# Worst Place in America Tournament **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [April 6, 2007, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-place-in-america-tournament/399012 "2007-04-06T18:05:13Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2007, 10:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-place-in-america-tournament/399012/21 "2007-04-06T22:57:50Z")
[QUOTE=Shagnasty] **Massachusetts** Nominee: Lawrence Backing up on Prevent Defense: Brockton [/QUOTE] What is so horrible about Brockton? I always hear this from Massachusettians. I’ve never been there, but it was the location featured in the suspense film _Crush_, and it looked OK to me. Right on the river, old, pretty houses, some of them quite large. It seemed like a fairly upper middle class community, clean and well-kept. ---
**Author:** ![Frank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Frank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frank)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2007, 11:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-place-in-america-tournament/399012/22 "2007-04-06T23:00:23Z")
[QUOTE=threemae] 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. [/QUOTE] Greeley. Or perhaps Craig. Pueblo, at least, has a nice little zoo. ---
**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:** [April 6, 2007, 11:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-place-in-america-tournament/399012/23 "2007-04-06T23:07:13Z")
[QUOTE=Frank] Greeley. Or perhaps Craig. Pueblo, at least, has a nice little zoo. [/QUOTE] Um, that was the mall you were at. Oklahoma! Okmulgee. I predict a Great 8 finish. ---
**Author:** ![Queen\_Bruin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/e274bd/32.png) [@Queen\_Bruin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Queen_Bruin)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2007, 11:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-place-in-america-tournament/399012/24 "2007-04-06T23:21:06Z")
[QUOTE=Jayrot] **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. [/QUOTE] Oh I don’t know, I think it’s Lancaster you should be haytin’ on (I live there). We should actually just nominate the whole Palmdale/Lancaster complex. (Points to location: “You’ll never find a more wretched hive of scum and villainy.”) ---
**Author:** ![RedRosesForMe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/91b2a8/32.png) [@RedRosesForMe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RedRosesForMe)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2007, 11:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-place-in-america-tournament/399012/25 "2007-04-06T23:46:06Z")
Gibsonton, Florida. Shithole if there ever was one. However, what do you expect from a town founded by side show freaks? ---
**Author:** ![ASAKMOTSD](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/919ad9/32.png) [@ASAKMOTSD](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ASAKMOTSD)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2007, 11:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-place-in-america-tournament/399012/26 "2007-04-06T23:48:18Z")
On behalf of the (great) state of Michigan, I nominate \*\*Flint \*\*- former home of General Motors. ---
**Author:** ![Lightnin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lightnin/32/180_2.png) [@Lightnin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lightnin)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2007, 11:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-place-in-america-tournament/399012/27 "2007-04-06T23:50:08Z")
I nominate Waco. That town’s only two claims to fame are Dr.Pepper and Branch Davidians. I lived there for about two years. The high point was when I got exposed to rabies. ---
**Author:** ![Tangent](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tangent/32/3098_2.png) [@Tangent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tangent)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2007, 12:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-place-in-america-tournament/399012/28 "2007-04-07T00:03:25Z")
[QUOTE=Lightnin’] I nominate Waco. That town’s only two claims to fame are Dr.Pepper and Branch Davidians. [/QUOTE] I came in to nominate Waco also. You left out it’s third claim to fame, Baylor University, which I guess is a nice enough school, but the rest of the town leaves much to be desired. ---
**Author:** ![Nametag](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nametag/32/406_2.png) [@Nametag](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nametag)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2007, 12:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-place-in-america-tournament/399012/29 "2007-04-07T00:03:29Z")
Palmdale? That’s a perfectly unexceptionable desert town in LA county; not anywhere near the pit that Bakersfield is. ---
