# 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:** 5
**Author:** ![Askia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/96bed5/32.png) [@Askia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Askia)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2005, 2:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-ugliest-most-depressing-place-to-live-in-the-united-states/284720/81 "2005-01-16T14:48:06Z")
Every so often I have a morbid desire to take a weekend and go visit my old haunts in Flint, MI and everytime it happens I take a hammer and nail and threaten to nail my feet to the floor if I make one fucking move toward the front door. I even called my bluff once, which is why I had that limp. FLINT. larry Flynt should mobe his porn empire there and start-up the economy. ---
**Author:** ![KSO](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/f07891/32.png) [@KSO](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KSO)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2005, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-ugliest-most-depressing-place-to-live-in-the-united-states/284720/82 "2005-01-16T16:25:51Z")
> [@msmith537](#): > > 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. Heh. I can look out of my office window as I type this at the Hartford Civic Center. All that’s left is the stadium–they’ve demolished the mall and have started reconstruction on a retail/residential tower and a complete redo of the mall to transform it from a tribute to godawful 70s urban architecture to something pedestrian friendly. Things are slooooooowly turning around in Hartford–the crappy Marriott (actually, I think it was a Hilton) is being rehabbed as are a couple of other hotels, a convention center is near completion, several old office buildings are being converted to apartments and/or condos. There’s also a huge development on the river under construction. A few months ago, I took a client to dinner on a Tuesday night and the dining room was half full–a couple of years ago, it would have been completely deserted. There are adequate cultural activities in Hartford: the Wadsworth Atheneum, Connecticut Opera, Theaterworks, the Hartford Stage, ballet, symphony, etc. and Hartford is roughly a two hour drive from each of the following: NYC, Boston, beaches (real beaches, not the dreck along the Connecticut coastline), skiing. Of course, the biggest attraction in Hartford (well, the Civic Center) is that it’s the home away from home for the National Champion UConn Huskies. 🙂 Anyway, Hartford’s problem is that there are nice suburbs in every direction so there’s no reason for people to actually live in Hartford. On the other hand, housing prices in the surrounding areas are through the roof so it might become more attractive to people who work in the city–an hour commute each way is a nightmare (I know, I’ve done it)–to live in Hartford proper. ---
**Author:** ![OtakuLoki](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/ac8455/32.png) [@OtakuLoki](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OtakuLoki)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2005, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-ugliest-most-depressing-place-to-live-in-the-united-states/284720/83 "2005-01-16T16:46:41Z")
[QUOTE=ralph124c] Ever since the days of Jimmy Carter (the “malaise” guy) politicians have bewailed the plight of these dying cities…yet nobody seems to know how to bring them back. Once ide was “enterprise zones” …as i understand it, an enetrprise zone would be an area where companies would be given substantial tax breaks to move in and set up plants. Why hasn’t this worked? In my own experience, Boston MA had a big blighted area (the South End). Starting in the late 1960’s the South end became poored and run down every year. its white working class population moved out, and black people from the south moved in. Large areas became slums. and many tenements were abandoned and torn down. Now, the South End is the hottest real estate market in Boston! Properties are being renovated., and the area is full of trendy restaurants, jazz clubs, art galleries, etc. [QUOTE] I think that in a large part such cycles within a thriving community, that is areas that go from being the hot property, to being gentrified, to being a little run down, to being a blight upon the landscape, and then back again, is more a function of capital coming in, in the form of outside developers noticing the potential of such blighted a location. Prior to the South End being such a mess, it had been the warehousing and docks areas in Boston that were blighted, until the idea of waterfront development caught on. Remember, when it was first proposed the idea of the Fanueil Hall Marketplace was poo-pooed as pie-in-the-sky. “Why would anyone want to come into the city to shop in _old_ Colonial era warehouses?” Of course this is a different process than the blighting of communities as the major employers move out, as has happened to Erie, PA and Niagara Falls, NY. ---
