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To the top, for Lynn.

fast1

My worst place to live would be in a house located in ANY city that would be between Noah/ch's and John Gardenepicure@ gardener's houses.

Imagine all of the polluted, humid, hot air going back and forth. Would warp your siding in seconds flat.!!!

Patricia

I've only lived in five places and wouldn't rate any as the worst, but Los Angeles was the worst of the five. I grew up in Merced, Ca (off hwy 99) with relatives in Atwater, Ca. It wasn't wonderful, but the weather was good, people friendly and housing affordable.
This was a very agricultural area, so if you don't like small towns and need more diverse cultures and to persue the arts, well I understand. Still, somebody as got to grow the food the rest of us rely on. As for Los Angeles, I too heard helicopers and gunshots some evenings. My husband's company had to make a deal with the local gang as to graffitti on the walls. The smog was horrible on my asthma. We couldn't afford a house. Still, I liked the weather, the shopping, the museums and the beach nearby. The earthquakes never harmed me (I lived in San Francisco too). The tornados here in Texas frighten me. I imagine the worst place as somewhere like L.A. with really cold weather too.

raisinking

Big votes for Fresno aka: "Fresburg".

The worst traffic for a town of this size. The worst smog /dust/pollution

former newenglander

Id have to nominate, ooohh , i know somebodys gonna be mad, BOSTON. Im not saying its THE WORST place to live , im saying its the worst place I'VE lived.... Have YOU ever waited for a bus in winter there. i think im still frozen to the side walk... and the trash...oh and the mean cranky people...

Kelly

I'd like nominate Houston, TX as one of the worst places to live in the U.S. The most polluted, very heavy traffic, extremely flat terrain, extremely humid. A LOT of concrete. Way too much big hair, over manicured nails and over air-conditioned buildings. I lived there for 10 miserable years and saw everything from shooting (over the hood of my own car) to daily fatal car wrecks and drug overdoses and child abuse in the apartments where I lived (a "nice" family place). What surprises me most is some people tell me they love it there!

Sam Drucker

Hooterville is still accessed only by airplane or train, still no highway. Pixley has a new super walmart and I am just about out of business.

R

Not Houston - it's got to be Dallas, Texas! It's way way too hot, little rain to break the heat(when it does, the storms usually kill a few people), dreary architecture, silly socialites, socialite wannabes, flat land, chain restaurants; it's just plain boring. Houston has REALLY and truly come a long way in the past 10 years. Can't do anything about the humid weather down there, but the night life, restaurants and arts scene down there are spectacular (key thing to remember: stay inside the loop or thereabouts!) Wish I could say the same for poor Dallas. I will say this: having DFW airport is nice - can fly anywhere you want non stop.

allan

griffith indiana is my nomination for the worst place too live, its just a couple miles south of gary . traffic,litter and people killed for no reason. i had to spend 2 years there working for a company and im glad i was finally able to get out of there.

Matt Sather

I would like to nominate Adams-Friendship, Wisconsin. To defend my argument Adams-Friendship has the highest welfare rate in the State of Wisconsin. In 1987, it was the murder capital of the world (per capita) because of a series of different serial killers and is a known body dumping site. Not to mention our friendly neighbor Ed Gein lived only 20 minutes away. The lovely town of Adams, it is not uncommon to see cousins walking hand in hand or embraced in a kiss. And the biggest event of the year is when the whole town gathers around the lighting of the Christmas tree, it was in the Guiness book of world records in 1985 as having the most lights on it. Followed secondly by the Demolition Derby.
People not only had pet pigs, they had pet ducks, chickens, and goats. The winters last for at least 6 months in WI. The people's idea of a family vacation is a 15 minute trip to the Wisconsin Dells (the tackiest town in America). Also, there are only 3 five star restaurants in town: Carlson's rustic ridge, Splash, and Hardees. I've actually seen shirt and tie dinners at Hardee's.
I rest my case.

