Anonymousreply 181December 22, 2011 7:56 PM

Braddock, PA (in ruins, but beautifully set on the river)

Brownsville, PA (Looks like a scene from The Day After)

I disagree with the poster who listed Wilkes-Barre, PA. I find Wilkes-Barre/Kingston area to be quite nice, especially in the spring and summer along the Susquehanna river. Wilkes-Barrie has two of the finest optical laboratories in the entire United States, Luzerne Optical Lab and Balester Optical. Great people there too; Scranton included. And I still love guys up at Parrish.

by Anonymousreply 182December 22, 2011 8:35 PM

El Paso , Texas It's just across the border from the real ultimate s-hole, Juarez, Mex. People are gunned down, beheaded, disappear everyday there, and they say it's now flowing across the border into EP. They're all loco !

by Anonymousreply 183December 22, 2011 9:38 PM

I haven't been all over, so it may not be the worst, but I thought Cheyenne, WY was a pretty depressed and depressing area, full of backwards yee-haw cowboys and evil James Watt types.

by Anonymousreply 184December 22, 2011 9:59 PM

Coshocton, OH.

by Anonymousreply 185December 24, 2011 6:42 PM

Any "city" in New Hampshire

by Anonymousreply 186December 24, 2011 7:28 PM

Between Marcus Bachmann's asscheeks.

by Anonymousreply 187December 24, 2011 7:36 PM

This thread would make a great TV show, maybe on the Travel Channel?

by Anonymousreply 188December 24, 2011 7:57 PM

St.Louis MO, the most disgusting piece of shit I have ever seen. On my way to New York I thought I would stop in for the night, see a movie, get some dinner etc. When I got off the freeway, Im talking shit everywhere. Garbage in the streets, buildings that were decaying and rotted out. Pot holes in the street, some so big that they had orange cones around them and you had to drive into on coming traffic to pass though. Even the cop cars were broken pieces of shit. I had to take a piss, I just used a empty juice bottle and tossed it out the window ( Maybe the uric acid will kill some of the germs in the street) I met someone in Indiana that had been to Detroit, New Orleans and St. Louis, and St. Louis was 10x as bad as Detroit and N.O. according to him. And yes, in many of the parts enjoy the smell of raw sewage. On my way out I could see a public pool I swear had a dead dog in it. If you want to visit this place, I would suggest getting a bunch of shots, and if you fall down in the street and break the skin, I would get tested just be sure. Happy Travels.

by Anonymousreply 189May 18, 2012 6:41 AM

Troy, NY

The Upper East Side

by Anonymousreply 190May 18, 2012 7:52 AM

Any place on the Central Coast of California.

Overhyped beyond rescue. And really, quite embarrassing.

REALLY quite embarrassing.

by Anonymousreply 191May 18, 2012 8:52 AM

According to Mr Obama it's the space next to him in bed, occupied by what he terms as, "That uppity black woman."

by Anonymousreply 192May 18, 2012 9:05 AM

San Bernardino, CA, is truly a turd of a city.

by Anonymousreply 193May 18, 2012 9:25 AM

No question, Brooklyn. Why anyone would go there is a mystery. We hate leaving Manhattan to travel there, because it's, well, it's Brooklyn. Sophisticated people never go there, much less live there.

by Anonymousreply 194May 18, 2012 10:10 AM

Meriden, Connecticut

by Anonymousreply 195May 18, 2012 12:46 PM

Anywhere in Mississippi or Arkansas. I think it's the heat. It makes the people slow and stupid and the air fetid.

by Anonymousreply 196May 18, 2012 12:51 PM

Detroit

by Anonymousreply 197May 18, 2012 12:54 PM

R85. I travel to New Madrid several times a year for work. It is a horribly depressing place to be.

by Anonymousreply 198May 18, 2012 12:57 PM

There are nice areas of Detroit. There are NO nice areas in Gary, Indiana.

by Anonymousreply 199May 18, 2012 12:58 PM

Fresno. Appropriate that the 3-letter code for their airport is FAT

by Anonymousreply 200May 18, 2012 12:59 PM

R189 is correct. The entire metropolitan area is on it's death bed and the clueless people who live there are either too stupid or too lazy to care, including the so-called leadership.

And they favorite rejoinder to any criticism is "at least we're not Detroit or Cleveland." Well, idiots, at least Detroit and Cleveland have airports that are major hubs and you can get direct flights to Europe or Asia from them.

by Anonymousreply 201May 18, 2012 1:01 PM

R196 you need to learn about Eureka Springs Ar. Beautiful late 1800's town with a huge gay population. Even has civil unions for gays. Last census of town put it at just over 50% gay. All arts crafts and shops with 3 diversity events a year.

We own a vacation home there, an old Victorian and plan to retire there in a few years.

by Anonymousreply 202May 18, 2012 1:06 PM

r193 wins. Thread closed.

by Anonymousreply 203May 18, 2012 1:10 PM

I knew a Fort Worth couple who went to Eureka Springs to get married. I hadn't realized it was a wedding spot before that. At any rate, they were quite pleased with how things went.

Most depressing city I've spent any time in was El Paso. It seemed to be dying a slow, sad death.

by Anonymousreply 204May 18, 2012 1:13 PM

Eureka Springs, AR has a population of 2,000. Sounds like hell to me.

by Anonymousreply 205May 18, 2012 1:16 PM

R205 We have seen it with over 15000 tourist a day on weekends though. Funny they have a ton of biker events and I was surprised how well they got along with gays. I just assumed it would not be so. Tons of lesbians visit as well. And there is a gay men's nude resort right in town.

by Anonymousreply 206May 18, 2012 1:22 PM

Is Gary, Indiana somewhere in here? It should be.

by Anonymousreply 207May 18, 2012 4:46 PM

Another vote for New York City.

by Anonymousreply 208May 18, 2012 4:50 PM

Winslow, AZ

by Anonymousreply 209May 18, 2012 4:51 PM

Bakersfield, CA is full of stupid, un-educated, meth addicted, white trash morons. Combined, they may have enough brain-power to go to a Community College and study basket weaving.

Remember, it's NOT Bakersfield, but "this here Bakersfield". Their police are corrupt and nearly as unprofessional as the average Joe or Sue with a grade school education.

Mostly white trash, un-educated folks living in temporary and mobile housing (trailers). Employment status seldom exceeds Walmart/Target cashier-level skills traits. The women like to paint their nails in layers, and prep their big hair-do with eighties colors. Their ideal boyfriends hold jobs like plumbing, masonry, and cashiers at Walmart, Circle K and Seven Eleven.

by Anonymousreply 210June 3, 2012 2:22 PM

r48 's head.

by Anonymousreply 211June 3, 2012 2:31 PM

Miami.

The ignorance, mean spiritedness, cultural impoverishment and squalor grate even more because of all the PR saying it is a place where life is beautiful.

by Anonymousreply 212June 3, 2012 2:32 PM

Biggest shithole town in the Western US? Bakersfield, CA. 6th Grade educations, meth, and trailer-trash as far as the eye can see. Wallmart and Target flunkies, whipped guys who fall for stupid floozies, dumb girls who get knocked up hoping to go to LA with a purpose.

Welcome to California's dark secret. A place that makes West Virginia's freaks blush. Just when you thought California is glamorous, and those songs about fun in the California Sun gets your feet dancing, don't forget that a lot of weird people come from California. Charles Manson was one. I'm not saying that Bakersfield is full of psychos, but just a bunch of uneducated trailer-trash and meth heads. If California has an anus, this stinky place qualifies as a definite shithole on this list in need of a clean wipe.

Bakersfield, CA is California Hillbilly Central. Shit-Hole Station One- CA on this list of shitholes in the United States of America. Even the cops are too stupid to make this town anything more more than a nasty truck-stop. Be warned however, they WILL bust YOU you for ANYTHING they deem. Expect having your vehicle impounded, handcuffs, fines. Many of us think this sort of thing only happens in the deep South. Think again. Be very cautious around Bakersfield CA. Seriously.

by Anonymousreply 213June 3, 2012 2:59 PM

Pittsfield New Hampshire is DISGUSTING.

Worcester, Massachusetts

Lawrence, Mass.

Mississippi.

by Anonymousreply 214June 3, 2012 4:30 PM

r212 said it. Miami Miami Miami.

The face eating story this week is just the tip of the iceberg. Full of corruption, drugs and fraud. Most people who end up in Miami have nowhere else to turn, its the last stop. Its an ok destination, but a miserable place to live.

by Anonymousreply 215June 3, 2012 4:39 PM

Burlington Vermont. Home of dredlocked trustafarians who think that a certificate from New England Culinary Institute and their recipe for artisan ale battered free-range shrimp over cruelty free cheddar grits with a side of kiwifruit waffles will put them on the map. Three months later when their bistro closes, they're using their trust fund to start a goat cheese popsicle business.

Then there is the white-trash who are both foster parents and registered sex offenders, working part time at Walmart to fund their meth factory.

Stay away.

by Anonymousreply 216June 3, 2012 4:52 PM

I'm torn between pretty much anywhere in Missouri and anywhere in Nebraska.

by Anonymousreply 217June 3, 2012 4:56 PM

[quote]Any town that's had a big military presence. They leave a huge, destructive footprint wherever they are and manage to make things even uglier when they're shut down.[/quote]

I came here to post about Great Falls, MT. It was once briefly a booming industrial town that has since long been abandoned and is falling apart, kind of like mini Detroit in the middle of Montana (in the flat lands, not the pretty part of the state). Now there's pretty much nothing there but this huge air force base, which has an alarmingly high suicide rate among the people who are stationed there. The main "tourist attraction" is this bar called the Sip and Dip, where tattooed meth addicts dressed as mermaids swim around in a giant glass tank while you get drunk.

by Anonymousreply 218June 3, 2012 6:18 PM

R217. My vote would for Kearney, Nebraska. Too far from Lincoln or Omaha to even give you hope, and the most bigoted and closed-minded people I've ever known (I lived there for three hellish years).

by Anonymousreply 219June 3, 2012 10:34 PM

Gary, IN is a complete wasteland and the worst by percentage.

Detroit is also burned out but there's a bigger segment of Detroit still viable.

Buffalo also sucks ass.

by Anonymousreply 220June 3, 2012 10:38 PM

Mineral Wells, Tx. My sister and her husband were stationed there in the 60's while he underwent helicopter pilot training prior to being sent to Vietnam. Even then when it was hopping it was a shithole, and it's FAAAAAAAR worse now that the military is long gone. There's this one big monstrosity of an old dilapidated highrise hotel in the middle of town. I think it's been empty now for a few decades. It's the kind of town that would definitely benefit from a huge tornado coming through and wiping the whole town off the face of the earth.

by Anonymousreply 221June 3, 2012 10:44 PM

Portales, New Mexico

by Anonymousreply 222June 3, 2012 10:48 PM

Rockford, Illinois. So many accolades, I don't know where to start. Lets see.

