# Most loathsome city in the universe **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [May 1, 2009, 3:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-loathsome-city-in-the-universe/494931 "2009-05-01T03:55:02Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 12
**Author:** ![StusBlues](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/dc4da7/32.png) [@StusBlues](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StusBlues)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2009, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-loathsome-city-in-the-universe/494931/221 "2009-09-18T19:59:36Z")
Yes, sir. How anyone can put Rochester and Gary in the same league is beyond me. My profile pic around the net was taken in Rochester, by the way: [http://www.funtrivia.com/~stuthehistoryguy](http://www.funtrivia.com/~stuthehistoryguy) ---
**Author:** ![Cisco](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ccd318/32.png) [@Cisco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cisco)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2009, 8:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-loathsome-city-in-the-universe/494931/222 "2009-09-18T20:02:22Z")
> [@stuthehistoryguy](#): > > Yes, sir. How anyone can put Rochester and Gary in the same league is beyond me. My profile pic around the net was taken in Rochester, by the way: [http://www.funtrivia.com/~stuthehistoryguy](http://www.funtrivia.com/~stuthehistoryguy) Ummm . . . a graveyard? ---
**Author:** ![StusBlues](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/dc4da7/32.png) [@StusBlues](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StusBlues)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2009, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-loathsome-city-in-the-universe/494931/223 "2009-09-18T20:05:42Z")
> [@Cisco](#): > > Ummm . . . a graveyard? Mount Hope Cemetery, to be precise. Final resting place of Frederick Douglass, Susan B. Anthony, and many more. ---
**Author:** ![Cisco](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ccd318/32.png) [@Cisco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cisco)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2009, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-loathsome-city-in-the-universe/494931/224 "2009-09-18T20:19:18Z")
How were we supposed to know that? ---
**Author:** ![StusBlues](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/dc4da7/32.png) [@StusBlues](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StusBlues)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2009, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-loathsome-city-in-the-universe/494931/225 "2009-09-18T21:06:44Z")
> [@Cisco](#): > > How were we supposed to know that? Don’t know that you were, though the name “Frederick Douglass” on the memorial might have been a clue. ---
**Author:** ![Cisco](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ccd318/32.png) [@Cisco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cisco)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2009, 9:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-loathsome-city-in-the-universe/494931/226 "2009-09-18T21:14:31Z")
> [@stuthehistoryguy](#): > > Don’t know that you were, though the name “Frederick Douglass” on the memorial might have been a clue. Well you’re showing it to us as if we’re supposed to be impressed that it was taken in Rochester, and it just looks like a random graveyard. Douglass’s name is more than half-obscured. ---
**Author:** ![StusBlues](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/dc4da7/32.png) [@StusBlues](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StusBlues)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2009, 9:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-loathsome-city-in-the-universe/494931/227 "2009-09-18T21:20:20Z")
> [@Cisco](#): > > Well you’re showing it to us as if we’re supposed to be impressed that it was taken in Rochester, and it just looks like a random graveyard. Douglass’s name is more than half-obscured. I didn’t expect you to be impressed. I don’t care if you’re impressed. I’m just pointing out that I’ve spent some time in Rochester and that one of my favorite pictures of myself was taken in Rochester. It’s a nice place. That’s all. ---
**Author:** ![Cisco](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ccd318/32.png) [@Cisco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cisco)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2009, 9:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-loathsome-city-in-the-universe/494931/228 "2009-09-18T21:22:54Z")
Ok, cool your jets, hot rod. The context of your post made it look like you were trying to boost Rochester with the pic, is all. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2009, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-loathsome-city-in-the-universe/494931/229 "2009-09-22T16:28:03Z")
_Rochester: Come for the grave of Frederick Douglass, stay for the grave of Susan B. Anthony._ ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2009, 4:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-loathsome-city-in-the-universe/494931/230 "2009-09-22T16:45:51Z")
> [@Erdosain](#): > > New London isn’t even the suckiest place in Connecticut, let alone the entire northeast. I nominate Willimantic, CT and the north end of Hartford. I’m sure there are some places in Massachussets that are even worse, though. There are (Holyoke comes to mind), but it’s very easy to get somewhere else in a hurry from any of those places. Willimantic does have the Aero Diner, good food cheap, and even once featured in a Zippy strip (well, so is every diner in the US eventually, but still). That makes up for a lot. I go there regularly. ---
**Author:** ![Liberal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/848f3c/32.png) [@Liberal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Liberal)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2009, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-loathsome-city-in-the-universe/494931/231 "2009-09-22T17:08:15Z")
**Columbia, South Carolina** Weeks upon weeks of 100+ degree summer days. Humidity so high that even sweating is no relief. Rabid fans of either Gamecocks or Clemson, and as rivals, they hate each other. Jealous of Charlotte, and of everything about North Carolina — including, but not limited to, people all across the country taking “Carolina” to mean the University of North Carolina and USC to mean Southern Cal. Parochial and patriarchal. Water bugs. These are like cock roaches that literally fly. They’re a couple of inches long, and you can hear them walking up a wall. Fire ants. A governor’s mansion surrounded by slums. Pissy business people. Nosy neighbors. Irritating accents. “So, wheah duh y’all go tuh chuhch?” Barbeque made with a sweet mustard sauce that looks like newborn baby shit. Served with, of all things, hash and rice. Very little to redeem it. Five Points — _maybe_. ---
**Author:** ![davekhps](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a5b964/32.png) [@davekhps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davekhps)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2009, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-loathsome-city-in-the-universe/494931/232 "2009-09-22T18:26:31Z")
Lagos. Rio’s Favelas. Mogadishu. Fallujah. And my personal favorite, Port-au-Prince. Two words: [mud cookies](http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/22902512/). Gary, Indiana at least has a White Castle. ---
