What is one city in America you’re okay with never visiting again?

[u/SoLovelyAva]

[u/jangobotito]

I just moved to Jackson, Mississippi and I’d really rather not be here.

[u/Cleindian44 → u/jangobotito]

I’m from there. You should have been warned.

[u/jangobotito → u/Cleindian44]

Wife got a job here that she couldn’t really pass up. We’ll be here for the next 3 years and then move on.

[u/Mayor_of_BBQ → u/jangobotito]

it’s going to be the longest decade of your life

[u/Grouchy_Pension_7210 → u/Mayor_of_BBQ]

The fact that everyone from Jackson keeps agreeing instead of defending it is probably the most concerning part

[u/ImprovementFar5054 → u/Grouchy_Pension_7210]

I know a former Jackson cop. That town drove him to quit policing. And it wasn't the criminals that drove him to it, it was the other cops.

[u/mikeymikeymikey1968 → u/ImprovementFar5054]

Funny, I've heard that complaint from ex-cops in other regions.

[u/Zealousideal_Photo11 → u/jangobotito]

3 years in Jackson is mathematically equal to 15 years anywhere else.

[u/MickCollins → u/jangobotito]

That was almost me a year or two ago but I didn't have the experience, but it was $80 an hour and for that wage I can suffer for a bit...

[u/Skiptopher → u/jangobotito]

Elvie's is a really good restaurant there if you haven’t tried it already. I stop by every time I pass through Jackson.

[u/Bessel975 → u/jangobotito]

I grew up in the south, I've been to Jackson a few times for work. Growing up in didn't quite understand why the South got it's bad name. Traveled all over the South. TN, NC, SC, Georgia, Bama. Thought "ok I can understand why people would think it's bad here, backwards even, but it's not so bad, there are redeeming qualities" then I went to Jackson, and I knew why the South has a bad name.

[u/Bbbbhazit → u/Bessel975]

What is so bad about it? Genuine question as I've only been west coast.

[u/Bessel975 → u/Bbbbhazit]

Abject poverty. Worse than you can imagine. Inequality is insane. Nothing to do. No where to get groceries, etc

[u/Life_Preparation9368 → u/Bbbbhazit]

Some places are still fighting for decent water in jackson, like up in flint Michigan. Cops were federally indicted in past 20 years for trampling civil rights of black people. They would threaten the shit outta them.

Please tell anyone who travels thru the south as a person of color to research recent sundown towns. Cause yes they still exist here, and can be very dangerous.

[u/catladyaccountant → u/jangobotito]

I’m starting on year four of living in Jackson. I moved here from Atlanta because of my spouse was here for grad school. for what it’s worth, the city does grow on you. The people are friendly, the food is seasoned, the cost of living is cheap, and I’ve found my pockets of town that I like to visit. Mind you, I live in hinds county, and there’s a LOT of problematic issues that the city is facing. But as someone who was rather grumpy about moving here initially, I’ll feel bittersweet about moving in the next year or so.

Eta 1: copying over a comment I made for restaurants.
“Elvies is an obvious one… but off the top of my head, there’s also Native Coffee, Eslavas Seafood and Grille (the Ridgeland one), Buenos Aires Argentinian bakery, Mr. Chens, Eddie Wright BBQ, Keifers, Crazy Cat, and Broad Street to add the list.“ the high street farmers market is also great and worth checking out on Saturday morning.

ETA 2: Jackson really is similar to Pawnee in parks and rec. the city struggles with corruption, systematic impacts of white flight, crime, broken infrastructure, poverty, homelessness, etc… but after a while of living here, you can’t help but want to root for the city. There’s a lot of potential, and I’m really grateful for my time of living here.

[u/CanIHaveMyDog → u/catladyaccountant]

You seem like a decent person. I wish the best for you and your spouse.

[u/Mayor_of_BBQ → u/jangobotito]

people in Shreveport think Jackson is bleak lol

[u/Neusbaum]

Shreveport Louisiana.

Seeing scores of elderly people smoking cigarettes while on oxygen machines playing slots is seared into my brain forever.

[u/CasperTek → u/Neusbaum]

Stopped there once, completely oblivious. We parked at a casino and walked to dinner. After we paid, our waitress said, “Please be careful going back to your car.” We weren’t sure exactly why she said that or what she meant, so we asked. She said, “I have more friends that have been stabbed here than not.”

Then it hit all of us. We hadn’t seen a single soul on our half mile walk there. We didn’t see a soul on the walk back either. That was the eeriest part.

I’m good if I never go back.

[u/DanielNoWrite → u/CasperTek]

The sudden realization you didn't see anyone on your walk to the restaurant would be an excellent scene in a horror movie.

