Least favorite American city

Atlanta

St. Louis.

Bunch of red neck hoosiers and gangsta wannabe African Americans fighting for an ever shrinking piece of the pie. See Ferguson.

I second R2, St. Louis. My sentiments exactly.

I don't see the list, but Houston and Las Vegas would be tops on mine — the definition of "OK place to visit, but..."

Nashville, TN.

I hated N. Orleans. I found it so depressing. But I was only 14 and it was a long time ago.

San Jose, Ca

New York, NY. The world's most stressful and homogenized city. Also home to 90% of all Dataloungers, which makes it a real shithole.

Chicago.

Boston: sports and church, two things I hate and full of preppy people with the ugliest accents.

Normal, IL: just depressing.

Gary, Indiana. We stopped for gas and four men surrounded our car and started banging on the hood and door and bouncing the car for us to get out. We peeled out shitting our pants.

As a former resident of NYC, I have to apologize for the OP and this thread. This thread, meant to point out the "flaws" of other cities" makes New Yorkers seem petty and insecure. " Tell us why we are better than you" threads are an embarrassment.

Why do NYC citizens have to consistently remind the world at large how great it is? Whether it's Fallon or Jay-Z or the US Open broadcast, some NY based celeb or a guy sitting at an airport bar. It's such an odd provincial tic for a world city. Those living in London, Tokyo, Paris, Los Angeles, Mexico City, Berlin, Madrid, Buenos Aires, Manila, etc. don't feel the need to brag about their cities as if they're getting paid to do so. Very odd.

That said, I'd say Phoenix and Houston for least favorite major city.

Not all of us do that, R11. I'm a native NYer and I realize that I love my hometown but I would love it if it were something else. And next time you hear some asshole brag about NY, ask if they're native New Yorkers. Bet they aren't.

Nashville is an awesome city, you are nuts r5.

Top 10, since OP missed that part:

1. New York

2. Los Angeles

3. Chicago

4. Dallas

5. Philadelphia

6. Houston

7. Washington

8. Miami

9. Atlanta

10. Boston

Complete list at link.

Houston

1. Dallas 2. Houston 3. Jacksonville 4. Tulsa 5. Fresno

Worst city I've ever visited in the US: Cleveland.

They don't call it the Mistake by the Lake for no reason. It's unfortunate since their Museum of Art is very nice, as is their Symphony Orchestra. The people of Cleveland are only interested in one thing: football.

Atlanta

Phoenix is the worst shithole in the US.

Miami: cheap and tacky... One of the most overrated cities in the world

Denver: creepy as hell... No accident THAT city has the airport that is a monument to and bunker for the illuminati

Phoenix: drab and ignorant... It's like the OC built an annex in the middle of the desert

how dare you r17, everyone knows cleland is near lakewood which is friendly. it's Detroit that is sad because all the car companies stopped production there.

DL Pin-Up Girl Patricia Heaton is from Cleveland.

Top ten consolidated metro areas, gives a better idea

1) New York City - 23.4 million

2) Los Angeles - 18.4 million

3) Chicago - 9.9 million

4) Baltimore/Washington - 9.5 million

5) San Jose/San Francisco - 8.5 million

6) Boston/Providence - 8.0 million

7) Dallas/Fort Worth - 7.2 million

8) Philadelphia - 7.1 million

9) Houston - 6.5 million

10) Miami - 6.4 million

Top 10 cities without their suburbs, which I don't think should count.

1.tNew York, N.Y.t8,143,197 2.tLos Angeles, Calif.t3,844,829 3.tChicago, Ill.t2,842,518 4.tHouston, Tex.t2,016,582 5.tPhiladelphia, Pa.t1,463,281 6.tPhoenix, Ariz.t1,461,575 7.tSan Antonio, Tex.t1,256,509 8.tSan Diego, Calif.t1,255,540 9.tDallas, Tex.t1,213,825 10.tSan Jose, Calif.t912,332

Top 10 cities without suburbs.

1.tNew York, N.Y.t8,143,197

2.tLos Angeles, Calif.t3,844,829

3.tChicago, Ill.t2,842,518

4.tHouston, Tex.t2,016,582

5.tPhiladelphia, Pa.t1,463,281

6.tPhoenix, Ariz.t1,461,575

7.tSan Antonio, Tex.t1,256,509

8.tSan Diego, Calif.t1,255,540

9.tDallas, Tex.t1,213,825

10.tSan Jose, Calif.t912,332

[quote]Those living in London, Tokyo, Paris, Los Angeles, Mexico City, Berlin, Madrid, Buenos Aires, Manila, etc. don't feel the need to brag about their cities as if they're getting paid to do so. Very odd.