**Author:** ![Hippy\_Hollow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hippy_hollow/32/4841_2.png) [@Hippy\_Hollow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hippy_Hollow)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2009, 10:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-loathsome-city-in-the-universe/494931/233 "2009-09-22T22:14:18Z")
Wow, reading about these cities make me think of this song: [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/2kqgsogqMHw/hqdefault.jpg "+Live+ - Shit Towne") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2kqgsogqMHw) Ed Kowalczyk’s rant about York, PA is essential… you can skip the song. (Though it’s good. What it is it about cities in the interior of Pennsylvania?) ---
**Author:** ![purplehorseshoe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/purplehorseshoe/32/2996_2.png) [@purplehorseshoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/purplehorseshoe)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2009, 12:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-loathsome-city-in-the-universe/494931/234 "2009-09-23T00:28:08Z")
Of cities just in the great state of Texas, I can’t decide which is more loathsome: Houston - because of the horrific sprawl and accompanying miles and miles and miles of concrete; the humidity; the overall vibe of having been built over an Indian burial ground … or Plano - because of the pretentious rich people; the cookie-cutter near-identical McMansion neighborhoods with just a blank brick wall facing the street; the unending pattern of corner strip malls anchored by a big-box chain store; the overall vibe of having been built over an Indian burial ground … Bleargh to both. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2009, 12:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-loathsome-city-in-the-universe/494931/235 "2009-09-23T00:53:19Z")
> [@Liberal](#): > > \*\*[SIZE=“3”]These are like cock roaches that literally fly. They’re a couple of inches long, and you can hear them walking up a wall. Pfft. We have those here. Yours seem awfullt small, though. > [@purplehorseshoe](#): > > Of cities just in the great state of Texas, I can’t decide which is more loathsome: > > Houston - because of the horrific sprawl and accompanying miles and miles and miles of concrete; the humidity; the overall vibe of having been built over an Indian burial ground … > > or > > Plano - because of the pretentious rich people; the cookie-cutter near-identical McMansion neighborhoods with just a blank brick wall facing the street; the unending pattern of corner strip malls anchored by a big-box chain store; the overall vibe of having been built over an Indian burial ground … > Bleargh to both. I know I’ve named it before, either in this thread or another (can’t be arsed to look through this thread), but Plains, Texas is the asshole of the universe. On a trip up into New Mexico one time with a couple of buddies, we had to detour into Plains, because one buddy had to stop by and pick up some money owed to him. That place made the town in _The Last Picture Show_ look like Paris (France, not Texas). It reeked of petroleum. Even indoors, the smell was everywhere. An atmosphere of hopelessness and despair was tangible. While at university in Texas, I knew a Brit whose father was in the petroleum industry and had moved the family to Plains because of work, and so my friend had attended high school there. I think it may have traumatized him for life. ---
**Author:** ![Liberal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/848f3c/32.png) [@Liberal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Liberal)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2009, 1:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-loathsome-city-in-the-universe/494931/236 "2009-09-23T01:42:02Z")
> [@Siam\_Sam](#): > > Pfft. We have those here. Yours seem awfullt small, though. But in Columbia, South Carolina, they put … sit down for this, and take a deep breath … salt on their watermelon. O, wretched justice! Where art thou? ---
**Author:** ![panaccione](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/94ad74/32.png) [@panaccione](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panaccione)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2009, 2:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-loathsome-city-in-the-universe/494931/237 "2009-09-23T02:01:07Z")
Johnstown, Pennsylvania. Weather sucks so bad in the winter. Other than that, nothing to do. Their claim to fame is a flood memorial and having the world’s steepest incline. I’ve been to both, not much to write home about. Their tiny university sucks and no one likes it. Trust me, I know. I really hated my last two years there. Still I’m going up to visit this weekend. Go figure. :smack: ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2009, 2:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-loathsome-city-in-the-universe/494931/238 "2009-09-23T02:04:45Z")
> [@Liberal](#): > > But in Columbia, South Carolina, they put … sit down for this, and take a deep breath … salt on their watermelon. O, wretched justice! Where art thou? Who, the roaches? Over here, they’ll open the door, walk in and take the TV remote out of your hand! ---
**Author:** ![Countrypolitan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/858c86/32.png) [@Countrypolitan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Countrypolitan)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2009, 3:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-loathsome-city-in-the-universe/494931/239 "2009-09-23T03:31:00Z")
> [@Liberal](#): > > But in Columbia, South Carolina, they put … sit down for this, and take a deep breath … salt on their watermelon. O, wretched justice! Where art thou? Hey, salt on watermelon is GOOD eatin’. I thought those big flying roaches were Palmetto bugs. Must just be a Charleston thing, to make your historic house seem more swank. ---
**Author:** ![Hippy\_Hollow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hippy_hollow/32/4841_2.png) [@Hippy\_Hollow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hippy_Hollow)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2009, 3:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-loathsome-city-in-the-universe/494931/240 "2009-09-23T03:43:34Z")
Given the horrors of the cities and towns mentioned upthread, as a former resident of Space and/or Clutch City, I cannot abide Houston being on this list. The weather sucks, but that’s the same weather as New Orleans, Biloxi, and Miami (fewer hurricanes of course). Houston is LA with worse weather, fatter people, and fewer palm trees. Instead of Hollywood they have the medical center. And LA has the worst sports fans on the planet, while Houstonians love their DisAstros, Rickets, and Toxins. Bad traffic? Check. Ethnic/racial melting pot? Check. Plenty to do at night? Check. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-loathsome-city-in-the-universe/494931.md?page=11) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-loathsome-city-in-the-universe/494931.md?page=13)