# What's the ugliest, most depressing place to live in the United States? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [January 14, 2005, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-ugliest-most-depressing-place-to-live-in-the-united-states/284720 "2005-01-14T15:20:41Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2005, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-ugliest-most-depressing-place-to-live-in-the-united-states/284720/21 "2005-01-14T19:02:18Z")
Having found myself in many of the nominees (Newark, Gary, Detroit, Flint) at one time or another, East St. Louis is the worst hellhole I’ve ever seen. For small towns, Cairo, IL doesn’t necessarily _look_ terrible, but the town flag is made out of crime scene tape. And when it comes to rural areas, I’ve been in areas of southeast Missouri and northeast Arkansas where, if you don’t want to cry, you aren’t human. ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2005, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-ugliest-most-depressing-place-to-live-in-the-united-states/284720/22 "2005-01-14T19:27:42Z")
I’ll second the East St. Louis and Cairo nominations. They are pretty depressing to drive through and you really don’t want to get out of the car. I also nominate:Phoenix AZ. I think when the devil wants to punish his minions he sends them to Phoenix. That heat is oppressive. I don’t buy that “dry heat” stuff, I thought it was oppressive. And on the way to the BOB, we passed some pretty grim urban areas. As a Michigander, I don’t mind Detroit at all. Downtown is quite nice, actually. It’s Flint that is the pits. ---
**Author:** ![Omega\_Glory](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/7c8e57/32.png) [@Omega\_Glory](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omega_Glory)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2005, 7:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-ugliest-most-depressing-place-to-live-in-the-united-states/284720/23 "2005-01-14T19:55:20Z")
**OtakuLoki** , I spent several years living about an hour away from Rochester. Regrettably, I made the decision to move there and spent four long years from 200-2004. If you’ve been there for awhile, then we were basically neighbors for a bit. I’ll amend my statement from boring, to mostly boring. Mount Hope Cemetary is pretty, and there are some selling points for the area, but the good just doesn’t outweigh the bad for me. The city had more murders per capita than NYC. I’m sure you remember the school nurse fiaso, and the “lets cut the school week down to four days” idea. Sure the city is buying the Ferry, but I have lost all faith in the city officials. I don’t want to hijack the thread into a discussion on the merits of Rochester, so I’ll leave it at that. I’m glad you enjoy living there. The city has a lot of history, and potential. I hope it can turn itself around. I’m not recommending NYC as an alternative. My location area doesn’t refer to the state, but to the city. ---
**Author:** ![Mississippienne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d2c977/32.png) [@Mississippienne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mississippienne)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2005, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-ugliest-most-depressing-place-to-live-in-the-united-states/284720/24 "2005-01-14T20:10:19Z")
I think the trashiest city I’ve ever been to is Baltimore. I worked there for 2 months (commuted from upstate MD) and it looks like a trash heap someone decided to build block after block of rickety, dirty, fire-hazard rowhouses upon. I’m from Mississippi, I’ve seen some poverty, but nothing like in the slums of Baltimore. Little kids playing in back alleys filled with rats and broken glass. Everything grey, brown, mouldy, and falling in on itself. In Baltimore, there’s the ghetto, and then there’s the _bad_ part of town. ---
**Author:** ![Kyla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/eada6e/32.png) [@Kyla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kyla)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2005, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-ugliest-most-depressing-place-to-live-in-the-united-states/284720/25 "2005-01-14T20:49:23Z")
Another vote for Gary, Indiana. East St. Louis can’t be THAT bad - I have a good friend in St. Louis and when visiting her, the idea of going across the river to some clubs has been floated. It’s never happened, for whatever reason, but the thing is, people voluntarily go there. I can’t imagine any of my friends EVER saying, “Hey, let’s go over to Gary!” The smell alone is a clincher. ---
**Author:** ![flickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/7bcc69/32.png) [@flickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flickster)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2005, 9:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-ugliest-most-depressing-place-to-live-in-the-united-states/284720/26 "2005-01-14T21:09:32Z")
Here’s a couple that I haven’t seen mentioned yet: Decatur, IL - You can talk all you want about Joliet and Chicago, they can’t come close to Decatur. Bristol, TN/VA - Another Hell Hole I know all too well. What was once a thriving city (pre-1950) has basically dried up and blown away. ---
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2005, 9:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-ugliest-most-depressing-place-to-live-in-the-united-states/284720/27 "2005-01-14T21:12:15Z")
