# Nominate the Armpit of America **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [July 3, 2001, 9:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nominate-the-armpit-of-america/71134 "2001-07-03T21:52:56Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![ThisYearsGirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/73ab20/32.png) [@ThisYearsGirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThisYearsGirl)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2001, 4:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nominate-the-armpit-of-america/71134/41 "2001-07-06T04:25:23Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by elmwood \* > \*\*[Gotcha’ beat, City Gent. **El Paso, Texas** – the one and true armpit of the United States. > > +el paso +poverty 11000 hits > +el paso +crime 25100 hits > +el paso +armpit 208 hits > +el paso +hellhole 104 hits > > El Paso is where billboards go to die – you’ll see more billboards in El Paso than in any other city in the United States. \*\* A google search of +el paso +billboard have me 4,410 hits. ---
**Author:** ![yosemite](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/3ab097/32.png) [@yosemite](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yosemite)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2001, 5:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nominate-the-armpit-of-america/71134/42 "2001-07-06T05:51:56Z")
Hey. HEY. **HEY**. Fresno is the Gateway to Yosemite. (At least when you are driving up from L.A.) So - no dissing Fresno. It has a nice freeway, anyway… 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Typo\_Negative](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/typo_negative/32/484_2.png) [@Typo\_Negative](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Typo_Negative)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2001, 11:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nominate-the-armpit-of-america/71134/43 "2001-07-06T11:44:08Z")
**Needles, California**. A barren pit amongst the cacti on the Arizona/California border, where temps of 130 degrees are common. Being as it’s far removed from anything resembling civilization, it charges 50% more for gas. It is best seen at high speeds. For God’s sake, do not stop! ---
**Author:** ![Phoebestar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/13edae/32.png) [@Phoebestar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Phoebestar)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2001, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nominate-the-armpit-of-america/71134/44 "2001-07-06T15:17:22Z")
The home of WVU-Tech. Covered with coal dust, ugly dorms, and close to several chemical plants. It makes me cringe to just drive into the town. And yes, Pikeville, Kentucky, definitely rates up there on armpit towns. I have more friends from there than you can shake a stick at. Few of them rarely return home, even to visit. While parts of it are nice and mountainly picturesque, it’s horribly boring. The home of the [Hillybilly Days](http://www.hillbillydays.com/). ---
**Author:** ![mouthbreather](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a698b9/32.png) [@mouthbreather](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mouthbreather)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2001, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nominate-the-armpit-of-america/71134/45 "2001-07-06T16:33:19Z")
City Gent, I’ve been to Youngstown. It does suck. However, it does not hold a candle to Gary, Indiana. **snac, Medea’s Child, and thinksnow** are all spot on. That city is a disgusting wasteland, it smells like a gas station bathroom, AND it cursed us all with LaToya and Michael Jackson. ---
**Author:** ![Opengrave](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/919ad9/32.png) [@Opengrave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Opengrave)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2001, 6:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nominate-the-armpit-of-america/71134/46 "2001-07-06T18:47:18Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Badtz Maru \* > \*\*You talking about Tyler or Terrell? \*\* Texarkana! - The TEXAS side of course. ---
**Author:** ![yosemite](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/3ab097/32.png) [@yosemite](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yosemite)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2001, 7:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nominate-the-armpit-of-america/71134/47 "2001-07-06T19:26:47Z")
I’ll second Needles. The only way to tolerate that place is at 70 mph. And, what about Gorman, CA? I have just passed through, but it seems pretty miserable to me. ---
