# Bad city's in America. **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [October 29, 2019, 1:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bad-citys-in-america/842631 "2019-10-29T01:20:12Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![squeetaleta](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bbce88/32.png) [@squeetaleta](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/squeetaleta)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2019, 1:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bad-citys-in-america/842631/1 "2019-10-29T01:20:12Z")
I want to see the dark underbelly of America one city at a time. Who’s got some dirty city stories Sent from my A574BL using Tapatalk ---
**Author:** ![mhendo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mhendo/32/3159_2.png) [@mhendo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mhendo)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2019, 1:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bad-citys-in-america/842631/2 "2019-10-29T01:28:50Z")
Bad city’s what? Reported for forum change. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2019, 1:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bad-citys-in-america/842631/3 "2019-10-29T01:41:44Z")
I don’t see this going well at all. ---
**Author:** ![Ambivalid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a5b964/32.png) [@Ambivalid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ambivalid)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2019, 1:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bad-citys-in-america/842631/4 "2019-10-29T01:46:57Z")
> [@squeetaleta](#): > > I want to see the dark underbelly of America one city at a time. Who’s got some dirty city stories > Sent from my A574BL using Tapatalk Just for some perspective here, could you toss out a few of what _you_ consider to be “bad” cities? ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2019, 3:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bad-citys-in-america/842631/5 "2019-10-29T03:23:07Z")
[Moderating] Moving to MPSIMS. ---
**Author:** ![Wesley\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wesley_clark/32/20581_2.png) [@Wesley\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wesley_Clark)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2019, 3:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bad-citys-in-america/842631/6 "2019-10-29T03:23:23Z")
East St Louis has a per capita murder rate on par with Venezuela. This documentary has some pretty raw footage. [![]( " - YouTube") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hwBoa-NbNL8) ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2019, 3:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bad-citys-in-america/842631/7 "2019-10-29T03:46:41Z")
How do you define “bad cities” and “the dark underbelly of America”? I agree with Chefguy - this thread probably won’t end well. ---
**Author:** ![HurricaneDitka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/96bed5/32.png) [@HurricaneDitka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HurricaneDitka)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2019, 3:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bad-citys-in-america/842631/8 "2019-10-29T03:52:09Z")
[Seattle is Dying](https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=450547018819467) ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2019, 3:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bad-citys-in-america/842631/9 "2019-10-29T03:57:24Z")
Well, I’ll bite. This little town near me (not naming it) is a scary little food desert. It has 2 frightening gas stations. No ice for sell. No ATMs anywhere. A hardware/feed store that has a weird guy running it with his floozy daughters who are rumored to be hookers. Plus the guy is a bookie. A giant liquor emporium. And a nasty dollar store. The city hall burnt down a few years ago. Now city business is taken up at the crazy mayors house. The school was assimilated into a county school. The kids are bussed 35 miles each way. What else? Oh yeah it has an old bridge (across no water)that is on the historic register. No explaining that. ETA, I forgot to mention Uncle Phipps he’s a witch doctor. Always on the street scaring people. ---
**Author:** ![DorkVader](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/73ab20/32.png) [@DorkVader](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DorkVader)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2019, 3:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bad-citys-in-america/842631/10 "2019-10-29T03:57:26Z")
I hear Detroit is in the process of becoming a revenant city ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2019, 10:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bad-citys-in-america/842631/11 "2019-10-29T10:55:05Z")
OP: Do you mean places where they don’t teach kids how to make a word plural? ---
**Author:** ![Annoyed](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f04885/32.png) [@Annoyed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annoyed)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2019, 11:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bad-citys-in-america/842631/12 "2019-10-29T11:41:26Z")
New Orleans, just outside the tourist areas. ---
**Author:** ![Oredigger77](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/oredigger77/32/3181_2.png) [@Oredigger77](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oredigger77)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2019, 1:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bad-citys-in-america/842631/13 "2019-10-29T13:28:11Z")
Florence, Colorado has some of the scariest people alive in it. Of course you’ve got to be special to see those people. ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2019, 1:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bad-citys-in-america/842631/14 "2019-10-29T13:45:09Z")
Three in Maine: Derry, Castle Rock and 'Salem’s Lot. ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2019, 1:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bad-citys-in-america/842631/15 "2019-10-29T13:52:48Z")
> [@mhendo](#): > > Bad city’s what? > > Reported for forum change. It’s in America. Which city is still unclear. ---
**Author:** ![bobot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bobot/32/21622_2.png) [@bobot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bobot)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2019, 1:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bad-citys-in-america/842631/16 "2019-10-29T13:58:26Z")
**Hell for Certain, KY** > **[Hell for Certain, Kentucky](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hell_for_Certain,_Kentucky)** > > Hell for Certain is an unincorporated community in Leslie County, Kentucky, United States. Also known as Dryhill, the community is 7 miles (11 km) north of the small town of Hyden. The place became known as Hell for Certain because it is located near a creek of the same name. > A mission church sits at the mouth of Hell for Certain Creek at the Middle Fork Kentucky River. The church was started in the early 1950s by the late Miss Evelyn Fuqua, who was a licensed minister in the Fellowship of Grace... ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2019, 1:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bad-citys-in-america/842631/17 "2019-10-29T13:58:30Z")
My brother once lived in Newark, NJ when he was working in NY. Back then at least, it was a pretty seamy city. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2019, 2:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bad-citys-in-america/842631/18 "2019-10-29T14:13:00Z")
New York City is usually filthy. Chicago is surprisingly clean though. ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2019, 2:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bad-citys-in-america/842631/19 "2019-10-29T14:16:27Z")
I’m thinking that most cities aren’t really that unique in terms of their seamy underbellies. Poverty and crime are probably much the same regardless of whether you’re in Chicago, Baltimore, Seattle, Los Angeles or New Orleans. Now if you’re talking about some sort of pervy-style “dark underbelly” of illicit entertainments and activities in various cities, I don’t have anything to contribute about that. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2019, 2:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bad-citys-in-america/842631/20 "2019-10-29T14:43:25Z")
> [@Annoyed](#): > > New Orleans, just outside the tourist areas. Bourbon Street at 11:59:59 pm on Mardi Gras, or so I’ve heard. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bad-citys-in-america/842631.md?page=2)