> [@OtakuLoki](#): > > And if you’re offering NYC as an alternative I have to disagree, strongly. … > … > Of course, even the Hell Hole that is NYC can’t compare to Jersey Shi-… City. (For anyone from Bergen County who feels I’m maligning thier home, I lived in the Heights for a year in 1997, and before that had a Grandmother who’d lived in Bayonne, then ended her days at Jersey City’s Jewish Home. I’ve lived there, and seen the city for years.) You must be outside of your mind to even mention Rochester and NYC in the same paragraph! But I will second that JC does suck. There’s one little downtown spot of office towers and high rise appartments on an undeveloped waterfront and a crap malls with a Target and a Bertucci (Pavonia/Newport I think) and that’s about it. But JC can’t hold a candle to Harford, CT. I spent weeks there on business and what a depressing city it is. A crappy Marriott connected to a dilapadated stadium and a mall at 10% occupancy make up the Hartford Civic Center. When I stayed there we used to buy 40s at the liquor store across the street and watch the locals rob cars from the safety of our corporate conference center. At night, we would go to whatever bar wasn’t on the radio for having someone murdered there the night before. Schenectady, NY is pretty bad too. ---
**Author:** ![DeVena](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/dec6dc/32.png) [@DeVena](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DeVena)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2005, 9:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-ugliest-most-depressing-place-to-live-in-the-united-states/284720/28 "2005-01-14T21:14:11Z")
I would say Roy NM, which is DeHusband’s hometown. Small, half the roads aren’t paved, and dusty. And my mother-in-law, who hates me and is never happy, lives there. So there you go. DeHusband says Minot ND, where he “spent 3 year, 5 months, 21 days, and 7 hours… 1/3 of that time underground in a missile solo.” Not that he’s bitter. ---
**Author:** ![Sattua](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sattua/32/11906_2.png) [@Sattua](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sattua)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2005, 9:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-ugliest-most-depressing-place-to-live-in-the-united-states/284720/29 "2005-01-14T21:17:33Z")
Another vote for the Gary/Hammond area. I mean, egads… and the weather is bad, too. It _used_ to be the Homicide Capitol of the US. ---
**Author:** ![overlyverbose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/9dc877/32.png) [@overlyverbose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/overlyverbose)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2005, 9:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-ugliest-most-depressing-place-to-live-in-the-united-states/284720/30 "2005-01-14T21:18:19Z")
> [@Kyla](#): > > Another vote for Gary, Indiana. East St. Louis can’t be THAT bad - I have a good friend in St. Louis and when visiting her, the idea of going across the river to some clubs has been floated. It’s never happened, for whatever reason, but the thing is, people voluntarily go there. I can’t imagine any of my friends EVER saying, “Hey, let’s go over to Gary!” > > The smell alone is a clincher. All the strip clubs are in East St. Louis, which makes it a fairly popular place at night on the weekends. I’ve been to a couple of the clubs with some male friends, and all I’ve got to say is YUCK! My top three biggest shitholes are as follows (they’re all about equivalent in my mind, so that’s why I’m naming all of them): 1. East St. Louis and certain parts of North St. Louis 2. Outskirts of Kansas City (the Plaza isn’t bad, and some of the residential areas are okay, but a lot of it is industrial crap) 3. Los Angeles (Just flying into the place, the first thing I saw was a big brown cloud that blanketed the whole city. I thought, “Eh, so they have a pollution problem. I’ll give it a chance.” No dice. I’m sure there are some nice places in LA, but the ones I saw were shit.) ---
**Author:** ![overlyverbose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/9dc877/32.png) [@overlyverbose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/overlyverbose)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2005, 9:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-ugliest-most-depressing-place-to-live-in-the-united-states/284720/31 "2005-01-14T21:20:02Z")
> [@overlyverbose](#): > > I’ve been to a couple of the clubs with some male friends, and all I’ve got to say is YUCK! P.S. My problem isn’t with the strippers - some of them are quite pretty. My problem is mainly the location of the buildings and the smell in those places. It makes me feel all icky. ---
**Author:** ![av8rmike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/edb3f5/32.png) [@av8rmike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/av8rmike)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2005, 9:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-ugliest-most-depressing-place-to-live-in-the-united-states/284720/32 "2005-01-14T21:44:45Z")
> [@Mississippienne](#): > > I think the trashiest city I’ve ever been to is Baltimore. I worked there for 2 months (commuted from upstate MD) and it looks like a trash heap someone decided to build block after block of rickety, dirty, fire-hazard rowhouses upon. I’m from Mississippi, I’ve seen some poverty, but nothing like in the slums of Baltimore. Little kids playing in back alleys filled with rats and broken glass. Everything grey, brown, mouldy, and falling in on itself. In Baltimore, there’s the ghetto, and then there’s the _bad_ part of town. Then clearly, in all of two months you never made it to the _good_ parts of town, or experienced anything the city had to offer. Sure, there are parts of town I don’t drive through, but I think the good parts far outweigh the bad. I have no plans to leave any time soon. 😛 However, I _have_ been to Mississippi, and don’t think there’s nearly that much redeeming about it. ---
