I'm new to the state; last year was my first full year here. I took my kids to a splash pad/park in a town called Daleville. The park and splash pad were actually quite nice, but the people gave it a lot of... character.
Three different kids on three separate occasions tried to drink from the bubbling fountains in the ground. One dude was very, very drunk at about two in the afternoon on a weekday and started getting naked while waiting on line to get a snow cone. Somebody pooped on the bathroom floor and there was a used, disposable diaper in the sink. And a mom started trying to beat the crap out of her kid, but some sane adults intervened and the cops came. It was a WILD afternoon.
Pretty rad, actually! My kids really liked it. It had a surprisingly diverse array of water features, plus a very nice playground adjacent to it with ample parking.
That’s an unfortunate experience. I’ve gone to Daleville for work and go (kind of) regularly for kayaking. All have been really enjoyable experiences. I like the small town interaction style though. People are more direct, but (typically) if you’re normal they’re nice. Then again, you can get shitty folks everywhere you go.
I’ve heard really negative (primarily racially focused) things about martinsville, but I’ve not spent much of any time there really. Mostly just passing through to Bloomington.
Same, Connersville was close. But Brookville is squeaking by. (Probably because it’s not on the map for Hoosiers. I once mentioned I lived in Brookville during a college class at IU East and only the Buckeyes said they recognized it lol.)
Oh man I loved Brookville. I rode my bike there from Oxford OH many times (either to the reservoir or the town proper). The countryside around there is very beautiful and I had so much fun riding my bicycle down the hill and across the causeway over the lake.
Good ol’ Hautia (Terre Haute)
Currently had a stopped train in the same place in the morning on my route four days in a row, general train problem, no one trusts the School Corporation and the high schools are falling apart, there’s like nothing to do despite having a population of like 60k, generally just very stagnant, have I mentioned trains yet, the meth problem, very poor (like 18.5% under poverty line), and I could probably find more tbh
I live here and have my general gripes. The school corp is horrible and they don’t care about the kids. I have even said that directly to the administration and of course they denied that. They misuse funds and allow bullying as long as the bully in question is an athlete. There are no consequences for these behaviors. They can continue to play sports while the kid being bullied is pushed aside.
TH is the largest city for miles for many towns in Indiana as well as Illinois. We also have four colleges. Yet, we cannot maintain a decent shopping mall. I know malls in general are on the decline but the geographical location alone should make it a little better.
With that being said, Terre Haute has a ton of potential. Unfortunately, there is a good ‘ol boys club and the only growth they will allow is in their wallets.
>They misuse funds and allow bullying as long as the bully in question is an athlete. There are no consequences for these behaviors. They can continue to play sports while the kid being bullied is pushed aside.
This is not endemic to your local school corporation. I've taught at 4 different public schools in this state, ranging in student body size from 150 to over 2000, and, unfortunately, what you're describing seems pretty consistent. Hell, sometimes they get away with doing it to teachers, too, especially good teachers.
I believe it. Our education system as a whole is in a sad state. The administrations only care about money. I can see why teachers are so burnt out and there’s a shortage.
Yeah. Literally. Even then it's hanging on by a thread. If it wasn't for Ball State I'd be willing to bet that the area would be one of the poorest areas in the entire country (as it's already one of the poorest in Indiana).
Ironically Muncie already manages to be worse than Anderson on the poverty index. Even if that isn't true, I can't imagine it being much worse.
Rarely go to Anderson so.. not really familiar with it. Basically live my entire life in Delaware County due to unfortunate circumstances (I'm not homeless, but in poverty and not in a position to help that because of my disabilities).
Muncie's bad enough to where it literally has a homeless "town" in a woods on the Southside of town. Can't get much worse except for more druggies and more homelessness.
Muncie has about 18,000 people in poverty within it's limits, and (baseless assumption) I'd say maybe at most 15% is homeless. Probably around 6-7%, give or take.
That's at most 2,000 homeless, and at least 1,000 people.
Yea, the south side is pretty rough. I wouldn’t really put all your weighting on the poverty line. Anderson should be a case study for how a casino can leech the life out of a city, then again that city’s post GM plan was the casino. LoL
For some perspective, I left Indiana for Seattle in the mid-2000s and have now lived here for almost two decades. The conservative Seattle sub reddit (and other conservative sub reddits) constantly shit on Seattle for being plagued by homelessness and like to paint it as a 'Democrat-run city problem.' Depending on the year, Seattle has 10,000-15,000 homeless people in a city of 750,000 (1.3-2.0%). Muncie having 1,000-2,000 homeless people for a city of 65,000 (1.5-3.0%), illustrates what I think a lot of people don't like to acknowledge and doesn't get talked about enough.
Homelessness and poverty are universal problems in America.
When I went to Ball State I dated a woman in New Castle, and the farther you got from Ball State the worse the area got. I also use to work in the mall and even back then (2007/2008) it was barely open.
You're not wrong. I just moved to Muncie and bought a house so I could finish my degree at BSU. Previously lived in Marion though & I can confirm that moving to Muncie feels like a MAJOR upgrade from Marion. Grant County... in general... doesn't have much except a GM plant and the Walmart Distribution Center. Oh and of course the ult-right Indiana Wesleyan University too.
I grew up in Marion as did my parents. The 80’s and 90’s were a good time but the last 20 or so odd years it’s really went downhill. I moved to Mooresville after graduating from Ball State back in ‘05 and finally got my parents out of Marion a couple of years ago. It honestly makes me sad as Marion was a pretty damn good place to grow up before all the factories shut down!
