which major american city (you define "major") most closely resembles an ass-ugly, boring-as-fuck shithole?
now i haven't traveled all over this fine land but based on my limited experience i'm going to say indianapolis
― flesh, the devil, and a wolf (wolf) (amateurist), Wednesday, 5 October 2011 01:04 (twelve years ago) link
new york
― yung huma (J0rdan S.), Wednesday, 5 October 2011 01:07 (twelve years ago) link
Stockton, CA is the biggest shithole of a city i've ever visited. it's bigger than Newark, NJ (which is also a shithole but at least it isn't boring) so if either qualifies as "major" then Stockton would get my vote.
― pork tartare (Eisbaer), Wednesday, 5 October 2011 01:13 (twelve years ago) link
by shithole i guess i'm thinking less urban decay/blight and more "christ is this place boring"
though for both at once you could do worse than toledo, ohio
― flesh, the devil, and a wolf (wolf) (amateurist), Wednesday, 5 October 2011 01:15 (twelve years ago) link
Phoenix?
― Euler, Wednesday, 5 October 2011 01:17 (twelve years ago) link
Didn't we do this? Hard to search on phone but I could swear....
― Octavia Butler's gonna be piiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiised (Laurel), Wednesday, 5 October 2011 01:18 (twelve years ago) link
This has to be Houston...
― citation needed (Steve Shasta), Wednesday, 5 October 2011 02:13 (twelve years ago) link
Jacksonville.
― Anakin Ska Walker (AKA Skarth Vader) (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Wednesday, 5 October 2011 02:13 (twelve years ago) link
Yeah we totally did this within the last year. I think it was poll thread.
― Juggy Brottleteen (ENBB), Wednesday, 5 October 2011 02:14 (twelve years ago) link
of the cities I've been to I have no idea how this CAN'T be Newark
Tallahassee itself wasn't that great but I had a lot of fun on the FAMU campus
if it was a major city, this would be Alexandria, LA no contest
― the tax avocado (DJP), Wednesday, 5 October 2011 02:16 (twelve years ago) link
ohhhh, tallahasee is not a major city
― yung huma (J0rdan S.), Wednesday, 5 October 2011 02:17 (twelve years ago) link
but it's a capital!
signed, someone who grew up outside of St. Paul
― the tax avocado (DJP), Wednesday, 5 October 2011 02:18 (twelve years ago) link
it's a college town that is also a capital for no reason
― yung huma (J0rdan S.), Wednesday, 5 October 2011 02:18 (twelve years ago) link
the city that gave the world Redman, Corey Booker and Tony Soprano; whose nickname is "Brick City" and has a neighborhood called Ironbound with tons of yummy Latino & Portuguese eats (and whose old nickname is Down Neck); and isn't even the skankiest city in New Jersey (that honor belongs to either Camden or East Orange) is totally not the worst shithole of a major American city.
i strongly suspect Jacksonville would win this contest -- but i've never been there so i can't vote for it. i have been to Stockton, CA and that does get my vote.
― pork tartare (Eisbaer), Wednesday, 5 October 2011 02:22 (twelve years ago) link
somewhere in alabama ime
― puff puff post (uh oh I'm having a fantasy), Wednesday, 5 October 2011 02:23 (twelve years ago) link
http://farm1.static.flickr.com/82/239891424_8e99979771.jpg
one reason why Newark doesn't win this contest ... yum
― pork tartare (Eisbaer), Wednesday, 5 October 2011 02:26 (twelve years ago) link
Albany
― san lazaro, Wednesday, 5 October 2011 02:31 (twelve years ago) link
steve shasta otm
― max, Wednesday, 5 October 2011 02:31 (twelve years ago) link
newark is not a major city, i mean whats a major city, whatever it is not newark
― ice cr?m, Wednesday, 5 October 2011 02:32 (twelve years ago) link
but yeah prob houston i support that
idk top 30 top 40 maybe http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Table_of_United_States_Metropolitan_Statistical_Areas
― ice cr?m, Wednesday, 5 October 2011 02:34 (twelve years ago) link
kinda want to argue DC here but i know its not really true
― max, Wednesday, 5 October 2011 02:34 (twelve years ago) link
eh if you go by that then riverside/san berdoo is one of the top 15 cities in the country
― max, Wednesday, 5 October 2011 02:35 (twelve years ago) link
never been to houston, so i have to say phoenix. every time i've been there i've hated the fuck out of it.