**Author:** ![Ephemera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8baadc/32.png) [@Ephemera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ephemera)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2005, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-ugliest-most-depressing-place-to-live-in-the-united-states/284720/33 "2005-01-14T22:02:22Z")
Can I nominate an entire state? Granted, I’ve only passed through it and not actually visited but I can’t remember anything in Indiana looking the least bit pleasant or inviting. ---
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2005, 10:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-ugliest-most-depressing-place-to-live-in-the-united-states/284720/34 "2005-01-14T22:04:31Z")
> [@romansperson](#): > > I’ve been to Detroit, and I’d say it’s on the same level as the District of Columbia and Baltimore. So much of each is dirty, in disrepair and dangerous. Sad. > > For rural areas, parts of West Virginia are pretty bad, too, and the Eastern Shore of Maryland is as well. The Eastern Shore does have it’s scrappy parts, but there are some quite nice parts as well, beautiful even. ---
**Author:** ![TheOnlySaneOne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/67e7ee/32.png) [@TheOnlySaneOne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheOnlySaneOne)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2005, 10:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-ugliest-most-depressing-place-to-live-in-the-united-states/284720/35 "2005-01-14T22:11:56Z")
I dunno. As a citizen of Flint though, I gotta say its not the bowls of the Earth. Its really not as bad as people think; everybody doesn’t carry a gun and gangs don’t own the streets. Sure there’s urban decay, but there’s also lovely green neighborhoods. It ain’t much, but its home. And while we may make fun of it a lot, and I mean _a lot_, I feel I have to pipe up and defend the place. ---
**Author:** ![vibrotronica](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/a9a28c/32.png) [@vibrotronica](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vibrotronica)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2005, 10:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-ugliest-most-depressing-place-to-live-in-the-united-states/284720/36 "2005-01-14T22:21:37Z")
North Mississippi is flat, broke, and hot as an oven in the summer. There’s a reason the blues comes from there. ---
**Author:** ![Ike\_Witt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ike_witt/32/283_2.png) [@Ike\_Witt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ike_Witt)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2005, 10:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-ugliest-most-depressing-place-to-live-in-the-united-states/284720/37 "2005-01-14T22:36:43Z")
> [@overlyverbose](#): > > 1. Los Angeles (Just flying into the place, the first thing I saw was a big brown cloud that blanketed the whole city. When I was at USC we used to watch the smog roll in from the east. In a matter of 20 minutes you could go from being able to see the Hollywood sign to having it obscured by smog. Gross. I had the misfortue to drive from Chicago to Merrillville Indiana. If there is a worse drive, I can’t imagine it. Once you get out of Chicago, Gary is high point of the trip. Dirty, dusty and ugly - and as others have mentioned, the smell. I couldn’t believe that I was in the US. ---
**Author:** ![cher3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/da6949/32.png) [@cher3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cher3)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2005, 10:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-ugliest-most-depressing-place-to-live-in-the-united-states/284720/38 "2005-01-14T22:46:29Z")
As someone who grew up in Hammond and spent a considerable amount of time in Detroit, I have to say…you’re probably right. However, Hammond at least had the virtue of proximity to Chicago. After living Northwest PA for a while, I have to nominate Erie or some small town arownd there. Horrible weather and no decent-sized city within about 200 miles. ---
**Author:** ![lee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lee/32/7455_2.png) [@lee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lee)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2005, 10:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-ugliest-most-depressing-place-to-live-in-the-united-states/284720/39 "2005-01-14T22:47:33Z")
On behalf of my mother, I want to nominate Niland, CA. Not urban, but very depressing. 120 on a typical summerday and right near the Salton Sea. A few years back there was a stench drifting over to Phoenix, AZ. They thought it was some company’s fault. It was just the Salton Sea. ---
**Author:** ![pizzabrat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/e9c0ed/32.png) [@pizzabrat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pizzabrat)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2005, 10:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-ugliest-most-depressing-place-to-live-in-the-united-states/284720/40 "2005-01-14T22:51:28Z")
> [@astro](#): > > Recollections of living in Prince Georges County, Maryland from my college days as a University of MD, College Park student in the late 70’s, set it in stone for me as the gold standard of depressing suburban wastelands. What’s your pick? Uh, thanks… :rolleyes: Where do you live now if PG is your idea of a hell-hole? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-ugliest-most-depressing-place-to-live-in-the-united-states/284720.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-ugliest-most-depressing-place-to-live-in-the-united-states/284720.md?page=3)