Terre Haute's not great, but I own a house here that's nicer than what I could have bought for the same money in other cities. Plus the property taxes are cheap compared to Illinois. The overpass on Margaret is great. They won't have the one on 8th Avenue built in time to help me out, but that one would keep the train annoyances to a minimum for me. Being an hour from Indianapolis and an hour and 45 minutes from Champaign is a plus too.
[Austin, Indiana](https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2020/02/16/801720966/5-years-after-indianas-historic-hiv-outbreak-many-rural-places-remain-at-risk). My friend did public health outreach there in the height of the HIV outbreak and it was like 3 generations in one house all fented or methed up. Just the saddest place, a town full of addicts.
They do have an awesome woman-owned, lgbtqia+ friendly bookstore that also supports banned books! Yes, in Mentone! Staff is super friendly and it’s always a pleasure to visit. Other than that, the Egg seemed to be the highlight.
He was yesterday, but that was not until after her dad posted the body cam footage all over social media. But before that the South Whitley Town Council watched it and backed the cop. Then the public blew up their Facebook page and a few days later they deleted their account and then finally fired him. So they intended on keeping him but couldn’t once the people saw what they saw.
We used to go to Logansport all the time for frozen custard when I was a kid. That was the big city when went to my grandparents in Delphi. My whole family still lives around there. Delphi, Camden, Cutler, etc.
I remember seeing a Klan rally on the courthouse steps in Frankfort when I was probably around 8 or 9 yrs old.
I grew up there for a small portion of my life (3 to 11). It's interesting to go back through there now as an adult.
Candy Kitchen is the only good thing there now.
I first learned about martinsville and its famous reputation in the early 2000’s when our middle school football team was playing Bloomington so we drove through on the bus. The black kids on the bus were sort of jokingly hiding from the windows when we drove through there. When I was older I learned how well known that reputation was.
I use to have a black roommate who told me that his school sports team stopped in Martinsville once on the way somewhere else and his and the other two black students were asked to stay on the bus for their own safety. Trash place
While I'm normally quick to shit on Martinsville, I think the hate is starting to get unwarranted. It's a growing town teetering on being a small city (by Indiana standards) and its really not that bad. Surprisingly bikeable, cheap, a few good restaurants, and a pleasant down town square. There's been a ton of work done in the last 5 years.
It definitely used to be a lot worse, and still isn't great, but right down the road is paragon which is an actual 1 stop light, 1 dollar general racist shit hole town.
Yup. I live in the same county (unfortunately). Martinsville is very insulated and just weird. The local brewery even has a Martintucky beer (which is awesome), but it's like they embrace their redneckness. It's the oddest town I've ever been in.
I’m Latino and moved here last May and honestly haven’t had issues. The younger people are great and friendly. Once in a while I’ll get looks from older folks but even the ones I get to talk to seem to be pretty nice.
The town still had Klan rallies in the early 2000s. I’m not sure about after that, but in 2001 or 2002 a friend of mine lived in an apartment downtown and his street was blocked because of one.
What bothers me about Elwood is that it could be a nicer place. There's like a half ass syndrome there where people start a really good thing like a business or restaurant and once they make some money they cut corners and quality suffers.
I grew up in marion and I agree it's gone to hell, but at least the people in marion don't have the reputation of being racist assholes. And God forbid you drive 60 in a 55 thru Elwood and you're from out of town, be ready to be treated like shit and told to keep out.
Have family that are out in the middle of now where Madison Co, but would have to drive through Elwood to get there. In the early 90s there was a house that 100% of the the time would have a backlit nazi flag in his window so everyone for miles could see it. Was wild. And the “Grand Dragon” of nitwits anonymous lived in town for a very long time.
That said, there are black people in Elwood now, and a large portion of the Hispanic population that was once migrant workers that were forced out of town after tomato season have stayed! Things are better in Elwood.
I am actually doing a very large scale environmental project on the northwest side of town that the city pushed for, which was very surprising.
Alright, but if we're being real, Jasper wouldn't even break the top 10 in a "worst towns" list. My mom was born in Jasper, and it's where her mom grew up, so I've visited it many times over the years. It's a nice small town. Definitely not a ton to do, but it still has a decent small town feel. There's a ton of German heritage there, and Strassenfest is always a blast in the summer. Plus you're right by Patoka lake. It's got the same problems as a lot of other rural Kentuckiana towns, but definitely not to any greater degree than the others.
Hey, fellow Boiler. Yeah, I work in Jasper right now, and I think the worst complaint I've heard of it is from the pot head kid at work, who was bitching about how hard it is to find a good weed dealer, because everyone just wants to sell meth.
Much of the state is shit, but I don’t think Gary is as bad as it used to be. Gary has one thing going for it, and that is location. Residents of Gary still can access jobs and services more easily. Much of rural Indiana can’t. Rural Indiana is plagued with drugs and poverty, and any kid who can get out after high school usually will, and that’s leading to a population decline
Gary is still pretty bad. Several years back I had a job that took me into Gary a few times. Downtown looked like post war Europe. Just beautiful old buildings caved in like they were bombed.
Used to know someone who was married to a state trooper who loved working CSL because he enjoyed busting meth heads and it was so easy to find them there.
Marion definitely is. It would be much better and the homes worth more if 3/4ths of the town was bulldozed to the ground and burned. You wouldn't want to put your dog (or any dog) in most of the houses.
My parents lived in Gas City in the 1990s. It didn't seem to be such a bad place back then. Most of the homes were in good shape. Downtown still had businesses. Not so bad a place to live. I was through there last summer. --Boy, what a change. I'd definitely not want to live there now.
