# 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:** 3
**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, 9:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bad-citys-in-america/842631/41 "2019-10-29T21:21:46Z")
I hate New Orleans as well. My mid-daughter and family live there. Not really a family friendly place. Her husband is a chef and makes great money. So they stay. She keeps moving further and further out in the burbs. ---
**Author:** ![nelliebly](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nelliebly/32/5422_2.png) [@nelliebly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nelliebly)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2019, 9:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bad-citys-in-america/842631/42 "2019-10-29T21:57:02Z")
> [@HurricaneDitka](#): > > [Seattle is Dying](https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=450547018819467) Hahahahaha! Thanks for the chuckle. [Seattle’s economy is the third fastest-growing in the nation](https://komonews.com/news/local/seattle-named-3rd-fastest-growing-economy-in-america). I know some conservatives WISH it would die, but contrary to the Facebook page you used as a cite, it’s alive and kicking. I sure wouldn’t recommend it as the dark underbelly the OP is looking for. ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2019, 10:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bad-citys-in-america/842631/43 "2019-10-29T22:43:21Z")
> [@madsircool](#): > > You have the Pretenders above, but Americas darkest city is wrapped in in shiny sparkles and wears clownish garish makeup. It is where Americans come to live dreams and descend into nightmares. > > [25 Dark And Disturbing Pictures From LA's Criminal Underworld](https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/gabrielsanchez/25-dark-and-disturbing-pictures-from-las-criminal-underworld) Fear and Loathing in Los Angeles, huh? “We were somewhere around Anaheim on the edge of the suburbs when the drugs began to take hold.” ---
**Author:** ![ricksummon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ricksummon/32/3333_2.png) [@ricksummon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ricksummon)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2019, 10:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bad-citys-in-america/842631/44 "2019-10-29T22:55:20Z")
> [@RTFirefly](#): > > “We were somewhere around Anaheim on the edge of the suburbs when the drugs began to take hold.” If the drugs took hold in _Anaheim,_ you might be tempted to visit _Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge._ Just Say No! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Ulfreida](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ulfreida/32/8014_2.png) [@Ulfreida](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ulfreida)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2019, 11:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bad-citys-in-america/842631/45 "2019-10-29T23:07:37Z")
Bakersfield, California. Just take my word for it. At least it’s a dry heat. ---
**Author:** ![Isosleepy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/isosleepy/32/479_2.png) [@Isosleepy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Isosleepy)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2019, 12:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bad-citys-in-america/842631/46 "2019-10-30T00:01:54Z")
Mingo Junction, OH. It is the bottom of the well of despair. Assad saw a documentary on it once and said: “I can do better”. He’s still working on it. ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2019, 12:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bad-citys-in-america/842631/47 "2019-10-30T00:12:10Z")
> [@nelliebly](#): > > Hahahahaha! Thanks for the chuckle. [Seattle’s economy is the third fastest-growing in the nation](https://komonews.com/news/local/seattle-named-3rd-fastest-growing-economy-in-america). I know some conservatives WISH it would die, but contrary to the Facebook page you used as a cite, it’s alive and kicking. I sure wouldn’t recommend it as the dark underbelly the OP is looking for. The video he’s linking is a “documentary” produced by KOMO, a Sinclair-owned Seattle TV station. It’s little more than Trumpist propaganda about how “liberalism” is to blame for homeless and drug abuse, completely ignoring the fact that Seattle’s runaway economic growth is gentrifying the city to the point that most of the people who work there can’t afford to live there and people who’ve been living there for generations are being priced out of their homes. It’s only worth watching if you’re of the opinion that the poor need to be punished for not being rich. ---
**Author:** ![madmonk28](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madmonk28/32/20811_2.png) [@madmonk28](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madmonk28)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2019, 1:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bad-citys-in-america/842631/48 "2019-10-30T01:20:12Z")
Every elected official in Front RoyL, Virginia is under indictment and the sheriff recently shot himself. ---
**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 30, 2019, 11:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bad-citys-in-america/842631/49 "2019-10-30T11:14:21Z")
> [@Jasmine](#): > > I hated New Orleans. Besides being hot and humid as hell, I got quickly sick of jambalaya, and the River Walk was pretty mediocre. The French Quarter, which they love to romanticize, had rusting wrought iron fences and wood swollen and peeling from the humidity. I thought it sucked and couldn’t wait to leave after only 4 days. > [@What\_Exit](#): > > I love New Orleans despite hating the hot and the humid. > > What time of year did you go? I was there once in July for a family thing and it was very tough. > > If you were just eating jambalaya, you were of course doing something wrong. 🙂 New Orleans is a dining city like NYC & SF. Loads of good places to eat. > > Plenty of good museums, a very nice aquarium & zoo. Canoe trips in swamps with alligators close. Airboat tours. Just going to the French Quarter and hitting the market and all the great little stores. There is a lot to do. Some people enjoy the plantation tours or ghost walking tours. > > Generally a lot of good and different live music throughout New Orleans. > [@Beckdawrek](#): > > I hate New Orleans as well. My mid-daughter and family live there. Not really a family friendly place. Her husband is a chef and makes great money. So they stay. She keeps moving further and further out in the burbs. Y’all skipped over the bars. Having a Hurricane or two at Pat O’Brien’s, a Bloody meal-in-a-glass at The Erin Rose, a beer and burger at Port of Call, etc, etc. Then hit the VooDoo shops and visit Marie Laveau’s crypt and chalk an “xxx”. Listen to the buskers performing just for you. > [@](#): > > And I wish I was in New Orleans, 'cause I can see it in my dreams, > Arm-in-arm down Burgundy, a bottle and my friends and me > New Orleans, I’ll be there ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2019, 12:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bad-citys-in-america/842631/50 "2019-10-30T12:01:51Z")
Believe me, I didn’t skip the bars. ---
**Author:** ![Jasmine](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jasmine/32/2964_2.png) [@Jasmine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jasmine)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2019, 12:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bad-citys-in-america/842631/51 "2019-10-30T12:10:46Z")
> [@What\_Exit](#): > > If you ever give it another chance, try December through February. It is much nicer. November & March are fine. You must be right because the only people I’ve met who loved New Orleans were there for Mardi Gras, and that’s in February. Boston can be charming for a visit because it has a flavor all its own, but I’ve never considered it to be in the same league as New York, Chicago, or San Francisco. ---
**Author:** ![Doyle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doyle/32/439_2.png) [@Doyle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doyle)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2019, 1:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bad-citys-in-america/842631/52 "2019-10-30T13:06:31Z")
> [@Annoyed](#): > > New Orleans, just outside the tourist areas. At one time two housing projects in New Orleans accounted for around 70% of the city’s murders. They’ve since been razed. ---
**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 30, 2019, 1:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bad-citys-in-america/842631/53 "2019-10-30T13:47:01Z")
> [@What\_Exit](#): > > Believe me, I didn’t skip the bars. And yet you had time for: > [@](#): > > Plenty of good museums, a very nice aquarium & zoo. Canoe trips in swamps with alligators close. Airboat tours. Just going to the French Quarter and hitting the market and all the great little stores. There is a lot to do. Some people enjoy the plantation tours or ghost walking tours. I never knew any of that stuff existed.😃 ---
**Author:** ![wguy123](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wguy123/32/3161_2.png) [@wguy123](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wguy123)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2019, 1:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bad-citys-in-america/842631/54 "2019-10-30T13:58:30Z")
> [@nelliebly](#): > > Hahahahaha! Thanks for the chuckle. [Seattle’s economy is the third fastest-growing in the nation](https://komonews.com/news/local/seattle-named-3rd-fastest-growing-economy-in-america). I know some conservatives WISH it would die, but contrary to the Facebook page you used as a cite, it’s alive and kicking. I sure wouldn’t recommend it as the dark underbelly the OP is looking for. Salt Lake City has a surging homelessness problem: [https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-homelessness-housing/once-a-national-model-utah-struggles-with-homelessness-idUSKCN1P41EQ](https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-homelessness-housing/once-a-national-model-utah-struggles-with-homelessness-idUSKCN1P41EQ) Guess it is also one of the bad city’s in America. ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2019, 2:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bad-citys-in-america/842631/55 "2019-10-30T14:00:23Z")
> [@kayaker](#): > > And yet you had time for: > > I never knew any of that stuff existed.😃 I’ve been to NO 8 times I think. Usually for a week at a time. 2 Mardi Gras when much younger, a wedding, 2 birthday parties and 3 times just to visit. As I said, I like it despite the fact I don’t do well in the heat. My BIL lives there. It helps to find the other places. ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2019, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bad-citys-in-america/842631/56 "2019-10-30T20:13:02Z")
> [@kayaker](#): > > Y’all skipped over the bars. Having a Hurricane or two at Pat O’Brien’s Or… if you want to not go super touristy, have a Sazerac or French 75 at Arnaud’s. ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2019, 2:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bad-citys-in-america/842631/57 "2019-10-31T02:59:40Z")
Where’d the OP go? Did we scare him off with our terrifying stories about going to the French Quarter in New Orleans and drinking hurricanes? ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2019, 3:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bad-citys-in-america/842631/58 "2019-10-31T03:32:46Z")
> [@wguy123](#): > > Salt Lake City has a surging homelessness problem: > > [https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-homelessness-housing/once-a-national-model-utah-struggles-with-homelessness-idUSKCN1P41EQ](https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-homelessness-housing/once-a-national-model-utah-struggles-with-homelessness-idUSKCN1P41EQ) > > Guess it is also one of the bad city’s in America. And you have the FLDS to thank for that. This is what happens to all their, if you will, extra boys. ☹ My brother and his wife have said that they were more frightened driving down the main street of Anamosa, Iowa at noon on a Saturday than they ever were when they lived in Kansas City, which has its share of areas you don’t want to go at any time and was even worse when they lived there in the early 1990s. > **[Anamosa, Iowa](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anamosa,_Iowa)** > > Anamosa is a city in Jones County, Iowa, United States. The population was 5,450 at the 2020 census. It is the county seat of Jones County. > What is now Anamosa was founded as the settlement of Buffalo Forks in 1838 and incorporated as Lexington in > 1856. Lexington was a popular name for towns at that time, so when Lexington chose to become incorporated as a city in 1877, the name was changed to Anamosa to avoid mail delivery confusion. There are many stories on how Anamosa was chosen as a name... I once had an experience driving through a small town in northern Missouri (don’t remember which one it was) that I will never forget. I had to go to the bathroom and decided to stop at the next town…until I got there and despite it being a pleasant evening, I did not see ONE person outside even though the homes were obviously occupied, and there was just this feeling I had that I should not stop. So, I held it to the NEXT town and had no similar feeling there. ---
**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 31, 2019, 4:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bad-citys-in-america/842631/59 "2019-10-31T04:08:23Z")
I never understand people concerned with the heat. Plenty of air-conditioning, everywhere. You’re right it’s hot in the summer. Southerners stay indoors during the hottest part of the day. Humidity is what’s bad. ---
**Author:** ![HurricaneDitka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/96bed5/32.png) [@HurricaneDitka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HurricaneDitka)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2019, 6:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bad-citys-in-america/842631/60 "2019-10-31T06:25:24Z")
> [@wguy123](#): > > Salt Lake City has a surging homelessness problem: > > [https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-homelessness-housing/once-a-national-model-utah-struggles-with-homelessness-idUSKCN1P41EQ](https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-homelessness-housing/once-a-national-model-utah-struggles-with-homelessness-idUSKCN1P41EQ) > > Guess it is also one of the bad city’s in America. It’s going to be 18° in SLC in a couple of hours. That sort of thing does wonders for one’s homelessness problem. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bad-citys-in-america/842631.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bad-citys-in-america/842631.md?page=4)