Ninth most miserable city in the US. Seventh most violent. Fourth fattest, and number one city to buy cheap property!

Still a pretty town in some respects. Nice river that was cleaned up so you don't die of dysentery if you fall in. Lots of pretty, bucolic neighborhoods with gorgeous homes. But money moved to the east side of town and the west side is fucked.

by Anonymousreply 223June 3, 2012 10:51 PM

LAS VEGAS SUCKS.

by Anonymousreply 224June 3, 2012 10:52 PM

I'm afraid New York is now a contender. All the entitled rich people have made it skanky. I once loved the place, not so much these days. I'm hoping the whole financial system collapses so we can all get back to normal. Still voting for Obama. Shalam, y'all.

by Anonymousreply 225June 3, 2012 11:08 PM

Anything along 95 in South Carolina.

by Anonymousreply 226June 3, 2012 11:19 PM

LAWRENCE MASS

by Anonymousreply 227June 4, 2012 12:30 AM

227 posts and no one voted for Schenectady?

by Anonymousreply 228June 4, 2012 1:33 AM

St. Louis without a doubt. The people are rude the city is filthy. The place is completely segregated. This place is so backwards it's sickening. I wouldn't suggest my worst enemy go to this place.

by Anonymousreply 229September 18, 2012 2:45 PM

Provo, Utah.

You just can't believe these idiots. It's like going back to the middle ages, except people then were smarter than these douchebags.

by Anonymousreply 230September 20, 2012 3:22 PM

Datalounge

by Anonymousreply 231September 20, 2012 3:44 PM

It's always amazing when threads like this show up. You have the responses that are obviously well thought out and accurate. Then you have the nitwits who are so sad they actually think that listing cities that in no way fit the description of "depressing fucking shithole" makes them look urbane, cosmopolitan, and just so above it all, to people who wouldn't know them if they spit in their faces.

So unfortunately I have to vote for Datalounge to be the most depressing fucking shithole in the continental U.S., for the shear number of losers, posers, nitwits, and fools who reside here.

by Anonymousreply 232September 20, 2012 3:48 PM

There's a lot of different strokes, here.

Wilkes-Barre, for instance, is kinda awful, but there is a modicum of culture.

Bridgeport CT is one of the most awful, and scary, places (I actually peed there, in the middle of the road, in the middle of the day, rather than continuing to look for a bathroom, since I could see the onramp back to the highway, and some brothas were on approach, carrying paper bags).

Camden NJ is horribly frightening to get lost in--day or night. Ditto Chester, PA, which at least will spare you if you buy some drugs.

And Worcester is pretty bad in MA terms (though Springfield is arguably as bad).

Yet, if you have a Northeast upbringing, these places are not nearly as frightening as the thick aura of isolation and fear in places like West Texas or most of Ohio, or all of Wyoming.

by Anonymousreply 233September 20, 2012 5:08 PM

If Connecticut ever got an enema, Bridgeport would be the point of insertion.

Every native Nutmegger knows that you never stop in Bridgeport for any reason, ever. No matter how low on gas you are or how bad you have to pee, you just keep hauling ass on I-95 until you get to Fairfield or Stratford, depending on which direction you are headed.

by Anonymousreply 234September 20, 2012 5:27 PM

the whole coast of Texas from the east side of Houston to Lake Charles Louisiana

by Anonymousreply 235September 20, 2012 10:31 PM

Tampa..also parts of Oakland are pretty scary.

(but then I've never been to Detroit)

by Anonymousreply 236September 20, 2012 10:40 PM

We wouldn't dream of hanging out in the shithole known as Panguitch, Utah.

Offsite Link
by Anonymousreply 237September 21, 2012 10:42 AM

My daughter says Atchison, KS is the most depressing place she ever visited. Not sure why she got that impression. She had to perform in a church there and it sounds like it was located in the seamy underbelly of Atchison, so maybe she got a glimpse of Atchison that was not representative....

by Anonymousreply 238September 21, 2012 12:16 PM

R238 = Ginny from Billings

by Anonymousreply 239September 21, 2012 12:32 PM

Barstow, California

by Anonymousreply 240September 21, 2012 1:05 PM

The most depressing shithole in the US belongs to Pollyanna Prisspot, School Marm.

Fortunately, she's leaving for Luxembourg.

by Anonymousreply 241September 21, 2012 1:17 PM

Not sure if it was posted already, but the salton Sea in southern california.

Recently saw a documentary,its a bunch of old wierdo's and crazies thinking the lake will get cleaned up and people will start moving back in.

Half of the area's are ghost towns and there are half flooded towns filled with rusted trailers and not much more than a bar.

It all looked so post apocalyptic, very depressing.

by Anonymousreply 242September 21, 2012 1:27 PM

I've heard about old towns in New York state, empty and dying. Is it true?

by Anonymousreply 243September 21, 2012 1:34 PM

Sometimes I wonder if anyplace in America is thriving? I blame the 1% and their greed. I blame companies like Bain Capitol or is it Bane Capitol?

by Anonymousreply 244September 21, 2012 1:54 PM

"The most depressing f*cking shithole in the continental U.S."

One of the Romney's many toilets.....

by Anonymousreply 245September 21, 2012 1:58 PM

As I have never been to many of the cities that are mentioned, I would have to say Skid Row in Los Angeles.

There is nothing more depressing than seeing blocks of homeless people living in the condition they are. It's like leaving LA and entering a slum in India. It's shameful that skid row has existed for existed.

I am from California and have heard of skid row all my life, but have never actually seen it. I got lost on my way to Japan Town and ended there. It was eye-opening.

by Anonymousreply 246September 21, 2012 2:05 PM

[quote] It's shameful that skid row has existed for existed.

"existed for decades."

by Anonymousreply 247September 21, 2012 2:11 PM

[quote]I've heard about old towns in New York state, empty and dying. Is it true?

Most of New York state has been like this forever. The towns are either depressed or depressING to look at, or both. You must embrace that if you want to enjoy yourself on a self-guided car tour. Then it can be quaint at times.

Western New York, holding Rochester-Buffalo (the other major cities in NY...I'm not counting Albany), is part of the rust belt; though they both have one or two pretty and classy suburbs, respectively. Many people there complain about living there, but never leave.

Ithaca and towns with SUNY colleges are usually overcrowded, rustic, and have become unreasonably expensive. I'm a Westchester county native, and the area depresses me when I go back to visit.

That being said, I've been to every state. I don't think we're particularly the most "breathtaking" country out there overall, but to each their own.

by Anonymousreply 248September 21, 2012 2:17 PM

So basically any placed with a lot of blacks or native Indians is a shithole according to DL?

You bunch of racist cocksuckers.

by Anonymousreply 249September 21, 2012 2:27 PM

I agree with the people who have mentioned Wyoming. Before I visited, I had this vision of a beautiful untouched Wild West populated with nice little towns. Well. The eastern half of the state is isolated, backwards, economically depressed, and the people seem inbred and ignorant and resigned. The atmosphere was one of despair.

Also, an entry in the category of Places Other People Like But I Find Horrifying: the Florida Panhandle. Lived there for 18 months and couldn't wait to leave. The Gulf Coast is so beautiful in some parts, but the people living in the Panhandle are so rednecky and horrible that they ruin it. We used to drive to Alabama on the weekend just to get out of northwest FL, and that's saying something.

by Anonymousreply 250September 21, 2012 4:16 PM

The thing about Hartford, CT is that from the late 1950's on they did a program of urban renewal that really decimated the city.

Luckily just about 50 miles to the east as the crow flies there's Providence - a city that didn't tear down all it's historic properties even though I've noted a push over the past couple years to do so.

by Anonymousreply 251September 21, 2012 5:54 PM

Jacksonville is HUGE... The largest city by land area in the USA. Thus, it is impossible for it to be a depressing fucking shithole. There are nasty areas absolutely - like in any sprawling city (i.e. Atlanta). But, there are also immaculate areas with some of the most valuable real estate in the nation (the PGA is HQ'd in Jacksonville), excellent resorts, restaurants, pedestrian malls, riding trails, art walks, etc.. The central business district in Jacksonville is quite nice, with a hell of alot of hot eye candy jogging shirtless by the river front every day at lunchtime :) When I think of depressing fucking shitholes, I think of a town where there is literally NOTHING to do, say Hendersonville, NC.

by Anonymousreply 252September 21, 2012 6:21 PM

Gary Indiana is so bad, "Life After People" filmed an episode there to show what happens when a city is abandoned and left to rot. The only other U.S. city profiled was Detroit. What does that tell you?

by Anonymousreply 253September 21, 2012 6:24 PM

Toronto

by Anonymousreply 254September 21, 2012 6:28 PM

Hartford and it's neighbor to the north, Springfield, have both seen better days. But there are still areas of them that are decent.

by Anonymousreply 255September 21, 2012 6:32 PM

[quote]Gary Indiana is so bad, "Life After People" filmed an episode there to show what happens when a city is abandoned and left to rot. The only other U.S. city profiled was Detroit. What does that tell you?

Well, according to r249, it tells you that we're a bunch of racist cocksuckers.

by Anonymousreply 256September 21, 2012 6:35 PM

Hartford? Springfield? Worcester? Are you people kidding me? Yes, they're kind of boring and bleak, but they're also in a generally lovely part of New England and surrounded by great towns. Gary Indiana makes Hartford look like Beverly Hills.

by Anonymousreply 257September 21, 2012 6:37 PM

Hartford CT used to be nice many, many years ago. Now it is a very small downtown business district surrounded by a dangerous ghetto on all sides.

by Anonymousreply 258September 21, 2012 6:38 PM

Isn't it really anywhere that Whites have left and coloreds have taken over?

by Anonymousreply 259September 21, 2012 6:54 PM

Well R257, given this is Datalounge, he's half right. :)

by Anonymousreply 260September 21, 2012 7:22 PM

Parts of San Bernardino, CA (now a bankrupt city) look bleak and war-torn.

No part of Idaho that I visited had any redeeming qualities. Land of Ruby Ridge massacre. Weird, xenophobic militia types with guns and kooky ideology.

by Anonymousreply 261September 21, 2012 7:29 PM

Agree with those who said Camden, NJ.

Also Colorado Springs, because of all the fundie shit.