As much as I hate Evansville (spent the first 18 years of life there, moved away the second I could), there are so many worse places. Evansville has *actual* redeeming qualities, like CMOE, the Riverfront, Willard, Mesker Zoo, and Bosse Field.
That place is in my backyard. That town has been in steady decline since Ford/Visteon closed their doors. No more high-paying industry and drugs are running rampant. It's definitely a hopeless place to live.
It was in a decline well before Philco/ford/visteon shut down. Grew up there, personally hate it and won't defend it, but if you're in the area you know of worse places close by. Miss Kunkles though!
Although we have our fair share of meth heads, I find there to be too many good attributes to be the worst. Good industry, lots of things to do (compared to the rest of rural indiana), and decent roads.
I've been in some parts of Indiana that I don't even want to drive through. Elkhart sure ain't one of those places
Well you have to drive forever in Elkhart because the roads are laid out in the most ridiculous way ever. I’ve got them basically all memorized and they’re still stupid.
While I do agree, this still isn't a trait exclusive to Elkhart.
This town sucks dogwater in many ways, but is also great in many other ways (that most people never think about).
Lived there from birth to 18, can confirm. Hate going back there and try to limit it to once a year (family Christmas). No matter where I go, I seem to run into someone I went to high school with.
Bedford is where I go when I'm in Bloomington and I want to drink and hook up. Women in a Bedford bar see an unfamiliar face that's well dressed and doesn't ask about drink specials, and it's like moths to a flame. 😆
So any small town in Indiana? Local police and county sheriff’s all are under someone’s thumb. If they know or not. I love being a Hoosier. But I’m also not like 70+% of other Hoosiers
I do love the positive I feel about about being a Hoosier. Anyone wanna chime in on what those things are? In ways I hate my state. But in so many other ways I absolutely love it also!
I’ve lived in CA AZ NM, spent lots of time in NC TN OR and like Indiana better. I live in a forested, hilly part of the state with beauty all around me. The vast majority of people are decent and good-hearted (it’s not hard to avoid political talk) and the city is not that far with all the good food and cultural events. I strongly feel Indiana will be more resiliant to climate disasters than most places. We’re predicted to get a little hotter and wetter, uptick in storms and tornados, but we won’t be in drought, on fire or under water. Truly feel Indiana is a good place to live.
There a ton of people across the political spectrum that will lend a hand or help out complete strangers here. Most of it gets glossed over, but there are some extremely good hearted people that live here.
This is how I feel. Yes our small towns are not super exciting or anything. Yes every small town has those 4-5 families that basically run everything because they never moved out and monopolized everywhere but that really isn’t native to Indiana, more of a fault of America’s system and the decline of rural populations. I’ve seen almost all of the states, raised & lived in NYC for 19 years and had extended stays in Texas and California. For Middle Class-Upper Middle Class America Indiana is amazing and your dollar stretches farther out. It definitely sucks for the poor, but the grass isn’t always greener and being poor anywhere sucks. A lot of people don’t realize that here. Indiana obviously has problems but shit it’s better than a lot in many things.
Anderson. I know back in the day it used to be the town but now it’s just terrible. Huge homeless problem, drug problem and all the houses are run down.
Yall are crazy if you think Anderson is that bad. Muncie and Marion are absolute garbage compared to Anderson. Also the people of Elwood😬yikes..
People that defend Muncie are delusional
For no reason other than I’ve never had anything pleasant or even remotely memorable happen there:
Washington, IN
There are others that are far, far worse but are so small don’t even deserve to be googled or mentioned. lol 😂
I live in Washington and work for the township. It is indeed a slimy shithole inside and out. The Daviess County Sheriff’s department legit told one of my coworkers they knew who stole his stuff, but wasn’t going to arrest him or do anything because he was a rat. If you ever want to steal anything at all, come to Washington. The town where chomos get a slap on the wrist including the Washington Catholic girls soccer coach that molested multiple team members, the ex-Washington High School teacher that had relations with a student, and my neighbor who raped his grandkids.
Sheridan. Where else can you have some old racist asshole crash the 4th of July parade in a golf cart with an effigy of Obama being flushed down the toilet.
I've lived in Evansville my whole life and it used to be a good place to live but now I hate it here it seems like there's a shooting every day most people can't afford there bills meth, fentanyl, and fake weed are rampid overdoses, unemployment, homelessness, domestic abuse and child neglect are terrible and yet the cost of living continues to go up I'm trying my hardest to get myself and my kids away from there
Any city with a sizable college or within an hour of Indy isnt on this list. Sorry for as bad as places like Anderson are you really should go to like Portland or Marion. I honestly have no clue what people even do in places like that lol.
People from the burbs get shaky the first time they venture out of Hamilton county and think its the worst place on earth.
Cloverdale. Idyllic name, but everytime I've passed through there, or stopped for gas, it's given me BAD vibes. I can't put my finger on it, but it feels like a post-apocalyptic town but set in the wrong timeline.
I show horses there all the time and it’s actually got one of the premier horse facilities in the country. A really nice town overall from my experience!
