Worst places to Live in United States
 

There is an interesting thread about the best places to live, and there are many surveys of best places. But what are the worst places? Submissions must explain the horror of the place in detail. These cannot be vacation spots; they must be actual places with actual people trying to make a go of it there, and to be fair, you must have lived there at least one year. <BR> <BR>I would nominate the eastern suburbs of Phoenix. I was raised there, and it has actually gotten worse since I fled. Endless stripmalls and white stucco buildings. Searing heat. Horrible traffic; they used to have one crowded freeway, but now they have lots of crowded freeways. Intolerant political climate and minimal diversity. Gun culture. Newspapers that read like comic books. I could go on and on. I'm in the Metro DC area now and much happier.

I'm disobeying your 'rules' since I haven't lived in these places, but having visited each, I'm wondering if anyone out there can actually offer info on what it is like to subsist in: <BR>Gila Bend, AZ <BR>Blythe, CA <BR>Yuma, AZ <BR>Gary, IN <BR>anyplace in ND

Miami - it's not actually the worst place to live, but that's not for lack of trying. I spent seven long years there. Its a lot how you describe phoenix

Anywhere in Southern California, i.e. Riot Central. High crime, pollution, urban concrete jungle, gridlock traffic, plus sky high taxes, insurance and cost of living for the privilege of exisiting in what is essentially the Third World. There isn't enough money anywhere to entice me to live there again.

"Anywhere" in So Cal !!?? what part were YOU in?! <BR> <BR>having had to hop around a small, but diverse cross section of the US on business trips, I can't think of anyplace OTHER than So Cal I'd like to live. <BR> <BR>I do agree about too many taxes, though, and too many many democrats. Maybe like all fads, the latter will fade in time. <BR> <BR>As they say, "same planet...different worlds".

Yes tom, you're right, we're all different and that's what makes the world go 'round. I simply stated my experience and my opinion, like Karen asked. <BR> <BR>And in my experience, the only people who love So. Cal are either wealthy enough to barricade themselves in luxury enclaves, or they have never lived outside of So. Cal and don't realize that a cheaper and better quality of life exists just about anywhere else. <BR> <BR>As far as too many Democrats, you obviously don't live in Orange County. They make ordinary conservatism look positively socialist.

Hmmmmm....The ocean and the mountains nearby--both beautiful and peaceful. I can swim most of the year and enjoy the outdoors year-round. I have access to wonderful museums and theater. <BR> <BR>The population is wonderfully diverse and I am constantly learning new things about cultures different than my own. <BR> <BR>Sounds like Los Angeles is a pretty great place to live!

My wife is an LA native and was a strong devotee to SoCal until being forced to relocate for several years. She now swears she'd never go back. Not that she has lost her appreciation for the things SoCal has going for it. Just that she had no inkling of what it was missing. A short list: seasons, short commutes, homes of character and history built before 1920, lack of stress, lack of superficiality, neighborhoods with families who know and enjoy each other with families which have roots and history dating back generations providing a sense of tradition and history. <BR>No place in America suits everyone well. SoCal has lots going for it. But until any one person has actually lived other places (with an open mind) there is no telling what really suits him/her best. Not that we all need to go test drive Fargo, North Dakota for a year. But there is a wide variety of broadly appealing places to live in the good 'ol USA.

Worst Place, <BR>Middle of any big city... <BR>Crime, taxes, smog, other pollution, noise, often times neighbors don't even know each other's names.

Baltimore is rapidly sinking to the bottom. Much of the city resembles East Berlin, albeit more like 1955 than 1945. Mile after mile of delapidated row houses dominate the city. Worse is the block after block of loitering bums that congregate at street corners and the liquor stores, sauntering about during what is usually the work day for ordinary people. I just wonder what the future is of cities like Baltimore when so many of its citizens are made up of superfluous people, unadapted to the post-industrial economy of the 21st Century.

Lansing, Michigan, for the consistently grey overcast skies October to April. February and March are particularly grim, with little piles of filthy grey slush along the sides of the roads.

No question about it - Buffalo, New York. I have not lived there, but that is where my husband is from and I have visited more times than I care to remember. Forgetting about the snow (as if you can), it is the most depressing place I have ever been to. Even the brightest day looks gray and dingy. G-d, I'm getting depressed thinging about it.

"Noname," you can't be serious!! Do you really mean ALL of So. Cal. or just Los Angeles? Now granted, MOST of Los Angeles is the pits, BUT, as crowded as the Westside is, it is still beautiful in many areas and not just for the wealthy, although cetainly most of the apartments in Brentwood, etc. are overpriced and not worth the money, but that's true in any large city! In any event, there are so many wonderful areas in So. Cal. that it would be difficult to leave, earthquakes or no earthquakes (Santa Barbara, certain parts of San Diego including La Jolla, Laguna Beach/Mission Viejo, Calabasas, Agoura/Agoura Hills, Westlake Village, ad infinitum!! (Might I ask WHERE you are currently living and what makes it so special?)