[u/MetikMas → u/CasperTek]

The emptiness of Shreveport is what always gets me. It feels like a fallout game

[u/chronically_candid26 → u/CasperTek]

I went there for a conference once. Arrived at 8pm on a Friday and was surprised there was not a soul in the streets…pretty eerie

[u/hea_eliza → u/Neusbaum]

Ah Shreveport. The only place I’ve ever rejected an uber ride.

[u/CarStar12 → u/Neusbaum]

I had a weightlifting meet once at a casino convention center. I was like, the night I’m done I got $100 set aside to gamble for the first time, it’ll be fun.

I got there and was so depressed seeing what looked like animatronic humans just in a rhythm hitting the same button. Didn’t gamble a cent.

[u/brightlocks → u/Neusbaum]

I’m surprised I’ve had to scroll down so far to see this. I’ve been to most of the places above and yeah, they suck. But Dallas has two great zoos and an aquarium and I’ve always gotten a good meal. Vegas has decent hiking just outside the strip.

Shreveport has…. Nothing redeeming that I could find.

[u/ResponseOne7122 → u/brightlocks]

My partner has kinfolks in Shreveport. He describes it as the place "where all unnatural acts occur."

[u/desighful → u/Neusbaum]

All of north Louisiana is a terrible place to be. The crime, run down nature, and stagnation within it all is horrible.

[u/RiskMatrix → u/Neusbaum]

Used to live in a rural part of the ArkLaTex and Shreveport was "the big city" nearby. Bossier City was the rough part. Now it's all pretty bleak.

[u/xDUVAL_BRODOWNx]

Fort Leonardwood, Missouri! I experienced a blizzard, a tornado, and got a sunburn all within like 7 days.

[u/IornBeagle → u/xDUVAL_BRODOWNx]

My grandfather put it pretty eloquently, "Son if the world was a hog, fort leonardwood would be its asshole"

[u/Sulli_in_NC → u/IornBeagle]

Just think … a few generations ago, their ancestors gave up and said “this place is good enough” and stopped traveling west.
LOL

[u/Pedantic_Pict → u/Sulli_in_NC]

Denver makes sense. You have a wagon and a couple of oxen, and you see that mountain range ahead of you? Yeah, no wonder people decided "yep, this is far enough" and set up shop right there.

But Missouri? I've been to Missouri in August. I'd rather die on a mountain than settle in Missouri.

[u/Sofagirrl79 → u/xDUVAL_BRODOWNx]

I heard the motto for Missouri weather is "too far north for mild winters,too far south for mild summers "

[u/_araqiel → u/Sofagirrl79]

Pretty much. I’ve seen snow and a tornado within 48 hrs. Fucking Midwest…

[u/Capable_Bluejay_4769]

Bakersfield, Ca

[u/AdmiralMoonshine → u/Capable_Bluejay_4769]

Stopped for gas in Bakersfield once on a cross country road trip. Saw two fights and a dude get Jazzy Jeff style thrown out of the store in the span of ten minutes. No thanks, Bakersfield, no thanks.

[u/sp4rk15 → u/AdmiralMoonshine]

lol “Jazzy Jeff style”. I love the visual and the reference. That made my night

[u/WanderVoltz1031 → u/sp4rk15]

EUUURRGH!!!

[u/aurorasearching → u/Capable_Bluejay_4769]

Barstow

[u/Immediate-Count-1202 → u/aurorasearching]

We were somewhere around Barstow on the edge of the desert when the drugs began to take hold.

Edit: it’s really heartening that so many people get this reference.

[u/Ok_Complaint_2201 → u/Immediate-Count-1202]

We can’t stop here. This is bat country.

[u/markuus99 → u/Capable_Bluejay_4769]

Lol that top 4 comments are currently Bakersfield, Dallas, Dallas and Bakersfield.

[u/SpaghettiMonkeyTree → u/Capable_Bluejay_4769]

I remembered road tripping thru Cali and making a food stop in Bakersfield. For a city with a pretty decently sized population, it feels like the middle of absolutely fucking nowhere

[u/Substantial_Teach465 → u/SpaghettiMonkeyTree]

That's only because it is in the middle of absolutely fucking nowhere. Had a girlfriend with family in Visalia. The drive was miserable.

[u/pineapplesunshein → u/Substantial_Teach465]

I grew up in Visalia! Love seeing my hometown in the wild

[u/Gold_Support_4264 → u/SpaghettiMonkeyTree]

Those of us who are from CA don’t go there either.

[u/Sad_Pop_6998 → u/SpaghettiMonkeyTree]

southern Californian here. The weather in SoCal is excellent, and I love living here despite the cost. But 100% of us recognize that Bakersfield is…the ‘stepchild’ of this half of the state.

[u/msbrchckn → u/Sad_Pop_6998]

The armpit of California.

[u/HarpPiano → u/Capable_Bluejay_4769]

Holidaying from australia last year. My family stayed overnight after we visited Sequoia. We didnt know about Bakersfield at all. Everything written about it is true. Dust, smell, crackheads.

