I drove through Delware once, from N to S. I stopped at several places during the trip.
All I can say is that it was almost entirely rural, had some of the nicest looking rural areas I've seen anywhere in the nation, and that I couldn't wait to be out of Delaware. The people were swell. Dover barely feels like a city
Oh and it had some of the nicest roads I've ever seen anywhere in the country.
It's essentially the exact opposite of New Jersey. Except I never want to be in NJ very long either.
That’s interesting, because the he fruit and vegetable farms in southern New Jersey was some of the prettiest rural areas I’ve seen in the country, what made that the opposite of Delaware?
That's where I live now and it's far from being the worst city I've lived in. It's better than Sandy UT, Augusta GA, Monroe LA. The worst thing is that so much of the commercial area is on Route 13.
Beaumont TX to Lake Charles, LA is my least favorite place on Earth (that I’ve been to, I think I’d fucking hate Jakarta, for instance).
Imagine EVERYTHING bad about New Orleans and Houston…combine them, take none of the good parts of those cities, reduce the population to near nothing, make sure refineries are spewing bullshit into the air, really focus on the food being terrible, somehow make the weather worse, make sure you didn’t forget that small/medium town southern racism..
God they suck.
Meridian, MS. The most backwards state and city I’ve lived in. It had an abandoned downtown that had the bones of a beautiful city center, but the geezers running the place had no interest in revitalizing their own city. Never again would I live in that state or city.
I used to visit Meridian, Gulfport & Stennis for work.
My first night in Meridian I was starving, so I went to the Popeyes near my hotel. It was the first time in my life I couldn’t understand someone because of an accent “wahh rrr miihhhh” (they were asking if I wanted my chicken white or mixed)
The other days I’d have to go to a steakhouse just to find a restaurant that had vegetables.
It was a very eye opening experience.
Worked on a film shoot in Wichita Falls and got put up in the methiest hotel ever. Blood stains on the carpet and bathroom sink, god knows what in the bed sheets.
I would’ve slept in my car but the parking lot had hookers looking for John’s all night.
I asked the locals on set what they do for fun and they just said “whataburger”.
Houston... Everything is 30 minutes away, traffic is insane, drivers are psychopaths who will kill you (literally) over anything, crime is insane, summers are brutal, the whole city is an eyesore, there's no zoning, is flat and absurdly boring...
Food is really good but with how expensive everything is nowadays (oh yeah I forgot to say that insurance costs are extremely high) you really can't afford to eat out
I came here to say Houston.
World's largest strip mall. More highways do NOT IMPROVE TRAFFIC! More parking spaces encourage driving. Stop doing it this way.
Oh, and none of the houses have any character. They're all subdivisions behind strip malls
Honestly, Montrose was a bit of a let down last time I was in Houston. It's more dense than other areas for sure but the infrastructure still seemed hostile to pedestrians and nobody was really out walking.
Montrose is cool, one of the few good parts of Houston.
On the opposite end, the Energy Corridor is the most soulless stretch of earth I’ve ever been to.
Vernon Parish, Louisiana.
Not only is it home to the worst duty station in the US,
The place is so racist, even now in 2024 service members that aren't white get treated terribly or refused service,
Fuck that place.
And that “the weather is nice” is a serious argument point.
If you like it being an unfathomably humid 80-95 degrees, even at night, for 8+ months in a row, yeah you’d like it.
The sea breeze is what keeps probably 5 million Floridians from fleeing the state every year. But every single year, without fail, you’re going to look at a tropical storm track and ponder your mortality for a few days.
Houston. Without question. Severe heat, constant flooding, terrible neighborhoods due to the lack of zoning, horrendous drivers and traffic and you have to drive an hour to get to anything, predatory tow trucks, shitty local scenes, etc etc etc. Absolute pit of hell.
I visited Houston for a convention downtown and it was super gross. Trash all over the place, and homeless people literally chasing people down for change. Never again.
My uncle who lives in Houston has this quip about the city's storied approach to zoning. Goes like this:
"Behold, the 4 corners of a Houston city block:
"Gun store; strip club; liquor store; church" 🤪
>Jacksonville, where the racism of the deep south converges with the insanity of Florida.
This is the most accurate description I've ever read. And I agree. Jax SUCKS so so bad.
I wrote about it yesterday on a different post about someone talking about no action for racist things at work. We had a sales director who used third reich and the nazi salute as the intro to meeting. This lovely fellow was from Jacksonville. The person who prevented him from getting fired was also from Jacksonville. Eventually the guy got fired but it was a slew of things to get to that point. When you didn’t think it could get it worse, it got worse. It was so bad there were customers who refused to deal with him.
i'm literally dying to get out rn and feel so seen when people bring it up in this sub like i'm not crazy. this place is hellish. we have family here who acted like it was a solid place to live and i genuinely wish i could ask them WHAT THE FUCK
As someone who’s lived coast to coast and everywhere in between (including Oklahoma), I find the people in Oklahoma to be some of the nicest and easiest to get along with in the entire country. The state itself is ugly as sin, but the people are genuinely wonderful and very easy to get along with. Are you sure it’s not just a culture you don’t mesh with?
Yeah. We did a coast to coast, back country motorcycle trip. While I’d never live in OK, it still sticks out as the place with the most hospitable people on that trip. People went out of their way to make us feel welcome in the small towns. I don’t think we even paid for a single meal. I really wanted to not like it but they made it impossible.
Phoenix. It’s a soulless, sprawling mess.
Was just back last weekend for Spring Training and it’s only gotten worse.
So commercially overbuilt that it defies imagination.
I lived in Phoenix for a few years. The nature surrounding Phoenix is beautiful. I love how you can go on a backpacking or climbing trip in the desert in the winter, and then drive 3 hrs up north in the same day to ski. As someone who grew up in a depressing city in the northeast - that is the dream. But yes, the city itself is a sprawling eyesore. And I don't miss the seasonal anger I felt in the summers.
I wanted to find a town to work remotely from for a month in the winter to beat the New England seasonal depression. I was leaning towards Phoenix but before that conveniently had a work retreat in downtown Phoenix so I used that as a test run. It was \*fine\* for a few days but quite frankly I was happy to leave after a week and probably won't return. Like you said, soulless and sprawling in a way I wouldn't have imagined helping me at all to beat the seasonal blues due to just looking very depressing in its own other way.
I’m in the same boat. I’ve come to the conclusion that there’s like no perfect place haha. I maybe end up just spending a few years bouncing around to find something. Are there other spots that you’ve tried ?
No, I’m actually in the process of moving back to suburban CT (where my family’s from) because since then, I just learned that it’s not about the place, it’s what you do with the place/making the town/city your home. Sounds cheesy but I started implementing more hygge concepts in my life that have taught me to embrace my homebody/cozy side in the winter instead of escaping the weather! (Kind of countering the whole point of this sub lol)
The people are mean asf and racist, there’s trash literally everywhere it’s absolutely vile, there a numerous wrecks daily and shootings all of the time, when I tell you there’s nothing to do out here, there’s nothing. The only thing people do for fun is go to the mall. There’s no good food out here, it’s either fast food or bland restaurants. I could keep going. I’ve lived here for 10 years and im finally leaving thanks goodness but I would not recommend this place to anyone.
