# Is the south side the baddest side of town? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cecil's Columns/Staff Reports\ **Created:** [November 24, 2000, 6:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-south-side-the-baddest-side-of-town/42510 "2000-11-24T06:29:38Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![d8uv](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/71e660/32.png) [@d8uv](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/d8uv)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2000, 6:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-south-side-the-baddest-side-of-town/42510/1 "2000-11-24T06:29:38Z")
Things appear to be flipped in Alaska. For instance, The ‘slums’ of Anchorage are on the North-west part of town. In fact, The rich neighborhoods on on the south side! Also, Alaska’s big towns are also on the south side of the state! Also, Hawaii has more money than we do. Take **that** logic, Cecil! ---
**Author:** ![Arnold\_Winkelried](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Arnold\_Winkelried](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arnold_Winkelried)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2000, 7:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-south-side-the-baddest-side-of-town/42510/2 "2000-11-24T07:53:28Z")
Welcome to the SDMB, and thank you for posting your comment. Please include a link to Cecil’s column if it’s on the straight dope web site. To include a link, it can be as simple as including the web page location in your post (make sure there is a space **before** and **after** the text of the URL). Cecil’s column can be found on-line at this link: [Is the south side always the baddest part of town? (05-Nov-1999)](http://www.straightdope.com/columns/991105.html) * * * moderator, «[**Comments on Cecil’s Columns**](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/forumdisplay.php?forumid=1)» ---
**Author:** ![Arnold\_Winkelried](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Arnold\_Winkelried](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arnold_Winkelried)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2000, 7:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-south-side-the-baddest-side-of-town/42510/3 "2000-11-24T07:57:11Z")
You may also be interested in reading this thread: [The Baddest Part of Town](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?threadid=330) Unfortunately, the thread dates from before the SDMB software change and so it is slightly difficult to read. And I’m sure you noticed that Cecil Adams said in his column that many contrary cases can be found to the “south side is the worst part of town” observation. ---
**Author:** ![Markxxx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5daacb/32.png) [@Markxxx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Markxxx)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2000, 5:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-south-side-the-baddest-side-of-town/42510/4 "2000-11-25T17:33:57Z")
Some of it is no longer true. The West side of Chicago is much worse than the South Side. But the South Side still has the rep. BTW Slums in Anchorage? ---
**Author:** ![d8uv](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/71e660/32.png) [@d8uv](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/d8uv)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2000, 11:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-south-side-the-baddest-side-of-town/42510/5 "2000-11-25T23:33:27Z")
Amazingly, yes. ---
**Author:** ![samclem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9a28c/32.png) [@samclem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samclem)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2000, 11:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-south-side-the-baddest-side-of-town/42510/6 "2000-11-25T23:41:52Z")
I’m sure it would be easy to come up with reasons for Anchorage not following the model. While I don’t care to do the work, I would suggest that the model basically applies to large cities which were shaped by industry prior to WWI. Anchorage doesn’t fit the mold, being a tiny non-industrialized spot in the road before WWII. It’s importance during WWII, and the 1964 earthquake and the oil bonanza and resultant growth caused it to grow differently. ---
**Author:** ![Beruang](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/77aa72/32.png) [@Beruang](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beruang)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2000, 4:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-south-side-the-baddest-side-of-town/42510/7 "2000-11-26T04:29:06Z")
I recently learned that St. Louis is also an exception to this rule – the bad parts are north, so say the natives I spoke with. ---
**Author:** ![Exion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f0a364/32.png) [@Exion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exion)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2000, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-south-side-the-baddest-side-of-town/42510/8 "2000-11-27T19:17:16Z")
Slums in Alaske? Does that mena that they only have a 1 story Igloo? ---
**Author:** ![nemo1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ecae2f/32.png) [@nemo1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nemo1)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2000, 3:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-south-side-the-baddest-side-of-town/42510/9 "2000-12-06T03:50:59Z")
Report from St. Louis: Just confirming that, yes, in the City of St. Louis at least, the North Side is the baddest part of town, in that it encompasses the most depressed neighborhoods. That includes some of the northern suburbs, too. As for Chicago (where I used to live), it’s got such a diverse and insular set of neighborhoods that it’s hard to generalize, but yes, a lot of the West Side is pretty bad, but the South Side has some pretty damn bad neighborhoods, too, especially right around, but not including, Hyde Park. ---
**Author:** ![Badtz\_Maru](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e36b37/32.png) [@Badtz\_Maru](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Badtz_Maru)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2000, 9:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-south-side-the-baddest-side-of-town/42510/10 "2000-12-06T09:13:05Z")
I heard that it was because towns tended to grow northwards, higher value housing had nothing obstructing the northern side of the buildings. In Greenville, TX it is opposite, the north side is the ‘bad’ part of town, but that is because when they ran I-30 to the south of town the newer developments were all made closer to the interstate. ---
**Author:** ![Cantrip](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9f8e36/32.png) [@Cantrip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cantrip)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2000, 6:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-south-side-the-baddest-side-of-town/42510/11 "2000-12-06T18:57:44Z")
North Philly is substantially worse than South Philly.