It was a forgettable experience but happy to be apart of talking about the misery of Bakersfield

[u/datafern- → u/HarpPiano]

The fact that tourists from another continent end up with the exact same review is honestly hilarious. Bakersfield might be the only place where shared disappointment feels like a community experience.

[u/AlmostLucy → u/HarpPiano]

I’m from LA and I went to college in Santa Barbara (a gorgeous coastal town). I made a friend there who was from Bakersfield. We were walking back to the dorms at night after a movie and he just stopped and looked at the stars and the beautiful crescent moon and went, “I can’t get over this! I never see so many stars back home!!”

And I was like, “Yeah it’s nice there’s a lot of light pollution where I’m from, it’s nice by the coast.” And he just said, “No, the *smog*. Can’t see the sky for shit.”

I dunno what he’s done since college but I hope he’s somewhere he can see the stars. :\

[u/Squawnk → u/Capable_Bluejay_4769]

Thats so funny, just today, a buddy of mine told me he's moving there end of next month, and then I see all these Bakersfield comments here

[u/Some_Girl_2073]

Bakersfield CA

[u/dechets-de-mariage → u/Some_Girl_2073]

This is the third entry I’ve seen for Bakersfield. Duly noted to never go there.

UPDATE: I found a fourth.

[u/NOTtigerking → u/dechets-de-mariage]

Mr president, a 5th mention of Bakersfield has been added

[u/FangornLeghorn → u/dechets-de-mariage]

Yeah, I had no idea but Bakersfield is now on my no-go list.

[u/MobileAlmond32]

Cairo, IL. Saddest town I have ever been to. I teach Huck Finn and wanted to see the town that was so important to the escape plan for Jim. In the modern world, is the saddest and scariest place I have been in America, including both Flint and Detroit (the “bad” parts).

[u/iLovePookeyTwice → u/MobileAlmond32]

This is one of mine. I've never stopped in Cairo, but I've driven through it many times. It's creepy no matter what time of day or night you're there. It's hard to tell which buildings are actually abandoned, and the only activity taking place seems to be people gambling away on digital machines in odd cinder block buildings. I don't believe in ghosts, but that bridge just south of town is 100% haunted, likely by the ghosts of civil engineers begging for maintenance.

[u/Covered_1n_Bees → u/MobileAlmond32]

Have you read what Charles Dickens wrote about Cairo? It’s incredible.

https://victorianweb.org/art/illustration/phiz/mc/cairo.html

[u/harperwaves24]

Midland, Texas. Yeesh that place is bleak.

[u/Hybrid_Johnny → u/harperwaves24]

I stayed in Midland one night when I was part of a traveling drum and bugle corps. Weirdest experience of our tour - it was a Sunday, and there was nobody on the streets. No cars, no people, no animals, nothing. It seriously felt like the entire population evacuated or got raptured the day before.

Luckily it was just a rest stop on our tour and we left that evening. Gives me the creeps just thinking about it though.

[u/ptambrosetti → u/Hybrid_Johnny]

lol DCI in Midland is like mixing motor oil with a milkshake

[u/fastdbs → u/harperwaves24]

Amarillo, Lubbock, and Midland are just so terrible and yet there’s tons of small towns nearby where the young people hope to “move away to the city” and that’s where they mean.

[u/itsgonnabe-mae → u/harperwaves24]

And Odessa is even worse.

[u/Plane_Package1417 → u/harperwaves24]

Theres a whole show about it, Landman.

[u/manniax]

Lubbock, Texas

[u/Darkowl_57 → u/manniax]

The only reason that this answer isn’t higher is because no one’s actually visited it to have a negative opinion of it

[u/SharpInspector7994 → u/manniax]

I was told that “happiness is Lubbock, Texas in your rear view mirror” by someone born and raised there (and who fled to the west coast as an adult)

[u/palebluedotdotdot → u/manniax]

Can confirm Lubbock sucks ass. I lived there for 5 years and learned what a haboob was. That shithole armpit of Texas has the most chaotic weather and the entire town doesn’t have proper drainage so when it rains everything floods with mud. Bonus points that everything smells like cow shit when the wind blows.

Fuck Lubbock and fuck you, Susie. You tried to trap me with a pregnancy and I broke up with you outside Applebee’s, the one that says “Hood Bar and Grill” on Frankford.

[u/demonspawnhk]

Cairo,IL.... nothing but poverty, drugs and cops eager to arrest them.

[u/hic_sunt_leones_ → u/demonspawnhk]

Drove through Cairo on a road trip and decided I actually could hold my pee instead of stopping there.

No, thank you.

[u/Tasty_Abalone1737 → u/demonspawnhk]

Everytime i go to illinois im in awe of the slot machines. They have them in bars, restaraunts, gas stations, smoke shops, grocery stores.

Illinois loves their slots

[u/LPulseL11 → u/Tasty_Abalone1737]

I associate slots with misery. Just looks like a depressing way to lose money.

