# Are US no-go areas worse than European no-go areas? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [December 4, 2008, 4:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-us-no-go-areas-worse-than-european-no-go-areas/475687 "2008-12-04T16:19:59Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![2sense](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/2/e47774/32.png) [@2sense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/2sense)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2008, 7:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-us-no-go-areas-worse-than-european-no-go-areas/475687/61 "2008-12-08T07:14:04Z")
My father lived in the Algerian Quarter of Paris for a few months back around the turn of the millenium. He said he met French people who thought he was crazy for doing so but that it wasn’t as bad as when we lived in Detroit. He had some problems but was always able to “talk” his way out of trouble despite being a strict Anglophone. ---
**Author:** ![ruadh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/d2c977/32.png) [@ruadh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ruadh)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2008, 9:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-us-no-go-areas-worse-than-european-no-go-areas/475687/62 "2008-12-08T09:09:09Z")
On reflection, I probably wouldn’t walk through Summerhill (Dublin) late at night. And there are parts of the Liberties I’d probably avoid too. And one more example of our fine upstanding Dublin youth, all over the news this morning: [13-year-old arrested after East Wall murder](http://www.rte.ie/news/2008/1208/eastwall.html) ---
**Author:** ![SomeBodyUK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9d8465/32.png) [@SomeBodyUK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SomeBodyUK)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2008, 10:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-us-no-go-areas-worse-than-european-no-go-areas/475687/63 "2008-12-08T10:58:25Z")
British guy here who lives in the US now. I lived in downtown LA for 2 years, and during daylight hours it’s fine. You don’t want to be outside alone at night. Walk 2 blocks from little Tokyo after 9pm, and it can be pretty scary. The area outside the greyhound bus station is really bad. Martin Luther King blvd is bad, as is the area around USC. I studied at USC and we would always walk accompany female students to carpark after evening classes. Somebody was mugged every week just outside of campus. I was visiting a friend (a former marine who served in Iraq), and he told me he was too scared to walk 5 blocks from his place to mine! This was not too far from MacArthur Park. I kinda felt safe in downtown, I never felt too conspicuous, cos I’m brown too, like almost everybody else there. White people are rare in downtown, and on public transport. Once the cops prevented me from driving into my apartment cos a guy was waving a gun in front of it. To be honest I was more worried about the frozen food that I’d just bought get ruined than about getting shot. I think bad parts of the US are a lot worse than UK. Downtown LA is a disgrace - it got it’s first supermarket for 50 years (a Ralphs) last year. You will always find a supermarket in the most shitty parts of UK. I get the feeling that in many US cities, the authorities are prepared to let areas fall into decay, as long as they don’t affect the nice parts of town. It’s noticeable in downtown that the roads are full of potholes, go to a richer part of LA and the roads are great. Some parts of London that I’d hesitate to hang out very late at night would be Kentish town, Kings Cross and Tottenham. They’re known areas for drug dealing. ---
**Author:** ![sinical\_brit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/48db29/32.png) [@sinical\_brit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sinical_brit)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2008, 2:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-us-no-go-areas-worse-than-european-no-go-areas/475687/64 "2008-12-08T14:28:03Z")
There was a fascinating 2 parter by Louis Theroux on last night ( Law and Disorder ). He spent the 1st part in Philidelphia. Man there were some areas that i would NOT like be - at any time. The second part was in Johanesburg. Made Phili look like Disneyworld ! Re Dublin - live there for 6 months around 10 years ago. Felt safe in 99% of places but we did a job nr Finglas - Tolka Valley Road was not a pleasant place to be. We had cars hijacked there ! ---
**Author:** ![GorillaMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/50afbb/32.png) [@GorillaMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GorillaMan)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2008, 2:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-us-no-go-areas-worse-than-european-no-go-areas/475687/65 "2008-12-08T14:32:20Z")
> [@sinical\_brit](#): > > There was a fascinating 2 parter by Louis Theroux on last night ( Law and Disorder ). He spent the 1st part in Philidelphia. Man there were some areas that i would NOT like be - at any time. > > The second part was in Johanesburg. Made Phili look like Disneyworld ! Damn, that was on right after Top Gear, and I forgot about it and switched off! ---
**Author:** ![TwistofFate](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/cdc98d/32.png) [@TwistofFate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TwistofFate)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2008, 3:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-us-no-go-areas-worse-than-european-no-go-areas/475687/66 "2008-12-08T15:24:13Z")
> [@ruadh](#): > > On reflection, I probably wouldn’t walk through Summerhill (Dublin) late at night. And there are parts of the Liberties I’d probably avoid too. > > And one more example of our fine upstanding Dublin youth, all over the news this morning: [13-year-old arrested after East Wall murder](http://www.rte.ie/news/2008/1208/eastwall.html) it’s getting fucked up ☹ I don’t feel less safe than any other time living up here, but there’s heavier stuff happening all the time. ---
**Author:** ![griffin1977](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/977dab/32.png) [@griffin1977](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/griffin1977)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2008, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-us-no-go-areas-worse-than-european-no-go-areas/475687/67 "2008-12-08T15:57:36Z")
> [@SomeBodyUK](#): > > Downtown LA is a disgrace - it got it’s first supermarket for 50 years (a Ralphs) last year. You will always find a supermarket in the most shitty parts of UK. Yeah I totally agree with this. The crappier parts of Oakland are the same way, there is just NOTHING there, they are just like a waste land. The equivalent area in the UK would have _some_ amenities, a pub and a couple of shops at least. And NOTHING I’ve seen in the developed world compares to Downtown LA. > [@SomeBodyUK](#): > > It’s noticeable in downtown that the roads are full of potholes, go to a richer part of LA and the roads are great. I also seen that. I was amazed that East Palo Alto (the only really rough bit in the southern half of the San Francisco peninsula) had absolutely appalling roads. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-us-no-go-areas-worse-than-european-no-go-areas/475687.md?page=3)