O.K., I can see that I touched a nerve with my comment about So.Cal, and I'm happy that SOMEONE likes it, but that someone isn't me. I can't think of a single area that a middle class family could today afford, enjoy and feel safe in without a four or five hour daily commute for one or both parents, including all the places you mentioned. <BR> <BR>Just out of curiosity, what are the going rates for homeowner's insurance nowadays? You've got riots, floods, fires, mudslides, earthquakes, and everything in between. I would think the insurance companies have all fled the state by now! (Wouldn't THAT be a blessing, huh?) <BR> <BR>Peter, I'll tell you that we live in gorgeous Colorado, and we have a beautiful home in the country on multiple acres, with rolling hills, pine trees, horses, stars twinkling above every night and the most peaceful quiet I've ever experienced. Taxes are low, gasoline and insurance is MUCH cheaper, schools are good, people are friendly. There are no gangs, no grafitti, no helicopters buzzing overhead at night, no sounds of gunfire. <BR> <BR>And all for about half the price of some run down 1960's, two bedroom shack in So. Cal. Pollution, crime, gridlock and all the other urban ills are fast becoming a distant memory, thank God. You don't realize how bad it really is until you finally get away from it. <BR> <BR>

Noname: <BR>You sound like a racist in sheep's clothing.

Come on, now. If someone doesn't like the many horrors of urban life, one is a racist? I saw nothing racist about wanting to live in a rural area in Colorado. Lighten up, cur.

Noname (if that's really your name...) - <BR> <BR>I'm a So Cal dweller & have NEVER experienced "...riots, floods, fires, mudslides,..., and everything in between". These things can happen (nearly anywhere), and unfortunately the effect of the network nightly news is to embellish & magnify the misfortunes of the few. <BR> <BR>Yes, I've experienced minor quakes, no damage...but is this any worse than tornadoes or hurricanes or river flooding??? <BR> <BR>"..schools are good, people are friendly. There are no gangs, no grafitti, no helicopters buzzing overhead at night, no sounds of gunfire.." <BR> <BR>Gosh, it sounds exactly like my So Cal community. <BR> <BR>Noname, you have some very deep rooted stereotypes of So Cal. What if I were to say "ALL of Colorado is nothing but gay-bashers", or jump to the conclusion that "ALL Colorado schools are dangerous" because of the Columbine tragedy. <BR> <BR>I respect your personal lifestyle choices, but you go a bit far, and lose credibility, when you try to imbue obectivity into all your assertions and pass them off as unassailable 'facts'. <BR>

I'm sorry some of you disagree, and actually that's fine. Colorado is already the top destination in the country for baby boomers, so the more who choose to stay in places like So Cal the better. It's going to be crowded here soon enough. Sixty percent of state residents moved here within the last ten years, 90% of them from California and Texas. I'm obviously not the only urban refugee around. <BR> <BR>Since I never actually stated what I personally had or hadn't experienced, it's presumptuous of you to assume. <BR> <BR>I'll tell you now. I lived in L.A. county during the 1992 riots (something I'll never forget), I've experienced more earthquakes than I can count, my car was stolen, my house was robbed, I was followed and accosted by beggars or thieves in the parking lots of every store I visited, I carried mace on my keychain, there were sounds of gunfire and helicopters every Friday and Saturday night as the gangs cruised (just turned up the T.V, to drown it out), and one day I unknowingly walked into Radio Shack as an armed robbery was occurring (yes, I had to get on the floor with my hands behind my head with the other customers while the robbers brandished guns and threatened us). My daily commute averaged four hours, my family relationships suffered, my stress level was through the roof. Orange County proved no better. Still plenty of crime, pollution and long commutes. If all that fits So. Cal sterotypes, then I guess I was a sterotypical resident. <BR> <BR>For those of you who moved there decades ago and bought reasonably priced homes, I'm sure you're satisfied. But you can't tell me you haven't witnessed decay and decline over the years. As I said earlier, the only people I ever met who were happy there were either very wealthy and could retreat to their exclusive communities, or they had never lived outside of So Cal and didn't know what they were missing. <BR> <BR>Karen, I didn't mean to take up so much space on your post. I hope others have some different opinions they will share as well. <BR> <BR>Everyone has choices, and we made ours with no regrets.

I thought this question started out asking what people thought was the worst place to live in the US. Why does it have to escalate into an argument? My nomination for worst place...the Bronx in NYC.

Well, this post does set the stage for arguments, one person's paradise is another's h*ll, like we've seen here. <BR> <BR>My nomination is for Yuma, Arizona. Use your imagination.