― and you are a part of everything and everything is like melting (ytth), Wednesday, 5 October 2011 02:35 (twelve years ago) link
im just gonna lump then in w/l.a. nbd xp
― ice cr?m, Wednesday, 5 October 2011 02:35 (twelve years ago) link
from that wiki list
26 Orlando-Kissimmee-Sanford, FL MSA
^^ding ding ding
― yung huma (J0rdan S.), Wednesday, 5 October 2011 02:36 (twelve years ago) link
Well Houston won at least one of the times this was done before.
of the 20 largest american cities, which is THE WORST?
― Juggy Brottleteen (ENBB), Wednesday, 5 October 2011 02:37 (twelve years ago) link
Charlotte
― Jeff, Wednesday, 5 October 2011 02:38 (twelve years ago) link
This is the one I was thinking of that we did more recently:
What Is America’s Most Miserable City?
― Juggy Brottleteen (ENBB), Wednesday, 5 October 2011 02:39 (twelve years ago) link
Orlando is really bad.
― Guayaquil (eephus!), Wednesday, 5 October 2011 03:10 (twelve years ago) link
man these threads full of how bad we can hate on a place are such a drag
I know I ain't gotta read 'em but phooey on you hater ppl all these towns got something great about em
― pathos of the unwarranted encore (underrated aerosmith bootlegs I have owned), Wednesday, 5 October 2011 03:20 (twelve years ago) link
nuh uh *explodes orlando and every human within*
― ice cr?m, Wednesday, 5 October 2011 03:22 (twelve years ago) link
i know a lot of people that went to COLLEGE in ORLANDO
― yung huma (J0rdan S.), Wednesday, 5 October 2011 03:26 (twelve years ago) link
COLLEGE!!!
― yung huma (J0rdan S.), Wednesday, 5 October 2011 03:27 (twelve years ago) link
aero do you really believe there are simply no shitty parts of the country at all
― iatee, Wednesday, 5 October 2011 03:28 (twelve years ago) link
orlando has disneyworld!! wtf!!
― k3vin k., Wednesday, 5 October 2011 03:29 (twelve years ago) link
lol, you've really never been to orlando, have you
― yung huma (J0rdan S.), Wednesday, 5 October 2011 03:31 (twelve years ago) link
i've been to disneyworld. also dwight howard
― k3vin k., Wednesday, 5 October 2011 03:32 (twelve years ago) link
Houston
― Kiarostami bag (milo z), Wednesday, 5 October 2011 03:36 (twelve years ago) link
not just the country the world. like I goof on Germany but that's just because I had a shitty time there once that was like this month-long horror so traumatizing that I can't re-enter the country w/o reliving it, but when I'm not just doing "lol they shit on shelves" schtick I know better, all kinds of good things about Germany obv. (nb I still avoid the hell out of it don't get me wrong.) I just think everyplace in the fuckin world is nice there's good people & beautiful things everywhere & "what place sucks the most?" is just such a make-the-world-a-tiny-bit-worse look. and I think people who take a lot of pleasure in talking about how shitty this or that place is are without exception more unpleasant to hear & be around than the places they're running down.
― pathos of the unwarranted encore (underrated aerosmith bootlegs I have owned), Wednesday, 5 October 2011 03:40 (twelve years ago) link
Ilxville
― Jeff, Wednesday, 5 October 2011 03:48 (twelve years ago) link
Houston is a shithole and it smells bad
― ilx user 'silby' (silby), Wednesday, 5 October 2011 03:56 (twelve years ago) link
consists entirely of a highway
has sideways traffic lights
I'm with aero to an extent, but Houston sounds pretty bad.
― ɥɯ ︵ (°□°) (mh), Wednesday, 5 October 2011 04:14 (twelve years ago) link
jacksonville seconded
― balls, Wednesday, 5 October 2011 04:15 (twelve years ago) link
using amster's defn of shithole
― balls, Wednesday, 5 October 2011 04:16 (twelve years ago) link
In terms of visiting and hanging out for a couple of days every major or second-tier level city I've been to has had something worth checking out. If you like roaming around and people watching and eating and finding out what sort of defines a place it's always fun for a least a couple of days, even just to wonder why exactly half a million or so people all choose to live in a particular spot.
But I've never lived anywhere particularly huge or immediately mind-blowing so my perspective and willingness to look for the good in places and/or my tolerance for boring shit might be higher.
