Worst City You've Ever Been To?

Liverpool.

It has/had a really bad stigma for being full of thieves and scum and whatnot, mainly due to TV, but I didn't believe that.

Only went there once, parked for two hours, car broken into and radio stolen :/

Was just in Liverpool last week. Thought it was alright. I found it funny (well sad) when I went to the Liverpool museum and on one the walls talking about humanity and whatnot it mentioned something like "Liverpool is one of the cities that are most charitable, but could really benefit from charity themselves".

Is Liverpool in a rut job-wise compared to other large cities in England? I was obviously only in the nice parts so I couldn't tell of course.
 
You are aware this thread is about the worse city one has visited, right?

The only way some of the cities mentioned could even come close to being "the worst I've ever been to" is if people lived their all life in the city and never left. I get not having a good time in a place like NYC, but people need to try to be at least SOMEWHAT objective. You don't name a place with enviably world class art, culture, food, and scenery to be worst city you've ever been to unless you lack critical thinking skills.
 
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These are new yorkers btw.
 
Again it's MY experience from my time there in May 2016. Maybe I was just unlucky or I picked a wrong period to go. But it doesn't mean anyone who goes to NYC will have the same perception.

Yeah, didn't say it didn't happen to you. I was just telling you my experience. Anyway like I said in my edit. You are bound to find some less than nice people from time to time.
 
Weird seeing people call New Yorkers rude. Usually when I'm on the subway and streets I see people all the time helping tourists. Like even if you live there and just ask for directions, I haven't found someone that wouldn't help.

It's an old stereotype and there's some truth to it, but it's no more applicable to New Yorkers than any big city, especially cities in the north east, it's just that NYC happens to be the most iconic one. The stereotype is of city dwellers who are in their own head, move fast, get annoyed when out-of-towners clog up their routine. There was more truth to it in the 80s when that fast-moving high finance middle-to-upper class emerged in NYC.

It's changed since then though, but the stereotype persists and people will naturally find more reasons to justify the stereotype.
 
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.
 
Manilla, Phillipines. Dirty ass city, no idea how or why it became the capital of a country. I specifically recall an ambulance siren going off and no one in traffic bothered to move their vehicle.
 
Nelspruit, South Africa.

The provincial capital where all the tidy sum of racist white farmers seem to congregate. Certainly has improved over the few years, but the place is mediocre to no end when compared to the old cities in South Africa.
 
It's an old stereotype and there's some truth to it, but it's no more applicable to New Yorkers than any big city, especially cities in the north east, it's just that NYC happens to be the most iconic one. The stereotype is of city dwellers who are in their own head, move fast, get annoyed when out-of-towners clog up their routine. There was more truth to it in the 80s when that fast-moving high finance middle-to-upper class emerged in NYC.

It's changed since then though, but the stereotype persists and people will naturally find more reasons to justify the stereotype.

Yeah I understand, even I'm guilty of getting annoyed at tourists that block the sidewalk. Usually I just make an exaggerated sigh and walk in the street.
 
Glendale, Arizona

How can people stand to live in such an ugly piece of shit? It's nothing but miles of strip malls full of massive chain stores and suburbs full of identical-looking houses. Have the people living there ever heard of something called "private business," or do the zoning laws require there to be a an Olive Garden, Wal-Mart, etc every 10 feet? Also, it's in the middle of the desert and there are virtually no seasons. This place might be the absolute best example of disgusting American consumerism you will possibly find here.
 
Baton Rouge sticks out as being terrible - haven't been there in awhile though.

Schaumburg, IL is a suburban hell.

Detroit is awful.
 
Peoria, IL. There was nothing to do there and the whole town just had a vibe that it was dying. Even during lunch hour downtown, there was hardly any people. The only businesses that seemed to be doing really well were shady looking dive bars.
 
Yeah I understand, even I'm guilty of getting annoyed at tourists that block the sidewalk. Usually I just make an exaggerated sigh and walk in the street.