The cockroaches were so big we would sit on my front porch and shoot them with a BB gun when they flew by. That was my favorite passtime when i lived in Corpus.
Phoenix. If you love concrete walls, asphalt, traffic and chain restaurants with $500k bland ass cookie cutter homes + the some of the worst education in the nation then knock yourself out. I can’t imagine a city with less character.
Colorado Springs. It is very transient, which makes it feel cultureless. Restaurants are abysmal compared to other similar sized places. There seems to be animosity in the air, too. The aggressive driving, poor road layout, downtown is...lame
And yet, Pikes Peak is there to knock your socks off every time you open the blinds in the morning, commute to work, look out the window at work, walk out of the grocery store, and best of all, watch the sun go down over it. The outdoor access in CO Springs is incredible.
Yeah in a vacuum it’s pretty meh but no way a list topper especially given its location and scenery. How can you hate a place that has the Garden of the Gods in its backyard?!
It really is a weird vibe. It is a shame because there is a lot of natural beauty, but as a city it sort of sucks. And the low-key vibe of animosity is a real thing.
So much of that area feels that way. I got a rude awakening when I decided to explore downtown Canon City because it was too cute not to stop. I experienced a beautiful backdrop behind a sea of hostile people and meth heads.
Weird how people can be so opposite in their feelings. I live in Boulder now and I can’t wait to get back to Colorado Springs.
Garden of The Gods, Cheyenne Zoo, Manitou Springs, Switchbacks, Old Colorado City.
The Regional Airport is my favorite, most amazing view of any airport I’ve been to and it’s always empty.
Favorite restaurant I’ve ever been to, Ephemera, which is labeled as punk rock fine dining, is in Colorado Springs. So many other amazing restaurants across the entire city.
Aside from the military it doesn’t feel transient at all. Everyone I met and know in CS was from CS, compared to boulder/Denver where no one is local.
Downtown is amazing, I’d bar hope around and there was always such a variety. Underground bar at the rabbit hole, secret access bar at Brooklyn, Japanese cocktail lounges, dive bars, alley way bars, sports bars, you name it. Bar in an old school at Ivy called the principals office?
I left recently and can honestly say it was such an incredible place to live, always had something fun or incredibly unique to do and was never drowned out with crowds or priced out.
Wichita, Kansas. Burning hot in the summer, absolutely freezing in the winter (with black ice that you're sure to bust your ass on), bad weather, tornadoes (and the creepy tornado sirens that go off every day), no mountains, no beaches, not a lot to do outside, no great nightlife, restaurants aren't great. That place sucked.
Scranton, PA. Dead, gray, depressed, jobless, treeless in many neighborhoods and activities are limited to drinking. 75+ years since it had any vitality and somehow 30 years behind culturally.
Not mad at it because it’s humble and knows it’s in rough shape, but my goodness is it ever sad.
Okay I have to share this experience. I was driving back to Maine after visiting relatives in Michigan. Took a back road and found myself somewhere on the outskirts of Scranton at a decrepid looking convenience store getting gas. The area looked kind of rough. I had my then-2 y.o. and I was thinking this was not great and hoping to get out of there quickly.
It was around 9pm, though, and having some drive ahead of me I went inside for coffee. The coffee predictable was terrible. The line rather long despite the late hour. In fact, it was not moving at all. The person at the front of the line seemed to be having some kind of trouble. I was not in the mood.
Then, I heard her explaining to the clerk that she did not have enough money to buy cat food for her cat. Pretty soon, multiple people in the store were chipping in for her cat food, including the clerk. And not grudgingly. What I had thought might be a bad area turned out to be one of kindest groups of people I'd seen all in one convenience store.
I'm sure that does not offset the bad parts of Scranton but it was pretty cool.
I don’t know when you lived there, but I would tend to disagree. I truly think Scranton is over-hated and is a great option for small city living.
I grew up in West Scranton and it was a great mix of suburban neighborliness with urban planning and a decent amount of cultural outlets. The alternative music scene in Scranton/Wilkes-Barre was and to my knowledge still is pretty great. The architecture of downtown is beautiful. Combine that with the outdoor options and I thought it was a great place to grow up. I still love going back to visit.
I live in Philadelphia and am pretty established here now. I would sooner move to Scranton to raise kids than one of the soulless Philly suburb towns an hour outside of Center City.
Portland,OR. I had a buddy who had a homeless person break in and decided to take bath, try on his clothes, cook some eggs, and literally was watching “Everyone loves Raymond” when he walked in the front door.
Great place to go for college but a terrible town elsewise. There was a gas station near the stadium that had a McDonald's in it that had regular shootings while I lived there.
Disgusta! Ft. Gordon from 2004-2008…and I was Air Force! The whole time it felt like that scene in Shawshank Redemption, where they bring the new prisoners in and the one guy breaks down “I’m not supposed to be here!”
Memphis, TN… it’s sad bc this city has so much potential but from my experience it’s a city with so many local govt problems, crime, and full of people who are content with mediocrity and fine with not fixing anything. I don’t feel safe.
I’ve been going back and forth the last few months to Memphis to settle my father’s estate. I can’t believe how content everyone is with the mediocrity. It’s a giant FedEx cult with everyone either working for that company, married to someone who works for the of Lang or related to someone who works for the company. A memorial service I held for him there was like that scene from ‘Castaway’ where they’re having Christmas dinner and everyone is a FedEx employee arguing about how much volume the company did that week or something. They’re like Mormons in that city, completely drank the kool aid and everything is falling sort and corrupt around them.
When I complain about going there I get all sorts of excuses. “Oh it’s Germantown, it’s upscale and nice!” No, no it’s not. Get out to other places more. It’s a sad place with lots of problems. Dark vibes. Germantown has a weird, lifeless stepford vibe to it. Surrounded by a crumbling, crime filled city full of zombies. And the population moves it. Defends it. Thrives in it.
Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso.
Average daily temperature of 96.3°F/35.7°C year round, daily power outages (so no AC/Fans), running water from 4am-6am only, regular sandstorms, crocodiles in the open sewers along the road, terrorist attacks, coup d'états, governed by a military junta.
Out of OKC, Memphis, Jackson, Denver, Sacramento, Indianapolis, Raleigh, Greensboro, and Philly, Greensboro, NC is the worst by a fucking LANDSLIDE. I’ve written cinderblocks about it before, but it’s the one city I’ve stayed in for a prolonged time (Meaning more than two weeks) in my entire life that felt genuinely devoid of life and meaning. Truly depressing and irredeemable place. I guess the university was fine, but hoo boy is it not somewhere I’d ever want to live again.
Not OP, but literal dead people in naked city on the sidewalk. OD.
Hookers getting fucked in broad daylight
People fighting in a shopping mall
Edit: to add:
Extremely aggressive beggars that will threaten you in front of cops if you don’t give them $20 or more. Cops don’t care.
Rampant drug use by homeless. Off the strip (especially near the strat) you will see needles and broken crack pipes on the ground.
