MSN had a headline this morning announcing "America's 10 Most Miserable Cities." I linked to the slide show. Atlanta didn't make the list. I'm not sure what the criteria were, but Cleveland's number one. I've been to Cleveland a couple times -- I didn't think it was that bad.
If I were to think about U.S. cities in terms of the impressions they made on me the first time I saw them and do a list of "places I hope I never see again," it would include, in no particular ranking and with a lot of variation in size, New Orleans (seen long before Katrina hit); Norfolk, Virginia; Port Arthur, Texas; Kenosha, Wisconsin; Houston, Texas; Marshall, Minnesota; Las Vegas, Nevada; Tacoma, Washington; Gary, Indiana; and Phoenix, Arizona. New Orleans was just seedy and sad, Norfolk is a congested mess, Port Arthur looks like the setting for Dawn of the Dead, the last time I saw Kenosha it also qualified as seedy and sad, Houston is ugly, Marshall . . . well, it's hard to explain the antipathy I felt for Marshall, but having spent a couple days there, I don't want to go back. Las Vegas shouldn't exist for multiple reasons (the way it wastes water being one of them), Tacoma's depressing, Gary is worse, and Phoenix is too many people in a place where they shouldn't be.
I take it, then, that you've never been to Bakersfield.
ReplyDeleteTacoma is a little better than in the past but I still wouldn't live there, my daughter did for a while and I blogged about it.
ReplyDeleteAs for Atlanta, I never saw anything there I wanted to go back and see again. All big cities have some interesting attractions in them but that doesn't mean I want to live in one of them.
It cost me some (actually a lot) income but I've lived in small towns since 1971.
I'm good with that, more money has never been about what I'm here for.
glad to see west, texas didn't make the list..haha
ReplyDeleteYou must have never visited Cincinnati or Buffalo, NY. If you had I'm confident they would have made the top five.
ReplyDelete