What are the best and worst urban areas in the US, in your opinion?

[Zuni]

I do not mean whole cities. For example---Baltimore and DC. Both cities have incredible areas, beautiful row homes, great historical sites, 1st class resturaunts and bars. But other areas are so poverty ridden, burned out and abandoned, and the streets are filled with crackhouses, prostitutes and guns. Baltimore currently has the highest murder rate in the nation, a title DC once had only a few years ago.

[Wcross]

1. IMHO- all urban areas are bad.

No offense to those who love the excitement of the city, I tried it twice in two different cities. Give me a place out in the middle of nowhere and a nice sunset sitting on the back porch with my dogs. Thats nightlife!

[Southsideirish]

14. Sorry, "middle of nowhere" is nowhere , cities are where the action

is. Fun, excitement, great inexpensive outdoor restaurants, theater (not Broadway stuff -$10.00 a seat storefront plays can be tremendous)The vitality of a large mix of people getting around is invigorating.

Heck, my running trail is 18 miles long. I can see a sunset over the skyline reflected in a lagoon or run along the lake shore at noon with sunbathers, beach volleyball players, rollerbladers, cyclists, all zooming along enjoying the sun shimmering on the water.

Don't get me wrong some parts of the "country" (like Door County, Wis.) can be very beautiful and relaxing for for a long weekend - then I'm screaming to get back to town!

[Wcross]

20. To each his own

I am a bit older now and prefer gardening to clubbing, raising chickens and cows over raising hell and the sounds of nature instead of machines.

[LWolf]

39. I'll second that.

I lived for 12 years in the middle of nowhere, and thrived on the silence (unless I chose to turn on the stereo), the stillness, the space, the sunset, the DARK (no streetlights, security lights, porchlights), the stars...I could go on.

I am just not happy in the midst of noise, crowds, traffic, concrete, and tall buildings. I can enjoy a (short) visit, but after 2 days I'm jumpy and irritable.

These days I've compromised. I live in a small city, with a lot of undeveloped open space. My tiny little cottage is zoned industrial; I only have 2 neighbors, and some open space across the street and to the north. Still too much traffic and noise, but I've got some space.

Heaven would be going back to the middle of nowhere.

[Retired AF Dem]

2. Since I'm a country boy

there is no such thing as a good urban area. People were never ment to live in such numbers so close together.

[WoodrowFan]

10. nawwwwwww

I LOVE living in an urban area. I'd be bored s***less in the country.

[HEyHEY]

19. No, they were never meant to live in boring fields

[Zing Zing Zingbah]

47. I agree

I don't like cities either. I grew up in a small town. I find there is nothing more to do in the city anyhow, unless you are willing to spend some money, which I'm not. Cities are OK to visit, but I prefer not to live in them. I'm living in a city right now. I can't wait to move.

[Archae]

3. My best and worst

From personal experience:

Best, here in Sheboygan.

Worst, East St Louis.
I was scared shitless in broad daylight, in E St Louis.

[Zuni]

4. I heard E. St Louis

is among the most decayed cities in the country. Never been there, but I heard it is like the Newark, NJ of the midwest.

I had an 8 year old try to sell me crack in Baltimore. That is pretty bad

[Archae]

6. The city stunk.

Literally.

Of anything and everything vile.

Yes, it really is decayed, and 3 times in one afternoon I heard gunshots going off a few blocks away. :scared:

[Bossy Monkey]

8. Somehow, the suburb across the river in another state is always awful

So Camden NJ, E. St. Louis, etc. One of Cincinnati's Kentucky suburbs (Covington, I think) was supposed to be hell on roller skates, but I found it pleasant; then again, I liked West Philadelphia. Council Bluffs seemed a little iffy as well, though the summer I passed through ('00) was so hot, I may have been having heat hallucinations.

I think most of these have seen big improvements in the past decade or so (Aquarium in Camden, for example), but E. St. Louis remains as a monument to non-planning.

[mvd]

9. I used to live in Frederick, Maryland

I only remember the waterfront areas of Baltimore, which were nice with good food. Went to the aquarium many times on field trips. But later, we visited what was a convenience store OUTSIDE of the city, and you couldn't even go in. There were bars and you had to order from your car. Not a good sign. The Philly suburbs that I've seen aren't that way.

But Philly has its own drawbacks - the area's a little too spread out, with a lack of community pride or even much of a sense of community (even in the suburbs.) The town I'm in doesn't really have much of a downtown.

I really liked the Boston area and the Chicago area.

[RazzleCat]

11. East St. Louis

Yes it smells, yes it has a real crime problem, but its suburbs are pretty notorious, such as the one that was owed by Monsanto, where if you misbehave in the strip clubs they don't beat you up they threaten to toss you into the the chemical pits.