**Author:** ![City\_Gent](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a87d85/32.png) [@City\_Gent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/City_Gent)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2001, 11:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nominate-the-armpit-of-america/71134/48 "2001-07-06T23:13:37Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Phoebestar \* > \*\*The home of WVU-Tech. > Covered with coal dust, ugly dorms, and close to several chemical plants. It makes me cringe to just drive into the town. > \*\* I was driving in a small subdivision in Montgomery once, unremarkable except for the fact that the streets were unpaved (!), when I came to a large tree growing right out of the middle of the street. Nothing surrounding it; no fence or shrubbery, just a big goddamn tree growing right out of the street. Perplexed, I waited until another car came in the opposite direction, and he steered around it without even blinking. Must have been a local. Now…on to the Youngstown vs. Gary challenge. On a per-100,000 population basis: +city +crime: Youngstown=8744, Gary=19819 +city +poverty: Y=3280, G=8801 +city +hellhole: Y=13.4, G=73.0 +city +armpit: Y=116, G=258 I guess the numbers speak for themselves. Does this mean that somewhere in Gary a guy is saying, “Geez, if only I lived in Youngstown, Ohio.” ---
**Author:** ![City\_Gent](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a87d85/32.png) [@City\_Gent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/City_Gent)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2001, 11:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nominate-the-armpit-of-america/71134/49 "2001-07-06T23:22:03Z")
What truly disturbs me about this thread is the high proportion of the nominated cities I’ve actually been to: Pine Bluff, AR Youngstown, OH (grew up about 50 miles north) Gary, IN Montgomery, WV (actually spent a couple of nights there) Needles, CA Buffalo, NY Pikeville, KY NYC (always kind of liked this one) LA Washington DC Lima, OH Las Vegas, NV (like this one too) Maybe I need a new travel agent. ---
**Author:** ![beergeek279](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7ea924/32.png) [@beergeek279](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beergeek279)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2001, 1:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nominate-the-armpit-of-america/71134/50 "2001-07-07T01:59:27Z")
As a devout Pittsburgher, I have to put in the required vote and say that Cleveland is the armpit of America ;). (To show I’m not toally partisan, I admit that if you asked at the middle of the 20th century [a bit before my time!], Pittsburgh would almost be universally voted the winner…what with pollution so thick that streetlights had to be on at noon). I always thought that Youngstown was a fairly quaint place. Boardman was a terrific place to go shopping, and when you’re was hungry you could cross the state line to Sharon, Pennsylvania and go to Quaker Steak N’ Lube! ---
**Author:** ![yosemite](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/3ab097/32.png) [@yosemite](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yosemite)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2001, 3:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nominate-the-armpit-of-america/71134/51 "2001-07-07T03:08:16Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by yosemitebabe \* > > And, what about Gorman, CA? I have just passed through, but it seems pretty miserable to me. _Aaaak!_ What was I thinking?!? _Gorman?_ Sure, it’s small, sure, it’s in the middle of nowhere on the 5 freeway N of L.A., but it has _wildflowers!_ So it’s certainly not an armpit. I somehow got Gorman and Barstow mixed up. I really meant Barstow, CA. Now _that’s_ an armpit. Dry, bleak, hot. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2001, 3:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nominate-the-armpit-of-america/71134/52 "2001-07-07T03:09:39Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by tpcutter \* > **If there exists an odor that is not manufactured in Perth Amboy, fear not, for it shall waft across the water from neighboring Staten Island, NY’s giant garbage mountain, like the perfumed emissions from Satan’s very own anus.** dear boy, the prevailing winds blow _from_ New Jersey to Staten Island. And Islanders have the cancer rates to prove it. Plus, the Island’s Fresh Kills dump is now closed, to arise phoenix-like in the coming years as a nature preserve. Or ski area.\*\* > [@](#): > > Due to Perth Amboy’s strategic geographic locatiion at the mouth of a rancid waterway called the Arthur Kill, erosion will, EVENTUALLY, carry it into the sea. \*\* And stop ragging on the Arthur Kill. It hasn’t caught fire in **years**. ---
**Author:** ![kgriffey79](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/2bfe46/32.png) [@kgriffey79](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kgriffey79)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2001, 6:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nominate-the-armpit-of-america/71134/53 "2001-07-07T06:37:18Z")
Umm, didn’t Phil Hendrie do this on his LA talk show? I believe he did… ---
**Author:** ![vanilla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/f19dbf/32.png) [@vanilla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vanilla)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2001, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nominate-the-armpit-of-america/71134/54 "2001-07-07T18:06:48Z")
Let me nominate Johnstown, Pennsylvania. I May have changed since I was there, but my parents used to take me there to visit my aunts when I was young (60’s, some 70’s). It truly sucked. One store in the town, it seemed. Great nightlife I bet. ---