Parisians do also go on about how fantastic and beautiful Paris is.

London is also praising itself all the time these days. I know. I live here. But it tends to just be in the press.

My least favorite US cities are

Las Vegas.

Orlando.

Indianapolis

Jacksonville

Is Manila really worthy of that list at R26 quotation?

R11 One of my memories about living in NYC was all anyone ever talked about was living in NYC. At least that was about how 60% of the conversations went anyways.

San Francisco is like that too, r29. Mostly, it's the people not from a place who talk too much about it.

[quote]One of my memories about living in NYC was all anyone ever talked about was living in NYC. At least that was about how 60% of the conversations went anyways.

Sounds like one of DL's threads about DL.

I live in Phoenix and I fucking hate the place. But I don't think I'd like Buffalo or Detroit any better. Nothing worse than a shithole with extreme weather.

Phoenix

Boston

Denver

Hartford, CT

What could be worse than Oklahoma City? It's an ugly city in an ugly state, 99.9% Republican, and no gay community to speak of.

Washington DC

The worst cities in the USA are not the big ones. but bombed out, depressed, abandoned, gutted, forgotten shit holes and every state probably has at least 1 or 2. Like Newark. Bridgeport. Wooster. Binghamton. Scranton. etc etc etc etc etc

DC was great in the 80s, but like most cities, started to die in the 90s.

Los Angeles

Another vote for LA.

Dallas.

Dull, bland, nothing to offer. Yet the people who live there share a trait with New Yorkers. They think they are something special for living in Dallas and won't shut up about it.

As for Manila.... really? Nobody has ever complimented Manila on anything. Quite possibly the world's worst city.

I lived in St. Louis for one year. Hated it. Now I live in Houston so that says something. St. Louis was full of boring people and just, well boring.

When I think of StL, I think of 2 things:

1. Great baseball team

2. Clark W Griswold instructing the family to 'ROLL 'EM UP!!!'

St. Louis is full of very insular, incurious people. Not to mention when I got there and bought a new car I was shocked when I found out that the car price didn't include taxes so I had to go pay taxes on top of the buying the car.

Charlotte. I was stuck there once due to bad weather and the top two tourist attractions were the NASCAR museum and the Billy Graham Library.

[quote]Why do NYC citizens have to consistently remind

I don't and I've lived here my whole life. Why paint with such a broad brush, dear heart?

St Louis has great music and great barbecue but I feel very unsafe there.

Losing cities:

Detroit to the economy NY for the cost LA for the drought Dallas for the people Atlanta for the people Houston and Boston for traffic St Louis for the crime New Jersey for the taxes

But the winning shitholes are in the same state, CT Hartford and New Haven.

bump

Atlanta has either a massive homeless problem to address or a massive drug epidemic. I have never been harassed for a dollar or five dollars as much as when I was walking down Peachtree Street or Road or whatever. Not on Hollywood or Sunset Blvd. Not in Miami. Not in Mew York. Not in Chicago. Atlanta was borderline third world with all the begging that hoes on between the Fox Theater and 10th Street. It made me both sad and sick.

I second Charlotte. I used to travel a lot for business and spent two weeks there once. I was bored out of my fucking mind. There was absolutely nothing to do in my free time. I could usually find something to do in any town I was in for business. But not in Charlotte. I couldn't even find any decent local restaurants. Ended up going to Cracker Barrel for god's sake.

Actually there's great pulled pork in Charlotte. I stopped by a place called Queen City Q. Great pork.

But it was all I really enjoyed there.

R52 Pulled pork? In North Carolina, it's all about chopped pork.

Anyway, I agree that Charlotte is by far the dullest top 20 city in the US.

I enjoyed Taliesen West, F.L. Wright's place near Phoenix, but the rest of that place was grim.

You can really breathe in San Jose.

Î always thought Youngstown, OH was a real hoot.

Another vote for Houston, that godforsaken armpit of America.

St. Louis is pretty awful city that's true. boring ass parochial people, and economically disadvantaged minorities who don't seem to be able to better themselves and yet continue to reproduce en masse. some great old buildings particularly Frank Loyd Wright, excellent music and serious baseball. The hospitals in St. Louis are also first-rate, featuring a couple of the top in the country. But yes run like hell.