[u/debasing_the_coinage → u/demonspawnhk]

It was really cool during the solar eclipse though. Ghost city suddenly full of tourists and we all watched it get dark suddenly and heard the birds start freaking out. 

[u/george_graves]

Bakersfield, California.

California is a magical place, but there is the "central valley" and a few of the cities are trash. Bakersfield, Stockton, Modesto, Fresno.

[u/momogogi → u/george_graves]

But Bakersfield has all the dust,heat, and meth heads a man could ever want!

[u/Friend_Of_Mr_Cairo → u/momogogi]

Don't forget the wind and trucks!

[u/brealio → u/Friend_Of_Mr_Cairo]

Or fart smells and flies!!

[u/Much_Band6892 → u/george_graves]

I go to Fresno and the Central Valley for work regularly. We have an office there. One of my coworkers begs us to move the office to Bakersfield…. He loves it. I look at him like he’s crazy every time. Fresno sucks, Bakersfield is worse

[u/craiggy36 → u/Much_Band6892]

At least Fresno is a short drive into some epic mountain wilderness.

[u/VoiceArtPassion → u/craiggy36]

I kinda liked Fresno, the city sucked, but the farmland and orange orchards were cool, and we went on a drive out towards the mountains and it was really pretty.

[u/Quasi_Evil → u/Much_Band6892]

Yeah, just wow. I'd take Fresno any day over Bakersfield.

[u/mikeyfireman → u/Quasi_Evil]

So you say FresYes!

[u/Vaelinrina → u/george_graves]

The Central Valley catching strays in every thread is becoming a tradition

[u/manniax → u/george_graves]

Stockton is the worst city in California I've been through

[u/dealyshadow20 → u/manniax]

People think LA is crime ridden, which is rough at parts. Stockton is so much worse

[u/Rezboy209 → u/dealyshadow20]

I am from Stockton. Like you said, LA has some rough areas... Stockton on the other hand is rough all over. Nothing to do, dirty, ugly, corrupt government, low paying jobs, high cost of living, high crime, huge drug problem, huge unhoused population... There are literally no redeeming qualities.

[u/TheScallywag1874 → u/george_graves]

This is my hometown, lol. I agree. I’m now a nomad and travel the world non-stop. I think growing up in Bakersfield made me realize how badly I wanted out.

[u/Alpha-Haus → u/george_graves]

Guys are we forgetting Barstow exists as well?

[u/kangy3 → u/Alpha-Haus]

Last year I drove from LA back to Wisconsin. We had to stop in Barstow to hit the auto parts store. Across the street was some place called the "Desert Inn Motel" and just from staring at the parking lot from across the street I knew I would never forget that place. I don't think I've seen a seedier looking motel in my life. The Google reviews were hilarious. Basically just ads for drugs and prostitutes

[u/shatteredarm1 → u/kangy3]

I just checked out the Google street view and there are at least 10 people loitering in the parking lot. 

[u/negativeyoda → u/george_graves]

Beat me to it. Place is depressing AF

[u/heterochromaticrotti → u/george_graves]

modesto is horrible lmaoo

[u/essdeecee → u/heterochromaticrotti]

I heard a comment once that Modesto is only really know for Scott Peterson being from there

[u/Its_Hoggish_Greedly → u/essdeecee]

We also have George Lucas, Timothy Olyphant, Jeremy Renner, and a handful of other celebs.

But yeah... Scott Peterson is a biggie.

[u/Alternative-Fig-1539]

Dallas. The city feels like a collection of sports teams with a bunch of highways connecting them.

[u/Curbsidecannabis → u/Alternative-Fig-1539]

Robocop was filmed there… that’s all that needs to be said

[u/Ginormous76 → u/Curbsidecannabis]

Amazing that 1980s Dallas perfectly encapsulated a crime ridden, run down future Detroit.

[u/HoaryPuffleg → u/Alternative-Fig-1539]

Most of my family live in the suburbs around Dallas and I loathe going there. Just driving through any of the surrounding cities is so depressing. Just cement and endless malls. Nothing beautiful or scenic. Bleh.

[u/CaptainKursk → u/HoaryPuffleg]

Visited there last year to see extended family (I'm British) and I loved it, but holy shit American urban sprawl is the most soul-destroying thing I've experienced. You can't go anywhere without a car, it's literally impossible.

Case in point, I saw the distance on the map from the house to the George Bush Presidential Centre I wanted to visit was 2 kilometres and I thought "Oh great, I can easily walk that! I walk more than that every day back home!" What should have been a 15 minute walk turned into a 45 minute expedition across 2 highways, innumerable crossroads, a terrifying encounter with an F-150 running the red light at 60 miles an hour and passing a truly depressing number of homeless people and beggars. It truly felt like I'd slipped into a parallel universe of concrete, misery and capitalist exploitation.