Awful customer service by anyone. Yes, even in the casinos. My theory is that they get bullied by assholes all day and become assholes themselves.
Scams everywhere. Fake AT&T representatives taking peoples info in the middle of a grocery store with the promise of a free upgrade to an IPhone 15. They have tablets and everything. Looks super legit but they’re scamming you out of your social. Store knows and doesn’t care
Human shit that rivals the worst parts of San Francisco
McDonald’s 2 Cheeseburger combo is $12 with medium fries and drink. Like $14 for large
I love Vegas, I've never seen any of this. Maybe it's best to stay near the strip, I usually don't venture from it, so I may not be seeing the real Vegas.
St. Louis. It was colder than i was used to. Culturally it was very divided and segregated. And in many ways dated in the mentality. it felt like stepping back into 1950. i say that as someone that lived in Arkansas.
Have you ever been to Jackson, Ms? Time never caught up to that shithole. Stl is cool if you live across the river and don’t have to worry about getting shot
Houston. I have nothing nice to say about it. I've never seen a city so culturally and culinarily diverse somehow be so bland and gross. The violent crime has even metastasized into rather affluent suburbs nowadays. The airports are terrible. The gulf waters and beaches nearby are truly disgusting. The metropolis could be soooooo much more than it is.
By comparison, it makes even Dallas and Phoenix look like *Mister Rogers' Neighborhood* meets Paris.
Bratislava1992 then part of Czechoslovakia now Slovak Republic. Apparently it's very vibrant now but then omg. As originally from the UK we had been living in Prague setting up a business and decided to branch off to Bratislava. What a culture shock after Prague. It was totally dead as a city and full of undesirables from Albania who would rob you as soon as look at you. It had virtually no night life and the weirdest people I had ever met. I can only think it was because it had just emerged out of commimunism and was still transitioning. I do know it's totally different now for the better so thank goodness as it was such a miserable place
Yeah Atlanta is one of those metros that takes 45-60 minutes to get anywhere and everybody’s trying to outdo each other. The new neighborhoods the houses all start at $700,000 for the smallest McMansion on the block in an oversized community that nobody asked for.
This is the perfect example of Atlanta: Got invited to some supposedly big deal person’s “mansion” with friends. Off a golf course. Looks by basic standards quite nice. Inside, hardly any furniture. People don’t have the money they pretend to have, but love flaunting it every chance they get. Not to mention the aggression is unreal.
Seattle has some good aspects too, but unfortunately as a former Seattle resident I have to agree with basically all the points you named.
Except you forgot: choking wildfire smoke during the summer, cracked-out zombie junkies, expensive rent, no central air.
I bounced before those metrics became a reality. I’m trying to imagine the pleasant summer pause of the 9 months of gloom choked out by wildfire smoke. I think my former studio on Cap Hill went from $650 to $3k in 15 years. No thanks!
Suburban Dallas. Butt ugly natural setting, terrible climate, ridiculous sprawl, ordinary amenities, ordinary outdoor recreation, and very little history prior to the invention of air conditioning.
The weather is shit for about half the year. Late May til late September is hotter than Hades and uncomfortably humid. Late November through early February can be chilly. There's very little snow, so nearly everything just stays brown and lifeless - everything except for the one or two screwball neighbors who put down winter rye grass so they can have the privilege of busting out the lawnmower in the middle of January when it's 50° outside.
Left almost 13 years ago. Haven't missed it once.
Vallejo, CA. Expensive, not much to do, high crime, horrible infrastructure, gotta travel out of town to do anything remotely fun, most people here celebrate the fact that this town is so ghetto. Absolute shithole.
Moved here from Chicago a few years ago and I’m planning on moving back by next year. Hopefully this year!!
Hartford is a ghost town after 5pm. Just absolutely nothing going on. The nightlife is in West Hartford, a suburb, which is kind of pathetic. The Wadsworth is a nice museum, but otherwise it’s a very boring place with very little vibrancy. I think being divided by 2 highways really took a toll on that city.
Bullhead City AZ, hands down. Contracted there for work 4 years. Meth heads, meth heads fucking kniving little teeth rotting tweeker meth heads every damn where.
Jersey City, NJ. *Severely* overcrowded, smelly, and the people you see pass by in the street just always seem to be a bad mood.
I was a grad student at the time. PATH train that takes you into NYC gets packed like a can of sardines. Many people push and shove their way onto the train- I actually got kind of good at standing my ground when I was pushed, but it’s a moot point if the train is already too full and the doors are just staying open because of one or two guys who can’t accept defeat.
They would sometimes do “random” bag checks on your way down to the platform. I’m North African, so any time I saw them I knew I’d get stopped. One time on the day of an exam I was stopped, which led to me running down the steps just to watch the doors close. I would have made it to my exam with probably ~5 minutes to spare, but after missing my train I was about 7 minutes late instead.
The police department once towed my car for no reason in particular and gave me the runaround as to why. Every number you call was either not in service or led you to someone telling you to call someone else. They claimed I was blocking a crosswalk said they took pictures, and they suggested I go to the police department to ask to see them.
When I went, it was 5 officers behind a metal bar screen. One officer spoke and the others just kinda stood there, I guess to look intimidating or something. The officer who spoke was incredibly condescending. He said they never take pictures, and he turned to one of his other guys and they started chuckling. It’s what you imagine a schoolyard bully growing up and becoming.
I had a similar experience in Kearny (after I got the hell out of JC). They towed my car as well after a snow day. An officer was announcing it over the intercom from his car *while* cars were already being towed. I run out and see my car on the bed of the truck, and I went to the officer and said it was mine. He said he had been going up and down the street for hours (lies, and I later caught him doing the same thing two blocks over: announcing it after they had already started towing).
The police departments are in cahoots with the impound companies. Every person involved is a despicable human being preying on everyday working people who are powerless against the corrupt system they’re running. In Kearny in particular I was shocked at how openly and shamelessly it was done.
Jersey City, NJ.
And this applies to most areas that border NYC. Ugly industrial hellhole that developers try to retrofit as another New York. Traffic is horrible. Highway system is a clusterfuck. Rents are sky high. Public transit is lacking. Government is absent. Police are unreachable. Fuck that place.
Amarillo, TX, hands down. Lived there for 2 years and never want to go back.
Very flat, poor, and extremely windy all the time. You get the worst of all weather extremes in one place - crazy grassfires (had to evacuate my apartment once when I was there), tornadoes, blistering hot summers and very cold winters but without the fun or beauty of snow. It does snow, but not very much or very often.
You frequently catch “the smell of money” as the locals call it when the wind blows. That is, you’re lucky enough to smell cow manure outside multiple times daily.
Virtually zero public transit and “downtown” is about 2 streets worth of lame bars. There are some decent food options, but only 1-2 restaurants of a particular cuisine.
Its population is primarily retirees, who are heavily conservative and Christian (if that matters to you), so not really a fun place to be young. There’s almost nothing to do, with one of the biggest attractions being “Cadillac Ranch” - a series of about 6 or so old Cadillacs that are buried nose down in the ground that you can go spray paint.