― joygoat, Wednesday, 5 October 2011 04:22 (twelve years ago) link
smh @ lack of philly
― thistle supporter (mcoll), Wednesday, 5 October 2011 16:45 (twelve years ago) link
on the scale of well-known american cities (excising stockton orlando etc.) def a srs shithole
― thistle supporter (mcoll), Wednesday, 5 October 2011 16:47 (twelve years ago) link
But Detroit is further east than all of Alabama, and Alabama is in the SEC, so....
― pplains, Thursday, 15 March 2018 13:20 (six years ago) link
frightened to imagine what moov's posts look like before they're "edited down'
― Doctor Casino, Thursday, 15 March 2018 13:28 (six years ago) link
timecube.txt, basically
― in conclusion, it is good to peel the sheeps (bizarro gazzara), Thursday, 15 March 2018 13:30 (six years ago) link
https://i.imgur.com/noQitra.gif
― pplains, Thursday, 15 March 2018 14:12 (six years ago) link
Minneapolis is growing not shrinking
http://www.startribune.com/minneapolis-is-experiencing-a-population-boom-like-the-roaring-twenties/422600314/
(it's down from it's peak but the population is rising now, and I think will eventually get back to 500k if the current condo/apartment boom continued unabated)
― The Desus & Mero Chain (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Thursday, 15 March 2018 14:31 (six years ago) link
for work we had a client involved in downtown minneapolis commerce and they said that downtown has added 10K population in the last decade
― The Desus & Mero Chain (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Thursday, 15 March 2018 14:32 (six years ago) link
i'd be curious how accurate that list is...because they are comparing 2010 census to mid-century peaks, which most if not all of that loss was probably starting in the late 60s through the 80s and not (necessarily) indicative of what's going on now (though in some cases they could still be shrinking obv)
― The Desus & Mero Chain (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Thursday, 15 March 2018 14:34 (six years ago) link
Residents continue to pour into Minneapolis, which is seeing its biggest decade for growth since the 1920s.
Latest estimates from the Metropolitan Council show the city has grown by about 10 percent since just 2010, adding about 37,374 residents. That puts the city's population, now about 419,000, on pace to reach nearly 450,000 by the end of the decade.
there's a lot of goofy stuff on this the more you look at it.like Newark's "decline" is from a peak in 1930, it's actually stable and up slightly since 1990
same with New Haven (same since 1990), Washington DC (up over 100,000 people since 1997)
― The Desus & Mero Chain (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Thursday, 15 March 2018 14:43 (six years ago) link
Boston is up 100,000 people since 1990 as well
― The Desus & Mero Chain (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Thursday, 15 March 2018 14:45 (six years ago) link
Cities have gravity.
― valorous wokelord (silby), Thursday, 15 March 2018 14:46 (six years ago) link
thinking about starting to pronounce shithole with a soft th. if anyone else wants to get on board i would appreciate the support.
― Roberto Spiralli, Thursday, 15 March 2018 15:08 (six years ago) link
hard h shithole is a shibboleth
― motorpsycho nightmare winningham (Hadrian VIII), Thursday, 15 March 2018 15:25 (six years ago) link
I knew something was off with the poor KC showing, and I was right - I had not adjusted the density calculation for its historical footprint as I had done with Louisville, e.g. Reworking the figures places KC just behind STL in the overall ranking (roughly 20th place), and ahead of it, just behind Detroit (and Silicon Valley), in the age-agnostic one. That is, it's firmly in place with the traditional cities that still rank ahead of the bigger Atlantas, Dallas/Houstons, and Phoenixes.
― Moo Vaughn, Thursday, 15 March 2018 16:57 (six years ago) link
The only large core cities that are still losing people are almost entirely contained within the rust belt.
― "Minneapolis" (barf) (Eric H.), Thursday, 15 March 2018 17:15 (six years ago) link
I left Minneapolis in 1995. Figured I had accidentally started a trend.
― pplains, Thursday, 15 March 2018 17:57 (six years ago) link
Plugging in the Canadian cities, not entirely apples to apples but I think close enough, I rank Toronto and Montreal just behind Philly and ahead of LA. On an age-agnostic ranking, LA beats MTL, but TO pulls ahead of both Philly and LA, while still trailing Boston/DC/SF etc. Vancouver ranks right behind the Twin Cities, just ahead of Seattle, but age-agnostic it pulls ahead of both, right behind Miami.
― Moo Vaughn, Thursday, 15 March 2018 18:12 (six years ago) link
If we just give you this thread, would you concentrate the entirety of your ILX posting energies on further elaborations of your urban demographic model?