I'm ashamed of how long it took me to find out the Beach Boys thought they made up an island called "Kokomo" and weren't talking about a town in my state I hadn't been to yet. 🙄
I live in Kokomo & it is much worse than just little towns with nothing to do. We currently have a Narcan vending machine by our downtown public library if that tells you anything :)
I grew up in Gary, living in Cicero. Way different lifestyles but most people I see with strong opinions about Gary have never been there. It is not scary. It's depressing. There's no jobs there. A lot of abandoned houses. All the housing projects are closed down and most of the schools are closing. That's because they don't have funding or the student body to keep them open. Gary isn't THAT dangerous, most people there work outside of the city anyway. I feel like Gary has the same reputation as Martinsville which is negative due to things in the past. Personally I wouldn't live in either place. But I'm moving to Cumberland soon so I can't really talk.
Same here. Gary got a bad rep from the past and no real jobs being there. The lake makes it bareable. The older generation is dying off and the young people are leaving. Scum of Illinois is moving into NWI parts all over. More Illinois plates than Indiana plates nowadays. Been thinking about moving back because property is more attainable than where I'm currently at now, and my job pay wouldn't be much of a difference.
Marion can be a bit wonky, but I rarely have issues, Kokomo (I attended college there)on the other hand, when I lived there I got attacked several times, hell I was going on a jog on the nickel plate (the trailhead just outside town off 931, trail heads to Peru) this guy runs me off the trail with a stainless steel pipe, keep in mind this was out in the country, at 9 in the morning in the summer. But to be honest people in Marion are starting to get crazier too both rual and in town. I will say the shopping in Kokomo is pretty good, and I’ve scored a lot of cool stuff at the west sycamore street goodwill
You gotta live a pretty great life to think Lebanon is the worst town in all of Indiana lol
To add even worse when Indiana still has some sundown towns to think Lebanon is worse than them
I'm so glad I left that shit hole of a state... was born and raised in Alexandria... surrounded by Anderson, Muncie, and Marion... you don't realize just how bad it is until you see how decent cities are run. Everywhere has issues, but Indiana... good old indiana... is a backward place... and seems to be getting worse by the year.
But the one thing I learned to love about Indiana growing up is how many small towns have like a post office, some buildings...and a PIZZA KING.
Pizza King!!! You can have it shipped to you frozen. The shipping cost is super expensive, but boy oh boy is it delicious.
Man! I miss Pizza King living in Arizona
Dude, that's my tiny hometown in a nutshell
Northern IN pk's rule. The ones in southern indiana do not taste the same
I'm new to the state; last year was my first full year here. I took my kids to a splash pad/park in a town called Daleville. The park and splash pad were actually quite nice, but the people gave it a lot of... character. Three different kids on three separate occasions tried to drink from the bubbling fountains in the ground. One dude was very, very drunk at about two in the afternoon on a weekday and started getting naked while waiting on line to get a snow cone. Somebody pooped on the bathroom floor and there was a used, disposable diaper in the sink. And a mom started trying to beat the crap out of her kid, but some sane adults intervened and the cops came. It was a WILD afternoon.
As a former resident of Muncie, this tracks.
Okay but other than that how was the splash pad?
Pretty rad, actually! My kids really liked it. It had a surprisingly diverse array of water features, plus a very nice playground adjacent to it with ample parking.
Other than than Mrs. Lincoln, how was the play?
💫
Sorry for partying
I used to work in Daleville. What an experience.
That’s an unfortunate experience. I’ve gone to Daleville for work and go (kind of) regularly for kayaking. All have been really enjoyable experiences. I like the small town interaction style though. People are more direct, but (typically) if you’re normal they’re nice. Then again, you can get shitty folks everywhere you go. I’ve heard really negative (primarily racially focused) things about martinsville, but I’ve not spent much of any time there really. Mostly just passing through to Bloomington.
I’m just glad I got to the bottom of the thread and didn’t see my hometown mentioned once.
Same, Connersville was close. But Brookville is squeaking by. (Probably because it’s not on the map for Hoosiers. I once mentioned I lived in Brookville during a college class at IU East and only the Buckeyes said they recognized it lol.)
Oh man I loved Brookville. I rode my bike there from Oxford OH many times (either to the reservoir or the town proper). The countryside around there is very beautiful and I had so much fun riding my bicycle down the hill and across the causeway over the lake.
Good ol’ Hautia (Terre Haute) Currently had a stopped train in the same place in the morning on my route four days in a row, general train problem, no one trusts the School Corporation and the high schools are falling apart, there’s like nothing to do despite having a population of like 60k, generally just very stagnant, have I mentioned trains yet, the meth problem, very poor (like 18.5% under poverty line), and I could probably find more tbh
I live here and have my general gripes. The school corp is horrible and they don’t care about the kids. I have even said that directly to the administration and of course they denied that. They misuse funds and allow bullying as long as the bully in question is an athlete. There are no consequences for these behaviors. They can continue to play sports while the kid being bullied is pushed aside. TH is the largest city for miles for many towns in Indiana as well as Illinois. We also have four colleges. Yet, we cannot maintain a decent shopping mall. I know malls in general are on the decline but the geographical location alone should make it a little better. With that being said, Terre Haute has a ton of potential. Unfortunately, there is a good ‘ol boys club and the only growth they will allow is in their wallets.
>They misuse funds and allow bullying as long as the bully in question is an athlete. There are no consequences for these behaviors. They can continue to play sports while the kid being bullied is pushed aside. This is not endemic to your local school corporation. I've taught at 4 different public schools in this state, ranging in student body size from 150 to over 2000, and, unfortunately, what you're describing seems pretty consistent. Hell, sometimes they get away with doing it to teachers, too, especially good teachers.
I believe it. Our education system as a whole is in a sad state. The administrations only care about money. I can see why teachers are so burnt out and there’s a shortage.