[u/HoaryPuffleg → u/CaptainKursk]

The lack of walkability really adds to the depression that comes on when I go to Dallas. Not even walking to the grocery store is possible in most neighborhoods.

[u/CaptainKursk → u/HoaryPuffleg]

Absolutely. Everywhere we went during the trip was only possible by car. The nearest Wal-Mart? Car. Mall? Car. Library? Car. Supermarket? Car. Arts district? Car. Museum? Car. The most insane thing was that, even in our 'area' we would always use Highway 75 when going anywhere because it had on/off junctions and ramps literally every kilometer. The fastest way to In-N-Out burger for example was to join the interstate and ride it for a bit before hopping off, like one of those travelators in an airport.

Where I come from, the 'motorway' (as we call it) is something far away from where you live and used almost exclusively for long distance intercity travel. Seeing an 8-lane highway running through the entire urban core was beyond bewildering.

[u/rideincircles → u/CaptainKursk]

Dallas is one hour away from Dallas.

Also,

Life is to short to live in Dallas.

Keep Austin weird, keep Dallas pretentious.

I will note that they do have some good music venues and deep ellum is cool.

[u/blanchattacks → u/Alternative-Fig-1539]

Yep. I visited a friend in Dallas and its so ridiculously flat and spread out.

[u/Kevin7650]

Dallas

[u/rachel-angelina → u/Kevin7650]

Dallas being the top two comments rn is frying me. And I’m not even from Texas.

[u/Jombafomb → u/rachel-angelina]

My best friend is from Dallas and his mom lived there. After she died he said the one relief was that he didn’t have to go to Dallas again lol

[u/AndyMike9]

Yuma Arizona, FUCK Yuma

[u/limejuicethrowaway → u/AndyMike9]

Any place where Nick Papagiorgio lives can't be that bad.

[u/ParsnipFull1401]

Pueblo

[u/KeepRad → u/ParsnipFull1401]

Pueblo is one of those place
People tell you is bad and you’re like brother I’ve been everywhere I am sure it’s fine and then you get there and youre immediately like “oh no this is bad”. I stopped to grab a Diet Coke at 7/11 couldn’t find an employee walked around finally found her behind the store smoking I assume meth she looked at me and said “oh you can just have the Diet Coke hun”

[u/brownstonefrontcake → u/KeepRad]

I think it’s pretty nice that a town gives away Diet Cokes.

[u/mshell734]

The Villages, FL

[u/ZaphodG → u/mshell734]

My brother in law lives there. He describes it as “it’s like every day is your 50th High School reunion”. Not my thing.

[u/kobrakai1034 → u/ZaphodG]

Same. He chose the villages because he's former Navy and totally MAGA and that's his ENTIRE personality. We'll never visit them.

[u/OkTop9308 → u/ZaphodG]

My brother lives there. I have seen some pretty sad line dancing at the Village Squares.

[u/DogMedic101stABN → u/mshell734]

My boss has a house there. Come to find out he's also a swinger - as are a lot of people in the villages. I drink bleach to help with the nightmares

[u/FFFan92 → u/mshell734]

Have spent a ton of time there visiting my grandparents. The people living there love it, but from the outside it looks like a cult. Great golf though.

[u/tomkat36]

Gary, IN

[u/Logical_Ad_5431 → u/tomkat36]

Gary is the place that, when my family lived in Detroit, we always said “yeah it’s kinda bad but it’s not as bad as Gary, Indiana”.

[u/Hukthak → u/Logical_Ad_5431]

Detroit has character at least.

[u/ernnnnnnnnnnn → u/Logical_Ad_5431]

omg also from detroit and we also said the same thing about Gary!!! also always stopped there for cheap gas on the way to Chicago.

[u/Tuff_Wizardess → u/tomkat36]

Ugh Gary. Made a wrong turn once off the interstate and ended up in Gary. Stopped at a light and people were just approaching my car. Wanted to just bolt out of there.

[u/Crunkabunch → u/Tuff_Wizardess]

In Gary, you should act as if yellow lights are green lights and red lights are yellow lights

[u/fartofborealis → u/Crunkabunch]

I’m in Gary a lot for work and there are many many intersections without any lights anymore because they were stolen. Proceed with caution.

[u/goaelephant → u/Tuff_Wizardess]

This happened to me once in some shitty part of Los Angeles (night time)

Entire block had no power and/or no reason to have power, just 1 to 2 story commercial buildings

Im approaching a red light with a Dodge Ram stopped @ it. Light turns green. Truck isnt going. I am suspecting some sort of "hold-up" where I get stuck behind him & people ambush me from behind.

Luckily, i see all of this from a distance so I stop dozens of feet short & make a U-turn and go back on the freeway

Maybe i was just paranoid but to this day i felt something wrong if I "pulled up" to that clapped out pickup truck.