Never been there but Branson, MO sounds awful.

by Anonymousreply 262September 21, 2012 7:35 PM

I got lost at night in Newark, NJ once. I didn't think I would make it out alive. I've been in a few shit neighborhoods in my life, but Newark had me genuinely frightened. That whole place just just be leveled.

by Anonymousreply 263September 21, 2012 7:40 PM

East St. Louis, IL

Camden, NJ

Gary, IN

Detroit, MI

In that order.

by Anonymousreply 264September 21, 2012 8:17 PM

Black ghettos duh

by Anonymousreply 265September 21, 2012 9:47 PM

I think it's in South Carolina.

by Anonymousreply 266September 21, 2012 10:11 PM

Paterson, NJ also not good. Nor the most run-down parts of Baltimore.

by Anonymousreply 267September 21, 2012 11:48 PM

Oakland, southeast dc, Detroit, new Orleans, east la

by Anonymousreply 268September 22, 2012 3:34 AM

Go figure, R266/269 is the troll from the Elizabeth Warren thread...and a racist, too.

by Anonymousreply 269September 22, 2012 3:40 AM

Sioux Falls, SD

by Anonymousreply 270September 22, 2012 3:50 AM

R269 is also the racist troll on the Ann Romney flight thread.

by Anonymousreply 271September 22, 2012 4:06 AM

I did hang out for a week with the 'rents in an unheated, mouse-infested cabin at Panguitch Lake, R237. It was very cold, depressing and rainy, the fish weren't biting, and sanitation was horrendous. The camp owners were fucked up, and I missed the start of school with 'stomach flu' aka dysentery. Thanks for bringing back these really special memories!

by Anonymousreply 272September 22, 2012 6:42 AM

Camden NJ. Highest murder rate in the country and no police force.

by Anonymousreply 273September 22, 2012 6:50 AM

Los Angeles

by Anonymousreply 274September 22, 2012 7:27 AM

McCOMB, MS #pEtty

by Anonymousreply 275November 7, 2012 3:10 PM

R171 the Central Coast of CA? Either you are fucking retarded or simply referring to that cesspool known as S.F. In that case, agreed, but Monterey to Fort Bragg is amazing aside from the slums of san fran

by Anonymousreply 276November 12, 2012 8:50 AM

"So basically any placed with a lot of blacks or native Indians is a shithole according to DL?

You bunch of racist cocksuckers."

Show me one black neighborhood with property values that increased-NAME ONE!!! ignorant bastid, keep hiding from the truth.

by Anonymousreply 277November 12, 2012 8:54 AM

I'd like to throw Clewiston, Fl's shabby hat into the ring.

by Anonymousreply 278November 12, 2012 9:05 AM

Southeast DC has got to be one of the leading contenders.

by Anonymousreply 279November 12, 2012 9:07 AM

Bridgeport, Ct on google earth looks kind of nice.

by Anonymousreply 280November 12, 2012 9:16 AM

Gary, Indiana has had the most mentions for good reason.

Once seen, never forgotten.

by Anonymousreply 281November 12, 2012 9:17 AM

Roswell New Mexico

by Anonymousreply 282November 12, 2012 9:19 AM

Manhattan.

Physically, it's awful. Cramped like a sardine can, terrible, rotting infrastructure, and a diaster waiting to happen (said this before Sandy).

Most overpriced place in the world, except the people are incredible.

by Anonymousreply 283November 12, 2012 9:38 AM

Toms River, NJ if you want proof that IQ is sold separately.

by Anonymousreply 284November 12, 2012 9:39 AM

R263,

Camden is pretty lively, especially near the waterfront. Neward, on the other hand, I found terrible.

by Anonymousreply 285November 12, 2012 9:40 AM

Anywhere in Kentucky(aka)Rightwing redneck paradise...Yes I live there.

by Anonymousreply 286November 12, 2012 11:28 AM

Well, R249 is more than half right, but I wouldn't point at DL'ers. Try to understand what's happened to cities in America,then you can see why places like Gary,E.St. Louis or Detroit are rotting. Federal gov't policies had a lot to do with it.Private industry had a lot to do with it. And racism.

After WW II, federal housing policies rewarded people who wanted to buy in the suburbs. During WW II many jobs and manufacturing operations moved to "green fields."

To suburbanize America, publically funded infrastructure was built to accomodate the population. Federal policies incentivized suburban sprawl and the strip malls we take for granted. Shopping malls,free parking, room to spread out, multiplexes, office parks,etc. Life styles changed dramatically.

Riots in the 60's accelerated white flight. Businesses left. Insurance rates skyrocketed, The 70's & 80's saw massive disinvestment by banks, lenders, and businesses from cities.

With massively eroding tax bases,urban areas became more dependent on state/federal help that wasn't well funded and did nothing more than place a bandaid on a hemmorhage.(We were paying for Vietnam.)

In the 70's & 80's local politicians demanded that state & Presidential candidates unveil an "urban policy." Some did, but it was never comprehensive enough. Urban areas became a repository for the poor and the elderly. Those who could afford to leave, did.

The infrastructure's been destroyed, schools are horrible, basic city services are poor at best. Local officials are now caretakers. So there are a lot of "shitholes" to pick from.

by Anonymousreply 287November 12, 2012 12:26 PM

Right now? Probably Staten Island.

by Anonymousreply 288November 12, 2012 1:07 PM

Any place where Ann Coulter is standing or sitting.

by Anonymousreply 289November 12, 2012 1:35 PM

Bridgeport is a shithole extraordinaire but it fits with the so very depressing surrounding area north of it and the whole of eastern Connecticut straight up to the northeast corner. Lacks the ocean available in states east with Atlantic coastline and is basically made up of old mill towns. Not close enough to New York or Boston where the creme congregate so that leaves you with slackers trying to be top dog in a small and shallow pond. Their sense of inferiority and defensiveness about the region is maddening and depressing. It is a nice drive through in the fall but nothing compared to the west side of the state. Townies abound in the small villages and the only decent nightlife can be found at nearby casinos. It is such a drive to the better towns like Newport and loaded with republican closet cases. Everyone knows everyone's business and gossiping is their only true form of entertainment. So oppressive and second rate. An overwhelming sense pervades as though you are missing out on something.

by Anonymousreply 290November 12, 2012 7:15 PM

Russell Springs, Kentucky.

by Anonymousreply 291November 12, 2012 8:03 PM

R289 I would suggest Staten Island even before Sandy. Starting in my '80s childhood.

by Anonymousreply 292November 12, 2012 8:41 PM

R133 Cheer up! You might just make it after all!

Anyway, in 2001 Gene Weingarten (humor columnist for the Washington Post) chose Battle Mountain, NV as the official "Armpit of the United States."

Offsite Link
by Anonymousreply 293November 12, 2012 9:59 PM

Gary Indiana is in such bad shape it was featured in 'Life After People' where they showed how cities slowly decay when people abandon them. I remember they talked about how the lake effect made it worse for the buildings.

by Anonymousreply 294November 18, 2012 12:48 AM

""We are doing great things!"

Gary, Indiana is located on the beautiful shores of Lake Michigan and on three major Interstate. At the Crossroads of America, Gary provides the perfect location for a weekend getaway, a family vacation, a business trip, or a night on the town. Relax on the beach or rent a jet ski! Take a long walk under the stars with Chicago's beautiful skyline twinkling across the calm water, or spend the day shopping in our Lake Street Shopping District, filled with boutiques and galleries. Night is near, get dressed up, the Jack Pot is waiting for you at Buffington Harbor!"

by Anonymousreply 295November 18, 2012 1:03 AM

Camden, NJ and Chester PA. After spending a day in Chester, I'll never complain about Philly again.

by Anonymousreply 296November 18, 2012 1:04 AM

OKLAHOMA OWNS THIS THREAD.

by Anonymousreply 297November 18, 2012 1:04 AM

And little Ronny Howard even sang about it!

by Anonymousreply 298November 18, 2012 1:05 AM

Utica, NY

Gary, Indiana

Lawrence, Massachusetts

Southeast DC

Camden, NJ

Stockton, CA

basically any city in CT

by Anonymousreply 299November 18, 2012 1:05 AM

I live in Cleveland. I go to Youngstown a few times a year on business. its pretty bad.

by Anonymousreply 300November 18, 2012 1:06 AM

Shaker Heights Ohio and East Cleveland Ohio.

by Anonymousreply 301November 18, 2012 1:08 AM

The worst shithole in the U.S is a thousand times better than the best place in oil rich Venezuela

by Anonymousreply 302November 18, 2012 1:12 AM

Honorable mention to West Haven, CT. Nothing but boarded-up factories and strip malls filled with regional, second-rate steak houses. What gives?

by Anonymousreply 303November 18, 2012 1:19 AM

Gary Indiana or anywhere in "The Region" aka the calumet region of NWI.

by Anonymousreply 304November 18, 2012 1:30 AM

The most depressing f*cking shithole in the continental U.S. is Ann Coulter's mouth.

by Anonymousreply 305November 18, 2012 1:53 AM

Memphis, TN owns this thread.

Memphis has about 40% livable housing stock and the rest is rotting. Some people have literally set fire to rotting, vacate housing because the city will not do anything about it.

Memphis has the highest rime rates in the nation for everything.

Memphis has the lowest ranking school system in the state of Tennessee and they have a school budget of a bit under a billion dollars for approximately 110,000 students and only a small part of that budget goes to anything pertaining to the classroom. The average ACT score is 12.

Memphis has one of the highest poverty rates in the country. There are third generation welfare recipients within the same family there.

Memphis has the highest rate of infant mortality in the US.

When there was flooding in Memphis well over a year ago, the Mayor claimed that his downtown was fine (the city was planning to buy Beale Street, which they have since done) while the rest of the creeks and such were flooding out neighborhoods which were rotting. No one ever did anything past the downtown area with this flooding because the Mayor forbid it.

Memphis owns this thread. My grandmother used to live there until I moved her the fuck out.

by Anonymousreply 306November 18, 2012 1:57 AM

[quote]Memphis has the highest rime rates in the nation for everything.

Well, I don't know about that.

by Anonymousreply 307November 18, 2012 2:03 AM

Okay r32 East Cleveland is lower middle bordering on ghetto.

Shaker Heights is a middle to upper middle class East Coastish in flavor suburb that has some of the most beautiful Tudor homes I've seen outside of the East Coast. Shaker Heights, Cleveland Heights and Pepper Pike contain some of the best private college prep schools in the entire area. I can understand why you wouldn't want to live there but shit hole is dishonest word usage.

Detroit now that's a shithole.

by Anonymousreply 308November 18, 2012 2:12 AM

Shamokin, PA. Like a post-WWII Warsaw ghetto.

by Anonymousreply 309November 18, 2012 2:14 AM

I didn't stop in the city, but Amarillo, Texas is surrounded for miles around by the flattest, most desolate landscape you can imagine.

by Anonymousreply 310November 18, 2012 2:22 AM

San Angelo, TX

by Anonymousreply 311November 18, 2012 2:37 AM

Baltimore, MD.

Once one leaves the Inner Harbor area, there is nothing but blight.

by Anonymousreply 312November 18, 2012 2:51 AM

Minden, Nebraska

by Anonymousreply 313November 18, 2012 3:09 AM

Needles, CA

by Anonymousreply 314November 18, 2012 3:11 AM

[quote]Baltimore, MD... Once one leaves the Inner Harbor area, there is nothing but blight.