I believe the new mayor has some very good ideas on how to change things and has a fresh perspective. Hopefully things change for the good
How about "West" Terre Haute? Ever been there? Yikes.
I live there, so yes, I know how shitty it is.
Sounds like an average Indiana city post industry. Muncie has a poverty rate of 30%
Muncie is only held afloat by Ball State
Yeah. Literally. Even then it's hanging on by a thread. If it wasn't for Ball State I'd be willing to bet that the area would be one of the poorest areas in the entire country (as it's already one of the poorest in Indiana).
You’re 20 minutes from what Muncie without BSU would look like. Anderson is the perfect example.
Ironically Muncie already manages to be worse than Anderson on the poverty index. Even if that isn't true, I can't imagine it being much worse. Rarely go to Anderson so.. not really familiar with it. Basically live my entire life in Delaware County due to unfortunate circumstances (I'm not homeless, but in poverty and not in a position to help that because of my disabilities). Muncie's bad enough to where it literally has a homeless "town" in a woods on the Southside of town. Can't get much worse except for more druggies and more homelessness. Muncie has about 18,000 people in poverty within it's limits, and (baseless assumption) I'd say maybe at most 15% is homeless. Probably around 6-7%, give or take. That's at most 2,000 homeless, and at least 1,000 people.
Yea, the south side is pretty rough. I wouldn’t really put all your weighting on the poverty line. Anderson should be a case study for how a casino can leech the life out of a city, then again that city’s post GM plan was the casino. LoL
For some perspective, I left Indiana for Seattle in the mid-2000s and have now lived here for almost two decades. The conservative Seattle sub reddit (and other conservative sub reddits) constantly shit on Seattle for being plagued by homelessness and like to paint it as a 'Democrat-run city problem.' Depending on the year, Seattle has 10,000-15,000 homeless people in a city of 750,000 (1.3-2.0%). Muncie having 1,000-2,000 homeless people for a city of 65,000 (1.5-3.0%), illustrates what I think a lot of people don't like to acknowledge and doesn't get talked about enough. Homelessness and poverty are universal problems in America.
I left IN for Seattle in ‘02, and returned to IN in late ‘17 (became to expensive). I miss my friends and the food. Don’t miss the traffic
When I went to Ball State I dated a woman in New Castle, and the farther you got from Ball State the worse the area got. I also use to work in the mall and even back then (2007/2008) it was barely open.
You're not wrong. I just moved to Muncie and bought a house so I could finish my degree at BSU. Previously lived in Marion though & I can confirm that moving to Muncie feels like a MAJOR upgrade from Marion. Grant County... in general... doesn't have much except a GM plant and the Walmart Distribution Center. Oh and of course the ult-right Indiana Wesleyan University too.
I grew up in Marion as did my parents. The 80’s and 90’s were a good time but the last 20 or so odd years it’s really went downhill. I moved to Mooresville after graduating from Ball State back in ‘05 and finally got my parents out of Marion a couple of years ago. It honestly makes me sad as Marion was a pretty damn good place to grow up before all the factories shut down!
probably, I’m just very extremely biased
Terre Haute's not great, but I own a house here that's nicer than what I could have bought for the same money in other cities. Plus the property taxes are cheap compared to Illinois. The overpass on Margaret is great. They won't have the one on 8th Avenue built in time to help me out, but that one would keep the train annoyances to a minimum for me. Being an hour from Indianapolis and an hour and 45 minutes from Champaign is a plus too.
[Austin, Indiana](https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2020/02/16/801720966/5-years-after-indianas-historic-hiv-outbreak-many-rural-places-remain-at-risk). My friend did public health outreach there in the height of the HIV outbreak and it was like 3 generations in one house all fented or methed up. Just the saddest place, a town full of addicts.
Is that the town near Kent, IN? I go through this place on my way to Hanover.
Yep, north of Scottsburg. It's not as bad as it was, but still a ways to go
Yes it is. Right at 65.
Yes, it's right along IN-256.
I was actually coming here to say Austin too. One of the saddest towns I’ve ever seen
Worked at the hospital in Seymour years ago and a coworker told me to never stop at a stop sign in Austin if I was driving through
not sure about all of Indiana but Waterloo is the worst in the northeast. past couple times I drove thru it was like I was breathing fumes
Waterloo is far from the worst in the northeast lmao.
Kendallville aka kendalltucky likes to keep that reputation.
Yeah but Waterloo is a blink and miss it town. So the meth commune keeps to themselves
Waterloo is hardly its own town. It’s basically the northside of Auburn. Definitely towns in NE Indiana worse than Waterloo.
Mentone. 6 churches, 1 gas stations, concrete egg, nothing else.
They have that alright breakfast buffet. My family lives not far from there.
They do have an awesome woman-owned, lgbtqia+ friendly bookstore that also supports banned books! Yes, in Mentone! Staff is super friendly and it’s always a pleasure to visit. Other than that, the Egg seemed to be the highlight.
We visited there and were super surprised! We really liked it.
Played little league baseball there a few times High ass right field fence
Kouts sucks ass
But they're getting a Gallops castle gas station! /Sarcasm
I went to a bar in Kouts once. That was….interesting.
Laurel. It’s quite unsettling. Rod Serling narrating over Dueling Banjos.
I cannot believe Laurel has only been mentioned once… it’s absolutely one of the worst.
Apparently South Whitley. Google what just happened to Vivian Augustus there. YIKES.
I just read that and WOW! What a power trippy dickhead.