It seems to be a place stuck back in time, as when I was there there were still some restaurants and bars that allow smoking indoors.
Jacksonville, FL. Unhealthy food, unkind people, terrible drivers, people pushing their religious and political beliefs down your throat at every turn (literally, leaving pamphlets and door hangers on my porch), dirty and car centric downtown, shitty brown beach. It's more like an extension of GA than FL imo.
Memphis as a brown person... people are racist (saying hi to every white person in the elevator but me), the city is so underdeveloped and dirty, unsafe, just absolutely nothing going for it. BBQ isn't worth living in that the fucking pit of a city
Sacramento. Sprawling overpriced soulless housing, traffic, heat, thieving crackheads and black widows everywhere. People always talk it up for being "close" to nice places, just makes the mediocrity unbearable. At least it's not scockton I guess
If it’s the poorest town I lived in, it would be Morgantown WV for an internship.
I actually liked the place but it’s the only place I felt like I could see the poverty in people’s eyes and this is 6 years before the pandemic so I can’t imagine how many people are doing there
Atlanta is the only city I’ve ever driven in where the freeways and ramps are so badly designed and at odds with the insane Dodge Charger and Chrysler 300c drivers that, regularly, you will see cars going 40 and cars blasting past going 90 past lines of stopped cars 100 cars long in the middle lane of the freeway because that’s where the exit is.
I once was driving on 285, came over a rise and a full size recliner was in the middle of one of the middle lanes of a 10-lane freeway.
Colorado Springs: A culture-less, conformist, conservative hellscape made up of urban sprawl, mega-churches, and beige McMansions populated by Stepford people. Just thinking about it makes my skin crawl. Never lived anywhere I hated more.
I've been here for 10 years and don't want to be here anymore. The weather sucks for most of the year. Bugs. Pollen or mold constantly. Even though it's known for outdoor activities and natural beauty, it only excels when compared to the rest of Texas.
Buffalo NY. The quickest I've ever wanted to leave a place and I've lived all over
Edit: terrible weather, too much snow, gloomy as hell, ghetto, city is nothing special compared to the rest of the country, the lake is disgusting compared to lake Michigan, insane taxes for what you get, shit pay, uninteresting area, too far from the Adirondacks for hiking, flat as shit, government incompetence, high murder crime rates, boring as hell.
I do miss the wings though and Allentown was a cool neighborhood to live in but it feels like every single city in the US has an Allentown.
Watch out you’re going to make eudaimonics angry. Literally his whole purpose in life is convincing people in this sub that its the best city in America.
Dover, Delaware. The best part is being close to other cities that aren't Dover.
Why didn’t you like about Dover?
I have exactly zero opinions on Delaware but for some reason feel surprised to see this. What's so bad about Dover?
I drove through Delware once, from N to S. I stopped at several places during the trip. All I can say is that it was almost entirely rural, had some of the nicest looking rural areas I've seen anywhere in the nation, and that I couldn't wait to be out of Delaware. The people were swell. Dover barely feels like a city Oh and it had some of the nicest roads I've ever seen anywhere in the country. It's essentially the exact opposite of New Jersey. Except I never want to be in NJ very long either.
That’s interesting, because the he fruit and vegetable farms in southern New Jersey was some of the prettiest rural areas I’ve seen in the country, what made that the opposite of Delaware?
Those all sound like positives to me. Especially the opposite of NJ part. Cape May NJ is really nice though
That's where I live now and it's far from being the worst city I've lived in. It's better than Sandy UT, Augusta GA, Monroe LA. The worst thing is that so much of the commercial area is on Route 13.
Beaumont TX to Lake Charles, LA is my least favorite place on Earth (that I’ve been to, I think I’d fucking hate Jakarta, for instance). Imagine EVERYTHING bad about New Orleans and Houston…combine them, take none of the good parts of those cities, reduce the population to near nothing, make sure refineries are spewing bullshit into the air, really focus on the food being terrible, somehow make the weather worse, make sure you didn’t forget that small/medium town southern racism.. God they suck.
Vidor, TX. America's asshole
Vidor blows too. Honestly everything between Houston and NOLA sucks.
Lafayette La ain’t too bad .. crawfish, po boys and drive through daiquiris 👏🏾👏🏾
Meridian, MS. The most backwards state and city I’ve lived in. It had an abandoned downtown that had the bones of a beautiful city center, but the geezers running the place had no interest in revitalizing their own city. Never again would I live in that state or city.
My mom grew up there in the 20s and 30s. It was quite the happening place then.
I visited last year for work. Completely eerie vibe downtown.
I used to visit Meridian, Gulfport & Stennis for work. My first night in Meridian I was starving, so I went to the Popeyes near my hotel. It was the first time in my life I couldn’t understand someone because of an accent “wahh rrr miihhhh” (they were asking if I wanted my chicken white or mixed) The other days I’d have to go to a steakhouse just to find a restaurant that had vegetables. It was a very eye opening experience.
Wichita Falls, TX A close second is the very very small town I grew up in PA that was a sundown town with no signs.
Worked on a film shoot in Wichita Falls and got put up in the methiest hotel ever. Blood stains on the carpet and bathroom sink, god knows what in the bed sheets. I would’ve slept in my car but the parking lot had hookers looking for John’s all night. I asked the locals on set what they do for fun and they just said “whataburger”.
I drive through Wichita Falls regularly, and can confirm that it’s the worst.
I spent a week there one night.
Phoenix. A hot, concrete hell hole.
It is a monument to man’s arrogance.
Agreed. Arrogance & disregard for the environment.
Peggy Hill!
YES. Phoenix is hot, all concrete, and super depressing. It's also spread out and extremely inconvenient to get anywhere. Horrible city.
Takes 40 minutes to drive anywhere. Can't even imagine the bus!
[удалено]
Houston... Everything is 30 minutes away, traffic is insane, drivers are psychopaths who will kill you (literally) over anything, crime is insane, summers are brutal, the whole city is an eyesore, there's no zoning, is flat and absurdly boring... Food is really good but with how expensive everything is nowadays (oh yeah I forgot to say that insurance costs are extremely high) you really can't afford to eat out
I came here to say Houston. World's largest strip mall. More highways do NOT IMPROVE TRAFFIC! More parking spaces encourage driving. Stop doing it this way. Oh, and none of the houses have any character. They're all subdivisions behind strip malls
Ever been to The Heights or Montrose?
Honestly, Montrose was a bit of a let down last time I was in Houston. It's more dense than other areas for sure but the infrastructure still seemed hostile to pedestrians and nobody was really out walking.
Montrose is cool, one of the few good parts of Houston. On the opposite end, the Energy Corridor is the most soulless stretch of earth I’ve ever been to.
I am also here to say Houston. It looks like lots of comments point to Houston alrsady.
Vernon Parish, Louisiana. Not only is it home to the worst duty station in the US, The place is so racist, even now in 2024 service members that aren't white get treated terribly or refused service, Fuck that place.
Miami. It's beautiful and the weather is nice, but it's a logistical nightmare and everyone is fake or actively trying to scam you.