**Author:** ![Loopydude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e56c9b/32.png) [@Loopydude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loopydude)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2005, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-ugliest-most-depressing-place-to-live-in-the-united-states/284720/84 "2005-01-16T17:16:14Z")
I think you’re thinking of Southie (South Boston) and not the South End. The former is experiencing rapid gentrification, the latter has been hoity-toity for as long as I can remember. ---
**Author:** ![Elza\_B](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Elza\_B](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elza_B)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2005, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-ugliest-most-depressing-place-to-live-in-the-united-states/284720/85 "2005-01-16T17:37:55Z")
> [@Ms Boods](#): > > Farmville, Virginia. > > There are no quality goods and services – when I lived there, I would drive the 180 mile round trip to Charlottesville to go shopping, to the dentist, get my glasses seen to, medical care, buy books, clothes, &c. Oh, Christ. I forgot about the schools closing. Yeah, that was a shining jewel in Farmville’s glittering crown, to steal a line from Gypsy. However, growing up in Richmond, we actually went TO Farmville to buy our prom dresses - they had one store that was great for formal dresses. As far as the worst town, I’d vote for the one I live in now - Canton, Ohio. Although, my husband and I have discussed it and I think I’m so down on it because we live not IN the city of Canton, but an outerlying township, a WEALTHY township (not us, we’re in an apartment), and people are rude, nasty, and MEAN. I hate it here. Except for our apartment complex, which does have a large number of Muslims, the township is so white that you could pass a hundred people in the snow and not realize they’re there. And for a girl who’s spent the last four years in NYC, that’s just very odd for me. However, we did just buy a house IN the city of Canton, in a lovely older part of town, where there seems to be a lot more diversity. And we do like the actual CITY of Canton, we just don’t care for the outer townships. So we’ll see if my opinion changes in two months when we’re moved in. E. ---
**Author:** ![BurnMeUp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/91b2a8/32.png) [@BurnMeUp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BurnMeUp)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2005, 12:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-ugliest-most-depressing-place-to-live-in-the-united-states/284720/86 "2005-01-17T00:18:22Z")
One weekend i spent a year in Dover Deleware. ---
**Author:** ![Ms\_Boods](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5e9695/32.png) [@Ms\_Boods](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ms_Boods)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2005, 1:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-ugliest-most-depressing-place-to-live-in-the-united-states/284720/87 "2005-01-17T01:03:57Z")
> [@Elza B](#): > > Oh, Christ. > > I forgot about the schools closing. Yeah, that was a shining jewel in Farmville’s glittering crown, to steal a line from Gypsy. > > However, growing up in Richmond, we actually went TO Farmville to buy our prom dresses - they had one store that was great for formal dresses. You know, there is still one formal shop in the main street; I wonder if that’s where you found your frock. I have one close friend there whom I miss, but I absolutely cannot bear to go back there…I have to admit, when I came up here to DE and hit Baltimore on 95, I was so pleased to see it. I know a lot of people loathe it (as evidenced above!) but I have family from there, and visited there many times as a child, so for me it was lovely to see it. I have elderly relatives who grew up in Patterson Park, and they won’t go back to their old neighbourhoods simply because they have degenerated so much; one remembers how her mum and all the mums in the street would be out every Saturday morning scrubbing down the marble steps leading up to the rowhouse doors. Fair enough, I’ll take the blame; I’m descended from one of the aristos the Calverts brought over to found Maryland. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Mehitabel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/8797f3/32.png) [@Mehitabel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mehitabel)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2005, 1:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-ugliest-most-depressing-place-to-live-in-the-united-states/284720/88 "2005-01-17T01:10:50Z")
Although it has a long and distinguished history and a few blocks of truly lovely old mansions, my neighboring little city of Mount Vernon, New York, right over the border in Weschester County, has got to be a leading candidate. The Bronx has really rebounded but it’s still a little strange to drive from someplace INTO the Bronx and suddenly the streets are paved better, the schools are nicer, and the houses much fancier. On the plus side, this majority-black city has moved on from a corrupt and incompetent mostly-white government to a corrupt and incompetent mostly-black government! \ ---
