Worst City You've Ever Been To?

Only one that stands out is LA. Went there for a couple of days on a work trip and was not impressed in the least. We didn't have a ton of personal time, but we did hit the Hollywood area and Pasadena, but it wasn't that great. Of course, maybe if I'd hit the beach or coast my opinion may be different.
 
I want to say Sunderland but I have been to Sofia. I'm sure there are worse places, but none that I've visited left a worse impression.
 
Ras-Al-Khaimah, UAE or Newport, Wales

I have been to Tijuana as well and it never felt remotely safe but I was only 16 at the time.
 
Western bourgeois tourism, the thread?

A bit disappointed people here don't explain 1)what they like in a city/in their little comfort 2)what they dislike cities and explain a bit more their experiences
 
Lynchburg Tennessee. Got id'd for cigarettes and was asked never to come back again, and then got stared down as I walked away. They didn't like my kind around there. Tennessee has to be the chain restaurant capitol of the world. There's a Golden Corral or a Waffle House every 20 feet.
 
Probably some shit town in North Dakota where a friend of mine had to go post bail after getting stopped at the border for having something she shouldn't have. I just remember it was a Sunday and there was no one out on the streets. Nothing was open. There wasn't a person to be found anywhere. It was just so creepy. Just churches and american flags. I'm sure to some people that is like the ideal American lifestyle, but it just weirded me out. I'm looking at a map to try to figure out what this town was...it was by the Winnipeg border crossing, so maybe Cavalier. Either way...I don't want to go back.

Bad in a totally different way for me was Miami. I had just come off a 4 day festival with nothing but hippies and crunchy tunes and loving smiles in the middle of the everglades and then I get thrown into the most plastic, consumeristic, phony, expensive, gaudy environment I've ever been in. I just wasn't in the mindset for it at all and it was not a pleasant experience for me.
 
QuantumZebra said:
Two pages in and nobody said Atlanta - makes me happy!

I love it, but I figured at least somebody would complain about traffic/crowded-ness.

For me personally it is the entire state of Mississippi. Jackson, Starkville, Tupelo, Columbus (I did a lot of IT work out there and traveled through it visiting wife's family in TX).

Mississippi is literally what America would become after 50 years of Republican rule.

Just poor people, half abandoned strip-malls, crumbling infrastructure, and a general feeling of hopelessness.
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Sorry.

JoeBoy101 said:
Atlanta.

Stinks of car exhaust, even downtown. The traffic is an eldritch nightmare, the homeless are very aggressive, and the local government is a mess.

Out of the myriad of cities I've gone to... rich... poor... old... new... Atlanta was the worst. This was around 2009 though, so maybe its gotten better.
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I don't hold a bunch of animosity towards Atlanta, but its pretty bad.
 
I have lived all over America, and visited many more places, and without a doubt Las Vegas is the worst place I have ever been. The Weather is beyond terrible, the city in painfully ugly, traffic sucks, plus it is a terrible place to raise children. I am so sad that life has worked out in such a way that I am stuck here. Vegas is fine to visit but I would try to talk anyone out of moving here.
 
JoeBoy101 said:
Sorry.



I don't hold a bunch of animosity towards Atlanta, but its pretty bad.
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I've been to NYC, Chicago, and pretty much every major city in the Southeast and IMO Atlanta is the worst for traffic but infinitely better in terms of pollution (probably cause of all the trees), ease of walking to attractions (most are in midtown and you can hop on MARTA to hit the eastside), and politeness of people.

We do have some CRAZY homeless people, but they're a loveable crazy.
 
soldat7 said:
Lubbock or El Paso or Helsinki.
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El Paso? Wha? Unless you hate looking at Mexico or the Desert I'm not really sure how that's even in the running. El Paso's not the greatest place ever maybe, but it's not even close to bad. It's just really hard to see what's to hate there. Even if we go off the narrow idea of just using cities in the US or even just Texas.
 
jb1234 said:
Either a cross between Stockton, CA and Rockford, IL. Both are shitholes.
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Stockton is really bad. It's just a generic, boring place with no culture and lots of crime. I spent a miserable week there one afternoon.

I remember being unimpressed with Quito, Ecuador. We only stayed there overnight passing through to get to the Galapagos, but our hotel was not exactly 4 star accommodations, there was a vacant lot across the street with a fire burning in an empty 50 gallon drum, and we were flat-out told "do not walk around or you will be kidnapped." And then the night before we were headed home I made the mistake of brushing my teeth with the water and got sicker than I'd ever been in my life. So, yeah, what I saw of that place really sucked.
 
Growing up in Michigan, I could list a ton from that state alone.

Detroit, as noted, is a ruin.