**Author:** ![Kilvert\_s\_Pagan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/c37758/32.png) [@Kilvert\_s\_Pagan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kilvert_s_Pagan)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2007, 12:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-place-in-america-tournament/399012/30 "2007-04-07T00:08:36Z")
is there a minimum population requirement, or at least a “it’s gotta be generally known” requirement? I know a lot of places in Kentucky to nominate, but they’re mostly really little. I’d nominate **Evanston** Wyoming over **Rock Springs**. Or **Rawlins** as a tie-breaker. I’d nominate **Aurora, Colorado** , or second the nomination for **Greeley** , over **Pueblo**. I like Pueblo… great Mexican food, friendly people, and areas of cool Victorian architecture. Just don’t judge it from the interstate. I’ll second **Youngstown** , at least partially because I don’t want Cleveland dragged into this. :rolleyes: Of course, as a Cleveland child of the 60’s, I should nominate Parma instead. 😛 I’ll also nominate **Shiprock, New Mexico** , unless it’s too small. ---
**Author:** ![Enter\_the\_Flagon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/b9bd4f/32.png) [@Enter\_the\_Flagon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enter_the_Flagon)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2007, 12:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-place-in-america-tournament/399012/31 "2007-04-07T00:09:01Z")
[QUOTE=Nametag] Palmdale? That’s a perfectly unexceptionable desert town in LA county; not anywhere near the pit that Bakersfield is. [/QUOTE] True, quite true, but have you ever been to **Fontana**? That’s my entry. ---
**Author:** ![rexnervous](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e9c0ed/32.png) [@rexnervous](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rexnervous)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2007, 12:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-place-in-america-tournament/399012/32 "2007-04-07T00:17:31Z")
My Kansan girlfriend nominates **Garden City** for the great state of Kansas! Unless you like cities with lots of meat-packing plants. Especially in the summer. ---
**Author:** ![Queen\_Bruin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/e274bd/32.png) [@Queen\_Bruin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Queen_Bruin)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2007, 12:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-place-in-america-tournament/399012/33 "2007-04-07T00:21:54Z")
[QUOTE=Nametag] Palmdale? That’s a perfectly unexceptionable desert town in LA county; not anywhere near the pit that Bakersfield is. [/QUOTE] It’s not as unexceptional as it [used to be](http://avpress.com/n/05/0405_s4.hts). > [@](#): > > The homicide rate for persons ages 15 to 34 was not available for the Antelope Valley area, but countywide, the murders in that age group are double the national average, the report shows. > The number of unintentional drug-related deaths among adults in the Antelope Valley is the highest in the county and nearly double the countywide average. > Statistics showed that while the Antelope Valley has about 3% of the county’s adult population, it was responsible for 11% of the admissions of persons seeking treatment for methamphetamine abuse. > The number of deaths from vehicle crashes also outpaced all other areas and was more than double the rest of the county on average. Although I’ll agree that Fontana is quite bad. I had one occasion to go there and I pray I never do again. ---
**Author:** ![5\_time\_champ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/5/278dde/32.png) [@5\_time\_champ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/5_time_champ)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2007, 1:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-place-in-america-tournament/399012/34 "2007-04-07T01:06:29Z")
FWIW, the [Casino Queen](http://www.casinoqueen.com/pics/index/slpd2.jpg) in East St Louis has the loosest slot machines in the country. What’s wrong with Rock Springs, WY? IIRC, the scenery is nice, if a little rocky. ---
**Author:** ![Happy\_Lendervedder](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/happy_lendervedder/32/8488_2.png) [@Happy\_Lendervedder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Happy_Lendervedder)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2007, 1:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-place-in-america-tournament/399012/35 "2007-04-07T01:18:18Z")
[QUOTE=ASAKMOTSD] On behalf of the (great) state of Michigan, I nominate \*\*Flint \*\*- former home of General Motors. [/QUOTE] I second this nomination. Flint’s five times worse than Detroit. What’s the criteria for “worst?” I worked in Jefferson City, MO for about six months, and pretty much wanted to slit my wrists by the end of it out of boredom and depression, so I’d like to nominate Jefferson City. However, if we’re looking at crime, economic depression and pollution, I imagine there are worse places in Missouri. However, I’m still gonna toss Jeff Shitty, Misery into the pool of worst cities. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2007, 1:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-place-in-america-tournament/399012/36 "2007-04-07T01:19:31Z")