**Author:** ![Winnie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e480ec/32.png) [@Winnie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Winnie)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2005, 1:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-ugliest-most-depressing-place-to-live-in-the-united-states/284720/89 "2005-01-17T01:51:26Z")
Last summer I drove through Pueblo, Colorado en route to Denver from Albuquerque. What a pit. It was a hot drive, but the second we drove into Pueblo city limits the temperature rose about 15 degrees. It was chokingly thick air, too, kind of smokey and hazey. There was nothing interesting to look at, just some refinaries and industrial areas. There was also some kind of undiscernable smell. We kept driving and waited for another place to gas up rather than stop there. ---
**Author:** ![ccwaterback](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/df705f/32.png) [@ccwaterback](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ccwaterback)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2005, 1:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-ugliest-most-depressing-place-to-live-in-the-united-states/284720/90 "2005-01-17T01:56:03Z")
Muncie, IN. [http://www.customvmail.com/ringtonepreviews/1608.mp3](http://www.customvmail.com/ringtonepreviews/1608.mp3) ---
**Author:** ![Pensandfeathers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a183cd/32.png) [@Pensandfeathers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pensandfeathers)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2005, 2:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-ugliest-most-depressing-place-to-live-in-the-united-states/284720/91 "2005-01-17T02:35:55Z")
> [@LucyInDisguise](#): > > OP asked for ugliest and most depressing … > > Haven’t been to enough ugly places yet to nominate one, however … I suspect it’s somewhere in Nevada … That would be Winnemucca, NV. I had the “luxury” of living there for 5 years. A town with a population of 9,000 (and its actually shrinking), and nothing but trailers and sagebrush as far as the eyes can see. The closest “big” city is Reno, not to mention that the people who live there are just awful. > [@LucyInDisguise](#): > > Depressing? ☹ Now that’s one I can speak to with some authority … Yep, no doubt about it … > > Salt Lake City, UT wins – hands down! > > If you’re not an active member of the ruling theocracy, you have **no** rights, are not allowed to **think** and you are ostrasized for speaking out against “The Church”. (No need to name it – I believe everyone knows which “Church” rules Utah …) > > Come to think of it, this Board (and it’s source – the Internet) are probably still illegal there – due to the free exchange of information, adults who are capable of thinking for themselves, etc… > > I spent more than 40 years trying to get out of Utah … \*Finally \* made it out 2 1/2 years ago. 🙂🙂 > > (Hotel Cal has nothin’ on Utah …) Since I have spent the vast majority of my life in this state, I have to agree with you. I’ve lived in Salt Lake, Ogden, and _blood curdles_ Tooele, I can honestly say that this state is one blood sucking hell hole. The sad thing is, it is rather pretty, and Salt Lake, though mind-numblingly boring, is clean and gorgeous is many places. Its just that the people there are so…so…so…well, Mormon. Blah, potential the state has, potential the state has squandered. I managed to escape 2 years ago, though things have been going badly, and I find myself moving back for the time being. So yeah, tons to look forward to. However, things could be worse, I could be moving back to Winnemucca. _Shudders_ ---
**Author:** ![kniz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/c37758/32.png) [@kniz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kniz)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2005, 3:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-ugliest-most-depressing-place-to-live-in-the-united-states/284720/92 "2005-01-17T03:03:33Z")
> [@vibrotronica](#): > > North Mississippi is flat, broke, and hot as an oven in the summer. There’s a reason the blues comes from there. I do believe you are referring to what’s called the Delta, which is over on the west side of the state, near Memphis. Come see us in the NE part of the state. First they call this “Hill County” so we ain’t flat and we also aren’t broke. Maybe that is why the King of Rock n Roll was born here. So that leaves “hot” and yes it is hot in the summer, but I also hang out in Memphis and it is just as hot there. When someone comes along and bad-mouths Memphis, I’ll stick up for you. ---