Bentonville, AR

Baton Rouge, LA

Sioux City, SD

I had to work in all these shit holes for months when I was a consultant. NO FANK YOU.

People are naming NYC and Vegas and Chicago?? Ok - spend a few days in the cities named above & then tell me NYC sucks. (And I am not even a huge NYC fan...I get sick of it after a weekend.)

R24 has it exactly backwards. Cities are arbitrary lines on a map. Area varies widely (e.g. Houston is over 600 square miles; New York is less than half that. Philadelphia is less than a quarter). Metro populations provide a much more realistic picture because they're standardized.

R38 What? Cities were shit holes in the 80s. For most American cities the 80s were the nadir. The mid/late 90s, but especially the 2000s is when the urban renaissance began in earnest.

[quote]the 2000s is when the urban renaissance began in earnest.

Jews running amok selling US real estate to foreigners is not a "renaissance."

How about Salt Lake City? For all of the surrounding natural beauty, it seems like it would be a pretty dreadful place to live if you are gay or a non-Mormon. Am I wrong?

Salt Lake is actually a very nice city. Mormons are exceptionally beautiful people physically and quite nice to live with. I don't care for any of the major superstitions but Mormons do a better job than most of the other "believers" of being fair to all, Mormon and nonMormon.

This debate between R38 & R60 has a lot to do with region. The 80s/early 90s were much different for places like San Diego, Phoenix, Denver, Portland, and Seattle as compared to Philadelphia, Baltimore, Detroit, Cleveland, St Louis

True, R64. But even those western cities were seeing massive suburban growth relative to city growth during that period. Phoenix remains nothing but a (giant) suburb.

I'll buy that, R65... No doubt San Diego, Seattle, & Denver lost some of their charm to rapid growth.

Phoenix turned into a hell hole

Mew York, R50? How catty.

Lot of votes for STL. Never knew the place was that bad. LA has a huge homeless problem. I can't imagine that Atlanta is worse.

Quito, Ecuador.

Trenton, NJ

OP. if NY is the least favorite American city, will you please tell the tens of thousands of tourists who come everyday to please stay away. The tourists are out of control in NYC.

Isn't chopped pork the same as pulled pork?

NYC--vile nasty hellhole where most people don't have washer and dryers in their apartments or central air conditioning. Rats everywhere

Houston and Dallas have awful weather and terrain

Memphis-so much poverty and crime

Theres about one square mile of St. Louis that's beautiful, near the zoo. Burn the rest.

Texarkana

[quote] NYC--vile nasty hellhole where most people don't have washer and dryers in their apartments or central air conditioning. Rats everywhere

While you are in your lovely, air-cooled apartment in Podunk, using your en-suite washer and dryer, I'll be turning off my through-the-wall a/c, dropping off my clothes at the cleaners, and my partner and I will have lunch at Robert, overlooking Central Park. Then we're catching a matinee of THE KING AND I at Lincoln Center, following which will be hosting some friends for cocktails on our rooftop, with its sweeping views of Manhattan. Then we'll all walk up Amsterdam Ave. for dinner, maybe Japanese, maybe Thai, maybe Peruvian; who knows? There are so many choices.

Tomorrow, while you're worrying about whether All or Cheer gives you a whiter white, I'll be visiting the new Whitney Museum, followed by a screening of Otto Preminger's BUNNY LAKE IS MISSING at the Film Forum, where Keir Dullea will be participating in a Q & A afterward. Dinner will be at some little out-of-the-way place in the Village, where we'll share a bottle of wine, since neither of us will have to worry about driving in order to get home.

And yes, we may see a rat on the subway tracks, but who the fuck cares? We live in New York!

Enjoy folding your towels, dear.

R24 is dumb is hell. Like r60 said "city limits" are an arbitrary line and varies WIDELY. The metro area is the only accurate picture.

Great for you r78, but nyc isn't for everyone.

Truth: R78 lives in a 6th floor walk up studio in Inwood which he shares with 4 other people. His share of the rent is $1200.00/month which leaves him little money for dining out, as clerks at Duane Reed don't really make that much. Seldom ventures below 95th Street as it is too rich for his blood. Besides, he doesn't have the subway fare.

Bravo, r81!