And when it's raining, that statue of George Washington can be seen pissing on Baltimore.

by Anonymousreply 315November 18, 2012 3:16 AM

Tulsa Oklahoma

Roseanne used to have a funny bit about how most people think SF is the most decadent city in the US, but it's actually Tulsa, for how shamelessly redneck it is.

by Anonymousreply 316November 18, 2012 3:21 AM

I took a cross-country road trip this summer and stayed a night in Oklahoma City.

The people I ment were nice, but then I can pass for straight. If I were a flamer, I don't think I would have left my hotel room.

by Anonymousreply 317November 18, 2012 3:28 AM

met*

by Anonymousreply 318November 18, 2012 3:29 AM

I've been to Tulsa. It wasn't all that terrible, except for being really hot in the summer. They have a couple of pretty nice museums originated by oil barons.

by Anonymousreply 319November 18, 2012 3:34 AM

I agree with r282. I passed through Gary, Ind. in 1975 and I've never forgotten it.

by Anonymousreply 320November 18, 2012 3:34 AM

anywhere that democraps are in control

by Anonymousreply 321November 21, 2012 10:01 PM

R322 needs to take his medications so he can realize that he's on the wrong site.

by Anonymousreply 322November 21, 2012 10:11 PM

Laughlin, NV. Desolate, boring AND 120 degrees in the summertime. Just kill me!

by Anonymousreply 323November 21, 2012 10:16 PM

Johnstown, PA

by Anonymousreply 324November 21, 2012 10:18 PM

Anywhere in Texas. It really is a shithole. And don't tell how lovely Austin is.

Between the redneck accent, the stupid cowboy hats and boots, the redneck politics and the dismal, dismal countryside, Texas really is the shithole of America.

by Anonymousreply 325November 21, 2012 10:24 PM

As someone who once considered one day making a 'grand tour' of all 50 US states this thread is very educational...!

Personally I haven't seen much outside the major cities on the East & West coasts. Travelling through Camden NJ was a total shock - it looked like f**king Calcutta. LA in the neighborhoods near Venice wasn't much better and I felt nervous in case the car I was in broke down.

NYC (Manhattan inparticular) before it's 'Disneyfication' was a total shithole, I don't care how many people romanticize how it was back then; I recall Penn Station permanently smelling of piss, Times Square being filled with panhandlers, prostitutes, pickpockets & hustlers and much of the rest of it being a no-go zone after dark.

Surprised to hear how bad St Louis is - why is the infrastructure so f*cked there inparticular?

by Anonymousreply 326November 21, 2012 11:50 PM

Mitt And Ann's bedroom.

by Anonymousreply 327November 21, 2012 11:53 PM

Any big city in New Jersey

by Anonymousreply 328November 22, 2012 12:02 AM

No wonder the guy went wonky

by Anonymousreply 329December 18, 2012 7:27 AM

Newark or Camden NJ. are real winners but I also almost shoot myself in the face once when i was held over for 3 days on some highway just outside of Atlanta. I'd buy a crackhouse in Newark over that.

by Anonymousreply 330February 5, 2013 3:01 AM

Tampa

by Anonymousreply 331February 5, 2013 3:09 AM

It's a tie between Johnstown (a town that time truly forgot), Gary (which looks even more burned out and decrepit, in sheer percentages, than Detroit) and Newark.

Honorable mention to the whole Steubenville/Youngstown/Wheeling region.

Detroit has a lot of bad stuff going on, but it also has some people in politics and in planning there that have some good ideas, and it's slowly paying off. I would not count out the Motor City just yet.

by Anonymousreply 332February 5, 2013 3:10 AM

[quote] Show me one black neighborhood with property values that increased-NAME ONE!!! ignorant bastid, keep hiding from the truth.

R278 - The "truth" is that white people in this country, by and large, have implemented legislation and zoning laws to ensure their separation from whites. You can call it what you want, but let's not even try to pretend it's NOT about race.

Black neighborhoods lost value because the zoning and lending laws whites put into place sucked all the value out. People who don't have money and don't have resources can't move next to people that do.

Despite every single study ever done pointing to mixed incoming housing as the best thing for all the residents of an area, we continue to concentrate pockets of poverty - which is also normally people of color - and then wonder why people with no resources, no money and no economy in their area fight over basic needs. DUH.

This article explains the point I'm making in an apples by apples comparison.

If you really don't think laws are racist or classist in the way they are conceived or applied, think again.

Offsite Link
by Anonymousreply 333February 5, 2013 3:18 AM

And before anyone asks, I'm as white as a pasty white Irish/German boy can get.

by Anonymousreply 334February 5, 2013 3:19 AM

It's depressing how racially charged this answer is, but the answers are cities like Bridgeport (as mentioned many times) and Camden and Newark NJ. Terrifying. Camden was going to shut down their public library system due to a lack of public funds!

by Anonymousreply 335February 5, 2013 3:20 AM

I've been to Georgia and California and anywhere I could run.

by Anonymousreply 336February 5, 2013 3:27 AM

There isn't a city in the US (let alone NJ) that's as terrifying as Camden.

As shabby as it is, Newark isn't unsafe to work in (at least in the University Heights section), and during lunch I walk around its downtown for take-out and never felt unsafe, despite its shabbiness. And I've had no problem going out to eat or visiting in certain parts of the city at night (the Ironbound, Forest Hill and Weequahic sections). Nor have I ever had a problem going to NJPAC/NJSO, the Pru Center or the Public Library (for a talk) at night. And the city has a more than decent mid-sized museum.

Camden on the other hand is a whole other world - despair right down to its very core.

by Anonymousreply 337February 5, 2013 4:11 AM

IOWA LIFE SUCKING SHITHOLE!!!!!

by Anonymousreply 338March 23, 2013 8:11 PM

Anyone ever been to Gary, Indiana?

by Anonymousreply 339March 23, 2013 8:17 PM

I think Stockton, CA, St. Louis, MI, or Detroit, MI are the biggest (and most crime-ridden) shitholes.

by Anonymousreply 340March 23, 2013 8:21 PM

Did you know the Hooterville switchboard doesn't even have a Fargo hole? Let alone a shit hole.

by Anonymousreply 341March 23, 2013 8:23 PM

Fresno.

Albuquerque.

by Anonymousreply 342March 23, 2013 8:35 PM

California. So glad to be out of there

by Anonymousreply 343March 23, 2013 8:38 PM

[quote]California. So glad to be out of there

You and me both. Left LA in 2006 and haven't been back since.

by Anonymousreply 344March 23, 2013 8:41 PM

R344 R345 Seriously? You've been to all parts of the state?

by Anonymousreply 345March 23, 2013 8:45 PM

Yes, I have.

by Anonymousreply 346March 23, 2013 8:54 PM

Ca is crap! I still live in LA. :(

by Anonymousreply 347March 23, 2013 9:04 PM

Nacogdoches,Texas

by Anonymousreply 348March 23, 2013 9:16 PM

Has East Saint Louis made the list?

by Anonymousreply 349March 23, 2013 9:25 PM

r342 one of the funniest green acres episodes

by Anonymousreply 350March 24, 2013 7:49 AM

Boise, Idaho. Hands down.

by Anonymousreply 351March 24, 2013 7:59 AM

The worst in my area is methuen/ Lawrence/Haverhill/Lowell mass out to Fitchburg ect.... Just the pits. Worst accents, personalities, just trashy and depressing. And the area is ugly as fuck

by Anonymousreply 352March 24, 2013 11:30 AM

The Merrimack Valley is lower-middle class, but it isn't as bad as you describe. I grew up in the area and its still a good place live. The urban areas of Lawrence, Lowell and Haverhill can be sketchy in places, but I would much rather live there than in Detroit, St. Louis, Memphis, Gary, Compton, Camden or other cities that are far worse.

by Anonymousreply 353March 25, 2013 12:41 AM

Buffalo, NY

10% unemployment

by Anonymousreply 354March 25, 2013 12:44 AM

I live in Andover, which is next door to Lawrence MA. It's bizarre travelling in a nice well kept wealthy town and then the second you cross the border into Lawrence, it's like the air changed or something. A small strip mall and parking lot just off route 495 in Andover is just yards away from the border and has become a favorite spot for druggies to come and shoot up. My Mom works there and despite the fact the area is nice - my mom got mugged during the time when the police force in lawrence was cut by a 1/3rd. Lawrence does have great history and some great spots and at some point will probably improve. But for now is a definite shit-hole.

by Anonymousreply 355April 3, 2013 3:12 PM

West Coast: Modesto East Coast: Sumter/Florence South Carolina Middle Earth: Little Rock Arkansas

by Anonymousreply 356April 3, 2013 3:24 PM

I'm from Little Rock, R357, and am curious to hear about your experiences there. I hate the city now and would never live there again, but I don't think it's by any means the most depressing place.

My vote is for Truth Or Consequences, NM.

by Anonymousreply 357April 3, 2013 3:26 PM

any place you happen to be when you're totally depressed

by Anonymousreply 358April 3, 2013 3:28 PM

It's really hard to argue with Camden--aside from the riverfront venue, there is literally nothing about Camden that isn't nightmarish.

That being said, Terre Haute, In. comes to my mind. It smells, and lots of things are named after Larry Bird. Indiana, generally, seems like an awful place.

by Anonymousreply 359April 3, 2013 3:37 PM

DISGUSTA, GA wins hands down. It is a smelly, depressing, pathetic shit hole of a town. Hot and humid most of the year. Most of the population is fat and retarded and to make it worse are crazy Bible thumpers. Government is corrupt. The downtown looks like it was hit by a zombie apocolypse. A truly shitty place in every sense.

by Anonymousreply 360May 20, 2013 9:57 PM

Any DL'ers from the places mentioned here, specifically Camden? I'm going to throw in a vote for Oklahoma City. I got lost there looking for Route 66 history and found the town to be overall depressing and unappealing.

by Anonymousreply 361May 20, 2013 10:12 PM

[quote]DISGUSTA, GA wins hands down. It is a smelly, depressing, pathetic shit hole of a town. Hot and humid most of the year. Most of the population is fat and retarded and to make it worse are crazy Bible thumpers. Government is corrupt. The downtown looks like it was hit by a zombie apocolypse. A truly shitty place in every sense.

Particularly since the sewage treatment plant was built right next to the airport -- an open-air sewage treatment plant!

Welcome to Augusta!

Offsite Link
by Anonymousreply 362May 20, 2013 10:29 PM

OMG, I found this thread last night and googled Slab City, aka The Slabs.

There's one women who looks to be in her 70s who keeps posing nude. Or at least topless. The place is so disgusting.

I remember someone once said, "It's like God tilted the US and all the fruits and nuts rolled to California." That's what Slab City looks like.