**Author:** ![drachillix](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/48db29/32.png) [@drachillix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drachillix)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2005, 3:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-ugliest-most-depressing-place-to-live-in-the-united-states/284720/93 "2005-01-17T03:05:35Z")
> [@The Devil's Grandmother](#): > > In spite of all this Fresno is far worse in California. Fresno is horrible and there’s no escape. Hmmm gotta disagree a bit with you. Fresno has a few bad patches, downtown does look like a war zone sometimes, but the northern half is pretty much fine and dandy. If not for the fact that Fresno is so sprawling it would probably be much worse. We don’t have alot of tall buildings or high density apartment areas that tend to concentrate more crime. Real estate values have almost tripled here in the last 5 years. Many people are selling their houses on the coast for .5 mil or so, coming here, buying really nice homes for $200-300K and using the rest to start businesses and such. Funny how Las Vegas got mentioned, thats what I was thinking when I saw the thread title. Down near the old strip esp where the greyhound station is next to the Plaza Hotel. OMFG people sleeping in the gutters everywhere. I’m sure there are plenty of nice areas of LV too but for about a mile out on either side of the strip it looks like death warmed over. ---
**Author:** ![Pensandfeathers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a183cd/32.png) [@Pensandfeathers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pensandfeathers)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2005, 3:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-ugliest-most-depressing-place-to-live-in-the-united-states/284720/94 "2005-01-17T03:13:20Z")
> [@drachillix](#): > > Funny how Las Vegas got mentioned, thats what I was thinking when I saw the thread title. Down near the old strip esp where the greyhound station is next to the Plaza Hotel. OMFG people sleeping in the gutters everywhere. I’m sure there are plenty of nice areas of LV too but for about a mile out on either side of the strip it looks like death warmed over. I lived there for about 5 months, and I will NEVER live there again. ---
**Author:** ![kniz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/c37758/32.png) [@kniz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kniz)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2005, 3:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-ugliest-most-depressing-place-to-live-in-the-united-states/284720/95 "2005-01-17T03:38:00Z")
> [@ccwaterback](#): > > I would like to give Memphis, TN a dishonorable mention too. I’ve never seen so many boarded up, burned out buildings and piles of trash. Maybe there is a good area of Memphis, I sure didn’t find it. I promised to stick up for Memphis so here goes. The downtown area with the new baseball stadium, remodeled Convention Center, FedEx Forum, Peabody Hotel , Peabody Center, Mud Island, Beal St. and the Pyramid is very nice. Take the bridge next to the Pyramid and you find Habor Town, where Sybil Shepard and more rich people live. Go east and you’ll come to Mid-town where the rich people used to live and still do somewhat (I have an apartment there). Then there is Germantown, and several other nice suburbs. Just don’t hang around the airport area, including south of downtown. That is not too nice, but there are much worse places that have been mentioned in this thread. And just south of Memphis on the way to Tupelo is Olive Branch which is a very nice town. I’ll nominate El Paso, TX, just the piles of rocks they call mountains is enough for it to qualify. The most god-forbidden part of the country I’ve ever seen is the eastern 2/3’s of Oregon. The good news is that not many people are dumb enough to live there. The western 1/3 is as nice as they claim, they just forget to tell you about the rest of the state. ---
**Author:** ![Rubystreak](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Rubystreak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rubystreak)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2005, 6:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-ugliest-most-depressing-place-to-live-in-the-united-states/284720/96 "2005-01-17T06:45:32Z")
> [@Risha](#): > > Binghamton, NY That was my #1 pick. I lived there for 4 long, miserable years and could not wait to get out. It was like being stuck on the wrong side of the river Styx: buildings all crumbling, water-stained, peeling, with dogshit all over the sidewalks, empty store fronts, graffiti, trash everywhere. It has this retro feel, as if it were stuck in the 1970s, which is when the city probably died. So sad and ugly. I wish I could forget I ever lived there. > [@Risha](#): > > Chester, PA Get out of my head! Dated someone who lived in that general area, and it was bad. Ditto Upper Darby, where I went to see a concert a few years ago. It looked like a city after it had been raided by hostile armies. Truly frightening. ---