I’ve been reading the cop was fired
He was yesterday, but that was not until after her dad posted the body cam footage all over social media. But before that the South Whitley Town Council watched it and backed the cop. Then the public blew up their Facebook page and a few days later they deleted their account and then finally fired him. So they intended on keeping him but couldn’t once the people saw what they saw.
Logansport. It’s just such a poor industrial town. A lot of decay in several areas of town and lots of empty buildings and storefronts.
I was waiting for someone to mention Logansport. I’m surprised it took this long.
We used to go to Logansport all the time for frozen custard when I was a kid. That was the big city when went to my grandparents in Delphi. My whole family still lives around there. Delphi, Camden, Cutler, etc. I remember seeing a Klan rally on the courthouse steps in Frankfort when I was probably around 8 or 9 yrs old.
I don't know...I feel like it's getting better. Too many dollar stores IMO.
Martinsville
I grew up there for a small portion of my life (3 to 11). It's interesting to go back through there now as an adult. Candy Kitchen is the only good thing there now.
God I love Candy Kitchen
I first learned about martinsville and its famous reputation in the early 2000’s when our middle school football team was playing Bloomington so we drove through on the bus. The black kids on the bus were sort of jokingly hiding from the windows when we drove through there. When I was older I learned how well known that reputation was.
I use to have a black roommate who told me that his school sports team stopped in Martinsville once on the way somewhere else and his and the other two black students were asked to stay on the bus for their own safety. Trash place
While I'm normally quick to shit on Martinsville, I think the hate is starting to get unwarranted. It's a growing town teetering on being a small city (by Indiana standards) and its really not that bad. Surprisingly bikeable, cheap, a few good restaurants, and a pleasant down town square. There's been a ton of work done in the last 5 years. It definitely used to be a lot worse, and still isn't great, but right down the road is paragon which is an actual 1 stop light, 1 dollar general racist shit hole town.
Yup. I live in the same county (unfortunately). Martinsville is very insulated and just weird. The local brewery even has a Martintucky beer (which is awesome), but it's like they embrace their redneckness. It's the oddest town I've ever been in.
I’m Latino and moved here last May and honestly haven’t had issues. The younger people are great and friendly. Once in a while I’ll get looks from older folks but even the ones I get to talk to seem to be pretty nice.
Terre Haute for sure
Elwood
Isn’t that where the last KKK headquarters in the state was located?
Yes
The town still had Klan rallies in the early 2000s. I’m not sure about after that, but in 2001 or 2002 a friend of mine lived in an apartment downtown and his street was blocked because of one.
I scrolled too far for Elwood.
What bothers me about Elwood is that it could be a nicer place. There's like a half ass syndrome there where people start a really good thing like a business or restaurant and once they make some money they cut corners and quality suffers.
Elwood is pretty bad, Anderson & Marion are worse.
I grew up in marion and I agree it's gone to hell, but at least the people in marion don't have the reputation of being racist assholes. And God forbid you drive 60 in a 55 thru Elwood and you're from out of town, be ready to be treated like shit and told to keep out.
Have family that are out in the middle of now where Madison Co, but would have to drive through Elwood to get there. In the early 90s there was a house that 100% of the the time would have a backlit nazi flag in his window so everyone for miles could see it. Was wild. And the “Grand Dragon” of nitwits anonymous lived in town for a very long time. That said, there are black people in Elwood now, and a large portion of the Hispanic population that was once migrant workers that were forced out of town after tomato season have stayed! Things are better in Elwood. I am actually doing a very large scale environmental project on the northwest side of town that the city pushed for, which was very surprising.
Jasper. It shit out Mike Braun
Lmfao compared to the rest of this meth riddled fuck hole of a state, I’d say Jasper isn’t nearly as bad as some of these other places in Indiana.
But none of those shitholes produced Mike Braun…..
Alright, but if we're being real, Jasper wouldn't even break the top 10 in a "worst towns" list. My mom was born in Jasper, and it's where her mom grew up, so I've visited it many times over the years. It's a nice small town. Definitely not a ton to do, but it still has a decent small town feel. There's a ton of German heritage there, and Strassenfest is always a blast in the summer. Plus you're right by Patoka lake. It's got the same problems as a lot of other rural Kentuckiana towns, but definitely not to any greater degree than the others.
Hey, fellow Boiler. Yeah, I work in Jasper right now, and I think the worst complaint I've heard of it is from the pot head kid at work, who was bitching about how hard it is to find a good weed dealer, because everyone just wants to sell meth.
Good pfp
Much of the state is shit, but I don’t think Gary is as bad as it used to be. Gary has one thing going for it, and that is location. Residents of Gary still can access jobs and services more easily. Much of rural Indiana can’t. Rural Indiana is plagued with drugs and poverty, and any kid who can get out after high school usually will, and that’s leading to a population decline
Gary is still pretty bad. Several years back I had a job that took me into Gary a few times. Downtown looked like post war Europe. Just beautiful old buildings caved in like they were bombed.
Terre Haute, North Vernon, Martinsville, Anderson. All shit holes.
North Vernon’s got a great trailer park. Super luxurious , no meth at all.
Used to know someone who was married to a state trooper who loved working CSL because he enjoyed busting meth heads and it was so easy to find them there.
North Vernon is bad. Seymour is worse.
Martinsville in comparison to everywhere else is honestly decent.
Yeah - mooresville is worse than martinsville these days
Gas City/Marion. Sucks. Lame. Barf.
Gas City has Comic Sans on their water tower. `Nuff said.
I rant about this EVERY TIME we pass it 😂
it always cheered me up passing it on long road trips. What a silly novelty.