― Doctor Casino, Thursday, 15 March 2018 18:40 (six years ago) link
according to my own matrix - i won't bore you with the details of how this is worked out - vancouver, bc ranks slightly ahead of scranton pa, but somewhat behind vancouver wa and perpendicular to boise id. toronto and montreal are tied with sequim wa but slightly ahead of sioux city ia
― Louis Jägermeister (jim in vancouver), Thursday, 15 March 2018 18:50 (six years ago) link
well, that's not so surprising, vancouver is in the northeast while sioux city, being high on the windy steppe, has long attracted new residents from mongolia as well as the argentinian reaches of the altiplano.
― Doctor Casino, Thursday, 15 March 2018 18:59 (six years ago) link
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Altiplanohttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iowa_Assessmentshttps://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Northeast_Passagebasic stuff can't believe i'm having to explain all this
― Doctor Casino, Thursday, 15 March 2018 19:01 (six years ago) link
making amendments to the matrix
― Louis Jägermeister (jim in vancouver), Thursday, 15 March 2018 19:07 (six years ago) link
I moved to Minneapolis in 1994, btw.
― pplains, Thursday, 15 March 2018 20:05 (six years ago) link
its not a major american city but i was watching the first episode of Flint Town on Netfix, their sad documentary series on Flint, Michigan and i flashed back to years ago when maria and i drove across the country and we were on the highway going by/passing Flint and i got an overwhelming feeling of danger/dread that i had never experienced before. i remember thinking in my head: oh jeez please don't break down please don't break down. like i really really wanted to get past the city exits as quickly as possible. i was afraid that if we broke down nobody would ever find us. or wolves would eat us? it was weird. i've driven through a lot of bad shit in eastern cities, nyc, philly, camden friggin' nj. never felt like that before or since.
just thought i'd share that here.
― scott seward, Thursday, 15 March 2018 20:12 (six years ago) link
Flint - the R'lyeh of the USA.
― めんどくさかった (Matt #2), Thursday, 15 March 2018 20:14 (six years ago) link
Flint is among the two dozen or so that have declined under the 100K mark, along with other frequently-dismissed cities like Camden, Gary, Scranton, Trenton, and Youngstown, but I still rank it just ahead of Ann Arbor for urbanity
― Moo Vaughn, Thursday, 15 March 2018 20:50 (six years ago) link
wow, that's crazy that trenton has less than 100k people. i always think of it as more populated. even my ailing neighbor springfield, ma has more people than that. they might not all be happy about it, but they are there.
― scott seward, Thursday, 15 March 2018 20:55 (six years ago) link
worcester has an even bigger population than springfield. almost 200 thousand. little-known fact.
― scott seward, Thursday, 15 March 2018 20:56 (six years ago) link
The Trenton metro area, which is coterminous with Mercer County, is much larger, 370K, but Trenton proper has been under 100K for the past four decades or so.
― Moo Vaughn, Thursday, 15 March 2018 21:02 (six years ago) link
Worcester is a fascinating city. All of the advantages of the first half of the twentieth century, and all the disadvantages from the second half.
― rb (soda), Thursday, 15 March 2018 21:28 (six years ago) link
This fella would like a word with you about saying Ohio is the Northeast.
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DYYCl24X4AIiCP-.jpg
― EZ Snappin, Friday, 16 March 2018 02:30 (six years ago) link
Yeah but Butler Co. is SW.
Layers upon layers, like cheese on chocolate on spaghetti.
― pplains, Friday, 16 March 2018 02:35 (six years ago) link
Mmm chili mac
― valorous wokelord (silby), Friday, 16 March 2018 02:37 (six years ago) link
It's 100 miles from Columbus. That'd still be the same metro area in Texas.
― EZ Snappin, Friday, 16 March 2018 02:40 (six years ago) link
Please to read again: "Northeast" was shorthand for "Northeast quadrant of the country" (for which I assume no visual aid is necessary). While I'm not sure the Western Reserve shouldn't be incorporated into a "Northeast" that the Feds officially extend to the Western NY/PA borders (and I'd tend to extend it below the Mason-Dixon to include DC), I wouldn't regard anything west of the Appalachians in those states as the Northeast.
― Moo Vaughn, Friday, 16 March 2018 02:57 (six years ago) link
tbf you also have previously located arkansas within the appalachians so i'm rolling with the assumption that all of this geography is loosely or indeed randomly assigned
― Doctor Casino, Friday, 16 March 2018 03:04 (six years ago) link
And no one else has ever used "Northeast" as shorthand for "Northeast quadrant".