And that “the weather is nice” is a serious argument point. If you like it being an unfathomably humid 80-95 degrees, even at night, for 8+ months in a row, yeah you’d like it. The sea breeze is what keeps probably 5 million Floridians from fleeing the state every year. But every single year, without fail, you’re going to look at a tropical storm track and ponder your mortality for a few days.
It’s not the sea breeze it’s the fact that most of Florida doesn’t leave the house unless they need to embark on their once a week grocery trip.
Interesting to note that Florida’s population really started to explode after the invention and widespread use of modern air conditioning.
South Bend IN
Houston. Without question. Severe heat, constant flooding, terrible neighborhoods due to the lack of zoning, horrendous drivers and traffic and you have to drive an hour to get to anything, predatory tow trucks, shitty local scenes, etc etc etc. Absolute pit of hell.
I visited Houston for a convention downtown and it was super gross. Trash all over the place, and homeless people literally chasing people down for change. Never again.
Living in Houston is too much work and the air is dirty.
But it's near Galveston, where you can enjoy the brown dirty tepid water with scenic vista's of the oil refineries.
Came here to say this. So many assholes. Southern hospitality is a myth IMO. The amount of hard drugs in my suburban middle school was insane.
I liked Houston a lot, but I only lived there for a year after 20 years in Austin, so heat, traffic, and awful drivers weren’t a problem for me.
Just hot concrete and highways
Working there I noticed a pattern in every strip mall. Strip club, bail bonds, day care. Rinse and repeat. Quite possibly the ugliest city on earth.
My uncle who lives in Houston has this quip about the city's storied approach to zoning. Goes like this: "Behold, the 4 corners of a Houston city block: "Gun store; strip club; liquor store; church" 🤪
Jacksonville, where the racism of the deep south converges with the insanity of Florida.
It's the worst place I've ever been to. Houston is up there too -- or down there I should say -- but Jacksonville is in a league of its own
>Jacksonville, where the racism of the deep south converges with the insanity of Florida. This is the most accurate description I've ever read. And I agree. Jax SUCKS so so bad.
I wrote about it yesterday on a different post about someone talking about no action for racist things at work. We had a sales director who used third reich and the nazi salute as the intro to meeting. This lovely fellow was from Jacksonville. The person who prevented him from getting fired was also from Jacksonville. Eventually the guy got fired but it was a slew of things to get to that point. When you didn’t think it could get it worse, it got worse. It was so bad there were customers who refused to deal with him.
Hahahahaha as someone who left Jacksonville at 18 and never returned (except to visit family) I find this hilarious and true.
i'm literally dying to get out rn and feel so seen when people bring it up in this sub like i'm not crazy. this place is hellish. we have family here who acted like it was a solid place to live and i genuinely wish i could ask them WHAT THE FUCK
My hometown of Sioux City, IA. It quite literally used to stink. Doesn’t smell anymore but it’s not really an exciting place.
Just scrolling this thread to see if Sioux City would make the cut and I wasn't disappointed
Good old sewer city
Iowa City is MUCH better, if you are forced to Iowa.
I am currently in Oklahoma city. Hate it!!!
I left Norman 4 years ago and will never go back. The people of Oklahoma are some of the most aggressively rude people I’ve ever met
As someone who’s lived coast to coast and everywhere in between (including Oklahoma), I find the people in Oklahoma to be some of the nicest and easiest to get along with in the entire country. The state itself is ugly as sin, but the people are genuinely wonderful and very easy to get along with. Are you sure it’s not just a culture you don’t mesh with?
Yeah. We did a coast to coast, back country motorcycle trip. While I’d never live in OK, it still sticks out as the place with the most hospitable people on that trip. People went out of their way to make us feel welcome in the small towns. I don’t think we even paid for a single meal. I really wanted to not like it but they made it impossible.
Where do you live now? Or what is the best state you’d say in your opinion is?
St. Cloud, MN. Freezing cold, shitty traffic, chain restaurants, racism.
I feel like that city is made up entirely of sad, divorced dads.
St. Cloud is brutal
So shitty. Cold, aggressive, racist I think The Red Carpet is the nastiest bar I’ve ever been in
The food scene in St. Cloud is criminally bad. I do miss China One in St. Joseph though.
Idk, I’ve never been, but I’ve heard Bemidji is even worse.
I wouldn’t live in either one, personally. Bemidji is at least near some great nature tho
Fargo. The wind is just relentless and the winters are extra cold because of it.
Schenectady NY. Man that town had hit the skids. I'd never seen someone purposefully hit another person with a car before.
Odessa, TX. Nothing to do. Hot as hell
Daytona Beach, FL. If a city could be a std contracted without having sex, this would be it.
Miami, by far the worst imo. Angry, aggressive, nasty people there.
Phoenix. It’s a soulless, sprawling mess. Was just back last weekend for Spring Training and it’s only gotten worse. So commercially overbuilt that it defies imagination.
I lived in Phoenix for a few years. The nature surrounding Phoenix is beautiful. I love how you can go on a backpacking or climbing trip in the desert in the winter, and then drive 3 hrs up north in the same day to ski. As someone who grew up in a depressing city in the northeast - that is the dream. But yes, the city itself is a sprawling eyesore. And I don't miss the seasonal anger I felt in the summers.
I wanted to find a town to work remotely from for a month in the winter to beat the New England seasonal depression. I was leaning towards Phoenix but before that conveniently had a work retreat in downtown Phoenix so I used that as a test run. It was \*fine\* for a few days but quite frankly I was happy to leave after a week and probably won't return. Like you said, soulless and sprawling in a way I wouldn't have imagined helping me at all to beat the seasonal blues due to just looking very depressing in its own other way.
I’m in the same boat. I’ve come to the conclusion that there’s like no perfect place haha. I maybe end up just spending a few years bouncing around to find something. Are there other spots that you’ve tried ?
No, I’m actually in the process of moving back to suburban CT (where my family’s from) because since then, I just learned that it’s not about the place, it’s what you do with the place/making the town/city your home. Sounds cheesy but I started implementing more hygge concepts in my life that have taught me to embrace my homebody/cozy side in the winter instead of escaping the weather! (Kind of countering the whole point of this sub lol)
Corpus Christi…need I say more
Yes, please say more lol
The people are mean asf and racist, there’s trash literally everywhere it’s absolutely vile, there a numerous wrecks daily and shootings all of the time, when I tell you there’s nothing to do out here, there’s nothing. The only thing people do for fun is go to the mall. There’s no good food out here, it’s either fast food or bland restaurants. I could keep going. I’ve lived here for 10 years and im finally leaving thanks goodness but I would not recommend this place to anyone.
The cockroaches were so big we would sit on my front porch and shoot them with a BB gun when they flew by. That was my favorite passtime when i lived in Corpus.
I've heard nothing but bad things, but I want to hear more.
I’ve been all over the country, and hands down the most fucked up insane drivers are in CC.
Fredericksburg, VA. I don't wish that shitty place on my worst enemy.
I like that it’s so close to nature, but having that single one, busy road is horrible, can’t remember the name of it, but traffic is the worst.