Where I spent most of my childhood, Muskegon, is similar to flint in being big enough to have slums and being too small for much else. Is somewhat compensated for by having gorgeous lake coastline and outdoors activities nearby.

I drive though Youngstown, OH occasionally and that place looks terrible.

The city outside Mammoth Cave Park in KY I visited earlier this year was terrible. Although the gun shops were plentiful. :/
 
yankeehater said:
I have lived all over America, and visited many more places, and without a doubt Las Vegas is the worst place I have ever been. The Weather is beyond terrible, the city in painfully ugly, traffic sucks, plus it is a terrible place to raise children. I am so sad that life has worked out in such a way that I am stuck here. Vegas is fine to visit but I would try to talk anyone out of moving here.
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Tell me more about life in Vegas.
 
Worst would be Shanghai, a disgustingly polluted concrete box filled with people that mostly seem to be assholes, despite having traveled most of the world I still couldn't get over the culture gap there.

I also didn't like LA but it has pockets of greatness and feels like a series of interconnected smaller cities rather than one individual city that can be judged.

Best would be Helsinki, lovely design, very clean, interesting culture where most folks are very polite but quite introverted which leads to a real sense of personal space being important. Plus they seem to have some strict public advertising rules so you won't be bombarded the way you are in most cities which is very relaxing.
 
andrespi said:
It's kinda ironic. I always considered Milan the best city in Italy and probably the only city where I would willingly move in Italy (if it wasn't so expensive), compared to the rest of Italy. It has a fantastic public transportation system unlike the rest of Italy (where it's nearly impossible to live without a car for people who don't drive like me). So many things to do (events/concerts/stores), so many places to eat (both foreign cheap fast food chains, ethnic restaurants and at the same time also good italian restaurants), lots of choices and a modern city (wi-fi everywhere) and the only one on-par to other other European cities I've lived. For many of of my friends of other less-developed areas of Italy, living in Milan would be a dream coming true (and so many of my friends moved there when given the chance and never looked back). Just the public transportation and the international outlook makes it one of the best in Italy. Not certainly on-par to to other cities like Sydney (which is infinitely better in my opinion), but still pretty good.

I try to go there every time I can (weekends) since I love it so much.
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That's all true, but none if it is worth the endless feeling of choking i get when i'm in it.
(And i hail from Rome, so it's not like i'm not used to metro areas, but Milan's tap water drives me insane)
 
Lagos, Nigeria. Incredible high crime and corruption through the Wazoo. I consider Nigeria a failed state, heck they can't even supply gasoline despite being a big oil producer and OPEC member. And I spent two days in a Garage while waiting out some riots in the town before my bus would leave town.
 
Los Angeles, and it isn't even close. What an absolute shit hole. Urban sprawl and blight at its worst. Unfortunately I have to be there this week.
 
MrChocolate said:
Lima, Perú.
Fucking disgusting place. I lived there 8 months and I can't hate that place enough.

- As soon as you step down the plane, you get punched in the face by a disgusting smell. Fried fish will be your new perfume.
- The streets are fucking crowded, on top of that, the public transportation is an absolute joke. Subway? Yeah, 10 stations for a city of 8 millions.
- The people can't drive for shit. Period. It's unreal that some people drive against the traffic and use the sidewalk. And the horn... oh the goddamned horn, they use the horn for absolutely everything. (On the bright side, the cabs are really cheap, like 6 bucks for a 20km/1hr drive)
- Trash everywhere because why not, and of course, people pissing on the streets on broad daylight.
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I was there in the early 2000's and I had a ball. Might have been since I'm from Philly and just being in Peru was cool to me. Went to "Pizza Alley" and got called a "monkey" by some kid that was no older than 12 (I wouldn't give him 1 sole coin or something) Gambled at some casino and my taxi driver beeped the horn 3 times in front of a building and 3 hookers jumped in the cab.

My kinda town...or it was.
 
Dangansona said:
Big cities wise, I've been fortunate (largely due to studying abroad and spending all my money on visiting my long distance girlfriend) to have been to London, Munich, Berlin, Hamburg, Rome, Milan, Venice, Nurnburg, Genoa, New York, Charlotte, Atlanta, New Orleans, Los Angeles, SF, and San Diego. I live in Charleston.

Los Angeles is easily the worst out of those. East Coast > West Coast.
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When people say this I pretty much assume they were at LAX, downtown LA, and maybe Hollywood and that's it. People who slam LA as an overall city have generally barely seen any of it. LA is great, but like NYC, it really helps to have someone who knows the place take you around.
 