― EZ Snappin, Friday, 16 March 2018 03:45 (six years ago) link
Please to read again: I wrote a post that referred to the "Northeast quadrant of the country" then subsequently used "Northeast" as a shorthand reference to same. I then edited the post without noticing that I had excised the former description. Thank you for your concern.
― Moo Vaughn, Friday, 16 March 2018 03:47 (six years ago) link
I grew up in Zone 17 but when my parents divorced my mom moved us into the Moot Realm. Still have family there.
― motorpsycho nightmare winningham (Hadrian VIII), Friday, 16 March 2018 03:59 (six years ago) link
salt lake city is a waking nightmare for the most part. it's a place that gaslights you for wanting to partake of things like "clean air" and "genuine culture"
― map, Friday, 16 March 2018 04:50 (six years ago) link
streets are too wide for the chariots
― alomar lines, Friday, 16 March 2018 05:05 (six years ago) link
― Moo Vaughn, Thursday, March 15, 2018 10:47 PM (yesterday) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink
i too would like to thank ez snappin for his concern in a very sincere manner. (also dude that earthless record is ill)
― The Desus & Mero Chain (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Friday, 16 March 2018 14:32 (six years ago) link
The top 75 US/CDN cities on my age-half-inclusive measure (of traditional urbanity?)...NYCChicagoBostonSan FranciscoWashington, D.C.PhiladelphiaTorontoMontreal(Newark)Los AngelesBaltimore(East Bay)Minneapolis-St. PaulVancouverSeattleOrange CountyProvidenceMiamiLong Island(Camden)DetroitNew HavenSt. LouisKansas CityPittsburghClevelandDenverMilwaukeeDallasPortlandSan DiegoAtlantaHouston(Wilmington)San Jose-Silicon ValleyNew OrleansBuffaloHartfordBridgeport-StamfordRochesterSacramentoCincinnatiFort LauderdaleWorcesterColumbusRiverside-San BernardinoHampton RoadsTampa BayLehigh ValleyLouisvilleVentura CountyFort Worth(Tacoma)HonoluluSan AntonioGrand RapidsPhoenixLas VegasAlbany(Reading)SyracuseRichmondAustin(Trenton)StocktonCharlotteOmahaFresnoSpringfield MAIndianapolisSalt Lake City(Akron)OrlandoRaleighToledo(Scranton)MemphisAlbuquerqueDayton(Santa Rosa/Sonoma County)El Paso
― Moo Vaughn, Tuesday, 3 April 2018 19:44 (five years ago) link
The top 50 on my age-agnostic measure (of big-city-ness less concerned with traditional urban form?)...NYCChicagoBoston/Washington, D.C./San FranciscoTorontoLos AngelesPhiladelphiaMontrealMiamiVancouverSeattleBaltimoreTwin CitiesDetroitKansas CitySt. LouisPittsburgh/DallasSan DiegoSacramento Houston/PortlandDenverClevelandMilwaukee/AtlantaHartfordTampa BayLas VegasPhoenix/BuffaloRochesterNew OrleansHampton RoadsHonoluluCincinnatiColumbusSan AntonioLouisvilleGrand RapidsFresnoAustinCharlotteAlbanyOrlandoRichmondSyracuseRaleighSalt Lake CitySpringfield, MAAlbuquerqueIndianapolis
yes but which are shitholes
― valorous wokelord (silby), Tuesday, 3 April 2018 19:49 (five years ago) link
That is not my preferred nomenclature, dude.
― Moo Vaughn, Tuesday, 3 April 2018 19:50 (five years ago) link
sad that we'll never know
― mookieproof, Tuesday, 3 April 2018 20:47 (five years ago) link
https://www.npr.org/2019/11/21/781703956/utah-woman-charged-with-lewdness-after-being-topless-in-her-own-home
― pomenitul, Saturday, 23 November 2019 19:57 (four years ago) link
“worst state” to be fair. it’s fuckin weird out here folks. west valley city is a gritty burb directly adjacent to salt lake city and is far from the worst shithole city here though. that would be somewhere completely cursed like vernal or nephi.
― cheese canopy (map), Sunday, 24 November 2019 05:07 (four years ago) link
or price. carbon county has something like 44 opiate scrips per capita
― cheese canopy (map), Sunday, 24 November 2019 05:19 (four years ago) link