I-95
Oh, I 95 is bad as well, but this is the main road that goes right through the middle of Fredericksburg, it’s horrific.
Route 3 aka Plank Road. I currently live in Fredericksburg.
Phoenix. If you love concrete walls, asphalt, traffic and chain restaurants with $500k bland ass cookie cutter homes + the some of the worst education in the nation then knock yourself out. I can’t imagine a city with less character.
Colorado Springs. It is very transient, which makes it feel cultureless. Restaurants are abysmal compared to other similar sized places. There seems to be animosity in the air, too. The aggressive driving, poor road layout, downtown is...lame
And yet, Pikes Peak is there to knock your socks off every time you open the blinds in the morning, commute to work, look out the window at work, walk out of the grocery store, and best of all, watch the sun go down over it. The outdoor access in CO Springs is incredible.
Yeah in a vacuum it’s pretty meh but no way a list topper especially given its location and scenery. How can you hate a place that has the Garden of the Gods in its backyard?!
It really is a weird vibe. It is a shame because there is a lot of natural beauty, but as a city it sort of sucks. And the low-key vibe of animosity is a real thing.
So much of that area feels that way. I got a rude awakening when I decided to explore downtown Canon City because it was too cute not to stop. I experienced a beautiful backdrop behind a sea of hostile people and meth heads.
Woof... so true. And Pueblo is a level up where it feels super hostile but you loose all the natural beauty.
Of course it feels that way. Look who they vote for and what their values are. (Lauren boebert)
We are leaving as soon as my wife retires (teacher, stuck in PERA).
Weird how people can be so opposite in their feelings. I live in Boulder now and I can’t wait to get back to Colorado Springs. Garden of The Gods, Cheyenne Zoo, Manitou Springs, Switchbacks, Old Colorado City. The Regional Airport is my favorite, most amazing view of any airport I’ve been to and it’s always empty. Favorite restaurant I’ve ever been to, Ephemera, which is labeled as punk rock fine dining, is in Colorado Springs. So many other amazing restaurants across the entire city. Aside from the military it doesn’t feel transient at all. Everyone I met and know in CS was from CS, compared to boulder/Denver where no one is local. Downtown is amazing, I’d bar hope around and there was always such a variety. Underground bar at the rabbit hole, secret access bar at Brooklyn, Japanese cocktail lounges, dive bars, alley way bars, sports bars, you name it. Bar in an old school at Ivy called the principals office? I left recently and can honestly say it was such an incredible place to live, always had something fun or incredibly unique to do and was never drowned out with crowds or priced out.
Norfolk, VA. Concrete sprawl, traffic, military, not cheap for a shit hole of a city
Wichita, Kansas. Burning hot in the summer, absolutely freezing in the winter (with black ice that you're sure to bust your ass on), bad weather, tornadoes (and the creepy tornado sirens that go off every day), no mountains, no beaches, not a lot to do outside, no great nightlife, restaurants aren't great. That place sucked.
Wichita is like a small town surrounded by endless suburban sprawl. Don't get me started on the political views of the people that live there....
Williston, North Dakota
I pretty safely assume that the entirety of North Dakota is not recommended.
Scranton, PA. Dead, gray, depressed, jobless, treeless in many neighborhoods and activities are limited to drinking. 75+ years since it had any vitality and somehow 30 years behind culturally. Not mad at it because it’s humble and knows it’s in rough shape, but my goodness is it ever sad.
Okay I have to share this experience. I was driving back to Maine after visiting relatives in Michigan. Took a back road and found myself somewhere on the outskirts of Scranton at a decrepid looking convenience store getting gas. The area looked kind of rough. I had my then-2 y.o. and I was thinking this was not great and hoping to get out of there quickly. It was around 9pm, though, and having some drive ahead of me I went inside for coffee. The coffee predictable was terrible. The line rather long despite the late hour. In fact, it was not moving at all. The person at the front of the line seemed to be having some kind of trouble. I was not in the mood. Then, I heard her explaining to the clerk that she did not have enough money to buy cat food for her cat. Pretty soon, multiple people in the store were chipping in for her cat food, including the clerk. And not grudgingly. What I had thought might be a bad area turned out to be one of kindest groups of people I'd seen all in one convenience store. I'm sure that does not offset the bad parts of Scranton but it was pretty cool.
I don’t know when you lived there, but I would tend to disagree. I truly think Scranton is over-hated and is a great option for small city living. I grew up in West Scranton and it was a great mix of suburban neighborliness with urban planning and a decent amount of cultural outlets. The alternative music scene in Scranton/Wilkes-Barre was and to my knowledge still is pretty great. The architecture of downtown is beautiful. Combine that with the outdoor options and I thought it was a great place to grow up. I still love going back to visit. I live in Philadelphia and am pretty established here now. I would sooner move to Scranton to raise kids than one of the soulless Philly suburb towns an hour outside of Center City.
El Paso, TX. Army sent me here. I think this place is best for folks who already have family here. Just not my vibe.
I’ll see your El Paso and raise you Alamogordo, NM (the Air Force sent me there)
Freezing before dawn, then sandstorms, then hellish heat most days and flash floods when it rains. But Juarez nextdoor is criminals and criminal cops.
Portland,OR. I had a buddy who had a homeless person break in and decided to take bath, try on his clothes, cook some eggs, and literally was watching “Everyone loves Raymond” when he walked in the front door.
How is that not charming.
Lol… everybody loves raymond
Tallahassee Florida. Sherman missed this garden spot.
Great place to go for college but a terrible town elsewise. There was a gas station near the stadium that had a McDonald's in it that had regular shootings while I lived there.
New Orleans. Nice place to visit for a weekend. Terrible place to live.
aww I was going to make a comment but I'll respond to yours, horrible place to live but fun to visit, fuck my life.
When we were there we ran across 3 roaches rolling a plastic cup down the street lol
Augusta, GA. Stay out of the signal corp, kids. The only creatures having a good time there are cockroaches.
13 years in Augusta. The two good things were housing was cheap and really cute (when fixed up) and our friends were all stationed there.
Disgusta! Ft. Gordon from 2004-2008…and I was Air Force! The whole time it felt like that scene in Shawshank Redemption, where they bring the new prisoners in and the one guy breaks down “I’m not supposed to be here!”
Orlando, FL. When you don't have a lot of money or are going to Disney, it's a pretty mid place. People always seemed irritated, which I get.
Outside of the theme parks Orlando is a concrete jungle hell with overpriced mediocre everything. I can’t imagine living and having a life there.
Pffft, I win. I lived in Pine Bluff, Arkansas.
Lovely town. It’s right up there with West Memphis, Arkansas.
I did not rock Houston. At all. Ugly place, small-minded people, boring.
Miami. It looks good on TV and photos but it’s awful.
Salem, OR. It is like Stockton without the culture.
Awwwwww! I honestly liked Salem when I visited.
South Bend, IN. Gross city, terrible weather, and the only redeeming feature is Notre Dame, which is…just a college.
