There’s a really good cheesesteak place, though. Also a decent bike trail. Could we save those?
Bunk. Sure, the city has serious problems, as another poster has ably explained. But we also have a rich music scene, fantastic food, some of the finest museums in the world (free to all comers!), world-class universities, a gorgeous park system, good public transit - and many, many other virtues. I’ve lived here almost three years now, and loved every minute of it. If you’re even a tiny bit of politics nerd, this is an incredible place.
That said - yah, there are neighborhoods that I’d be scared to walk through in broad daylight, with a group of friends. Most of the city isn’t like that, though.
While I doubt that anywhere I’ve visited can compare with some of the hellholes listed above, I’ll throw in a few additional names just as a public service to Dopers who may be planning their summer holidays…
[ul]
[li]In the “grim, hideous, no discernable redeeming features whatsoever” category I give you Togliatti, Russia.[/li][/ul]
[ul]
[li]In the “how can the capital of a frozen conflict zone be so frigging boring?” category I give you Stepanakert, Nagorno-Karabagh. Which is probably worth visiting anyway, just for the uber-cool visa, but for God’s sake bring a book.[/li][/ul]
[ul]
[li]As far as US cities go, I nominate Albuquerque. Mainly because my abiding memory of it (I think I’ve blocked the rest out) is an army-navy surplus store with a marquee sign reading “Prom dresses $25”.[/li][/ul]
Have you been there? I rather enjoyed Pyongyang. Los Angeles is my pick.
Come on, I lived in Los Angeles for years, and lots of my family still does. It’s far from the worst city on Earth.
Roswell, New Mexico is so butt-ugly that the aliens chose to crash their UFO rather than end up there! 
Well, except for the transit, this also describes quite a lot of Washington DC, and Baltimore has the Inner Harbor with all its attractions.
Though, many years ago I worked with someone who’d lived in the Baltimore area for a year or so and LOATHED it. He called it “Stalingrad on the Patapsco”. I suspect he’d share your opinion.
I’d almost blocked out the 8 months or so that I lived in Kokomo, but thanks for bringing back that nightmare!
I’m not fond of Baltimore, Chicago, D.C., or Detroit, but Kokomo is hands-down, the nastiest, most offensive place I’ve ever been. Gary is a cultural mecca compared to Kokomo.
Laredo, TX. Hotter than hell, clannish old money that doesn’t like outsiders, bad Mexican drivers, semi-trucks everywhere. I’d say, go to hell, but you’re already there.
This is a very unfair criticism.
People are going to post about the cities they have experience with. For most Americans they will post about US cities because they are the cities they have seen.
You have seen other places and so you post about them.
Thirded (I think!)
Houston is by far the worst city I’ve been to in the States. I got off the jet-way, walked into the airport and I was poring sweat before even walking outside. The heat/humidity combination killed me.
At least here in Arizona it really IS a dry heat!!
eta: But I agree that the worst city is not in the US. I look at pictures of Bejing (for example) and I hyperventilate. No way could I live in that sea of humanity and the pollution! Oy!
I haven’t been to Mumbai, but I have spent a few days in Lagos. It’s certainly the worst city I’ve been in by a good stretch.
The worst slums in the US would be middle class in Lagos.
Beijing is nice. It’s actually a lot more peaceful, leafy and relaxed than you’d ever think it’d be.
The worst city has got to be some post-communist place.
Except for places that are actually at war, Africa isn’t a bad place. People who aren’t trying to rob you are generally friendly, the clothes are colorful and exotic and there is plenty of music and color. The capital of Cameroon was certainly seething and dangerous and boring, but like all tropical places it had it’s small delights. You can’t entirely hate a place where tropical flowers bloom. As for India- the crush of humanity and the seething poverty sucks. But India’s cities are littered with tiny ancient shrines, decorated cows, beautiful women in silks…there is plenty to redeem them. It may not be enough to make them worth living in, but it’s enough to keep them off the bottom of the list.
The world’s most loathsome city is surly something in gray concrete, with gray skies from the pollution, full of gray unhappy people trudging through life with only the occasional barfight to keep them alive. The stuff my Peace Corps Eastern Europe friends tell me about Eastern Europe is enough to make me glad I got sent to Africa, let me tell you.
Thing is…overall random violence is pretty rare. Unless you’re a druggie or a gangster, the chances of random violence is pretty rare.
Why do you say that like it’s a BAD thing?
Yes, I AM from NYC.
Mexico City, hands down. There aren’t just neighbors to your left and right and across the street, but above you, below you, and all around you, separated only by 8 inches of concrete. Okay, I’ve been told that that’s typical in city life, but these weirdos don’t even seem to mind it. They take the same attitude onto the streets with them, resulting in absolute gridlock. The mayor is a populist idiot who ignores the burroughs that actually pay the bills. It’s impossible to find Mexican food. It rains every, single day, but the city is worried about a water shortage. Earthquakes and volcanoes. Kidnap express.
Oh, I’ve not been to the slums, yet. I’m talking about the good parts.
Can’t wait until I’m back in Detroit.
Butte, Montana.
I see your Marysville, and raise you Stockton, CA. At least I once got a great cup of coffee in Marysville. To paraphrase what Cisco wrote, it’s best to minimize your time in the Central Valley: hot, crime-ridden, flat as a pancake, and boring unless you really like agriculture.
Agree with the other posters though, that nothing in the States is likely to compare to what I’ve heard concerning garden spots like Olongapo City, The Philippines; Kabul; or Kinshasa. My own international travel has been limited to Germany and Prague, which were the complete opposites of cities cited in this thread.
Flint Michigan
On the rare occasions when Flint wakes up from it’s cracked up stupor and has a momentary flash of lucidity it wishes it were Detroit.
I’d nominate New London Connecticut for the northeastern regional suckhole award, and while it’s been a few years since I’ve been there, I doubt it’s improved.
I also found Duluth cromulent.