**Author:** ![thinksnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thinksnow/32/2849_2.png) [@thinksnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thinksnow)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2001, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nominate-the-armpit-of-america/71134/55 "2001-07-07T20:31:52Z")
> [@](#): > > **City Gent** > What truly disturbs me about this thread is the high proportion of the nominated cities I’ve actually been to: > > Pine Bluff, AR > Youngstown, OH (grew up about 50 miles north) > Gary, IN > Montgomery, WV (actually spent a couple of nights there) > Needles, CA > Buffalo, NY > Pikeville, KY > NYC (always kind of liked this one) > LA > Washington DC > Lima, OH > Las Vegas, NV (like this one too) > > Maybe I need a new travel agent. Maybe you need to stop travelling and give the other cities a chance! 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Christopher914](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ecb155/32.png) [@Christopher914](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Christopher914)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2001, 2:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nominate-the-armpit-of-america/71134/56 "2001-07-08T14:26:20Z")
Sorry, but I have to defend Houston. I live here, after all. At least Houston has tree-lined boulevards, theaters, decent jobs, no snow (which I personally hate), and good restaurants. Ok, now… Armpit of the nation? How about Seligman, Arizona? Most of the places mentioned above at least have Wal-Marts or McDonalds restaurants. They both suck, but not having them and living 200 miles from either is even worse. Avondale, AZ I totally agree with. I once got out of my car in a asphalt parking lot and sank into the pavement because it was so hot that the asphalt had melted. Drive west of Avondale. There’s even worse stuff out there: Tolleson, Buckeye, Yuma, and the aforementioned Blythe. ---
**Author:** ![Medea\_s\_Child](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/8baadc/32.png) [@Medea\_s\_Child](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Medea_s_Child)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2001, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nominate-the-armpit-of-america/71134/57 "2001-07-08T19:24:54Z")
NYC? Not a chance. It produces bad stuff, but it produces a heck of a lot of good stuff as well. It has balance. unless you hate cities, in which you have an argument. I, personally, love cities. I love places that are full of people _doing_ things. Life in large amounts facinates me. Now, industrial deathpit grosses me out. Gary Indiana. I’m telling you. And I’m so lucky I get to drive through there again in a few weeks. You know how smells leak through into your car? Its a bad, bad, bad place. Bad. ---
**Author:** ![racinchikki](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/eada6e/32.png) [@racinchikki](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/racinchikki)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2001, 9:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nominate-the-armpit-of-america/71134/58 "2001-07-08T21:27:21Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Lsura \* > **Pascagoula, Mississippi** > There is nothing to do there(you have to drive over to Biloxi/Gulfport for casinos, and if you’re not into those, then too bad) and the town _stinks_, especially in the summer. This is due to the papermills around, I believe, but this smell hangs over the town like the plague. Pascagoula has nothing on Wiggins. Wiggins, Mississippi holds the rotten stench of decomposing skunk throughout its atmosphere, noticeable as soon as you cross the town limits sign on the highway. Far from the Gulf Coast’s white sand beaches, casinos and nightlife, the falling-in trailer homes and nonexistent downtown give the miniscule map-dot of Wiggins its reputation for being thoroughly redneck. And when even the Mississippians consider the place to be a redneck hell-hole… you know it’s bad. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![aggiej](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ec9cab/32.png) [@aggiej](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aggiej)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2001, 5:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nominate-the-armpit-of-america/71134/59 "2001-07-09T05:52:49Z")
l.a. is the worst. everything is 30 minutes away by car. no public transportation. you could take the lame subway but you’re still miles away from where you’re going! streets are 6 lanes wide. you get pool water out of the faucet. most of smell-a is a deteriorating filthy slum and anywhere you care to be is for millionaires only. ---
**Author:** ![Typo\_Negative](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/typo_negative/32/484_2.png) [@Typo\_Negative](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Typo_Negative)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2001, 8:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nominate-the-armpit-of-america/71134/60 "2001-07-09T08:59:12Z")
I’ve had _enough_ of the LA bashing! These people have probably never been to our City of Angels! They are probably _San Franciscoans!_ ::shudder:: [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nominate-the-armpit-of-america/71134.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nominate-the-armpit-of-america/71134.md?page=4)