Dallas

I lived in Phoenix from '90 to '96, during which time the population expanded by approximately 500,000, chiefly due to the Rodney King riots and the '92 earthquake in L.A. Phoenix is mostly uncultured, with its chief artistic bent toward "Western Art," which is little better than illustration. Politics there were a joke, with governors continually being arrested for all manner of corruption. Freeways were rife with people taking potshots at each other while driving, since, at the time, anyone could carry a loaded gun anywhere. (I met an old woman who said she remembered the time when people walked around with guns on their hips, and now she was back there all over again.) By the time I left, there were notices all over electric poles at intersections, with info on getting the permit for concealed weapons, which had been legalized.

On top of that, gay life was mostly sequestered, with no particular designated gay area. Bars came and went. There was no Gay Pride March; instead, a "Pride Festival" was held behind cyclone fencing. I couldn't decide if this was to keep gay people penned in, or for their protection. Possibly both.

There were no laws protective of gay rights either. You could be fired, or evicted, at the drop of a proverbial hat. I can remember a woman who interviewed me for a possible rental apartment, saying there were none of "the gays" there. (I must have not been obvious that day; either that, or she was desperate...) And a friend of mine who worked at the Dial Corporation, run by Mormons, was fired when his boss called his home one night, and his partner answered. When asked why a "partner" would be there at night, the partner clarified that he was my friend's lover. The next day, my friend was summarily escorted from the building by security. When I casually mentioned this to a manager at my job, she scoffed, and said I was lying, and still didn't believe me, when I provided further updates.

Phoenix may have changed since that time, but I doubt it. It would appear that many fundamentalist thinkers and people reacting to changes elsewhere have been gravitating there.

Worst - Houston. Dallas makes Houston look cosmopolitan - and it's not.

Texans are FAR worse than New Yorkers - my god, they're always telling people how great Texas is, despite the lack of interest or belief by the party their telling this to.

Austin is the only saving grace - otherwise I avoid that state.

[quote] When I casually mentioned this to a manager at my job, she scoffed, and said I was lying, and still didn't believe me, when I provided further updates.

Straight people are very good at pretending they were blind deaf and dumb just a few years ago, but they not only knew they actively participated in casual antigay hate just a few years ago, easily within the memories of their victims.

That is a very typical privileged response. "You were fired for being gay? That's a lie!" so they pretend all the older gays who were subjected to discrimination were bad people and all the younger gays are the good people who aren't involved with all that.

Before the internet, the New York trolls might have had a point. But not now. We can see anything they can see.

R81 and R82. Send me your address and I'll invite you up for rooftop cocktails. But don't go all the way to Inwood, dears, just get off at 72nd Street.

I'll tell the doorman to send you right up.

[quote] Great for you [R78], but nyc isn't for everyone

I'm not usually this much of an insufferable snob, and I could easily name 50 reasons NOT to live in NY, but not having central a/c, no washer/dryer, and the occasional rat sighting aren't three of them. R73 's original comment was ridiculous, and my reply was sarcastic.

R84's description of Phoenix sounds miserable and awful.

That's a ridiculous lie R63. Mormons have done more to institutionalize religious discirmination than any other group in America even though they are well aware it is illegal.

Another vote for LA. A homeless man was walking down the street completely naked downtown this morning. I hate this dump.

[quote]Another vote for LA. A homeless man was walking down the street completely naked downtown this morning. I hate this dump.

At least the weather is nice enough for walking around naked...glass half full?

No glass half full. This is the second naked person I have seen on that street. DTLA is expensive and crime is only getting worse. I have lived here a few years and I can honestly say it has gotten worse.

It is hard to imagine that Phoenix is the 6th largest city in the USA. I have been here a while now and can say the place is nothing more than a pueblo with a lot of people living in it. If there was ever a city without a soul it is Phoenix.

I feel your pain, R95. The endless strip malls and sea of cheaply built bland, beige housing is particularly depressing. I haven't found too many men who appealed to me, either...gay or otherwise. Take away the elderly, Mormons, illegals, methheads, douchebros, and redneck trash and the pickings are slim for a metro of this size. I desperately want to move, just don't know where.

[quote]It is hard to imagine that Phoenix is the 6th largest city in the USA

Definitely not. It is the 6th largest city the same way Louisville Kentucky is a bigger than Atlanta, a meaningless measure. In reality it comes in at number 13.

Everybody be sure to reread R78.

Now THAT'S a Noo Yawker! Smug, sanctimonious, pretentious, condescending, self-congratulatory, and so in love with himself that all others need not apply.