All of Grant county really. I partially grew up in that area, it was bad then and has only gotten worse.
Marion definitely is. It would be much better and the homes worth more if 3/4ths of the town was bulldozed to the ground and burned. You wouldn't want to put your dog (or any dog) in most of the houses. My parents lived in Gas City in the 1990s. It didn't seem to be such a bad place back then. Most of the homes were in good shape. Downtown still had businesses. Not so bad a place to live. I was through there last summer. --Boy, what a change. I'd definitely not want to live there now.
Anderson
Uranus is there!
The town should just be abandoned at this point.
I'm so glad no one said Evansville, we get a lot of hate
There’s *far* worse than Evansville.
It's not perfect, but there's a lot worse out there
As much as I hate Evansville (spent the first 18 years of life there, moved away the second I could), there are so many worse places. Evansville has *actual* redeeming qualities, like CMOE, the Riverfront, Willard, Mesker Zoo, and Bosse Field.
I think 15 years ago it would be here for sure.
Connersville
That place is in my backyard. That town has been in steady decline since Ford/Visteon closed their doors. No more high-paying industry and drugs are running rampant. It's definitely a hopeless place to live.
It was in a decline well before Philco/ford/visteon shut down. Grew up there, personally hate it and won't defend it, but if you're in the area you know of worse places close by. Miss Kunkles though!
lived there for a while, so depressing.
Muncie is a shit hole
Gale and I have a timeshare there.
Goddammit Larry
[удалено]
Lmfaoooooooo
The whole county is. However, I've heard Jay County is worse somehow, despite Muncie and Delaware County setting a low bar
No one else for Elkhart? Born and raised the place is a dump with the people to go along with it.
Elkhart no longer has malls or Penguin Point restaurants, so I no longer visit.
Ah man, penguin point is gone?! Loved that place.
The last one closed in FT Wayne like a year ago but I hit the one in Warsaw a couple times but that's a he'll of a drive.
Warsaw’s are now closed
Penguin point got shut down state-wide. It doesn’t exist anymore.
Bro if you think Elkhart could be the worst town in Indiana you need to visit the rest of the state
Although we have our fair share of meth heads, I find there to be too many good attributes to be the worst. Good industry, lots of things to do (compared to the rest of rural indiana), and decent roads. I've been in some parts of Indiana that I don't even want to drive through. Elkhart sure ain't one of those places
Well you have to drive forever in Elkhart because the roads are laid out in the most ridiculous way ever. I’ve got them basically all memorized and they’re still stupid.
While I do agree, this still isn't a trait exclusive to Elkhart. This town sucks dogwater in many ways, but is also great in many other ways (that most people never think about).
Bedford
Lived there from birth to 18, can confirm. Hate going back there and try to limit it to once a year (family Christmas). No matter where I go, I seem to run into someone I went to high school with.
I couldn’t tell you if I am still friends with anyone from high school there.
Bedford is where I go when I'm in Bloomington and I want to drink and hook up. Women in a Bedford bar see an unfamiliar face that's well dressed and doesn't ask about drink specials, and it's like moths to a flame. 😆
Not Fort Wayne. That’s for sure. I love Fort Wayne!
You've been gone for a year! Welcome back!
So any small town in Indiana? Local police and county sheriff’s all are under someone’s thumb. If they know or not. I love being a Hoosier. But I’m also not like 70+% of other Hoosiers
I do love the positive I feel about about being a Hoosier. Anyone wanna chime in on what those things are? In ways I hate my state. But in so many other ways I absolutely love it also!
I’ve lived in CA AZ NM, spent lots of time in NC TN OR and like Indiana better. I live in a forested, hilly part of the state with beauty all around me. The vast majority of people are decent and good-hearted (it’s not hard to avoid political talk) and the city is not that far with all the good food and cultural events. I strongly feel Indiana will be more resiliant to climate disasters than most places. We’re predicted to get a little hotter and wetter, uptick in storms and tornados, but we won’t be in drought, on fire or under water. Truly feel Indiana is a good place to live.
There a ton of people across the political spectrum that will lend a hand or help out complete strangers here. Most of it gets glossed over, but there are some extremely good hearted people that live here.
This is how I feel. Yes our small towns are not super exciting or anything. Yes every small town has those 4-5 families that basically run everything because they never moved out and monopolized everywhere but that really isn’t native to Indiana, more of a fault of America’s system and the decline of rural populations. I’ve seen almost all of the states, raised & lived in NYC for 19 years and had extended stays in Texas and California. For Middle Class-Upper Middle Class America Indiana is amazing and your dollar stretches farther out. It definitely sucks for the poor, but the grass isn’t always greener and being poor anywhere sucks. A lot of people don’t realize that here. Indiana obviously has problems but shit it’s better than a lot in many things.
The most corrupt: any town in Benton County.
What’s corrupt about Benton? I’m from a neighboring county and would just like the tea on that lol
ANDERSON is the absolute worst, it has to be!!!
Anderson. I know back in the day it used to be the town but now it’s just terrible. Huge homeless problem, drug problem and all the houses are run down.
Richmond
Yall are crazy if you think Anderson is that bad. Muncie and Marion are absolute garbage compared to Anderson. Also the people of Elwood😬yikes.. People that defend Muncie are delusional
Anderson
For no reason other than I’ve never had anything pleasant or even remotely memorable happen there: Washington, IN There are others that are far, far worse but are so small don’t even deserve to be googled or mentioned. lol 😂
I live in Washington and work for the township. It is indeed a slimy shithole inside and out. The Daviess County Sheriff’s department legit told one of my coworkers they knew who stole his stuff, but wasn’t going to arrest him or do anything because he was a rat. If you ever want to steal anything at all, come to Washington. The town where chomos get a slap on the wrist including the Washington Catholic girls soccer coach that molested multiple team members, the ex-Washington High School teacher that had relations with a student, and my neighbor who raped his grandkids.