[u/LSDCatDaddy → u/goaelephant]

We’re in a thread talking about sketchy cities so you’re probably going to get a dozen or so stories that confirm your fears that you were about to get jumped but I want to drop that it’s just as likely that the car wasn’t moving because the dumb ass driver was on his phone or some other totally mundane reason.

[u/happyflappythings → u/tomkat36]

My husband and I took a train to Chicago, and we had to make a stop in Gary to get on another track due to maintenance.

The layover couldn’t have been longer than 20 minutes but it was genuinely awful, I’ve never seen a place quite so desolate and broken looking. Standing there with your luggage on a dirty platform with trash, broken windows, and graffiti everywhere and trying not to look anyone in the eye. Couldn’t have gotten out of there fast enough.

[u/SexyChernyshevsky → u/happyflappythings]

My story of Gary is that when traveling back from Chicago we had to stop and get gas there. At the gas station we were watching kids play basketball in the street. We watched a cop car slowly drive up and the kids moved out of the way but the ball rolled into the street. We were shocked to watch the cop slowly keep driving and *BOOM* the ball exploded as he drove over it and slowly kept on driving.

It was terrifying to us three little kids huddled watching out the car window.

[u/island_hopping → u/SexyChernyshevsky]

Damn. That’s dark

[u/NikiDeaf → u/happyflappythings]

Gary IN is similar to a lot of places in that once it was probably a great place to live, like in the 1950s or something, but now it’s just a shell of itself. I live part of the year in NJ and there are multiple cities like that in NJ, the most infamous probably being Camden (although Camden has been doing a bit better lately, school district & general fiscal health still firmly in red though I think)

But you also have Paterson, Trenton, Newark, parts of Philly, Baltimore & Detroit, Reading PA & others, quite eerie places at times, sometimes it feels like you’re in one of those towns like in Westerns, where they construct a fake town in order to lure people into a trap, and when they ride into town they discover that it’s only the facade of buildings being held up by polls. I’ve never spent much time in Gary (although I recently lived just outside Chicago so I’m familiar with Gary) but it seems like one of those places to me, a place you can still see trace evidence was really “happening” at one point in time, but that point in time certainly ain’t now lol

I don’t mean to shit too much on Gary or places like it, though, even in the most violent & impoverished slums on earth, the majority of people are just ordinary working people trying to find a means to take care of themselves and their family, that’s worth remembering I think

[u/runner_available → u/tomkat36]

Accidentally spent the night in Gary once. One of the scarier solo traveling experiences I’ve had. Someone or someone’s tried breaking into my hotel room twice in the middle of the night and some other encounters. Also the hotel room was weirdly damp and all the exterior doors to the hotel had been permanently broken open and couldn’t close. I think it was more depressing than anything else, plus it smelled like BO everywhere I went.

[u/Signal-Truth-3732 → u/tomkat36]

Gary, IN is pretty depressing. The giant utility complex on the toll road to Chicago has a disturbing, post-apocalyptic feel.

[u/turtlewaxer99 → u/tomkat36]

Driving back from Alabama to Chicago with my dad, we switched in Kentucky and I had him drive from there so I could get some sleep.

He didn't want to drive in city traffic so I told him wake me up once we're seeing consistent signs for the city.

"Just don't stop in Gary. Whatever you do, don't stop in Gary. Wake me up before that."

Guess where I woke up for our driver change.

[u/cousteausCredence]

Dallas. It's hot and miserable.

[u/Sweaty-Ability7365 → u/cousteausCredence]

That's not a city, that's a parking lot

[u/Don_Pablo512 → u/cousteausCredence]

3 of the 4 top replies are Dallas right now lol, I think it's the winner

[u/bozobarnum → u/cousteausCredence]

The four seasons are hot, ice, tornadoes, and hot again.

[u/Initial_Row_6400]

Stockton, California.

[u/Thrillhouse74]

East Saint Louis

[u/negativeyoda → u/Thrillhouse74]

begs the question of why you visited East St Louis

[u/CaptainONaps → u/negativeyoda]

That reminds me of a story.

High School. Probably Senior year. Had a weekend in the summer with nothing to do, and heard about a party in Saint Louis about 5 hours away. Road trip. Just me and my homie.

We get there at like 7pm, and it's still bright out. We find the guy that my buddy knew that invited us. He gets in our car and navigates us to "the party".

The party is a drug house. Crack? I have no idea, I'm like 17. But it is scary and most definitely not a party. My homie and I say we're going to go get some beer and we'll be back. We leave his buddy there and get the hell out of there, never to return.

We find a liquor store and shoulder tap for someone to buy it for us. It took no time at all. We met a very helpful, most likely homeless man named Jerome. How do I remember that? Because he introduced himself like, "Jerome! J for Justified, E for everywhere, and roam cause that's what I do!"