His Majesty said:
Why would you even visit Charleroi? The only reason I can come up with is the airport but that's located out of the city centre. But yeah it's a pretty depressing place, a lot of abandoned projects and post-industrial projects, a bit like Thionville across the border.
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A friend of mine moved there to live with his gf

He didn't disagree with my opinion of the city, mind you
 
Worst - Tampa. Horrid traffic and crazy people.

Surprise thought it would be the worst but I enjoyed it city - El Paso. Nice weather, friendly people, great food, and cheap housing. Was stationed here for 4 years, and I kind of miss it.
 
While I never have actually been there, I remember feeling happy that I was not accepted to work in Willistone, North Dakota. That place, from everything I read, is an absolute shit hole full of douche bags.
 
For me personally it is probably New Orleans. Just a filthy, smelly place. This was in the mid-90s, though. Long before Katrina.

DC was interesting to visit once, but I have no desire to ever go back there.
 
BigBeauford said:
Worst - Tampa. Horrid traffic and crazy people.

Surprise thought it would be the worst but I enjoyed it city - El Paso. Nice weather, friendly people, great food, and cheap housing. Was stationed here for 4 years, and I kind of miss it.
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El Paso can get a bit boring but it's definitely not a bad place to live at all. As a student it's perfect for me.
 
Mysterious said:
What is wrong with some of you?
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djtiesto said:
I found that if you approach the people in French and ask "tu parle anglais", they would be a hundred times friendlier. Really enjoyed my time in Montreal - delicious food, nice atmosphere, a lot to see and do, and Stereo is one of the world's greatest venues for the type of music I listen to.
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Stasis said:
Opinions and all but that's the worst you've been to? Really?

A city on damn near every "best city to visit/live in" list?

Where do you regularly spend your time? Lol.
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I'm not going to get into the details, but I'll just say just because I'm an american woman doesn't mean i'll jump the bones of any guy an accent. Being cornered when you're 19 makes for a bad trip into a shitty one.
 
glow said:
Little Rock, Arkansas. Filthy and smells. It's worse than NYC. I've driven through worse but staying a night in a Holiday Inn there was a pretty grim experience :(
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have to ask: which holiday inn. There is one located in a upper middle class suburb. One in the heart of the downtown business district, and one on the edge of town by the airport. The airport one is the only one someone could consider grim......


I just spent a year in Little Rock and found it to be a clean town, with a ton of amazing breweries, restaurants, and art communities. At the same time, I rented a house, three doors down from the Governors mansion, for $750 a month. From there we could anywhere via uber for $5 - $8.

Outside of the heat come summer it was one of the best places I have ever lived (including Los Angeles, Portland, Atlanta, Greenville SC, Central NJ, Baltimore, and New Orleans)
 
Gary, Indiana. It literally looks post-apocalyptic. The nicest thing I can say about it is that ruin can be beautiful in a melancholy kinda way, but that's not saying much.
 
I love seeing mentions of places like LA. If you think LA is bad try spending time somewhere like Modesto, Bakersfield, Stockton, Fresno etc. Pretty much anywhere between LA and the Bay Area that is inland and the majority of places North of the Bay Area. At least LA has good food, entertainment, beaches etc. SF is clearly superior due to everything plus good public transportation, but I have a hard time believing LA is the worst place anyone has been.
 
Yakima, Washington, not really bad just boring.

Mexico City too i guess, but thats the best city and the worst city in the world at the same time, Aristotle be damned.
 
Buffalo. It doesn't have the cons of say, a Detroit, but it has absolutely nothing going for it. Just move the Bills already and put the city out of its misery.

Speaking of Detroit, it definitely has gotten better over the last half decade. When I first visited about 12ish years ago, I was on edge the entire time. It's never going to be Vancouver, but there's been some noticable improvements. Also, if you ever want to understand how Trump won Michigan, go to a Lions game and walk through the tailgate parties. Just wow.

In terms of Europe, I doubt I'll ever step foot in Athens again. So much grafiti. With so many beautiful options available in Greece, there's no need to waste a day or two in Athens.
 
We took a trip to Taipei last year that I really didn't enjoy. I didn't really care for most of the food. It was crowded, rainy and humid as hell. I was looking for a peaceful vacation and this was anything but. Lot of walking, crowded trains and buses. Plus Taiwan doesn't have a big "drinking" culture so booze and bars were scarce.

It wasn't all bad. We did see some nice sights and and had a few tasty things to eat. But the choice to go was on my in-laws. I felt like I was just being dragged around from place to place with little say in what I wanted to do. Plus I got into a little fight with my mother- in-law which just made things uncomfortable for the rest of the trip.

I think probably the nicest time I had there was when it was raining pretty hard. So I found a little bar and enjoyed a few beers to pass the time.
 
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