Offsite Link
by Anonymousreply 363June 5, 2013 8:06 PM

Silver Spring(s)?...New Mexico! OMG! Yuck,just sad and beat-down,and dirty. New Mexico has a very creepy/strange vibe. Serial killer capital of the world,and it feels like it!

by Anonymousreply 364June 8, 2013 3:58 AM

Wherever they dump nuclear waste.

by Anonymousreply 365June 8, 2013 6:43 AM

Too lazy to scroll. Has Schenectady NY been cited? It's really a place that time has forgotten and has treated like shit. Albany would be right up there, but for some reason it's the state capital. Still pretty grim as well. The whole Capital region is pretty sad.

by Anonymousreply 366June 8, 2013 2:17 PM

I googled Silver Spring,NM to see what it looks like and I found this real estate ad from Las Palomas, NM. They obviously didn't hire a stager for this series of photos and if you look closely, they forgot to remove something from the living room.

Offsite Link
by Anonymousreply 367June 8, 2013 5:00 PM

in your pants.

by Anonymousreply 368June 8, 2013 9:56 PM

Columbus, GA r just across the river in Phenix City, AL. Satan wouldn't piss here.

by Anonymousreply 369October 10, 2013 12:51 AM

Los Angeles.

by Anonymousreply 370October 10, 2013 2:00 AM

Anywhere along the Salten Sea; it is about 1 1/2 hour south of Palm Springs. Ghastly place.

by Anonymousreply 371October 10, 2013 2:08 AM

For $300, you could own this home in East St. Louis.

Offsite Link
by Anonymousreply 372October 10, 2013 2:17 AM

Dearborn, Mi

by Anonymousreply 373October 10, 2013 2:24 AM

Anywhere in Virginia outside of Norfolk, Richmond, or Northern Virginia.

by Anonymousreply 374October 10, 2013 2:26 AM

Mortville

by Anonymousreply 375October 10, 2013 2:30 AM

Interesting that California is cited.

What is wrong with California those of you who mention it as a shithole?

I know - traffic and third world Mexicans and other immigrants.

But what else makes you say California is a shithole?

by Anonymousreply 376October 10, 2013 2:35 AM

Holyoke, MA is dreadful.

by Anonymousreply 377October 11, 2013 12:07 AM

Utica?

by Anonymousreply 378October 11, 2013 12:19 AM

Uvalde, Texas. Terrible pit of illegal aliens, crystal meth, ignorant people and despair. I just moved away from there after living there for 7 years. If I had stayed any longer I would have killed myself. So many people there are on meth it's sad. The only money there is held by the meth dealers. They hate gays and there is a lot of gay bashing. Never go there. My dad and stepmom still live there. I will never go back to visit them. They will have to come to Fort Worth to see me. I will never go back.

by Anonymousreply 379October 11, 2013 12:25 AM

Granite City, IL

Suburb of St. Louis/East St. Louis

You never want to go there unless you're a meth dealer or love the smell of steel plant exhaust.

by Anonymousreply 380October 11, 2013 1:24 AM

R363 will be pleased to know that Slab City has just gotten its own Starbucks!

by Anonymousreply 381October 11, 2013 1:29 AM

R378 has nailed it. Utica has been on the shit list ever since that downtown Rare Cheese & Fancy Ribbon boutique shop was robbed by a bunch of meth addicted village elders with their junk in their hands.

by Anonymousreply 382October 11, 2013 1:33 AM

I didn't read read the whole thread, but Atlantic fucking City. It was depressing back in the 80s when it was just being built up. I'm sure it's a complete shit hole now

by Anonymousreply 383October 11, 2013 1:33 AM

One of the worst places in the state of Oregon is the Tualatin Valley Highway (Hwy 8), known as "TV Highway" between Beaverton and just outside of Forest Grove. It passes through sh*tholes like Aloha (it's no paradise), Hillsboro, Cornelius, and the outskirts of Forest Grove. It is basically one big, long congested road with ugly strip malls, high crime, strip clubs, illegals, and check cashing places. It's the ugliest place I've ever seen here in this beautiful state.

by Anonymousreply 384October 12, 2013 5:48 AM

I have been to every state and South Carolina has the stupidest people

by Anonymousreply 385October 12, 2013 6:54 AM

It amazes me how often super-hot guys (including models) are from terrible towns. I wonder why that is.

by Anonymousreply 386October 12, 2013 7:00 AM

El Paso, Texas. What a shit pit!

by Anonymousreply 387October 12, 2013 7:04 AM

Vermillion County, Illinois has a lot of depressing, near-dead small towns, like Rankin.

by Anonymousreply 388October 12, 2013 7:33 AM

I second Apache Junction, AZ. It's a fucking nightmare shitbox. Prescott, AZ is pretty fucking creepy as well.

by Anonymousreply 389October 12, 2013 7:41 AM

Pocatello, Idaho.

by Anonymousreply 390October 12, 2013 7:45 AM

R388 Theres a town called 'Rankin" ? How appropo for a thread with this title !

by Anonymousreply 391October 12, 2013 7:46 AM

Apache Junction & Prescott wouldn't even make my top 20 of worst towns in Arizona. Try places like Coolidge. Isolated, ugly and grim. Or the shithole border towns like Nogales and Douglas. Yuma is the pits as well. Large swathes of the Phoenix metro are home to just as much trash as AJ, but without the scenic backdrop of Superstition Mountain.

by Anonymousreply 392October 12, 2013 8:13 AM

So all of Arizona is a shithole?

by Anonymousreply 393October 12, 2013 8:18 AM

I'm still wanting to hear why California is a shithole according to some posters, besides the third world immigrants and heavy traffic.

Or are those two factors what make it an almost complete shithole?

Wouldn't you say parts of California outside of the Los Angeles area have many nice qualities?

by Anonymousreply 394October 12, 2013 8:27 AM

Oh please, California does not even compare to the types of human trash you'll find in places like Florida, Idaho, Texas, disintegrating mill-towns scattered across the northeastern rust-belt. Of course, ReFuKKKs hate California.

by Anonymousreply 395October 12, 2013 8:40 AM

...from sea to shining sea.

by Anonymousreply 396October 12, 2013 9:07 AM

the ENTIRE state of Mississippi!

by Anonymousreply 397October 12, 2013 9:13 AM

I scanned and then did not find Akron, OH. This town owns this thread!

by Anonymousreply 398October 12, 2013 9:23 AM

Malta, Idaho, Pocatello, Idaho. Overrun by stupid looking mormon trash.

by Anonymousreply 399October 12, 2013 11:33 PM

Regarding California, it's complex. Some of the nicest cities are there, but some of the worst.

La Jolla, Belvedere/Marin County, Pacific Grove/Monterey, Palm Springs- lovely places.

I worked as a consultant with the California Dept. of Corrections, and got to visit all the awful places tucked away in the high desert and Central Valley.

From south to north: El Centro/Imperial County - close to Mexicali. Basically like a small Tijuana without the luxuries, such as paved roads. Forget a car, bring a burro.

Salton Sea- the stench will overwhelm you as you get within a few miles. Scary place both in the day and night. Angry people, angry dogs, and that stench. And more meth.

Coachella/Indio- Riverside County: see El Centro. More paved roads, but without the rural charm of El Centro. Also more meth and shanty towns with feral dogs and wind strewn trash. Summer temps of 110+, makes the feral dogs very irritable.

Barstow/Victorville-San Bernadino County. Ugly tract homes and trailer homes nestled in the barren wastelands of the high desert. Think Mad-Max dystopia, with meth.

Bakersfield- now we are heading north along the 5. Tijuana meets Appalachia, with more meth and dust. Roasting heat in summer, without the backyard pools of Palm Springs.

Fresno- a bigger Bakersfield, with increased dining options (Outback Steak, that chain with jungled theme junk- not Sambo's, Chili's). More gangs and crime and meth. Very violent cops here.

Stockton- smaller Fresno, with just as many gangs and more crime. Declared bankruptcy, maybe this is why there a less police. Very high unemployment rate, but does host the annual Asparagus Festival.

Along the coast, at the far north:Pelican Bay, home to the supermax prison full of the most violent felons. Everyone here is either custody staff (sociopathic in their own way) or families of the felons (and apples do fall close to the tree). Best to put your kids in private school as to avoid the budding sociopathic offspring of the inmates.

by Anonymousreply 400October 13, 2013 12:42 AM

[quote]I scanned and then did not find Akron, OH. This town owns this thread!

Drive one hour east to Youngstown and you'll see a town that makes Akron look like Ibiza.

by Anonymousreply 401October 13, 2013 12:51 AM

Has anyone mentioned Torrington, CT? A mangy rural city in the middle of nowhere, Connecticut -- the closest town is probably Waterbury, which gives Bridgeport a run for its money in terms of general despair and disgustingness. Filled with rural weirdos, alcoholics, enraged townies, and a downtown that makes Detroit look like Rodeo Drive. Lots of bleak split-level homes. There are some nicer sections on the fringes, but really...why bother.

by Anonymousreply 402October 13, 2013 12:59 AM

Merrimack Valley MA isn't so bad. Yes, Lawrence is vile and Lowell isn't a picnic, but there are plenty of perfectly respectable towns there (Andover, Chelmsford) too that are in no way trashy.

by Anonymousreply 403October 13, 2013 1:00 AM

Bergen county nj

by Anonymousreply 404October 13, 2013 1:10 AM

Thanks, R400! I always wondered about the differences between Stockton, Fresno and Bakersfield.

Do you have any experience with Modesto?

by Anonymousreply 405October 13, 2013 1:12 AM

Any place you find yourself to be unhappy.

by Anonymousreply 406October 13, 2013 1:13 AM

Worcester, MA (Woosta to the locals)- by far the biggest ghetto in all of New England, besting Lowell, New Bedford, Waterbury, Bridgeport and all other aforementioned. A place of no redeeming cultural, historical, or economic value whatsoever (a few modestly good colleges is about it).

by Anonymousreply 407October 13, 2013 1:21 AM

All of California.

by Anonymousreply 408October 13, 2013 1:22 AM

Worcester has a nice art museum.

by Anonymousreply 409October 13, 2013 1:24 AM

Pomona, California. 'nuff said.

by Anonymousreply 410October 13, 2013 1:31 AM

So, basically any place that has a minority majority. Got it.

by Anonymousreply 411October 13, 2013 1:32 AM

R176: you need to get out more and see what gave you your life of privilege. And what we are doing to it.

The inner rot and decay is astonishing. I love seeing different parts of the country and have been to many of the places mentioned - the Hsmptons and Manhattan and much of ocean and Sound country in Long Island too R176 - and it leads me to think we are killing it.

by Anonymousreply 412October 13, 2013 2:44 AM

[quote]So, basically any place that has a minority majority. Got it.

Yes, if you count "white trash" as a minority.

by Anonymousreply 413October 13, 2013 4:46 AM

anaconda montana is the most depressing shithole I have ever seen. I have been to 3 different continents, and the slummiest areas don't compare to Anaconda. I think it may be a reservation for people on welfare. Stay out of the town...it's a crapper.

by Anonymousreply 414March 13, 2014 10:58 PM

Somewhere in the deep south. Anywhere in the US really, if you don't have money. These days, that's most people.

by Anonymousreply 415March 13, 2014 11:32 PM

Kudos on "Damron Fodor" (!!)