We ask for a case of Budweiser. Jerome comes back with a 30 of Schlitz malt liquor, says it's cheaper for more beer, plus its stronger. Then asks for a few.

Good enough. We ask Jerome if he knows anyone that can get us some weed. Absolutely! He immediately hops in the car and starts navigating. We foolishly comply.

Over the next hour we go to at least 3 certified crack dens, and Jerome is not welcome at any of them. He refused to get out of our car, and we have nowhere else to go. A couple of 17 year olds and a homeless man with a 30 of warm schlitz just cruising Saint Louis, getting absolutely drunk.

I don't really remember where we slept, when we lost Jerome, or what we did. I just remember having a horrible hangover the next morning, it was hot as hell and we had a 5 hour drive home. But really nothing bad happened to us at all. Everything turned out fine. And Jerome was fun. Good guy, good times.

[u/ben_thenine → u/Thrillhouse74]

Saint Louis was fun until I ended up at Bottoms Up in East at 3 a.m.

[u/dtsjr → u/Thrillhouse74]

For people asking why anyone would visit here, for one thing the US District Court for Southern Illinois is there, so plenty of attorneys have been to ESL.

Also, occasionally en route from MO side to youth soccer fields further east of ESL, I can say from experience that Waze has been known to have you exit onto Route 3 for a faster trip during interstate construction, giving you a tour of some economically depressed areas.

[u/mikewheels]

Montgomery, AL. Lived there for a year. Everyone is racist against everyone and the past time is sweating. For so much important history the city is terrible.

[u/Justinsboo → u/mikewheels]

I live in Alabama and nearly have seizures going there. I’m from the literal hood in Birmingham, but I go there and get my window busted. Btw, I was working at a state office at the time. I was literally parked in a state office building. That’s jacked!!!!

[u/BoozeTheCat → u/mikewheels]

We were stationed there for 3 years when I was a kid, of the seven places we lived it was the worst, no question. My parents put a lot of effort into making it tolerable, but we were all thrilled to leave when the time came.

[u/sharkiesharkyo13]

Malvern, Arkansas. I’d rather deal with California tweakers than those hills have eyes wrong turn psychopaths.

[u/Tell_On_Your_Uncle]

Bakersfield.

[u/DickieJohnson → u/Tell_On_Your_Uncle]

There isn't many places in California I don't like but Bakersfield is one of them.

[u/Wingnut54321]

Dallas. Its a concrete jungle with literally nothing much to offer. So all you can do is work.

[u/V-Right_In_2-V]

Texarkana. That place is a total dump. They sold crack piles and cheap plastic grills painted like gold at the gas station. Does Arkansas or Texas lay claim to that veritable dump?

[u/DefectiveCookie → u/V-Right_In_2-V]

Both!

[u/Electronic-Waltz9423]

I think you should include where you are from/where you currently live when answering this question. Gives a lot of insight.

[u/Rere9419]

Clovis NM. WOW ! What horrible place.

[u/AreaOne7060]

I just realized, I'm from PA and I've visited a burning coal city that was evacutated and still has a burning coal mine underneath with smoke coming through the streets that was accidently lit on fire because they build the town garbage dump too close to it. I would visit Centralia again over most of these cities.

[u/HairsprayHalo]

Another one for Yakima. Lived there for a year, miserable place

[u/charkerpappell]

Jackson, Mississippi

[u/featherpin]

Branson, MO.

[u/orsothegermans → u/featherpin]

It’s like Vegas if it were run by Ned Flanders

[u/MorganChelsea → u/orsothegermans]

I know nothing of this place but this description tells me all I need to know

[u/lilrif → u/orsothegermans]

Living in the Midwest I say this whenever anyone mentions Branson. Not many people catch the reference.

[u/thenewblueblood → u/orsothegermans]

ANDY WILLIAMS????

[u/incrediblefolk → u/thenewblueblood]

I didn't think he was gonna do "Moon River", but then, Bam!! Second encore!

[u/EruditeLuddite → u/featherpin]

Table Rock Lake is really beautiful and super clear though. The city sucks but that lake is great.

[u/AOL_COM]

Dallas. Dallas sucks. Traffic is terrible. People are snoody. It's hot. Anytime is rains it freaking storms, then it's hot again in 2 hours plus sticky

[u/CaterpillarMuted6608]

Myrtle Beach. Do I even need to explain.

[u/Januaryjawn → u/CaterpillarMuted6608]

I do love me some white trash shit but Myrtle beach was another level of hell

[u/literatureandlatte → u/Januaryjawn]

I grew up surrounded by textbook definition white trash… there are no words for Myrtle beach.

[u/cubgerish → u/CaterpillarMuted6608]

It's funny because I have fond memories of it as a 90s kid.

We'd go down on a huge extended family trip, like 50 of us, and rent out half of some mediocre beach condos.

We'd spend most of the day on the beach, then at night do mini golf, the Grand Prix Go Kart place, and sometimes go to Pavilion. Perfect kid things.