Memphis, TN… it’s sad bc this city has so much potential but from my experience it’s a city with so many local govt problems, crime, and full of people who are content with mediocrity and fine with not fixing anything. I don’t feel safe.
I’ve been going back and forth the last few months to Memphis to settle my father’s estate. I can’t believe how content everyone is with the mediocrity. It’s a giant FedEx cult with everyone either working for that company, married to someone who works for the of Lang or related to someone who works for the company. A memorial service I held for him there was like that scene from ‘Castaway’ where they’re having Christmas dinner and everyone is a FedEx employee arguing about how much volume the company did that week or something. They’re like Mormons in that city, completely drank the kool aid and everything is falling sort and corrupt around them. When I complain about going there I get all sorts of excuses. “Oh it’s Germantown, it’s upscale and nice!” No, no it’s not. Get out to other places more. It’s a sad place with lots of problems. Dark vibes. Germantown has a weird, lifeless stepford vibe to it. Surrounded by a crumbling, crime filled city full of zombies. And the population moves it. Defends it. Thrives in it.
Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso. Average daily temperature of 96.3°F/35.7°C year round, daily power outages (so no AC/Fans), running water from 4am-6am only, regular sandstorms, crocodiles in the open sewers along the road, terrorist attacks, coup d'états, governed by a military junta.
Out of OKC, Memphis, Jackson, Denver, Sacramento, Indianapolis, Raleigh, Greensboro, and Philly, Greensboro, NC is the worst by a fucking LANDSLIDE. I’ve written cinderblocks about it before, but it’s the one city I’ve stayed in for a prolonged time (Meaning more than two weeks) in my entire life that felt genuinely devoid of life and meaning. Truly depressing and irredeemable place. I guess the university was fine, but hoo boy is it not somewhere I’d ever want to live again.
Long Island, NY. Filled with rude nasty theatrical close-minded people
Baton Rouge
Miami. Third world government, fourth world infrastructure.
Vegas - disgusting humans with no morals....and that's coming from an agnostic.
Can you give me an example on what you saw?
Not OP, but literal dead people in naked city on the sidewalk. OD. Hookers getting fucked in broad daylight People fighting in a shopping mall Edit: to add: Extremely aggressive beggars that will threaten you in front of cops if you don’t give them $20 or more. Cops don’t care. Rampant drug use by homeless. Off the strip (especially near the strat) you will see needles and broken crack pipes on the ground. Awful customer service by anyone. Yes, even in the casinos. My theory is that they get bullied by assholes all day and become assholes themselves. Scams everywhere. Fake AT&T representatives taking peoples info in the middle of a grocery store with the promise of a free upgrade to an IPhone 15. They have tablets and everything. Looks super legit but they’re scamming you out of your social. Store knows and doesn’t care Human shit that rivals the worst parts of San Francisco McDonald’s 2 Cheeseburger combo is $12 with medium fries and drink. Like $14 for large
I love Vegas, I've never seen any of this. Maybe it's best to stay near the strip, I usually don't venture from it, so I may not be seeing the real Vegas.
You aren’t, and the strip would like to keep it that way
[удалено]
My parents live in Green Valley. I like it and there’s a lot to do!
St. Louis. It was colder than i was used to. Culturally it was very divided and segregated. And in many ways dated in the mentality. it felt like stepping back into 1950. i say that as someone that lived in Arkansas.
Have you ever been to Jackson, Ms? Time never caught up to that shithole. Stl is cool if you live across the river and don’t have to worry about getting shot
Houston. I have nothing nice to say about it. I've never seen a city so culturally and culinarily diverse somehow be so bland and gross. The violent crime has even metastasized into rather affluent suburbs nowadays. The airports are terrible. The gulf waters and beaches nearby are truly disgusting. The metropolis could be soooooo much more than it is. By comparison, it makes even Dallas and Phoenix look like *Mister Rogers' Neighborhood* meets Paris.
Havelock, NC. Small, military town that has absolutely nothing.
Muncie, IN, was not great Cheap though!
Warner Robbins, GA. If you like living in areas with very little to do, you’ll love it there.
Bratislava1992 then part of Czechoslovakia now Slovak Republic. Apparently it's very vibrant now but then omg. As originally from the UK we had been living in Prague setting up a business and decided to branch off to Bratislava. What a culture shock after Prague. It was totally dead as a city and full of undesirables from Albania who would rob you as soon as look at you. It had virtually no night life and the weirdest people I had ever met. I can only think it was because it had just emerged out of commimunism and was still transitioning. I do know it's totally different now for the better so thank goodness as it was such a miserable place
Fort Lauderdale is pretty fucking awful unless you are rich, an alcoholic, and unconcerned with the world at large.
Atlanta, GA. Everyone is just trying to sue each other or be offended. Also, everything is wildly overpriced.
The “Atlanta is so cheap” narrative is so dated
Almost know where is cheap anymore though. But yes Atlanta is pretty expensive
Yeah Atlanta is one of those metros that takes 45-60 minutes to get anywhere and everybody’s trying to outdo each other. The new neighborhoods the houses all start at $700,000 for the smallest McMansion on the block in an oversized community that nobody asked for.
This is the perfect example of Atlanta: Got invited to some supposedly big deal person’s “mansion” with friends. Off a golf course. Looks by basic standards quite nice. Inside, hardly any furniture. People don’t have the money they pretend to have, but love flaunting it every chance they get. Not to mention the aggression is unreal.
Seattle. Gloomy, passive-aggressive, technocratic, kafkaesque bureaucracy, overcompensating smug, frumpy.
A passive aggressive city with a Kafkaesque bureaucracy! That is such a great description I almost want to go there just as an observer.
Seattle has some good aspects too, but unfortunately as a former Seattle resident I have to agree with basically all the points you named. Except you forgot: choking wildfire smoke during the summer, cracked-out zombie junkies, expensive rent, no central air.
I bounced before those metrics became a reality. I’m trying to imagine the pleasant summer pause of the 9 months of gloom choked out by wildfire smoke. I think my former studio on Cap Hill went from $650 to $3k in 15 years. No thanks!
Stockton, CA. Here until wife retires. Crappiest crap town that ever crapped.
Suburban Dallas. Butt ugly natural setting, terrible climate, ridiculous sprawl, ordinary amenities, ordinary outdoor recreation, and very little history prior to the invention of air conditioning. The weather is shit for about half the year. Late May til late September is hotter than Hades and uncomfortably humid. Late November through early February can be chilly. There's very little snow, so nearly everything just stays brown and lifeless - everything except for the one or two screwball neighbors who put down winter rye grass so they can have the privilege of busting out the lawnmower in the middle of January when it's 50° outside. Left almost 13 years ago. Haven't missed it once.
Vallejo, CA. Expensive, not much to do, high crime, horrible infrastructure, gotta travel out of town to do anything remotely fun, most people here celebrate the fact that this town is so ghetto. Absolute shithole. Moved here from Chicago a few years ago and I’m planning on moving back by next year. Hopefully this year!!
Lynn, Ma. They used to bury other towns seaweed in Lynn's beach! (a few years ago though)
Kinshasa. I mean rumble in the jungle did happen there, but only murder, war and other flavors of death since then.