It may not be number one but Slab City, CA is up there.

Offsite Link
by Anonymousreply 416March 13, 2014 11:57 PM

PORTLAND FUCKING MAINE.

A narrow, fascist police-state, where the men are all ugly

by Anonymousreply 417March 14, 2014 2:55 AM

Oh, and let's not forget SIX MONTHS OF WINTER.

by Anonymousreply 418March 14, 2014 3:00 AM

Any place in Rhode Island.

by Anonymousreply 419March 14, 2014 3:40 AM

The entire state of Illinois...but southern Illinois to be more specific. Bunch of inbred drunks.

by Anonymousreply 420April 22, 2014 9:08 PM

I would have to say Salt Lake City. This place has the worst air quality, wreaks like shit when the Great Salt Lake decides to fart. And if your a single guy who is over 40, well, forget trying to find a decent date in this shithole because its not going to happen. Your surrounded by a bunch of Ex-Californians who are fucked in the head to begin with and have migrated here to get away from California only to change it into CA which they are making very good progress at turning it into another Armpit state USA. The other factor is the mormons and their F'd up cult. Sorry, I can see why suicide rates among teenagers is very high here.

Unless your a tree hugging liberal quack, a mormon cultist, DO NOT move here if you want to succeed in life and find a date. It won't happen.

by Anonymousreply 421July 4, 2014 4:24 PM

You're crazy. Salt Lake City is beautiful, especially in the winter. Great mountain scenery and a wonderful bracing climate. Ironically, the Mormons have built a beautiful city but their weird religious intolerance of practically everybody and everything make it impossible to live there.

by Anonymousreply 422July 5, 2014 3:19 PM

Seriously, that bad? I haven't been to any of these places mentioned. What's going on in there??

by Anonymousreply 423July 5, 2014 4:20 PM

Grand Rapids MI and all the little shitholes surrounding it.

by Anonymousreply 424July 5, 2014 4:24 PM

many areas in New Mexico suck. don't tell me about the scenery. Who wants to see old time western movies scenery daily?

Detroit looks like a bombed out apocalypse shithole, with most of Cleveland a close runner-up, and Youngstown.

Have not been in Texas for years but always thought it was awful too.

I have always thought New York was over rated. Rarely enjoyed it when I was there on business. Too many freaking Eurotrash, horrible traffic, same old crappy stores you can find in any shopping area, dirty sit outside restaurants with nonEnglish speaking help loated right by big garbage bins.

I guess Detroit and then Dearborn/Cleveland/Youngstown win.

by Anonymousreply 425July 5, 2014 4:30 PM

Anywhere where there is a large minority population!

by Anonymousreply 426July 5, 2014 4:32 PM

426. Rural Oklahoma is not black. And neither is the entire state of Kansas. Nor the crappy towns in Cali. Or Washington or Maine or Illinois.

by Anonymousreply 427July 5, 2014 4:40 PM

Any small town with no thriving businesses or young adults. Once a town loses its 18-35 population, it loses a lot of its energy.

That said, I left my medium sized town (100,000) after college and never looked back. I completely get it that a young adult would want to move to the big city and experience life to the hilt. But I also feel sad that a lot of small towns wither and die because they can't hold on to the YA population. (And, no, that demographic is not the 'be all, end all' but they are a very active demographic in keeping the community revitalized)

I have lived in a large metropolitan city ever since I left college. My hometown friends who stayed on to raise families in my childhood town have really tried to keep it a vibrant and 'current' place to live. I really admire them for that. Every small town needs some 'current' citizens who are good at introducing viable change in the community and I'm always really impressed when I return for annual visits to see how it's kept the best of its old school "Mayberry" feel with a nice blend of progressive elements as well.

In my ideal world I would live in a small town like Cabot Cove with Jessica Fletcher, an Atticus Finch, a great local bar scene, and be less than an hour away from a large metropolitan area. : )

by Anonymousreply 428July 5, 2014 4:56 PM

All of Texas except Austin. It is the land of 12th Century Extremism, clinging tightly to the flavor of Jim Crow.

by Anonymousreply 429July 5, 2014 5:27 PM

[quote]So all of Arizona is a shithole?

Pretty much. It's really the top-down tea-bag right wing political bent of the place that makes it unfortunate for normal folks who live here. Radicalized, low information people have been flocking to AZ since Gov. Ev Mecham invited them to come and fight his impeachment battles in the 80's. They own politics outside a of few reasonable places (Bisbee, Jerome, Sedona, Flagstaff and Tucson.)

The county level GOP machines are highly effective at getting wackos elected. Voter suppression of Latinos was practically invented here. ALEC and Arizona Center for Policy own the political process, and use the state as a test bed for the worst boilerplate bills imaginable.

It's not surprising in the land of Joe Arpaio that a number of county sheriffs are involved in Oath Keepers, an insurrectionist group which seeks to take on the federal government, Bundy-style.

I'm a native, I've delt with wall to wall weirdos and what they do for the past 25 years, and I AM getting out.

by Anonymousreply 430July 5, 2014 5:37 PM

I would guess somewhere in Ohio.

by Anonymousreply 431July 5, 2014 5:39 PM

The fucking racist pig invades every thread.

by Anonymousreply 432July 5, 2014 5:40 PM

Any town with a paper mill is pretty terrible — the stench, which covers entire towns, is ungodly and they're typically set up in areas with no regulation whatsoever. Bogalusa, Louisiana is one example, but I've never been to a bigger shithole than Augusta, Georgia, which not only has a paper mill but an open-air sewage plant near downtown.

The city has nothing to trade on but the golf course there (where they hold the Masters) but beyond that much of the city is shanties, crumbling buildings, houses with tarps for exterior walls. Detroit has some scary majesty in its crumbling buildings (and the downtown area is doing OK), but Augusta just looks like Mortville.

by Anonymousreply 433July 5, 2014 5:58 PM

It's Montgomery AL. Even though it's a capitol city it is a SHITHOLE.

by Anonymousreply 434July 5, 2014 6:02 PM

R432 Epic failure to understand that racism goes hand in hand with homo haters. Texas is a shithole for real, and their legally endorsing REPARATIVE THERAPY makes them the worst fuckers of all - racists to boot. But back to your remark : So all gays are white is that it? For your edification:

E. Lynn Harris Langston Hughes Wallace Thurman Countee Cullen James Baldwin

It is a long and illustrious list, much more than this.

by Anonymousreply 435July 5, 2014 7:35 PM

Gary, Indiana.

What a wonderful name!

Named for Albert Gary--of judiciary fame!

by Anonymousreply 436July 5, 2014 7:40 PM

Atlanta and its many suburbs.

by Anonymousreply 437July 5, 2014 7:49 PM

The most disgusting city in the US that I've ever personally been to, is Camden, NJ.

Closely followed by Trenton & Newark, NJ.

Other horrible American cities I've had the misfortune to experience:

Detroit & Flint, MI - both of these should be flattened & turned into farmland, or solar panel complexes. They're beyond redemption. It would cost more to fix them than they're worth at this point. Seriously.

St Louis & Cleveland. Disgusting & crap weather to boot.

Bakersfield & Barstow, CA. Their only salvation is they're both surrounded by desert, so it keeps them from "spreading". Thank God.

Only about 10% of New Orleans, Baltimore or Memphis can be visited in daylight. Flush the rest.

Any town in the interior of Florida - all just awful & their weather is horrendous. If you live in Florida & don't live on the coast, you may as well be in bumfuck Mississippi. It's that bad.

Any city or town on the Texas/Mexico border. Take your pick. Yes, they are as bad as you've heard.

by Anonymousreply 438July 5, 2014 8:01 PM

Hmmm, gee, I wonder why R421 can't possibly get himself a date?

by Anonymousreply 439July 5, 2014 8:05 PM

Any place I happen to feel depressed. I can be happy any place when I'm not in turmoil.

by Anonymousreply 440July 5, 2014 8:06 PM

Youngstown native here, and yes, it is probably one of the worst cities in the US. The cops don't even care if you roll through red lights as long as you explain to them that you didn't feel safe stopping at the intersection. Believe it or not, it's also the birth place of Warner Bros. Entertainment. I am a bit surprised at how many people from other states are even aware of Youngstown, since Detroit usually gets all the limelight for being one of the worst cities.

by Anonymousreply 441July 5, 2014 8:37 PM

The phrase "Where to begin?" springs to kind!

by Anonymousreply 442July 5, 2014 8:40 PM

"The phrase "Where to begin?" springs to kind!"

you almost had it.

by Anonymousreply 443July 5, 2014 9:14 PM

Typing cost extra at my skool.

by Anonymousreply 444July 5, 2014 9:17 PM

nYC

by Anonymousreply 445July 5, 2014 9:17 PM

San Francisco

by Anonymousreply 446July 5, 2014 9:32 PM

OAKLAND, CALIFORNIA in the San Francisco bay area. A lot of psychos harbor there. The murder capitol of the country. And the sick old ugly aging queens live there love picking up the thugs there, paying them money for their black cocks.

by Anonymousreply 447July 5, 2014 9:40 PM

[all posts by tedious, racist idiot removed.]

by Anonymousreply 448July 5, 2014 10:53 PM

There's a place I've passed through called Imperial County in southeast California. It's a hellhole. Why would anyone want to live there?

by Anonymousreply 449July 5, 2014 11:07 PM

Rancho Mirage. Urf. Luxury estates and golf - that's about it. At least I can walk to Betty Ford in a year or two.

by Anonymousreply 450July 5, 2014 11:17 PM

The people who live in these places have constant sex, with people who are not their partners...they also drink a lot and also use a lot of drugs...then they create all this drama over their fucking situations. Then they get their guys, or an ax, and kill each other.

by Anonymousreply 451July 6, 2014 12:09 AM

waterbury ct

by Anonymousreply 452August 3, 2014 2:56 AM

Newark, NJ is The Magic Kingdom compared to Camden, NJ!

by Anonymousreply 453August 3, 2014 3:38 AM

[all posts by tedious, racist idiot removed.]

by Anonymousreply 454August 3, 2014 3:48 AM

I visited St. Louis for three days and found Washington University to be one of the most attractive and inviting residential areas I've ever seen. In fact, there were many nice parts of the city and its suburbs.