For Texas, my nominee is the town of Plains. ---
**Author:** ![Shagnasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2007, 1:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-place-in-america-tournament/399012/37 "2007-04-07T01:45:40Z")
[QUOTE=Spectre of Pithecanthropus] What is so horrible about Brockton? I always hear this from Massachusettians. I’ve never been there, but it was the location featured in the suspense film _Crush_, and it looked OK to me. Right on the river, old, pretty houses, some of them quite large. It seemed like a fairly upper middle class community, clean and well-kept. [/QUOTE] I have never seen the movie but I suspect it was shot off-location. Like most locations in Massachusetts, it can be superficially pretty in a Massachusetts kind of way. However, Brockton is what some might consider to be a distant Boston suburb but it is mainly a small city left to neglect in its own right. There is nothing upper middle class about it although there are probably some decent homes on the fringes. Brockton is a study case in what happens when the traditional population mostly abandons a town and the lower cost of living starts to attract degenerates from all around in a vicious cycle and that starts to feed itself. Lawrence is basically the same except worse. A traditionally industrial town was crushed when the industries left and the poor, desperate, and criminal canabilized the whole place for themselves with little traditional structure to keep things under control. ---
**Author:** ![Lsura](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7993a0/32.png) [@Lsura](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lsura)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2007, 2:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-place-in-america-tournament/399012/38 "2007-04-07T02:36:33Z")
[QUOTE=Sternvogel] As a former Ohioan, I nominate Youngstown (Mafia-ridden site of numerous shuttered steel plants) as the Buckeye State’s entry. [/QUOTE] Seeing as how I live there…I came into this thread to say Youngstown. ---
**Author:** ![Lamar\_Mundane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/85f322/32.png) [@Lamar\_Mundane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamar_Mundane)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2007, 3:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-place-in-america-tournament/399012/39 "2007-04-07T03:01:31Z")
[QUOTE=Kilvert’s Pagan] I’d nominate **Aurora, Colorado** , or second the nomination for **Greeley** , over **Pueblo**. I like Pueblo… great Mexican food, friendly people, and areas of cool Victorian architecture. Just don’t judge it from the interstate. [/QUOTE] I’d say Aurora or Greeley as well. Pueblo isn’t at all bad for a small city. Colorado is tough, there isn’t a city or town with really bad crime, and the poorest towns are often located in some of the most gorgeous scenery in the country. There must be some eastern plains town with a feed lot and a bunch of meth addicts, but I’ve never seen it. Those eastern plains folks are some of the nicest I’ve ever met. Some of the gas towns in the northwest don’t seem all that great, but drive five miles and you’re in a Marlboro commercial. We surrender. ---
**Author:** ![Shagnasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2007, 3:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-place-in-america-tournament/399012/40 "2007-04-07T03:13:17Z")
The Southern states are indeed impoverished in places and very rich in others but they have long been that way and that is part of their character and the reason why states like Mississippi have a disproportionate influence world-wide on things like music and culture. My home state of Louisiana has plenty of poor, racially segregated towns but they tend to live in a quiet homeostatus unlike some of the poor, Northern industrialized cities and blend into interesting if not contrasting cultures. For Louisiana, I nominate [Lake Providence, Louisiana](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lake_Providence,_Louisiana). It is one of, if not the most, poorest towns in the country. The median household income is less than $17,000. Sitting right on the Mississippi River, it is one of the closet places you will find to mimic white overlordship over an extremely poor black population of the days gone by. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-place-in-america-tournament/399012.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-place-in-america-tournament/399012.md?page=3)