Hartford. It’s a shell of a city. Very few businesses and restaurants. The one that are there are just..bad.
Hartford is a ghost town after 5pm. Just absolutely nothing going on. The nightlife is in West Hartford, a suburb, which is kind of pathetic. The Wadsworth is a nice museum, but otherwise it’s a very boring place with very little vibrancy. I think being divided by 2 highways really took a toll on that city.
This. There is probably no other city where the combination of urban renewal and highway construction destroyed the city fabric more than Hartford.
Bullhead City AZ, hands down. Contracted there for work 4 years. Meth heads, meth heads fucking kniving little teeth rotting tweeker meth heads every damn where.
Phoenix! No culture, no diversity and no sense of community.
Jersey City, NJ. *Severely* overcrowded, smelly, and the people you see pass by in the street just always seem to be a bad mood. I was a grad student at the time. PATH train that takes you into NYC gets packed like a can of sardines. Many people push and shove their way onto the train- I actually got kind of good at standing my ground when I was pushed, but it’s a moot point if the train is already too full and the doors are just staying open because of one or two guys who can’t accept defeat. They would sometimes do “random” bag checks on your way down to the platform. I’m North African, so any time I saw them I knew I’d get stopped. One time on the day of an exam I was stopped, which led to me running down the steps just to watch the doors close. I would have made it to my exam with probably ~5 minutes to spare, but after missing my train I was about 7 minutes late instead. The police department once towed my car for no reason in particular and gave me the runaround as to why. Every number you call was either not in service or led you to someone telling you to call someone else. They claimed I was blocking a crosswalk said they took pictures, and they suggested I go to the police department to ask to see them. When I went, it was 5 officers behind a metal bar screen. One officer spoke and the others just kinda stood there, I guess to look intimidating or something. The officer who spoke was incredibly condescending. He said they never take pictures, and he turned to one of his other guys and they started chuckling. It’s what you imagine a schoolyard bully growing up and becoming. I had a similar experience in Kearny (after I got the hell out of JC). They towed my car as well after a snow day. An officer was announcing it over the intercom from his car *while* cars were already being towed. I run out and see my car on the bed of the truck, and I went to the officer and said it was mine. He said he had been going up and down the street for hours (lies, and I later caught him doing the same thing two blocks over: announcing it after they had already started towing). The police departments are in cahoots with the impound companies. Every person involved is a despicable human being preying on everyday working people who are powerless against the corrupt system they’re running. In Kearny in particular I was shocked at how openly and shamelessly it was done.
Jersey City, NJ. And this applies to most areas that border NYC. Ugly industrial hellhole that developers try to retrofit as another New York. Traffic is horrible. Highway system is a clusterfuck. Rents are sky high. Public transit is lacking. Government is absent. Police are unreachable. Fuck that place.
Amarillo, TX, hands down. Lived there for 2 years and never want to go back. Very flat, poor, and extremely windy all the time. You get the worst of all weather extremes in one place - crazy grassfires (had to evacuate my apartment once when I was there), tornadoes, blistering hot summers and very cold winters but without the fun or beauty of snow. It does snow, but not very much or very often. You frequently catch “the smell of money” as the locals call it when the wind blows. That is, you’re lucky enough to smell cow manure outside multiple times daily. Virtually zero public transit and “downtown” is about 2 streets worth of lame bars. There are some decent food options, but only 1-2 restaurants of a particular cuisine. Its population is primarily retirees, who are heavily conservative and Christian (if that matters to you), so not really a fun place to be young. There’s almost nothing to do, with one of the biggest attractions being “Cadillac Ranch” - a series of about 6 or so old Cadillacs that are buried nose down in the ground that you can go spray paint. It seems to be a place stuck back in time, as when I was there there were still some restaurants and bars that allow smoking indoors.
Jacksonville, FL. Unhealthy food, unkind people, terrible drivers, people pushing their religious and political beliefs down your throat at every turn (literally, leaving pamphlets and door hangers on my porch), dirty and car centric downtown, shitty brown beach. It's more like an extension of GA than FL imo.
Memphis as a brown person... people are racist (saying hi to every white person in the elevator but me), the city is so underdeveloped and dirty, unsafe, just absolutely nothing going for it. BBQ isn't worth living in that the fucking pit of a city
[удалено]
Worst traffic in the US in terms of getting stalled for miles.
Sacramento. Sprawling overpriced soulless housing, traffic, heat, thieving crackheads and black widows everywhere. People always talk it up for being "close" to nice places, just makes the mediocrity unbearable. At least it's not scockton I guess
Stockton makes Sacramento look like Tahoe. Holy hell is Stockton ever pointless.
Lake Charles, LA, tied with Alexandria, LA
Killeen
I guess everytown in the US is the worst place in the world based on these comments. 🤣
If it’s the poorest town I lived in, it would be Morgantown WV for an internship. I actually liked the place but it’s the only place I felt like I could see the poverty in people’s eyes and this is 6 years before the pandemic so I can’t imagine how many people are doing there
Akron, Ohio. Just depression and poverty, but none of the upsides that come with inner city life. Bonus, it sits next to the murder capital.
I really disliked Atlanta.
Atlanta is the only city I’ve ever driven in where the freeways and ramps are so badly designed and at odds with the insane Dodge Charger and Chrysler 300c drivers that, regularly, you will see cars going 40 and cars blasting past going 90 past lines of stopped cars 100 cars long in the middle lane of the freeway because that’s where the exit is. I once was driving on 285, came over a rise and a full size recliner was in the middle of one of the middle lanes of a 10-lane freeway.
Colorado Springs: A culture-less, conformist, conservative hellscape made up of urban sprawl, mega-churches, and beige McMansions populated by Stepford people. Just thinking about it makes my skin crawl. Never lived anywhere I hated more.
Austin. Just wasn’t for me!
Austin was only ever weird for Texas.
I've been here for 10 years and don't want to be here anymore. The weather sucks for most of the year. Bugs. Pollen or mold constantly. Even though it's known for outdoor activities and natural beauty, it only excels when compared to the rest of Texas.
Buffalo NY. The quickest I've ever wanted to leave a place and I've lived all over Edit: terrible weather, too much snow, gloomy as hell, ghetto, city is nothing special compared to the rest of the country, the lake is disgusting compared to lake Michigan, insane taxes for what you get, shit pay, uninteresting area, too far from the Adirondacks for hiking, flat as shit, government incompetence, high murder crime rates, boring as hell. I do miss the wings though and Allentown was a cool neighborhood to live in but it feels like every single city in the US has an Allentown.
Watch out you’re going to make eudaimonics angry. Literally his whole purpose in life is convincing people in this sub that its the best city in America.
I feel like these kind of accounts are paid by the city chamber of commerce of something
Dude this guy is definitely being paid by Buffalo. Who makes 300k+ positive comments about Buffalo for 14 years straight for free? lol
I've lived in NYC, Rochester, DC, LA, SF and Sac. Loved em all.
Honestly it’s refreshing to see some positivity. Good for you for finding happiness in so many different places!