You may recall that there was a Worst town in America thread quite some time ago. One thing I noticed was that there was no real agreement on the true Worst Town in America. That’s why I’m suggesting a tournament. Everyone name the worst town in all 50 states. It can be a continuous list like one person does Alabama, the next does Alaska, etc… Then there could be a March Madness-like tournament to find a definite winner. There would be a round of 50, then narrowed down to 25, etc… Everyone, get nominating!
Massachusetts
Nominee:
Lawrence
Backing up on Prevent Defense:
Brockton
Hawaii
Nominee:
Waianae
Although not the most pleasant place (Police just took out 800 homeless in tents on the beach), I don’t expect anywhere that says * x, Hawaii* to last long in the tourney. We’ll probably be in the Play-in game to play a #1 seed from the Rust Belt
Predicted Final Four:
[ol]
[li]Gary, Indiana[/li][li]East St Louis, Illinois[/li][li]Camden, New Jersey[/li][li]And one Cinderella[/li][/ol]
For Maryland, I’d say Baltimore, even though it’s pretty good, Maryland’s a small state and I wouldn’t expect it to last long in the tourney. Also, the District of Columbia is exempt because it is only one city and it would throw off the numbers by making it 51 choices instead of a nice round number like 50. For Virginia, I’ll have to go with a book I have by Dave Gilmartin on this topic and say Virginia Beach. Once again, Virginia was a toughie like Maryland.
Camden’s a contender. On this side of the river, I’ll propose Chester for Pennsylvania.
Also, this isn’t a nomination, I’ve never been to Connecticut, but I’ve heard that New Haven’s pretty cruddy outside the Yale campus. Also, there’s blood in the streets there 
Does anyone know where that’s from?
Are we going based on general miserable-ness, crime rate, or suckitude? Or all three?
From my experience:
Nevada: Wells.
My Final Four prediction:
Gary, Ind.
Camden, N.J.
East Orange, N.J.
Compton, Calif.
~Tasha
Revere
Parts of Salem
Pretty much all three.
I don’t know, East St. Louis is a major contender, may push East Orange out of the Final Four. Plus, you can’t have two from one state. One per state.
Hey, my BIL lives in Revere!
…no, you are absolutely right come to think of it. He could make any place a contender just by living there.
So as both **Tashabot ** and Twickster have said, I guess we and declare Camden the worst town in New Jersey?
Sounds like a charmer. 
Another nominee might be Mehfuh. I understand that’s where ozone depletion got its start.
New Jersey is going to be like the Southeastern Conference, hard to place just one team in.
I’ve always been amused at the one-letter spelling difference between Waianae and Waialae. Definitely one of those, “Be sure to enunciate when tourists ask for directions” places. 
As a former Ohioan, I nominate Youngstown (Mafia-ridden site of numerous shuttered steel plants) as the Buckeye State’s entry.
Yeah, but, once again, you have to choose one from each state and I’d say that nowhere in New Jersey, no matter how horrible, can beat Camden.
TEXAS
Nominee:
Alpine.
Prediction: could go all the way, especially if judging committee travels there by Amtrak.
CALIFORNIA
Nominee: Palmdale
Prediction: Like the Hawaii nominee, it probably won’t last long since it is in California. As shitty as it might be, it’s at least near some good stuff.
Washington State
Nomination: Burien
Runner up: Kent
Wyoming
Rock Springs
After a 15 second deliberation, Colorado nominates scenic:
Pueblo, Colorado!
Okay, it’s not that bad. We’ll leave and expect our appearance check in the mail.
Also, I’ve eaten lunch in Rock Springs, Wyoming and I didn’t think it seemed that bad.