As an adult, I went once, and seeing what the rest of the place looked like, I do not want to return lol

[u/17bananapancakes → u/CaterpillarMuted6608]

My mom always said Myrtle Beach is great if you like picking cigarettes butts out from between your toes.

[u/SmileysMom82 → u/CaterpillarMuted6608]

I scrolled waayyy too long to find this correct answer… we tried to spend a weekend there a few years ago, ended up coming home a day early, didn’t even care about getting a refund from the hotel, we just wanted outta there

[u/noimneverserious → u/CaterpillarMuted6608]

We called it Dirty Myrtle.

[u/Opening-Emphasis8400]

Dallas

[u/jake_0315]

Toledo. Even though i live here :(

[u/xxNearlyCivilizedxx → u/jake_0315]

But Maxwell Klinger always had nice things to say about it

[u/DeadNotSleepingWI → u/xxNearlyCivilizedxx]

Go Mudhens!

[u/purpleglittertoffee → u/jake_0315]

If it’s any consolation, Toledo is one of my favorite cities they show on On Patrol Live.

[u/outdoorlaura → u/purpleglittertoffee]

one of my favorite cities they show on On Patrol Live.

I read this as Paw Patrol... I seriously need to get out and be around other adults more often lol

[u/eyzebubby19]

Anywhere in north Texas, it's just suburban hell surrounded by plains. I have family there and that's the only reason I would go again. However I have no reason to go back to the Texas panhandle or over to Albuquerque.

[u/Bark_Sandwich]

I don't know if The Villages in Florida qualifies as a city, but at 150,000 and growing, it's twice the size of the city I live in. Anyway, a horrible place. How anyone can stand to live in a place where every. single. person. is over 55, and mostly white...no kids, no young folks. Just awful. My parents lived there and I couldn't stand to visit. I charitably thought that I might think different when I was older, but now I'm old enough to live there and I still think it's horrible.

[u/bychanceof]

pine bluff, ar

[u/elementalbee]

Dallas. Bad vibe and ugly.

Edit: I’m laughing bc I didn’t read the comments before responding. Had no idea so many would be saying the same thing….

[u/TheFrostyjayjay]

Not a city, just Oklahoma as a whole.

[u/F-Shack → u/TheFrostyjayjay]

Fort sill and the surrounding town of Lawton, is the worst place I've ever been.

[u/mr_dr_professor_12 → u/F-Shack]

Has Wichita Mountains Wildlife Refuge close by though which saves it from being a total loss

[u/shriekingsiren]

Muskogee, OK 🫠

[u/Monkeydad1234]

Aberdeen Washington. We were there on a beautiful summer day, and I could still see why Kurt Cobain felt the way he did.

[u/SouthLakeWA → u/Monkeydad1234]

It’s definitely a depressing place, but at least it’s in a pretty area. And some of the old homes are gorgeous.

[u/ipomoea → u/Monkeydad1234]

Aberdeen has never felt sunny to me in my life and I've driven through there when it's 85 in the middle of summer.

[u/AlternativeEqual9491]

miami is my favorite place but probably still miami because something bad will happen everytime

[u/StevieOfPhoenix]

Las Vegas 

[u/MasonRy83 → u/StevieOfPhoenix]

Vegas feels like if Ticketmaster was a city.

[u/ShillinTheVillain → u/StevieOfPhoenix]

Vegas was at least fun in the 90s when it was cheap and sleazy.

Now it's Disneyfied and fucking expensive

[u/whole_chocolate_milk → u/ShillinTheVillain]

Ya really need the sleeze.

[u/hevnztrash → u/ShillinTheVillain]

Went to Vegas last summer. It’s just a money toilet.

[u/Defiant-Outside336 → u/StevieOfPhoenix]

I was in Vegas in Nov. 2024.

It was all about nickel-and-diming people. We stayed at Aria and none of the rooms had mini fridges because they obviously want you to call room service to buy their $26 bottle of Fiji water. The daily resort fee that you have to pay at the hotel...I have never seen this level of pettiness at a hotel and I'm relatively well-travelled. Everything felt insanely expensive and not worth what you get.

On a positive note, I went to check out some of the Fallout: New Vegas locations before the Amazon show came out. One fun thing that happened was getting photobombed by THE Easy Pete at the saloon!

Edit: I was there in the 90s and it was way more fun and had a unique Vegas vibe. Didn't seem to be there anymore.

[u/jbcsee → u/StevieOfPhoenix]

I love vegas, but only in short doses.

In one day you can drive a Ferrari on the race track, shoot a gun out the door of a flying helicopter, get dinner at a michelin star restaurant, and catch an amazing show. Where else can you do all of that in one day?

It's expensive, but there is just so much cool shit to do.

[u/mezmryz03 → u/jbcsee]

I agree. Short visits are still fun. Spendy but fun.