armpit of each state?
 

Perhaps this subject has been dissected on here already, but I'm curious. . .as I was travelling along, the thought popped into my head, what would people claim as their state's "armpit city"? Of course there are some with a national reputation (Gary, IN; East St. Louis, IL; Newark) but I would enjoy hearing what other ones should be avoided. My nomination for the state of Minnesota:
Austin. Home of Hormel (producers of Spam). Rough town, dirty, out in the middle of nowhere you want to be.

Armpit for New Hampshire:

State House, Concord, NH.

Montana has none!!!

Tour Guide - Couldn't agree more. The positive would be much more helpful to others wishing to visit our states. For such a small state, CT offers great seaside vistas as well as country inns in our Northeast corner.

Lighten up people! It's always good to know where to avoid! Too much seriousness on a Tuesday that feels like a monday. By the way coolhand, you're right on with both Gary and ESL.

John...you must not have been to Hardin, definitely a pit. As for Arkansas..........too many to mention.

CT - Bridgeport

ARKANSASNURSE
Have been to both Hardin and Browning. Both are mainly Native American towns and though not garden spots I wouldn"t insult the people who live there.

Austin MN is a rough town??? You must be from Disney Land.

MM - Concord NH? Surely you jest!

Growing up in NY State, we used to say that Troy was the armpit of the state.

Fresno ca.

Maryland- 1. Most of Baltimore, especially the west side. 2. Cambridge on the eastern shore, site of the first race riot of the sixties. 3. Much of Prince George's County, especially inside the Beltway. 4. Cumberland in the west, economically depressed for decades. 5. Langley Park, part of the Third World.

Yes Steve, I believe you've hit the nail on the head for Maryland.

I was a bit surprised at Cambridge but then I realized you're probably right there too.

And then, as the other poster said "Think of all the great places in Maryland."

Deep Creek Lake; all our beaches; lots of great little towns like St Michaels, Oxford, Crisfield, Chestertown, Annapolis (of course).

Let me add in the positive regarding Maryland- Tilghman Island, swamp country south of Cambridge (Blackwater Reserve), almost anywhere near the Bay, bass fishing on the upper Potomac River (especially near places like Point-of-Rocks, White's Ferry and Brunswick) and the Antietam Battlefield area.

Yo zootsi: The State House, not the city.

:^)

In Florida It is definitely Miami. If you do not speak spanish you are a minority. People to lazy to learn English. Will the last American to leave Miami please bring the flag. It is nothing but an armpit to get past on the way to the keys.

So Miami's an armpit because people don't speak English...? That's a pretty specious argument (as well as borderline racist). Is Louisiana the armpit of the US because a lot of the natives speak French?

Miami's a pretty glitzy, happening city these days-- doesn't sound like an armpit to me....

Would the armpit of the COUNTRY be Crawford, Texas?

Just curious.

If the armpit of the country is Crawford TX, then the CROTCH of the country has to be Hope, Arkansas!!!

this is easy, all of Georgia!

rjw, It figures that someone would chime in with the racist comment. This is the US people here speak English people who come here should make the effort to learn the language. To me it is racist to come to this country and expect everyone to adapt to you and not learn to adapt to the country you are in. This comes from a bad experience I had in Miami when my car broke down and I had a difficult time finding anyone to help me that could speak english. Even the police officer could barely. Besides the fact that it has the highest crime rate in FL. the most corrupt govt. and except for the beach area is basically an "armpit". Get off your high horse.

Start spreading the news: New York, New York.

(Okay, Lackawanna's pretty bad too).

I travel a bit around the USA and Miami does seem as if a passport is needed to get around. I tried a few local restaurant that was popular with the locals and go absolutely no help to ordering since English was not the fashion. Ended up at a restaurant that catered to a cruise ship crew from the Philippines. A great group of people. Made an unpleasant experience pleasant and they weren't from the USA. I'll go back again but will stay in South Beach and bus over to Miami.

Public service jobs are not available to those who do not speak Spanish. Bilingual is fine, of course. But no habla espanol, no job in this arena in Miami.

Sorry if I'm touchy, but I still have relatives that ONLY speak French-- and our family has been here since before the American Revolution. Fact is: The United States does NOT have an official language. English is the language of the government and the vast majority of the people, yes, but the country has never adopted an official language.

Now, back to armpits of each state: I second the vote for Fresno, CA. However, Blythe (on the CA/AZ border) is pretty nasty too....

I know this is a little off topic, but I was surprised that English is not the official language of the US. I found these statistics and thought I would share them

"With a margin for error of plus-or-minus 3.1 percent, key findings from the Omnibus survey of 1,000 nationwide registered voters include:
-- Eighty-four percent of respondents favored making English the official language of the United States and 11 percent opposed.
There is intensity in the data with 73 percent of voters saying they strongly favored making English the official language.
-- Men are five times more likely than women to favor making English the official language.
-- Among party lines, 89 percent of Republicans favor making English the official language, while 80 percent of Independent and Democrat voters favors such legislation."

It seems like the majority does agree that English should be the national language and I completely agree.

rjw- I am not posting this to try to offend or insult you. I understand your opinion on the matter and wanted to share mine.

Oh, btw, my vote for the armpit of Texas is Lubbock- flat, no grass, terrible dust storms.

mercedes: The data don't surprise me. All I'm saying is: Saying that a particular place is an "armpit" because there is a large percentage of citizens who don't speak English is a bit ridiculous. Citing high crime stats-- now that's a stronger argument, isn't it?

Now, a plasticky, nasty, steamy pile of urban sprawl without redeeming natural beauty-- that qualifies a place as an "armpit", in my eyes. I can think of a few....

And Cleveland has yet to be mentioned? Well heres my vote. English speaking or not,earns the "mistake by the lake" nickname.

Another vote for Fresno as the armpit of California - looks like we are unanimous in this.

John: I saw few Native Americans in Hardin the girls in the DQ were blonde and blue eyed, since DH is Cherokee, I doubt I would down the Native American people.

I must also agree with the Crotch comment, not because of who resided there but it is a dinky little town with watermelons everywhere, I hate watermelon.

Baltimore the pit of all.

I would say that West Texas is not very pretty. I would not say it is the armpit. I just would not send a visitor there.

Arkansasnurse, what are you, 12?

Although I've (happily) never been to Fresno, I would vote for Los Angeles as armpit and capital of America's Third World.

Isn't Firebaugh worse than Fresno? And I was always told by my uncle, who was born there, that Hoboken, not Newark, was the armpit of New Jersey.

Harrisburg, PA

J_Correa:

Hate to disagree with you, but the

absolute, undisputed armpit of California is

ALVISO, which is part of the GREATER SAN JOSE area

Alviso is the official and unofficial dump site at the southern end of San Francisco Bay. On a good day, you can SMELL Alviso before you have even arrived! On a bad day, well, on a bad day, fainting from the smell is a wonderful option! The overwhelming stench permeates into adjoining communities... :P

Fresno used to be just like any other country town in the Central Valley. Too bad it's got ugly urban sprawl and high crime. But comes in a distinct second to Alviso!

Yes, Marilyn, Firebaugh used to be REALLY bad - in them ole days...

If Gary is the armpit of Indiana (which it is), we used to say Terre Haute was the crotch. I know, I spent 4 years there. It has the smell to match with the paper mills filling up the valley with that wonderful aroma.

Wisconsin-Kenosha

Vermont - Plainfield
MA - Worcester
New Jersey - Atlantic City