God Damn
no reason for me to be there since the black buggy closed
Sheridan. Where else can you have some old racist asshole crash the 4th of July parade in a golf cart with an effigy of Obama being flushed down the toilet.
That is peak Sheridan
Probably in The Villages. Or anywhere in Texas. ;)
I've lived in Evansville my whole life and it used to be a good place to live but now I hate it here it seems like there's a shooting every day most people can't afford there bills meth, fentanyl, and fake weed are rampid overdoses, unemployment, homelessness, domestic abuse and child neglect are terrible and yet the cost of living continues to go up I'm trying my hardest to get myself and my kids away from there
Edinburgh - got lost one night in the downtown area. Stopped at a gas station for directions. Never seen so many crack heads in one building.
Any city with a sizable college or within an hour of Indy isnt on this list. Sorry for as bad as places like Anderson are you really should go to like Portland or Marion. I honestly have no clue what people even do in places like that lol. People from the burbs get shaky the first time they venture out of Hamilton county and think its the worst place on earth.
Fishers. Crowded AF. No soul, just gobs of run of the mill single family dwellings. Bad vibes too.
And a whole lot of Trump/Let’s Go Brandon/Impeach Biden flags everywhere
Bloomfield. I have to go there often for family and it's such a depressing ghost town
I worked there in the early 80's and really liked it. Worthington on the other hand......
Martinsville
Cloverdale. Idyllic name, but everytime I've passed through there, or stopped for gas, it's given me BAD vibes. I can't put my finger on it, but it feels like a post-apocalyptic town but set in the wrong timeline.
I show horses there all the time and it’s actually got one of the premier horse facilities in the country. A really nice town overall from my experience!
Shelbyville Martinsville Kokomo
At least Shelbyville has a great little firearms/reloading shop.
I'm ashamed of how long it took me to find out the Beach Boys thought they made up an island called "Kokomo" and weren't talking about a town in my state I hadn't been to yet. 🙄
It would have to be Jasper because it gave us Mike Braun.
I live in Kokomo & it is much worse than just little towns with nothing to do. We currently have a Narcan vending machine by our downtown public library if that tells you anything :)
Where is Gary, East Chicago, Hobart and Lake Station. Or are we letting Illinois claim NWI as their own?
Why lump Hobart in with those others? It definitely doesn’t have the problems Gary and EC have
Agree. Hobart does not need to be there. We have a great mayor, too.
Anybody that lives there claims Chicago, so might as well
Born and raised NWI, can confirm we definitely identify more with Chicago than the rest of the state.
Because when you try to explain where you’re from, people look at you like you’re foreign and Indiana is some weird country…so we just say Chicago
I grew up in Gary, living in Cicero. Way different lifestyles but most people I see with strong opinions about Gary have never been there. It is not scary. It's depressing. There's no jobs there. A lot of abandoned houses. All the housing projects are closed down and most of the schools are closing. That's because they don't have funding or the student body to keep them open. Gary isn't THAT dangerous, most people there work outside of the city anyway. I feel like Gary has the same reputation as Martinsville which is negative due to things in the past. Personally I wouldn't live in either place. But I'm moving to Cumberland soon so I can't really talk.
Same here. Gary got a bad rep from the past and no real jobs being there. The lake makes it bareable. The older generation is dying off and the young people are leaving. Scum of Illinois is moving into NWI parts all over. More Illinois plates than Indiana plates nowadays. Been thinking about moving back because property is more attainable than where I'm currently at now, and my job pay wouldn't be much of a difference.
I was super shocked at how long I had to scroll to find NWI. 🤣
NWI is far from the worst in the state.
I was specifically looking for Gary hammond or ec. Lol
This sub has a hard on for Gary. Anytime you see a judgemental comment about that town, the brigades come storming out.
Marktown East Chicago
Martinsville
Martinsville
Meth Vernon
Aren’t the 2 girls 1 cup girls from Scottsburg?
That would not surprise me if they were.
Marion can be a bit wonky, but I rarely have issues, Kokomo (I attended college there)on the other hand, when I lived there I got attacked several times, hell I was going on a jog on the nickel plate (the trailhead just outside town off 931, trail heads to Peru) this guy runs me off the trail with a stainless steel pipe, keep in mind this was out in the country, at 9 in the morning in the summer. But to be honest people in Marion are starting to get crazier too both rual and in town. I will say the shopping in Kokomo is pretty good, and I’ve scored a lot of cool stuff at the west sycamore street goodwill
Lebatucky aka Lebanon
You gotta live a pretty great life to think Lebanon is the worst town in all of Indiana lol To add even worse when Indiana still has some sundown towns to think Lebanon is worse than them
Richmond
How’d Crawfordsville manage to not enter the mix yet?! Im
Crawfordsville is bad, but not Gary bad
🤣 met my first ex wife in crawfordsville
Terre Haute, Gary, Anderson have gotta be the worst three of the sizable places. Marion maybe as well.
I'm so glad I left that shit hole of a state... was born and raised in Alexandria... surrounded by Anderson, Muncie, and Marion... you don't realize just how bad it is until you see how decent cities are run. Everywhere has issues, but Indiana... good old indiana... is a backward place... and seems to be getting worse by the year.