[AngryAmish]

53. Tarzan Joe Wallis is from East St. Louis

Have you ever been to Cal City?

[GOPisEvil]

16. East St. Louis is a shit-hole.

It's also my dad's hometown. It is a monument to corporate greed (Monsanto) and white flight.

[maveric]

5. Best San Francisco. Worst Lawrence MA.

[wickerwoman]

46. San Francisco's nice except for all the crack-heads telling you

you're too fat. One particularly witty one suggested I needed the "Jenny Crack Diet". And you can't tell them to go fuck themselves because they're homeless.

Dollars for donuts, I think Seattle has the safest, cleanest and most pleasent downtown in the country.

[WMliberal]

7. I really liked the Baltimore that I saw

My girlfriend spent this summer in a place on Locust Point (next to Ft. McHenry). Nice yacht club nearby. Great club scene within walking distance. Downtown was neat. Fell's Point was artsy.
My favorite city is still Manhattan though. The worst I've been to has to be Richmond.

[GoddessOfGuinness]

13. Locust Point has been transformed

in a few short years to the pleasant recreational area it's now become.

The trouble is, when they alter an "urban area" to make it nicer, the poor people need to move somewhere else. So they build new subsidized housing developments that become crime-ridden slums within 10 years.

I'm curious about the experimental apartment complex that Detroit (and maybe other cities) implemented several years ago, that combined upscale apartments with public assistance housing. Has it been successful?

[Zuni]

29. There have been many urban renewal projects

that are very different than the old ones. Check out sites about New Urbanism, a philosophy of Urban planning that hopes to end suburban sprawl and revitalize urban areas. From what I understand they have rebuilt slum areas and shitty housing projects into much nicer, mixed-income communities.

[Zuni]

28. That area of Baltimore

is great. Federal Hill (neighborhood by Ft. McHenry), Fells Point, Inner Harbor are all great places to live.

Manhattan is great. Been there many times. I have some family in Brooklyn and Queens.

[Waverley_Hills_Hiker]

35. yeah, I think Baltimore is underrated, too...

...i did alot of exploring of B-more back a few years ago while staying there for a march on Washington (no rooms).....and the place was pretty neat. Some rough areas, but some real neat ones too...not jus gentrified ones....

[Zuni]

50. Baltimore still has some really cool neighborhoods

There are some really rich areas in the city though, mostly in the Northern sections. Resevoir Hill, Federal Hill, Fells Point, Canton and Charles Village are all great.

[leeman67]

12. Best - Chicago; Worst - Altantic City, NJ (IMHO)

[flamingyouth]

15. I like Seattle, Portland and the Bay Area

Also San Diego. I pretty much have to live on the West Coast. :D

[curse10]

17. Best- Denver, Worst- Kansas City, MO

eom

[BleedingHeartPatriot]

41. Gotta agree, lived in both, live in Denver now. (nt)

MKJ

[ChoralScholar]

18. There are few places in the US more dilapidated and dangerous

than south Little Rock (south of I-630)

I've spent whole nights servicing restaurants in Compton, East St. Louis, Southside Chicago, Midtown Memphis... nothing scares me like south LR.

Anyone seen 'bangin' in Little Rock' on HBO? More murders per capita than any city in the US. (LR is only 175,000, with an assload of murders)

[HEyHEY]

21. From where I've been - I'd say reno

L.A. or San Diego

[maveric]

22. As the best or worst?

IMO San Diego is one of the best, LA is one of the worst.

[HEyHEY]

26. worst - We had a bad experience in SD

[Zuni]

30. I agree San Diego good, LA bad.

San Diego is very clean and pleasant, LA was dirty, smoggy and choked with gridlock.

[kodi]

23. the Kensington section of Philadelphia. Even the cops don't go down there

it is positively the worst area in the country.

it looks like Warsaw after the Blitzkrieg.


its in the part of town where the cops tell you not to stop at a red light at night.

its that bad.

[mvd]

27. Worst?

Oh, I disagree there. In Washington D.C., Anacostia alone is worse IMO.

[kodi]

32. you aint never been in the badlands of west kensington then, its 3rd world

ask a cop.

[Zuni]

34. Have you ever been to Southeast DC?

It used to be the most dangerous urban area in the country, for years.

[Wcross]

36. I have and I bet it still is dangerous

A guy I knew was caught in traffic during a gunfight on the street he was on. He ducked and lived but lost a window and had a few holes in his car.

[mvd]

37. I've seen it

And I gave you my opinion. I think it's the poorest in the city, but not the most violent in the country.