I've seen much worse looking places, primarily in the Southwestern U.S. from Texas to California.

by Anonymousreply 455August 3, 2014 4:27 PM

I thought it was New York until I went to San Francisco.

by Anonymousreply 456August 3, 2014 9:23 PM

R434 is right. Montgomery Alabama.

by Anonymousreply 457August 5, 2014 5:03 PM

Lufkin , Texas...Hands down

by Anonymousreply 458November 22, 2014 3:54 AM

Chicago.

by Anonymousreply 459November 22, 2014 3:56 AM

Arbuckle, CA, is a pretty depressing shithole.

by Anonymousreply 460January 2, 2015 8:05 AM

Laredo Texas. Sensory deprivation.

by Anonymousreply 461January 3, 2015 1:19 AM

The entire state of Indiana.

by Anonymousreply 462January 3, 2015 1:22 AM

Detroit owns this fucking thread!

by Anonymousreply 463January 3, 2015 1:25 AM

Gila Bend, Arizona. Especially in the summer.

by Anonymousreply 464January 3, 2015 1:35 AM

Mordor on the Potomac.

by Anonymousreply 465January 3, 2015 1:36 AM

Texas, Alabama, the Carolinas, Georgia (hotlanta is NOT Georgia lol); Riverside, Ca; Orlando, Fl; Dover, NH; Minot, SD; Cinncinati, OH; Lousiville, KY; anywhere WV; Rochester, NY; New Orleans, LA;Utah

by Anonymousreply 466January 3, 2015 1:38 AM

Michigan, not only a shithole, but a shithole with a winter that lasts half the year. Detroit is obviously king of the godforsaken hellscapes but Flint is a close second.

At least the South and Texas are warm.

by Anonymousreply 467January 3, 2015 1:46 AM

R466 is ridiculous.

by Anonymousreply 468January 3, 2015 1:51 AM

Well thank u sweetie. Coming from YOU, that's high praise LOL Go cry on something and contact us when your period ends.

by Anonymousreply 469January 3, 2015 4:01 AM

I'm with R17. I live in cleveland but go to youngstwn a few times a year, very depressing. Detroit however definitely owns this thread. Steubenville ohio is a very frightening place. Anti semitic.

by Anonymousreply 470January 3, 2015 4:16 AM

Everything in Ohio is horrifying. Even worse when they move down South, usually to run from creditors. Mix that crazy with southern crazy and you'll see Ozzy could ONLY IMAGINE what 'going off the rails' actually looks like.

by Anonymousreply 471January 3, 2015 5:08 AM

Johnson City, TN

by Anonymousreply 472January 3, 2015 5:10 AM

My vote goes the Brooklyn, it's supposed to be a hotbed of creativity but it's sad and depressing as hell

by Anonymousreply 473January 3, 2015 5:25 AM

The Navajo reservations in New Mexico.

by Anonymousreply 474January 3, 2015 5:43 AM

Steubenville, Ohio

by Anonymousreply 475January 11, 2015 6:31 PM

R475=Grace Foster

by Anonymousreply 476January 11, 2015 6:45 PM

The worst place I've ever seen is downtown Memphis, which looked even worse than Baltimore or Camden, NJ,

by Anonymousreply 477January 11, 2015 7:38 PM

The old timers had it right. Embrace segregation.

by Anonymousreply 478January 11, 2015 8:16 PM

Utica NY? Newburgh NY?

by Anonymousreply 479January 11, 2015 8:19 PM

Meriden, Connecticut

by Anonymousreply 480January 11, 2015 8:37 PM

My mother-In-Law's underpants. Please, don't get me started...

We hung them on the line one day and sailed all the way to Brazil.

I live in Queens, people!

Is this thing on?

by Anonymousreply 481January 11, 2015 9:17 PM

I had a swoogie neighbor a few years back who told me he had fathered 22 children that he knew of. After observing the shocked look on my face, he added... "That's nothing, my daddy had over fifty". Our beloved country is broken. Eventually the welfare recipients will out number the taxpayers.

by Anonymousreply 482January 18, 2015 3:17 PM

Obviously the father does not support the 22 children. Their mothers support them, so why would you assume they are on welfare, idiot. Get into the real world, mothers have often been the bread winner in the family.

by Anonymousreply 483January 18, 2015 3:30 PM

Birmingham Alabama looked pretty bad when I was there.

by Anonymousreply 484January 18, 2015 3:34 PM

But does it still have the Princess Theatre, R390?

by Anonymousreply 485January 18, 2015 6:00 PM

Cleveland fucking Ohio owns the thread.

by Anonymousreply 486January 18, 2015 6:05 PM

Bridgeport, CT is a ghetto nightmare.

by Anonymousreply 487January 18, 2015 6:09 PM

I'm sitting in Bridgeport, CT right now and there's nothing depressing about it. It has some desolate areas, and not a lot of money, but that's any post-industrial American city.

by Anonymousreply 488January 18, 2015 6:18 PM

I'm not American so please bear with me. I was wondering if those third world conditions depicted in 'True Detective' exist?

by Anonymousreply 489January 18, 2015 6:25 PM

Have we named every city in the USA yet?

by Anonymousreply 490January 18, 2015 6:34 PM

[You do realize that this is a troll, right? It just craves attention. You might want to stop talking to it.]

by Anonymousreply 491January 18, 2015 6:36 PM

Slab City @R363 [bold]IS[/bold] Mortville.

by Anonymousreply 492January 18, 2015 6:38 PM

East Fort Worth makes Detroit look like the Emerald City.

by Anonymousreply 493January 18, 2015 6:42 PM

Slab City is awesome and amazing. Nothing else like it in the U.S. that I know of. Nothing depressing about it, unless you can only exist in five-star hotels. And while you're in that area, also see Salvation Mountain, East Jesus, the Calipatria mud volcanoes, the International Banana Museum, Algodones Dunes and take in a nice soak in one of the hot springs around the area.

by Anonymousreply 494January 18, 2015 6:44 PM

If there's any place on this planet that's worse than Camden, NJ, I never, ever want to go there...

by Anonymousreply 495January 28, 2015 5:17 AM

the entire state of Mississppi

by Anonymousreply 496January 28, 2015 6:22 AM

r290, right on!! Norwich CT used to be pretty grim. Maybe it has changed by now.Sad, because it is filled with wonderful old Victorian architecture. Things went down when the mills closed. It is too far from the beach, too. New London, CT is pretty sad, too, and it is on the water.

by Anonymousreply 497January 28, 2015 6:47 AM

Eastern PA outside of chi-chi, liberal central Bucks County. Esp. the area around Wilkes-Barre, Allentown, Quakertown. Lower Bucks county is gross.

by Anonymousreply 498January 28, 2015 6:52 AM

hazleton pa luzern county nepa is the shit hole of america or should i say littel havanna,ya like that the goverment gave up on as just like the rest of the country ,thier laughing all the wat to bank selling us out day by day

by Anonymousreply 499February 20, 2015 7:58 PM

Here?

by Anonymousreply 500February 20, 2015 9:19 PM

Lock Haven, PA

by Anonymousreply 501February 20, 2015 9:28 PM

Well, it's NOT Utica, NY., that's for sure!

by Anonymousreply 502February 20, 2015 9:36 PM

The entire state of NJ

by Anonymousreply 503February 20, 2015 9:40 PM

Salina, Kansas.

by Anonymousreply 504February 20, 2015 11:53 PM

Hendersonville, NC. Thread closed.

by Anonymousreply 505February 20, 2015 11:56 PM

The most depressing shithole is obviously where the OP lives. She's trying to make herself feel better because she lives in a cardboard box in Oklahoma, and is desperately trolling to find others more unfortunate than herself. Not possible OP. You live in the worst shithole in the world.

by Anonymousreply 506February 21, 2015 12:00 AM

We stopped in Vega, Texas on a cross-country trip. This was in June and it was hot and windy. The only place we could see to eat was a Burger King. We went in and ate. I noticed that a lot of the other people in the place weren't eating. They were playing cards, checkers, etc. Apparently it was where people go to hang out in Vega, Texas. And apparently the only place in town with air conditioning. It was kind of fun in a weird way for a few minutes, but if I was stuck there, I would find it extremely depressing.

by Anonymousreply 507February 21, 2015 12:01 AM

Vega, Texas statistics.

Offsite Link
by Anonymousreply 508February 21, 2015 8:18 PM

Vega, TX was the setting for a reality show, Popularity Contest. A group of people moved to town and each week the residents of Vega would vote one out. I actually enjoyed it.

by Anonymousreply 509February 22, 2015 1:17 AM

Virginia Beach when the hillbilly, cankled street preachers show up to harass tourists.

Offsite Link
by Anonymousreply 510February 22, 2015 1:22 AM

[quote]East Fort Worth makes Detroit look like the Emerald City.

Ah, it's not that bad!

by Anonymousreply 511February 22, 2015 1:31 AM

R29 it is Westport, also setting for Bewitched, which had the original title of The Witch of Westport.

I think NYC is a contender here. People who think they are living in nirvana. It's a dirty smelly shithole of a city filled with Eurotrash and middle easterners. Where else can you sit outside and eat ice cream next to a dumpster?

Other than a couple art museums and aging uncomfortable Broadway theatres--which now mostly have stuff appealing to flyovers anyway--what is so great about NY?

by Anonymousreply 512February 22, 2015 1:34 AM

[quote]In fact, no matter what the locals say, pretty much all of Berrien County is depressing. Not one Starbucks in the whole county.

R50 There are at least two Starbucks in Berrien county located inside Martin's Grocery stores in St. Joe and Niles. There is more to Berrien county than New Buffalo.

by Anonymousreply 513February 22, 2015 2:01 AM

Having read what most have written I was surprised that no ONE mentioned terrible hopeless Terre Haute, Indiana! Referred to as the "crossroads of the world". This town is the worst most depressing town I have ever been in.

Considered the "arm-pit of america". The town has the worst smells daily!! Consider this the-a smell of a rubber plant in addition to paint factory mixed together!

This was the town that created the "pay-toilet" need I say more. Their only major "industry" is the state university........

It has more "fast food" restaurants than anywhere else I have ever been. One tiny hole in the wall gay bar that send any young homosexual back into the closet......sad and depressing..........................

by Anonymousreply 514March 2, 2015 2:24 AM

Jacksonville, FL

The 'new music' station here plays stuff like 'Purple Rain' and 'I come from a land down under..'

by Anonymousreply 515March 2, 2015 2:27 AM

Hendersonville is nice

by Anonymousreply 516March 2, 2015 2:32 AM

Everywhere in Kansas. Everywhere.

by Anonymousreply 517March 2, 2015 2:37 AM

Laredo Texas. Sensory deprivation. Even the birds are ugly.

by Anonymousreply 518March 2, 2015 2:42 AM

Isn't Terre Haute also where the U.S. Federal death chamber is?

by Anonymousreply 519March 2, 2015 2:49 AM

Wilkes-Barre,PA - Scranton wants to nuke it.

by Anonymousreply 520March 2, 2015 3:07 AM

R510) Somebody should have reminded Inbred Jed about the sin of gluttony. The Lord helping those who help themselves doesn't refer to third servings at the buffet table at some waffle house.

by Anonymousreply 521March 2, 2015 3:19 AM

[You do realize that this is a troll, right? It just craves attention. You might want to stop talking to it.]

by Anonymousreply 522March 5, 2015 5:13 PM

R512, I totally agree with you. Why are so many people completely blind to the fact that NYC is nothing more than a glorified shithole?

by Anonymousreply 523March 5, 2015 5:45 PM

OP, why did you feel a need to censor fuck but not shit?

by Anonymousreply 524March 5, 2015 7:44 PM

It has to be in Ohio. What a fucking cesspool of a state.

by Anonymousreply 525March 5, 2015 7:50 PM

R523, in comparison to Chicago or DC or Miami, it's WAY better.