Basically every big place that has tourists breeds some of that attitude. Being from the DC area the tourists who clog up the escalators by standing two abreast or by stopping to look at their map immediately after stepping off are enough to send any Metro commuter into conniptions. Even as a tourist the worst part of travel is the other tourists, from the massive gangs of Asian tour groups swamping the Louvre to the incredible loud Latin backpackers to whatever bad national tourist stereotype you can think of (those British gents next to me really did not understand that they were at a French restaurant which didn't do kidneys.)
 
Glendale, Arizona

How can people stand to live in such an ugly piece of shit? It's nothing but miles of strip malls full of massive chain stores and suburbs full of identical-looking houses. Have the people living there ever heard of something called "private business," or do the zoning laws require there to be a an Olive Garden, Wal-Mart, etc every 10 feet? Also, it's in the middle of the desert and there are virtually no seasons. This place might be the absolute best example of disgusting American consumerism you will possibly find here.

They also played country music when I was at a golfing range practicing for a round. What the fuck is wrong with them?! Nice golf course though in the burbs. I could smell pot through one of those "vertical sewers" if I could call it that. Some teenage girl trying to take the edge off.
 
ITT: People trying to be edgy. Even Ottawa, as boring as it is, is no where close to the "worst city".

This thread specifically asked the worst city YOU have been to, people can only go by their own personal experience, I hear people shit on Jacksonville all the time and places in Delaware and I enjoyed my time in both those places much more than NYC, but that's my own personal experience.
 
Yeah I understand, even I'm guilty of getting annoyed at tourists that block the sidewalk. Usually I just make an exaggerated sigh and walk in the street.

Yeah you can usually tell if people are non city living tourists just by how much of the pavement they take up. Four people side by side walking really damn slow. Once you have to navigate around different groups multiple times a journey it becomes tiresome very quickly. At least in New York there is ample sidewalk compared to most cities around the world.
 
What? They were on the show "Jersey Shore" and live in New Jersey...

Back when I lived in NYC and people still watched this show people talked about how all the jersey shore cast is from NY. No idea how true it is as I never cared enough to look it up. But jersey shore (as in the place not the show) is filled with people from NYC during the summer anyway.
 
Glendale, Arizona

How can people stand to live in such an ugly piece of shit? It's nothing but miles of strip malls full of massive chain stores and suburbs full of identical-looking houses. Have the people living there ever heard of something called "private business," or do the zoning laws require there to be a an Olive Garden, Wal-Mart, etc every 10 feet? Also, it's in the middle of the desert and there are virtually no seasons. This place might be the absolute best example of disgusting American consumerism you will possibly find here.

Glendale is extremely nice. If that's the worst city you've been in, you're pretty lucky. lol
 
Tampa is real bad. The traffic is consistently terrible everywhere, the city is ugly, and even the "bigger" areas like near Raymond James are trashy and littered with strip clubs.
 
How is Naples architecturally amazing? What? It has lots of old buildings but many of them are grimy and crumbling. It is a grimy place in general. It's also teeming with people and a fair chunk of them are dodgy. The metro train system is good, now that I think about it. Hop on a train and visit Pompeii and Mt Vesuvius. For me, Naples was a gateway to much better places.

And why go to Naples when you can go to Florence, which is clean, relatively cheap, dripping with history and among the most beautiful in the world?

Architecturally amazing is probably a bit of an exaggeration but it has many beautiful buildings although yes, some of it is pretty run-down.
I'm not trying to suggest that it's as beautiful as Siena, Parma, Bologna, Venice etc. just that it has a lot to offer and when a city has such a spectacular coastline, such amazing food, friendly people, lovely old buildings and a warren of medieval streets to explore, great museums and friendly people it's hard for me to see it as one of the world's worst cities.

Yes, compared to Northern Italy it's rough, run down and pretty scabby in places but is full of charm. I personally can't wait to return, neither can my gf.
We did go in January to be fair, I imagine it's less pleasant in the height of summer.