[kodi]

40. yeah, you saw it.

i lived there.

[mvd]

42. That does not mean it's the most dangerous

n/t

[Zuni]

33. Anacostia and most of SE DC

is REALLY bad. Some of the scariest neighborhoods I have ever been to.

The only time I was actually in danger was when I got lost in West Baltimore and some thugs rushed my car at a stop sign.

Hunts Point in the Bronx is pretty scary after dark too.

[sweetheart]

24. best... marin county, California, worst: bridgeport, CT

Although worst is a hard one between parts of los angeles,
east palo alto, parts of chicago, bronx NY, parts of houston
and south boston.

Another best would be vancouver, washington, well that sorta is
canada.. oh well. ;-)

Hmmmm toronto... damn canada again... lake forest illinois if
you can afford it.

Unfortunately, the federal government devalues even the best places
by their mere existance... bummer.

[medeak]

25. Las Vegas worst

too many transients thinking they will make a fortune...everyone is bitter and angry.

Like Portland...but not many jobs there.

[Waverley_Hills_Hiker]

31. of places ive been...Oklahoma City..worst. Best....Pittsburgh...or?

OKC really was sucky. I'd never live there...

Pittsburgh and Milwaulkee actually seemed pretty livable and also cheap.

[mvd]

38. I didn't like Pittsburgh

Actually about the only place I like in PA is State College, and that's gotten overgrown.

[arwalden]

43. Oxon Hill, Maryland and Fort Washington, Maryland

Both in Prince George's County... a stone's throw from DC... and the fucking armpit of Maryland. Simply one of the worst communities I've ever lived in.

I'm ready to move.

-- Allen

[Doohickie]

44. Okay, So I'm a Homer

But that's part of the reason I live in Fort Worth, Texas. I've lived in several other cities (Buffalo, Albany, Detroit, L.A.) Fort Worth just became the 20th largest city in the U.S. (by passing Boston, Washington & Seattle, I think), so it qualifies as a city.

We have several focal points: Downtown includes Sundance Square, which consists of a whole lotta old buildings that have been redone into the cutest shops and restaurants you ever saw. There is a great Cultural District that includes three major art museums. And finally, for the tourists there is the Stockyards District. Fort Worth is the only city in country that has a paid Trail Boss and heard of longhorn cattle.

The cost of living is very moderate and traffic isn't that bad (most interstates run at the speed limit even during rush hour).

I kinda like it.

[Zuni]

49. PG County just sucks!

Capitol Heights, Seat Pleasant, Landover, Cheverly---all real slums. I live in Annapolis, but once my car was stolen and it was recovered inside the Beltway in PG County, near Ardwick-Ardmore road

[wickerwoman]

45. The worst I've ever been in:

Elizabeth, NJ- the little sister even Newark won't acknowledge.

Binghamton, NY- even main street is empty, boarded up and depressing. I've never been a city with such a complete absence of things to do besides buy drugs and shout at your neighbor.

Buffalo, NY- when the first billboard you see approching the city says "Don't feed the rats!" you know you're in for a wild time.

[Zuni]

51. Elizabeth NJ just smells awful

Never actually stopped ther off the turnpike.Elizabeth, Newark, Paterson, Jersey City are all some of the most utterly ravaged places I have ever seen

[Zing Zing Zingbah]

48. In the Orlando area...

The "good" neighborhoods are the more affluent neighborhoods.

Avoid Pine Hills area of Orlando. The locals call it "Crime Hills" for a good reason. The Metro West area is fairly nice for living in. It is near Universal Studios. Rich areas are actually not in Orlando, but nearby. Winter Park is considered a rich neighborhood. I have never been there. Windermere is very nice looking, but the only things you'll find there are the homes of rich people.

[stranger_with_candy]

52. Boston or Providence

Worst area - Camden, NJ

[AngryAmish]

54. Detroit...Detroit...Detroit

By any objective standard Detroit sucks balls.

[anti_shrub]

55. Buffalo is looking pretty run down these days

I drove thru Buffalo on the way to Canada, and it looked like Pittsburgh circa 1985. Nothing but shut-down mills and shoddy neighborhoods.

Granted, I didn't drive all around town but I drove the same stretch about 4-5 years ago and it didn't look nearly as shitty.

[Chomskyite]

56. North Baton Rouge

It's crime-ridden beyond comprehension. It's so run-down it's falling apart. It gets the pollution from the chemical plants and refineries, and it gets defecated on by our local government (always alway Republican).

[WindRavenX]

57. best: Boston, Seattle, NYC

Worst: Springfield, OR :puke: