# Cities That Stink (literally) **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [June 1, 2009, 9:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cities-that-stink-literally/498337 "2009-06-01T09:01:42Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Markxxx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5daacb/32.png) [@Markxxx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Markxxx)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2009, 9:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cities-that-stink-literally/498337/1 "2009-06-01T09:01:42Z")
I know this will offend someone, but did you ever go to a city and the whole town just smells. Like Whiting, Indiana. I used to live in Hammond and Cal City while Whiting may be on par with those cities in terms of houses and landscape, the oil refineries and such around Whiting just smell so bad they give me a headache. So what other towns (or sections of big towns) stink? ---
**Author:** ![Busy\_Scissors](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/d78d45/32.png) [@Busy\_Scissors](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Busy_Scissors)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2009, 10:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cities-that-stink-literally/498337/2 "2009-06-01T10:08:05Z")
Venice stinks. Sort of ironic, given what a beautiful city it is, but you walk out of the train station on a summers day and the place reeks. Edinburgh (another beautiful city) used to smell strongly of fermenting beer in places. It smelt ok to my nose but some people hated it. The brewing industry is all gone now,along with their yeasty odours. ---
**Author:** ![Tom\_Tildrum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e95f7d/32.png) [@Tom\_Tildrum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Tildrum)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2009, 10:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cities-that-stink-literally/498337/3 "2009-06-01T10:28:53Z")
Pine Bluff, Arkansas is well known in the state for the smell produced by the paper mills around town. ---
**Author:** ![Capt.Ridley\_s\_Shooting\_Party](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/cc9497/32.png) [@Capt.Ridley\_s\_Shooting\_Party](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Capt.Ridley_s_Shooting_Party)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2009, 11:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cities-that-stink-literally/498337/4 "2009-06-01T11:14:30Z")
> [@](#): > > Edinburgh (another beautiful city) used to smell strongly of fermenting beer in places. It smelt ok to my nose but some people hated it. The brewing industry is all gone now,along with their yeasty odours. No it hasn’t! One brewery (Scottish and Newcastle) has shut down, but the smell of yeast still remains from the other breweries, depending on the wind. ---
**Author:** ![Busy\_Scissors](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/d78d45/32.png) [@Busy\_Scissors](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Busy_Scissors)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2009, 11:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cities-that-stink-literally/498337/5 "2009-06-01T11:47:30Z")
There is only a single brewery left in Edinburgh - the Caledonian on Slateford Rd. Not enough to create much of an aroma where I live in Bruntsfield - but obviously one’s olfactory mileage will vary depending on where you’re based. I used to find the Fountain bridge site overwhelmingly strong at times. ---
**Author:** ![fachverwirrt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/94ad74/32.png) [@fachverwirrt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fachverwirrt)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2009, 11:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cities-that-stink-literally/498337/6 "2009-06-01T11:55:06Z")
Gary, Indiana, Gary, Indian, Gary Indiana. Let me say it once again. Berlin, New Hampshire used to have a large paper mill in town, but I believe it’s gone (which is good for the smell, but very bad for their economy. I haven’t been there in years, though. When I was there, it smelled. ---
**Author:** ![racer72](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/racer72/32/3075_2.png) [@racer72](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/racer72)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2009, 12:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cities-that-stink-literally/498337/7 "2009-06-01T12:53:03Z")
How about the Aroma of Tacoma? During periods of low tide on warm days, the smell of rotting vegetation on the tide flats of Commencement Bay can be overpowering. Bruce Springsteen once had to delay a concert at the Tacoma Dome because he wasn’t feeling well. The locals blamed it on the aromatic stench. ---
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2009, 1:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cities-that-stink-literally/498337/8 "2009-06-01T13:17:03Z")
Artesia, New Mexico has a distinct aroma–and they’re quite proud of it. The sign leading into town says “Artesia–The Sweet Smell of Success!” Port Wentworth, GA (outside of Savannah) has some interesting smells. ---
**Author:** ![Capt.Ridley\_s\_Shooting\_Party](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/cc9497/32.png) [@Capt.Ridley\_s\_Shooting\_Party](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Capt.Ridley_s_Shooting_Party)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2009, 1:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cities-that-stink-literally/498337/9 "2009-06-01T13:25:04Z")
> [@Busy\_Scissors](#): > > There is only a single brewery left in Edinburgh - the Caledonian on Slateford Rd. Not enough to create much of an aroma where I live in Bruntsfield - but obviously one’s olfactory mileage will vary depending on where you’re based. I used to find the Fountain bridge site overwhelmingly strong at times. You can still smell the brewery in Newington when the wind blows in the right direction (I thought Innis and Gunn was an independent brewer, but apparently it’s just a trademark owned by Caledonian, according to Wiki). The smell can be pretty overwhelming at Murrayfield. ---
**Author:** ![Student\_Driver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/3da27b/32.png) [@Student\_Driver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Student_Driver)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2009, 1:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cities-that-stink-literally/498337/10 "2009-06-01T13:35:32Z")
Indianapolis, IN. (9 posts, 3 Indiana cities… good grief). The smell of rotten potatoes often fills the air downtown and on the southside thanks to the National Starch & Chemical Company-- most common on cool/cold days with no wind. The downtown canals, and to a lesser extent the canals in Broad Ripple, have to be dredged occasionally, as they fill with stinking algae and mold. In hot weather, people often avoid the canal areas because of the stench. Sewage smells are common downtown around the canals and White River, especially on rainy days. When combined with more rare weather combinations, the sewage smell fills the entire downtown area, and can be smelled even indoors. Constant, lingering natural gas/rotten egg smells abound in certain neighborhoods-- the northside, downtown, the near southside… ---
**Author:** ![Kyla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/eada6e/32.png) [@Kyla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kyla)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2009, 1:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cities-that-stink-literally/498337/11 "2009-06-01T13:39:37Z")
Gary, Indiana. Yeah, I know it’s already been mentioned, but it just smells THAT BAD. Chicago stinks…of chocolate. God, the horror, when the wind blows in just the right way and the entire downtown smells like baking brownies. You have no idea how awful this is. (The first time I smelled it, I thought I was losing my mind. Turns out there’s a chocolate factory really close to downtown. Some jerkfaces decide the smell was an EPA violation a couple years ago and there was a tussle to get the factory shut down or something. I’m not sure what happened with that.) ---
**Author:** ![gravitycrash](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/977dab/32.png) [@gravitycrash](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gravitycrash)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2009, 1:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cities-that-stink-literally/498337/12 "2009-06-01T13:54:46Z")
> [@Tom\_Tildrum](#): > > Pine Bluff, Arkansas is well known in the state for the smell produced by the paper mills around town. I was going to mention Pine Bluff. The town just reeks. Everyone there seems pissed off also. I guess I can understand if I had to live there. Honorable mention to Sioux City, Iowa. Meat processing plants in the summer time. ---
**Author:** ![chowder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/977dab/32.png) [@chowder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chowder)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2009, 2:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cities-that-stink-literally/498337/13 "2009-06-01T14:00:37Z")
> [@Busy\_Scissors](#): > > Venice stinks. Sort of ironic, given what a beautiful city it is, but you walk out of the train station on a summers day and the place reeks. > > . I’ll second that, beautiful but smelly ---
**Author:** ![Defensive\_Indifference](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/defensive_indifference/32/6502_2.png) [@Defensive\_Indifference](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Defensive_Indifference)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2009, 2:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cities-that-stink-literally/498337/14 "2009-06-01T14:12:32Z")
Sauget, Illinois and its neighbor Cahokia have a lovely bouquet from the local copper, rubber, chemical, and other assorted industrial plants. (At least they did 10 years ago when I was last through there) ---
**Author:** ![Bartman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/779978/32.png) [@Bartman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bartman)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2009, 2:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cities-that-stink-literally/498337/15 "2009-06-01T14:20:18Z")
> [@gravitycrash](#): > > Honorable mention to Sioux City, Iowa. Meat processing plants in the summer time. Greeley Colorado deserves a mention for the same reason. Blegh. ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2009, 2:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cities-that-stink-literally/498337/16 "2009-06-01T14:22:04Z")
Milwaukee’s Menomonee river valley used to get pretty smelly, thanks to both the tanneries and the Red Star yeast factory. ---
**Author:** ![Jamaika\_a\_jamaikaiake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/7993a0/32.png) [@Jamaika\_a\_jamaikaiake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jamaika_a_jamaikaiake)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2009, 2:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cities-that-stink-literally/498337/17 "2009-06-01T14:38:47Z")
Manhattan smells bad from all the trash and sewer gas. I live in Jersey City (just across the Hudson River), and it does not have the same stench. Also, the part of Newark, NJ on the NJ Turnpike stanks like Gary, IN. ---
**Author:** ![WOOKINPANUB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wookinpanub/32/132_2.png) [@WOOKINPANUB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WOOKINPANUB)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2009, 2:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cities-that-stink-literally/498337/18 "2009-06-01T14:46:26Z")
New Orleans at dawn. Gah. ---
**Author:** ![gonzomax](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e8c25b/32.png) [@gonzomax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gonzomax)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2009, 2:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cities-that-stink-literally/498337/19 "2009-06-01T14:51:35Z")
Ontonagon, Michigan in the U.P. used to have a paper factory and it reeked. I went into a restaurant in town and the residents said they don’t smell it . It was strong and smothering. But the restaurant had good pasties. ---
**Author:** ![Sigmagirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c89c15/32.png) [@Sigmagirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sigmagirl)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2009, 2:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cities-that-stink-literally/498337/20 "2009-06-01T14:52:36Z")
Houston is the stinkiest place I have ever been. Oil refineries and paper plants. And I grew up in the suburbs of Akron, Ohio, where the rubber plants grew. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cities-that-stink-literally/498337.md?page=2)