And if you have to work for a living, the best jobs are HERE. Yes, if one didn't need to work and instead, sit around smoking pot and drawing from a trust fund, then one bums about in Los Angeles or San Francisco. We get it.

by Anonymousreply 526March 5, 2015 7:51 PM

New York City

by Anonymousreply 527March 5, 2015 7:55 PM

Beckley, WV or Huntington, WV. Equally dreary, depressing shitholes.

by Anonymousreply 528March 5, 2015 8:06 PM

R477, what was wrong with Memphis? I had a great time there and went to several cool restaurants and clubs and museums. I know Memphis has a lot of crime, but the parts I saw were fine.

My friends took me down into Mississippi too, and it was pretty and I met some neat people.

by Anonymousreply 529March 5, 2015 11:15 PM

R520, I was born and raised in Scranton. Wilkes-Barre is an oasis in comparison.

by Anonymousreply 530March 5, 2015 11:56 PM

Capitol City of Alabama, Montgomery would make those other places look like DisneyWorld. It isn't a friendship city w/out your Glock or Colt.

by Anonymousreply 531March 18, 2015 2:30 AM

Damn peoria

by Anonymousreply 532March 18, 2015 2:35 AM

Any god forsaken hell hole in the south run by republicans. Arizona, Louisiana (lake Charles anyone), Mississippi,Alabama, Tennessee,oklafuckinghoma, kansas, Nebraska, south or north Dakota ( who the FUCK would live there)???

by Anonymousreply 533March 18, 2015 2:53 AM

New Bedford, MA

by Anonymousreply 534March 18, 2015 3:14 AM

Bessemer Alabama has to rank.

by Anonymousreply 535March 18, 2015 3:16 AM

Ajo or Gila Bend, AZ.

by Anonymousreply 536March 18, 2015 3:17 AM

Burke, SD

by Anonymousreply 537March 18, 2015 3:37 AM

Gotta be somewhere in Ohio or Oklahoma

by Anonymousreply 538March 18, 2015 3:51 AM

Have you ever heard of Gary, Indiana, R538?

Subtract all of the good parts of Chicago as a city and that's what you're left with.

by Anonymousreply 539March 18, 2015 4:27 AM

According to my brother, Pahrump, Nevada - where my middle niece and 3 small children currently live - is pretty bad. I suppose a lot of Nevada is no bloody hell.

by Anonymousreply 540March 18, 2015 4:31 AM

the coal mine towns in KY and WV don't look good

by Anonymousreply 541March 18, 2015 4:35 AM

Apparently, it's wherever I am.

by Anonymousreply 542March 18, 2015 4:42 AM

Fort Worth, Texas is an eyesore.

by Anonymousreply 543March 18, 2015 4:45 AM

Renton Washington, also Duvall, lakewood, and Tacoma

by Anonymousreply 544March 18, 2015 4:53 AM

[quote]According to my brother, Pahrump, Nevada - where my middle niece and 3 small children currently live - is pretty bad. I suppose a lot of Nevada is no bloody hell.

Well, it's the closest city to Las Vegas where prostitution is legal, so at least your family will be able to find employment.

by Anonymousreply 545March 18, 2015 4:56 AM

Uniontown, Pennsylvania. Dead town full of short, ugly people.

by Anonymousreply 546March 18, 2015 4:59 AM

R543 how about Dallas?

by Anonymousreply 547March 18, 2015 5:11 AM

Any town immediately outside am Army post. I spent 20 years in the Army, pretty depressing!

by Anonymousreply 548May 12, 2015 11:47 PM

This is a true fact and you can even look it up: More people have died drinking the water in Altoona PA than have died in all wars in history.

by Anonymousreply 549May 13, 2015 1:11 AM

Anywhere in Indiana at the moment, but South Bend in particular.

by Anonymousreply 550May 13, 2015 1:13 AM

Anywhere in central Wisconsin is a horror.

by Anonymousreply 551May 13, 2015 1:14 AM

Jacksonville, FL

by Anonymousreply 552May 13, 2015 1:22 AM

TWhen that guy who danced around the world went viral when YouTube was young, I read his Q&A page. This is a guy who have been all around the world, and seen some pretty run down third world places.

Someone asked him where the most depressing place he'd ever been was. I kid you not, his response was some suburb of Kirkland, WA. Not only that, he specified the shopping center that I lived right NEXT to and shopped at that time. It was like reverse kismet.

Yes, the absolute worst shithole this non-rich well travelled guy had ever been to was exactly where I was living when I read that page. I took it as a sign to move, and did.

by Anonymousreply 553May 13, 2015 1:23 AM

So what did he say was so bad about Kirkland, r553?

by Anonymousreply 554May 13, 2015 10:22 AM

[quote]This is a true fact and you can even look it up: More people have died drinking the water in Altoona PA than have died in all wars in history.

Since everyone in every town drinks the water and eventually dies, that statement is true of every town.

by Anonymousreply 555May 13, 2015 10:29 AM

South San Diego, next to the border.

by Anonymousreply 556May 13, 2015 10:33 AM

it's incomprehensible that there is anyplace in this great country that is worse than Camden. If there is, I hope I never, ever have to go there.

by Anonymousreply 557May 14, 2015 3:43 AM

Half the United States has turned into a shit hole

by Anonymousreply 558May 16, 2015 10:17 PM

Didn't we decide it was Texarkana in another thread?

by Anonymousreply 559May 16, 2015 10:30 PM

R554,

He didn't go into detail, but I totally get it. Of all the gloomy, hopeless places in the world he picked the Juanita shopping center, which I lived right next to. It's not rundown or old. It's just a strip mall type place with Starbucks, a decent grocery store, a GNC, yada yada. Around back, there is a drug store that is nice enough. It's all regular, clean and nice. But it's palpably soulless.

I think the guy used to live in the same apartment building I did. There is just a pervasive, hopeless and soulless feeling that one area and I can't explain it because everything is clean and "nice". The fact that someone else pointed it out was a revelation - maybe I'm not depressed. Maybe I need a change of scenery.

by Anonymousreply 560May 17, 2015 11:04 PM

Any state where the majority of people use "y'all".

by Anonymousreply 561May 17, 2015 11:13 PM

North Dakota. The entire state is bland and it's people are pale, fat and boring.

by Anonymousreply 562May 17, 2015 11:13 PM

The most uppity judgmental person I've met happens to be from North Dakota. It was my school friend's mom. The friend was cool. The mom hated everyone who wasn't exactly like her, including me.

by Anonymousreply 563May 17, 2015 11:16 PM

LA

by Anonymousreply 564May 17, 2015 11:17 PM

I will add that Kirkland itself isn't depressing. It's hill-y and overlooks Lake Washington. It's pretty. But there is that one area within it that is like... hexed or something. It was wild to get outside confirmation of what I was feeling.

Plus, the people act so surprised if you have decent manners and are somewhat kind. It's like everyone is starving for a friend. Again, that area was MORE depressing than a shanty town. Think about that.

r560

by Anonymousreply 565May 18, 2015 5:54 AM

[quote]and it's people are pale, fat and boring.

it's??

by Anonymousreply 566May 18, 2015 5:57 AM

R405 "Do you have any experience with Modesto?"

Why yes, sure I do!

by Anonymousreply 567May 18, 2015 9:57 AM

Starbucks in Queens

by Anonymousreply 568May 18, 2015 10:26 AM

Chicago. Sitting in traffic, watching the infrastructure crumble at every overpass and bridge.

by Anonymousreply 569May 18, 2015 10:41 AM

Toms River, NJ

With an honorable mention to Cordele, GA

by Anonymousreply 570May 18, 2015 12:22 PM

Beverly Hills.

The only people you actually see are uniformed Hispanic maids and gardeners.

by Anonymousreply 571May 18, 2015 1:11 PM

I think after this weekend, Waco can move to the top of the list.

by Anonymousreply 572May 18, 2015 4:44 PM

Modesto is paradise compared to Turlock

by Anonymousreply 573May 18, 2015 7:20 PM

Am seconding Wheeling-Steubenville-Martins Ferry region of the Ohio River. There are other places just as shitty, but no where is there such a concentration of nasty people. They're evolving into pig-people.

by Anonymousreply 574May 20, 2015 8:12 AM

I have to pipe in again and crown Camden, NJ the winner...I have nothing personally against Camden but it truly is the gold standard for shitholes. Even the pimps and crack whores are scared to go out at night. In 2014, the murder rate was ten times than that of New York City and 30 percent higher than New Orleans. The unemployment rate is more than 20 percent. The graduation rate of high schools is 37%. etc. etc. etc. A miserable, pathetic pile of garbage that is beyond repair - just bulldoze it into the Delaware and end it....

by Anonymousreply 575June 6, 2015 11:02 PM

shithole

by Anonymousreply 576January 12, 2018 2:20 AM

Washington DC

by Anonymousreply 577January 12, 2018 2:28 AM

The White House

by Anonymousreply 578January 12, 2018 2:29 AM

[quote]I have nothing personally against Camden but it truly is the gold standard for shitholes

it's abandoned - CHESTER, PA isn't and is much more depressing.

by Anonymousreply 579January 12, 2018 2:32 AM

The Oval Office, OP.

by Anonymousreply 580January 12, 2018 2:33 AM

This thread is RAAAYYYYYY-CISTTTTT!!!!

by Anonymousreply 581January 12, 2018 2:36 AM

Memphis

by Anonymousreply 582January 12, 2018 4:37 AM

East St Louis, Ford Height, Cairo (all in Illinois)

Camden, NJ, Most of Detroit (except downtown), any ghetto area of a top ten American city

by Anonymousreply 583January 12, 2018 9:54 AM

R581 be ray-ray!

by Anonymousreply 584September 2, 2020 8:14 AM

Beverly Hills, CA - a bunch of assholes live there. They’re a bunch of liars too.

by Anonymousreply 585September 2, 2020 8:18 AM

houston, but i love it, hot whores

by Anonymousreply 586September 2, 2020 8:31 AM

Any Trump Property

by Anonymousreply 587September 2, 2020 8:32 AM

Based on this video, I'd say Harrison, Arkansas.

Offsite Link
by Anonymousreply 588September 2, 2020 10:35 AM

A great deal of greater Los Angeles is about as depressing a shithole as one could find.

by Anonymousreply 589September 2, 2020 10:42 AM

Camden NJ

by Anonymousreply 590September 2, 2020 11:21 AM

Trump's childhood house in Queens, New York.

Offsite Link
by Anonymousreply 591September 2, 2020 2:15 PM
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