Worst city in the US
 

Ok - based on how this thread goes I might start a poll.

No doubt some of you are better travelled than others and so will be able to give more comprehensive opinions.

Basically I'm starting this thread because I had the misfortune to spend half of Saturday in Philly. Lovely airport, but the rest of the town seemed like a complete dump.

What other sh!tpits can compete with Philly for crappiest city in the US ??

Re: Worst city in the US
 

need i say anymore :p

Re: Worst city in the US
 

Detroit...downtown looks like a war zone with burnt out buildings etc.

Re: Worst city in the US
 

East St. Louis. Not much of a city really, but it really, really sucks. Unless you want "Gentleman's clubs", then it's your town...

Re: Worst city in the US
 

Can't agree with you there Davy, I think Philly is a blast! Brilliant night out on a weekend - South Street and area a good place to go.

I think the shittiest place I've been to is Oakland in CA - complete constrast to nearby San Francisco.

Re: Worst city in the US
 

Gary, Indiana. Had to pass through this city on a trip to Michigan a number of years ago. Camden, NJ isn't great either :)

Re: Worst city in the US
 

America's most dangerous city
St. Louis, MO

http://money.cnn.com/popups/2006/rea...t_worst/2.html

Re: Worst city in the US
 

But the Casino boat has one hell of a buffet!

Re: Worst city in the US
 

Gary is dangerous (been there many times - don't like it when the car stops at a red light), but Philly just appeared to be sh!t - a small but important difference.

Re: Worst city in the US
 

And danger does not necessarily make somewhere shit.....been to plenty of safe places, which were totally boring and tedious!

Re: Worst city in the US
 

I take it you've never been to Newark NJ. :eek:

Re: Worst city in the US
 

LOL ... I was going to post Newark via quick reply and your post was staring at me.:thumbsup:

Re: Worst city in the US
 

We always wonder what tourists going to NYC think when they leave Newark Airport...especially when they drive past the high security prison :eek:

Re: Worst city in the US
 

Actually, the "America's most dangerous City" moniker was earned using stats that don't tell the whole story. In order to understand what I mean you must understand how the city is set up.

St. Louis City proper is really a city within a city. The original City defined itself seperately from St. Louis County back in the 1800's when St. Louis County was very rural. So now we have St. Louis "City" and St. Louis "County" which are legally completely different entities. The city has a population of 300 some odd thousand out of a total Metro (City+ County) population of nearly three million. The numbers Ray quoted were taken from the "City" crime figures. Breaking it down even further, the VAST majority of St. Louis City's violent crime takes place in "North" City, (AKA "The Hood") an area comprised of neighborhoods located in the Northern Third of the City.

And yes, this small area has enough violent crime to carry the other two thirds of the City to the top of the most violent list.


Stay out of North City and St. Louis is a very safe place.:)

Re: Worst city in the US
 

Just to pile on: St. Louis seems like it has few redeeming qualities. I spent a week there (admittedly 15 years ago) and couldn't find too much attractive about the city.

I'd also nominate Baltimore as a close second. Dangerous, run-down and polluted.

I personally don't like most Texas cities, but that's just me. the exception is Austin.

Philly is indeed fairly dump-ish but some sections are absolutely gorgeous.

Surprisingly nice (smaller) cities that get a bad rap:

Kansas City, MO
Cincinatti, OH
Columbus, OH
Milwaukee, WI
Pittsburgh, PA
Omaha, NE
Rochester, NY

All of those are much nicer than their reputation warrants, IMO.