tim

Hands down Evansville, In or Roxbury, MA
Scumbags crime dirty I would live in buffalo before those two

Mike

Prince George's County, Maryland, where I was raised and lived from 1960-1990, is rapidly declining into becoming a hell-hole. For over twenty years, the slum-dwellers of Washington have descended upon what once was a clean, middle-class county. In almost any grading, PG public schools are the worst in the DC metro area but for the public schools of DC itself. PG's violent crime rate is the highest of any suburban county in America and probably Western Civilization. The police force is regularly used as a vote-winning political football by the ascendant black politicians. The local DA, Jack Johnson, wins political support by regularly railroading and demonizing police who don't handle PG hoodlums with kid gloves. Weekend dances turn out to be mini-riots as often as not. Most strip malls within the Beltway are dominated by Checks Cashed stores, Pawn Shops and early-opening liquor stores. Many shopping centers are more than half boarded up. The first McDonald's I ever ate at, outside Landover Hills, has been boarded up for nearly twenty years. The shopping center nearby, Capital Plaza, is nearly barren of stores. The grand old Italian Inn has surveillance cameras to safeguard its few remaining customers. Prince George's County is a one-party county in a one-party state, a bad recipe no matter what political persuasion you might be. When a state becomes one party for a long stretch, whether it is Democratic Maryland or Hawaii or Republican Utah, accountability is lost. In Maryland, there is no accountability and probably won't be for the rest of my life. Sad.

Dan

So Mike -- where do you live now and how does it compare?

Mike

I live on the Eastern Shore of Maryland, one of the many "God's Countries" in the US of A. There are only two enemies on the Shore- the Democratic dictators that run this state (Baltimore City, Prince George's County and Montgomery County) and rapacious developers (most of whom are Republicans) who want to buy up every farm in Queen Anne's County and make them into Walmarts, Food Lions, strip malls and suburban housing developments.

xxx

Hit the nail on the head. PG County epitomizes white flight (or is it fright) The "hoods" and crooks (ie politicians and police) have turned this place into one of the most disgusting places on the planet. But that's what happens when you let the inmates run the asylum. Bunch of animals.

Melinda

Brick, NJ...lived there for years. People were rude and everyone was in a hurry and grumpy because the place was so depressing. Pot holes, lots of cold days, strip malls, dumpy housing, nothing much to do in the town itself and lots of summer traffic. We moved to Bellevue, WA and we love it here.

Lima Lou

Lima, Ohio consistently ranks near the bottom of the 300 cities ranked by Money Magazine. I've lived there and think they've nailed it right on the head.

Native Angeleno

I wonder what better quality of life exists in Colorado? Racial homogeny? Murderous teen angst? Homophobic politics?

@@@@@@@

Absolutely the worst place...BEAUMONT, TEXAS....and I have lived in about twenty to twenty five places all over the US. This place is a pit....a "fancy" restaurant there is Ryan's steak house...pollution....crime. blah blah blah...hated it.

xxx

As a native Coloradoan, I can state that if the changes that are happening in Colorado continue - Colorado will soon be at the Bottom of places to visit much less to live. The last census showed that Colorado's population has increased 33% in just 10 years. Our highways (2-I70 and I-25) are congested, dangerous parking lots. Denver is often so polluted the air isn't fit to breath. Crime has increased. Even the mountains are crowded. What's worse many of the people who are moving here do not seem to respect our open space and are covering the plains with sprawling "estate" lot homes. Really, why would a family of 4 or 5 or even 2 need a 5,000 square foot house on a two acre lot in the middle of the plains - a home that requires a long commute to work - just increasing the pollution problem and the traffic problem?

Anyway - my two cents on the state of the State of Colorado! - Oh By the way - This AM we our having our 150th Snow storm of the season. It has been cold, cold, cold since November and there is no end in sight- Maybe we will see the ground snowless by May - but then maybe not. . . . .

(This posting has been a non-paid advertisement to officially discourage immigration to Colorado - a wonderful state that I would love to keep to myself.)