And look at the fast and loose games they played in that list R97, breaking off San Jose from SF and Riverside from LA but adding Wilmington to Philly and parts of PA and CT to New York. That's the "Fuck You California" List.

And they addded part of Maryland and Reading to Philadelphia too. Totally fraudulent. Nor is there any real commuting between Kenosha and Chi-Town.

R89 - I think that would be great, but you must have income to support that lifestyle...which just isn't going to be the case for 80% (90%) of people. So, if I have to watch a broadway show on DVD or (gasp) the movie adaption, then so be it. I was the one who said I like NYC , but really mostly for the weekend. It starts feeling claustrophobic & noisy & giving me ADD after a while. I grew up in the burbs... and though I live in a major city now - I am probably a suburbanite at heart.

Nothing is every going to be perfect since it isn't an exact science, but considering how much data they use to decide on these measures R99/R100 I'm sure they have legitimate reasons.

R78: Caftans, Earrings

I didn't know so many Mormons lived in Phoenix.

[quote]I didn't know so many Mormons lived in Phoenix.

The majority are around the suburbs of Mesa & Gilbert, but it's all one big conurbation here.

Dallas is worse than Houston

Anyone who lists NYC or LA is just being annoying for annoyance's sake. There's enough in both of those cities to make anyone happy, despite whatever drawbacks they might also have.

In contrast, my favourite somewhat forgotten backwater city is Savannah.

[quote]Anyone who lists NYC or LA is just being annoying for annoyance's sake.

They're just jealous.

R107, not really. A lot of people want a lawn, after all it's part of the American Dream. Likewise, such basic things as a car, garage, washer/dryer, porch, and several bedrooms are only for the wealthy in NYC. Moreover, many people find that level of population density horrible.

I just returned from Raleigh, NC and it is giving Chicago a run for it's money as my least favorite city.

I'm convinced that the world's worst drivers live in Raleigh.

I really want a house w/ grass... It wouldn't happen in NYC...or most cities for that mater, except for >$1m or on the outskirts.

I had a condo w/ a roof deck, but it was definitely not the same. The roof deck had so many bees, wasps, dragon flies, and spiders.... I bothered to get the deck stained, but I couldn't sit there for more than 10 min without something trying to bite me or crawling on me.

It helped the place sell, though.

I worked in Newark NJ for about four months. If depression had a zip code, it would be Newark.

[quote]Dallas is worse than Houston

Definitely. I don't know how anyone familiar with both cities can argue otherwise. As someone who spent several years in Texas, I would seriously question the taste of anyone who thought otherwise.

Okay. If you want a lawn or whatever, then NYC or LA might not work for you. But that doesn't make either your "least" favorite city. It makes either place not conducive to your particular, suburban desires. Big difference.

[quote]Okay. If you want a lawn or whatever, then NYC or LA might

Let's remember the obvious. LA is not New York. Lots of people have lawns. That is why many "real urban dwellers" don't like LA. It is a sprawling mess of highways, rather than real urbanity in the sense of NY, SF, Boston, Chicago, Philadelphia etc.

What makes Dallas worse than Houston? LA is a dump. People have legitimate reasons for disliking it. I would take NYC over LA any day.

It's laughable someone actually puffed up NYC by saying shit such as having a cocktail on the roof & choosing between Japanese & Peruvian for dinner.

That is clearly a shut in who thinks its 1967

Gary, IN

Harold Hill got the f out for a good reason !!

Oh yeah, and bragging about tickets to the lion king!!

This is clearly a troll with the taste of Jackie on Assistance

R119 So did we!

Lots of people who grew up in the middle of nowhere and moved to New York don't realize many other cities offer much of the same opportunities (though I agree not all) of New York.

Yes there are roof top bars and global cuisine elsewhere.

Blaine, Missouri for instance.

Detroit

R7 Jealousy gets you nowhere. There was a pandemic in NYC and the whole fucking country shut down. You wish your puny city were as important.

Barstow

Fresno

Poughkeepsie

Slab City

Atlanta and Dallas.

DC and Baltimore. Blech.

Ok, upthread guy said Sioux City, SD...ISNT that IA? It’s Sioux Falls SD. my least fav is Oakland CA for downtown area of a city. Was in Buckhead Atlanta but never went downtown for fear (§several warnings)...no one went out walking in Buckhead but by then folks called in Buckhood.

Please put a fence around the whole state of Florida.

OP is a New Yorker desperate for validation for his crumbling city. How are those subways coming, OP?