As for why go there instead of Florence?
Florence is more overrun with tourists, Naples is cheaper and has the best pizza :)
 
I don't think I could easily say "this is the worst city"
No matter where I've gone I've always found something interesting, even if it's the most rustic or dirty of places, there's always something different or unique to see.
 
Easy to say that but I really don't like my homecity, Brussels.

Weather is always bad, public transport are bad, few things to see, not really clean, lots of old buildings and everything is expensive.

Wish I get out of this city.
 
Glendale is extremely nice. If that's the worst city you've been in, you're pretty lucky. lol

If endless boring suburbs and strip malls is your idea of very nice, you need to get out more. I've been to places like Jakarta, Indonesia and Arequipa, Peru, which have their share of problems. But at least those places have a bit of character and aren't just the same block of chain stores copy-pasted a thousand times.

Go to Google maps and drop the little man onto just about any street in Glendale, and you'll land either in a shitty suburb or next to a strip mall.
 
Venice is worth a visit for the sights and architecture but I would absolutely hate to live there.

Beautiful city filled with tourist trap microwave pizza, and little plastic bags filled with poop every few steps.

If you are going to spend time in Italy I highly recommend Bologna. Beautiful, great food, history, and very manageable crowds.

All you need to do in Venice is wander away from the tourist areas, through the back streets and you'll find great, authentic restaurants, cool bars etc.

To get the best from Venice you have so put some effort in.
 
No, it's nonsense.
It's like saying NYC isn't one the most exciting places in the world, it's actually an enormous shithole because Donald Trump lived there and there's some graffiti in places.

If you're going to talk about places that are "the worst cities in the world', look at places that are bleak, polluted, have nothing to do, are dangerous, have shit food, nothing to see etc.

It's not nonsense. People have different experiences.

Of the places I've visited, I did not care for Rome at all. It was a complete disappointment. I didn't hate it, but I have little desire to go back. Other places I've been I would love to go back.
 
If endless boring suburbs and strip malls is your idea of very nice, you need to get out more. I've been to places like Jakarta, Indonesia and Arequipa, Peru, which have their share of problems. But at least those places have a bit of character and aren't just the same block of chain stores copy-pasted a thousand times.

I see Glendale more for it's gorgeous natural beauty. It's hard to beat the AZ deserts. And yes, I love suburbs when it comes to living, so that doesn't bother me. If strip malls and suburbia bother you, I'm not sure what big cities in the US you would enjoy (outside of maybe NYC). lol
 
Reminds me. New Orleans has a distinct funky smell about it. Not enough to make it WORST CITY EVAH but that and the amount of frat boy types was a bit of a turn off.

New Orleans is amazing as long as you aren't there in peak drunk college kid season.

At least New Orleans smell is weird and different. If you want to smell Cleveland just shit into an expired gallon of milk. Leave it in the sun for a week then microwave until it explodes.
 
That's the second time I've seen Liverpool in this thread. What is it about the city that makes it a bad place? In other words, what are the issues and why do they exist?
 
as a city itself, Bismarck, North Dakota. Absolutely devoid of anything of any interest, and it's hundreds of miles away from anything else of note. There is no reason to live in North Dakota.

For the people, Memphis, Tennessee. Ironic, because I love Nashville, but I was nearly robbed in Memphis not even one hour after arriving, the people were unfriendly and when I lived in TN all the news out of the place was bad.
 
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.
 
It's not nonsense. People have different experiences.

Of the places I've visited, I did not care for Rome at all. It was a complete disappointment. I didn't hate it, but I have little desire to go back. Other places I've been I would love to go back.

What was disappointing?
 
Twice when I have been in Fresno I have seen this shirt being sold. I found it hard to disagree.

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i moved to fresno 3 years ago from san diego...i live in clovis now. fresno is not nearly as bad as some of its surrounding bum fuck cities. see mendota, caruthers, five points, coalinga etc etc. i drive around all of the central valley for work so i see a lot of these places. but still, being the least sucky out of some sucky cities doesnt make it less sucky =/
 
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