Skip to content
Search AI Powered

Latest Stories

The Worst Big Cities In The USA According To Americans

A map of the USA with green thumbtacks sticking in certain cities
Photo by Nico Smit on Unsplash

There are so many places to travel to and see in America.

That's one of our mottos.... "See America first!"

But as majestic as this land is, there are places to avoid; thanks to high crime rates, broken down cities, bad weather... to name a few.

So a list of the least popular places could be helpful.

People only have so much travel time in life.

You want to make it count.


Redditor jhffmn21 wanted everyone to detail which parts of America may not be worth the visit and why. So they asked:

"Americans of Reddit, what is the worst big city in the USA and why?"

I could skip a few places, but I'll be kind and stay quiet.

Hadestown

Over It Rose GIF by HULUGiphy

"Bakersfield or Fresno pretty sure the devil has part time vacation homes in both of them."

Ok-Trash-798

"Fresno's unofficial motto being 'At least we're not Bakersfield.'"

Kongo204

Wild

"I passed Camden NJ on a way to a concert - and we stopped at a light and a cop drove up and literally told us 'just run the reds and go do not stop' and as we turned you would just see groups of ppl on corners waiting for a stopped car. It was wild."

MarsReject

"I live an hour from Philly and had to explain this to my wife several times about Camden. She didn't believe me until I ran a red there in front of a cop and nothing happened. She didn't understand then how dangerous Camden can be."

StoryAccomplished938

Back to 55

"East St.Louis, stopped once for gas. Didn’t think I was going to make it back on 55."

Nature_Goulet

"Was both prepared and a bit saddened to see East St. Louis at the top. It really is that bad and there’s no debating it. Crazy amounts of crime, decrepit businesses, broken down neighborhoods. It’s rare to have a night without sirens and gunshots. Would rather take my chances in most war zones than in East St. Louis and I’m a native."

cbb88christian

Mr Trash Wheel

"I haven’t been to every city in the US. But Baltimore could use a little cleaning up since we’re on the subject."

carcinoma_kid

"Awh! Basically one of the only things I know about Baltimore is that it's the home of Mr Trash Wheel and family (the pride of the Baltimore harbor??) and I imagined it as a trash free oasis protected by the Trash Wheel clan... Bummer, I need to get out more."

julez007

"I think every city has great parts. But in my opinion worst parts of Baltimore is pretty... out there."

StewofPuppies

Bodyguard Needed

conan obrien bodyguard GIF by Team CocoGiphy

"Springfield."

canadianzonkey**ck

"I did a wine tasting event in Springfield, when it was over the bar owner insisted on walking me to my car, which I could see from the venue, I told him it wasn't really necessary and he just looked me dead in the face and said 'this is Springfield, yes, it is very necessary.'"

RUfuqingkiddingme

Places you can't walk to your car? That's a no.

So Bland

Over It Wow GIF by The Comeback HBOGiphy

"The worst cities are the most boring cities- the most devoid of personality. So I'm going to say Jacksonville, Florida."

seanofkelley

Poor Places

"Jackson, Mississippi. Very high murder rate, low education, failing infrastructure."

"EDIT: yes I know Jackson isn't a very big city. It just sticks out as being in bad shape."

Cute-King5456

"Jackson was eye opening for me. Where I’m from being ‘poor’ means you don’t have a car or the latest phone and your apartment has roaches. In Jackson if you’re poor you don’t have shoes or running water. It’s like a banana republic that can’t grow bananas."

scumbagstaceysEx

Different Sizes

"I hesitate to answer this because the worst cities in America aren’t big cities. It’s medium and small sized cities that have been hit the hardest by economic changes."

"Places like Gary, IN; Pontiac, MI; Bridgeport, CT; and Lowell, MA. Industrial cities that lost all their jobs and experienced depopulation and rising crime."

"But I don’t know, maybe Hartford. There’s just nothing there. It’s insurance companies and street gangs. That’s it."

simplepleashures

So Hot!

"In my opinion, of the ones I've been to... Miami."

"Anywhere outside of the nightlife scene is absolutely dangerous."

"For example, Wynwood, the art district, is LITERALLY in the middle of one of the worst possible neighborhoods. You enter or exit Wynwood from the wrong direction, don't stop and wait at red lights."

EmployeeRadiant

What Happened?

Is Awesome New York GIF by FriendsGiphy

"Charleston WV, used to be so vibrant and bustling was supposed to become NYC in the mountains is now a dead zone with a struggling infrastructure and an economy that can't keep itself afloat add on the homeless problem which makes all of downtown look like a giant skid row."

_elbon_22

That's a long list of travel... to skip.

More from Trending/best-of-reddit

Alex Cooper singing 'Take Me Out to the Ballgame'
@MBDChicago/Twitter (X)

'Call Her Daddy' Host Alex Cooper Gets Brutally Booed At Wrigley Field After Painfully Off-Key Singing

If there's one thing that all baseball fans can come together about, it's the importance of their traditions—and songs.

In the seventh inning at Wrigley Field during a match between the Cubs and the Cardinals, popular Call Her Daddy podcast host Alex Cooper was invited to sing "Take Me Out to the Ballgame" and brought two backup dancers with her.

Keep ReadingShow less
Linda Yaccarino
Patrick T. Fallon/AFP via Getty Images

X CEO Resigns Day After AI Chatbot Grok Praised Hitler In Alarming Series Of Antisemitic Tweets

Linda Yaccarino—the former NBC Universal executive who later took the reins at X—stepped down as CEO of billionaire Elon Musk's platform after two years on the job just a day after Grok, the platform's AI chatbot, went on antisemitic rants and openly praised Adolf Hitler.

Grok issued deeply antisemitic responses on Tuesday following a reported software update that encouraged the bot to embrace what developers described as the “politically incorrect.” Taking that directive to heart, Grok responded with a series of disturbing posts that included praise for Hitler and even a statement expressing its aspiration to become a “digital version” of the Nazi leader.

Keep ReadingShow less
Black and white photo of a falling spider.
Photo by CHUTTERSNAP on Unsplash

People Divulge Their 'Rare' Phobias That People Refuse To Believe

I am a SEVERE claustrophobic.

I have struggled with this issue for decades.

Keep ReadingShow less
Ted Cruz
Kayla Bartkowski/Getty Images

'The Onion' Rips Ted Cruz With Brutal Headline After Yet Another Vacation During Texas Disaster

The satirical news site The Onion had social media users cackling with its brutal headline mocking Texas Republican Senator Ted Cruz for once again being out of the country when Texas was hit by another deadly natural disaster.

Cruz faced considerable national backlash after he flew to Cancún while millions of people went without food and water as a result of the February 2021 Texas power disaster. At least 246 people were killed directly or indirectly; some estimates suggested as many as 702 people were killed as a result of the crisis.

Keep ReadingShow less
Elon Musk and Grimes
Kevin Tachman/Getty Images for Vogue

Elon Musk's Ex Grimes Calls X Platform A 'Poison' And 'Theatre' After Social Media Hiatus

Claire Boucher—who performs and creates under her stage name Grimes, but prefers her birth name or just "C" offstage—recently returned to her musical persona's social media accounts after taking a hiatus for her own well-being.

Once extremely active, she noted on X in April:

Keep ReadingShow less