**Author:** ![ralph124c](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/8797f3/32.png) [@ralph124c](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ralph124c)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2005, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-ugliest-most-depressing-place-to-live-in-the-united-states/284720/97 "2005-01-17T18:11:29Z")
This dump is located in Northern RI…it is a city of about 1/4 square mile, with a disfunctional government. At one point, half the city’s police cars were undriveable (they couldn’t afford to fix them). I would say that 50% of the population makes their living from trafficking drugs…once, the city tried to bring “new industries” in to create jobs. What they got was: a proposal to build a maimum security prison, or a toxic waste incinerator plant. Oddly enough, Central Falls became a city in the 1890’s-the wealthy mill owners who lived there wanted to be free of Pawtucket (another hideous dump). One claim to fame-CF actually beat out Hong Kong as the most densly populated area on earth…probably 500 people live in a three-family house. ---
**Author:** ![Alonzo\_John\_Blitz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/85e7bf/32.png) [@Alonzo\_John\_Blitz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alonzo_John_Blitz)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2005, 11:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-ugliest-most-depressing-place-to-live-in-the-united-states/284720/98 "2005-01-17T23:25:03Z")
What **kniz** said: **The most god-forbidden part of the country I’ve ever seen is the eastern 2/3’s of Oregon. The good news is that not many people are dumb enough to live there. The western 1/3 is as nice as they claim, they just forget to tell you about the rest of the state.** It _is_ horrible! Don’t come here! Save yourselves! Stay away! Stay away! The stinking snow-capped mountains, the depraved rivers and streams, the vast, godless forests! The grotesque air is so clean you _can’t even see it!_ But please feel free to send money. ---
**Author:** ![AncientHumanoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ancienthumanoid/32/278_2.png) [@AncientHumanoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AncientHumanoid)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2005, 3:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-ugliest-most-depressing-place-to-live-in-the-united-states/284720/99 "2005-01-18T03:06:21Z")
Souix City, Iowa. The physical place was actually pretty cool. Right on the river, full of big trees and quaint, old buildings and streets. It was the people. I swear, I was only there for about six weeks, but I could’ve murdered near 93% of everyone I met there and not have any pangs of conscience. It’s the people you meet in this business that bring you down. ---
**Author:** ![Gfab912](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a9a28c/32.png) [@Gfab912](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gfab912)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2005, 3:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-ugliest-most-depressing-place-to-live-in-the-united-states/284720/100 "2005-01-18T03:19:16Z")
> [@OtakuLoki](#): > > Excuse me, can I ask how long you spent in Rochester, and at what time? > > And if you’re offering NYC as an alternative I have to disagree, strongly. Certainly Rochester isn’t a bustling metropolis, but compare it to Utica, or Buffalo, or God help us all, Niagara Falls (the US city, that is) and it’s absolutely loverly. Of course, trying to get you to come in spring to visit one of my favorite parts of the city for simply walking and enjoying being outdoors wouldn’t be easy - I’m talking about the [Mount](http://www.rit.edu/~kecncp/Courses/Materials/FD/FD-Rochester/FD13.jpg) [Hope](http://www.rootsweb.com/~nymonroe/pictures/1013.htm) [Cemetery](http://www.lib.rochester.edu/rbk/MtHope/home.stm), and for some people the idea of enjoying a visit to a Victorian era public cemetary is anathema. 😉 > > Seriousy, for a city of 500,000, a [thriving](http://www.rpo.org/) [arts](http://www.rcsdk12.org/schools/secondary/sota.htm) community with [several](http://www.downstairscabaret.com/) [repitoire](http://www.blackfriars.org/) [companies](http://www.gevatheatre.org/), and the [George Eastman House](http://www.eastmanhouse.org/). > > 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.) > **Rick Jay** , you’re aware that the Ferry is about to be purchased by the city and put back into operation, and that the main reason CATS had to suspend operations was that they were doing things on a shoestring? And if you’re offering Syracuse as an improvement… :rolleyes: I hope you’re not trying to insinuate that NYC, as a whole is a bad place. If you are, then I must invite you for a visit. “Hell Hole”? NYC is a far cry from that, I assure you. It’s probably one of the most exciting cities in the world, bar none! Now Rochester, eventhough I wouldn’t rate it as a “bad place”, isn’t going to be voted “best” in any city beauty pagent. I went to college in that area 20 years ago and I recently visited the city and not much has changed in that time. Go figure! Peace. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-ugliest-most-depressing-place-to-live-in-the-united-states/284720.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-ugliest-most-depressing-place-to-live-in-the-united-states/284720.md?page=6)