Worst city in the US
Sep 18th 2007, 4:21 pm
#16
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Re: 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 ??
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 ??
Worst city I've ever been to is Memphis.
Sep 18th 2007, 4:28 pm
#17
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Re: Worst city in the US
Forgot about Memphis - certain areas incredibly crap - quite liked Beale street though.
Philly was also dirty and full of extremely crappy architecture, lots of it right beside some supposedly treasured national monuments.
Sep 18th 2007, 4:49 pm
#18
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Re: Worst city in the US
Went to art institute - not bad and view of city from there is nice.
Forgot about Memphis - certain areas incredibly crap - quite liked Beale street though.
Philly was also dirty and full of extremely crappy architecture, lots of it right beside some supposedly treasured national monuments.
Forgot about Memphis - certain areas incredibly crap - quite liked Beale street though.
Philly was also dirty and full of extremely crappy architecture, lots of it right beside some supposedly treasured national monuments.
I often wonder whether American cities actually have a town panning department.
Is town planning even a recognised degree here?
PS: Did you see the Turner and van der Weyden's Deposition from the Cross? WOW!!
Sep 18th 2007, 4:56 pm
#19
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Sep 18th 2007, 4:57 pm
#20
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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.
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.
Sep 18th 2007, 5:05 pm
#21
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Location: Sparta NJ
Posts: 7,605
Re: Worst city in the US
Atlantic City NJ is pretty grim - although I gather it's way better than it used to be. Even now if you step more than 50 yards from the boardwalk or one of the casinos you'll find loads of run down or boarded up terraced houses and litter strewn vacant lots. In an effort to clean the place up they simply bulldozed whole city blocks: the east end of AC is basically loads of empty weed covered blocks with the occasional crappy house still holding out on one corner. And on the boardwalk the seagulls are pretty fearsome - saw them diving on people to rip the sausages out of their hotdogs when I was there.
Sep 18th 2007, 5:23 pm
#22
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Re: Worst city in the US
Atlantic City NJ is pretty grim - although I gather it's way better than it used to be. Even now if you step more than 50 yards from the boardwalk or one of the casinos you'll find loads of run down or boarded up terraced houses and litter strewn vacant lots. In an effort to clean the place up they simply bulldozed whole city blocks: the east end of AC is basically loads of empty weed covered blocks with the occasional crappy house still holding out on one corner. And on the boardwalk the seagulls are pretty fearsome - saw them diving on people to rip the sausages out of their hotdogs when I was there.
Sep 18th 2007, 5:31 pm
#23
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Re: Worst city in the US
Although we live in NJ our local news is broadcast from Philly and there is usually one or more murders reported each evening. The latest number is over 300 murders so far this year.
The problem with Philly is that it's a fairly small city and one minute you're in the nice, touristy area and the next you're in the heart of the 'ghettos'. Every single time I drive into Philly I end up in the wrong part of town. Not to mention the fact that it's a two minute drive from Philly over the Delaware into Camden, NJ, now that is a sh***y city.
Still never plucked up the courage to go to Atlantic City but have worked a couple of miles away in Pleasantville, which certainly does not live up to it's name.
The problem with Philly is that it's a fairly small city and one minute you're in the nice, touristy area and the next you're in the heart of the 'ghettos'. Every single time I drive into Philly I end up in the wrong part of town. Not to mention the fact that it's a two minute drive from Philly over the Delaware into Camden, NJ, now that is a sh***y city.
Still never plucked up the courage to go to Atlantic City but have worked a couple of miles away in Pleasantville, which certainly does not live up to it's name.
Sep 18th 2007, 5:45 pm
#25
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Re: Worst city in the US
How about cities that should be great but totally fail? I was in Burlington VT last month. It's pretty much a textbook example of how to absolutely ruin an incredibly beautiful site for a city.
- Lake Champlain is gorgeous and yet the city makes essentially no use of its amazing waterfront. All of the tourist areas, shopping districts and restaurants are well away from the shore while factories, depots and hideous warehouses crowd the lake.
- Burlington's situated on a steep hill. On a clear day, you can see straight across the Lake to New York State. It's almost Alpine in its beauty. Yet most buildings seem to not take advantage of the view.
- The main downtown street is extremely "Disneyfied" and packed with awful, glitzy restarants and flashy architecture left over from the 80s. It's totally against everything that Vermont actually stands for (natural beauty, lack of commercialization and simple, thrifty charm).
- The poverty there is somewhat shocking in a state that prides itself as being the most "progressive". Some of the neighborhoods right next to the main tourist drag are almost Dickensian.
Overall, a wreck of a city. It should study Madison WI or Bend, OR for an example of how to do a small "outdoorsy city" right.
Last edited by Hiro11; Sep 18th 2007 at 5:47 pm.
Sep 18th 2007, 5:54 pm
#26
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Location: Highland Park, NJ
Posts: 2,452
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.
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.
I like places with a proper centre and where you can walk from one area of town to another. St Louis was just pockets of nice places surrounded by crap so I wouldn't bother going back there again.
Even though we're reasonably close to Philly I only ever went there to visit clients for work. It seemed nice enough in the area where their offices were, just a typical city business area though.
Sep 18th 2007, 6:03 pm
#27
Homebody
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Location: HOME
Posts: 23,179
Re: Worst city in the US
Portlands a dump too, the outskirts are nice, though.
How about cities that should be great but totally fail? I was in Burlington VT last month. It's pretty much a textbook example of how to absolutely ruin an incredibly beautiful site for a city.
- Lake Champlain is gorgeous and yet the city makes essentially no use of its amazing waterfront. All of the tourist areas, shopping districts and restaurants are well away from the shore while factories, depots and hideous warehouses crowd the lake.
- Burlington's situated on a steep hill. On a clear day, you can see straight across the Lake to New York State. It's almost Alpine in its beauty. Yet most buildings seem to not take advantage of the view.
- The main downtown street is extremely "Disneyfied" and packed with awful, glitzy restarants and flashy architecture left over from the 80s. It's totally against everything that Vermont actually stands for (natural beauty, lack of commercialization and simple, thrifty charm).
- The poverty there is somewhat shocking in a state that prides itself as being the most "progressive". Some of the neighborhoods right next to the main tourist drag are almost Dickensian.
Overall, a wreck of a city. It should study Madison WI or Bend, OR for an example of how to do a small "outdoorsy city" right.
How about cities that should be great but totally fail? I was in Burlington VT last month. It's pretty much a textbook example of how to absolutely ruin an incredibly beautiful site for a city.
- Lake Champlain is gorgeous and yet the city makes essentially no use of its amazing waterfront. All of the tourist areas, shopping districts and restaurants are well away from the shore while factories, depots and hideous warehouses crowd the lake.
- Burlington's situated on a steep hill. On a clear day, you can see straight across the Lake to New York State. It's almost Alpine in its beauty. Yet most buildings seem to not take advantage of the view.
- The main downtown street is extremely "Disneyfied" and packed with awful, glitzy restarants and flashy architecture left over from the 80s. It's totally against everything that Vermont actually stands for (natural beauty, lack of commercialization and simple, thrifty charm).
- The poverty there is somewhat shocking in a state that prides itself as being the most "progressive". Some of the neighborhoods right next to the main tourist drag are almost Dickensian.
Overall, a wreck of a city. It should study Madison WI or Bend, OR for an example of how to do a small "outdoorsy city" right.
I often wonder whether American cities actually have a town panning department.
Is town planning even a recognised degree here?
Sep 18th 2007, 6:05 pm
#28
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Location: Baltimore, MD
Posts: 409
Re: Worst city in the US
If you google "Shittiest city in America" the first item comes up with Baltimore. Yes it has it's troubles (like a really high murder rate) and there are some scary parts but It's OK really (if you're not dealing rock on someone elses corner), if somewhat provincial.
I'm surprised Davy mentioned Philly, as I rather like the place. Though I understand North Philadelphia is real ghetto.
There are some real soulless places tho in the US: Any of theose towns in Northern Virginia. Salt Lake city is just downright weird.
I'm surprised Davy mentioned Philly, as I rather like the place. Though I understand North Philadelphia is real ghetto.
There are some real soulless places tho in the US: Any of theose towns in Northern Virginia. Salt Lake city is just downright weird.
