What city to avoid why?

[KillarneyRose]

I don't have cities I would not live in, I have entire states, entire REGIONS I will never live in. In fact, everytime Mr. KR is approached by a headhunter trying to get him to change jobs, he knows he has to look at my "list" to see if the place is acceptable or not.

The list is as follows:
Maine, Vermont, New Hampshire: YES
Rhode Island: YES, as long it's near Newport
Connecticut, New York, New Jersey (mainly because the in-laws live there), Delaware: NO
Pennsylvania: YES, but only if it's west of Harrisburg or south of Butler County
Virginia: YES if it's the Tidewater region, around Richmond or the S/W part of the state. NOVA is a big NONO
Washington, D.C. NooooooooooWaaaaaaaaaaay Let's just say that a relative is a homicide detective there who owns a 5 bedroom McMansion and drives a high end Mercedes and an Escalade. I don't want to live in a place that has to pay its cops so much money that they live like sheiks. Lots of overtime = lots of murder. Um, no thanks, there.
West Virginia: no thanks
North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia: yes, but only certain areas
Florida: maybe the Gulf Coast, particularly the Panhandle or JAX because we have friends there.
Ohio, Alabama,maybe
Indiana, Arkansas, Louisiana, Missouri, Illinois: NO

Any state that hasn't yet been mentioned, is by default on my list of "states I'd chew glass before I'd allow myself to move there."

[KillarneyRose]

Originally Posted by BabyPiNK_FL

I'm going to mildy defend Miami. I go to school in South Dade (I didn't know that places like that existed for years and will not go back once school is done) and I was raised in North Dade and to me there is a world of difference. Like English, and driving, etc. etc. It's all really starting to become the same though.

The eastern section of Dade is nice, but a bit stuffy. It's really like everything everyone else said about their cities, it's a big mix of stuff. It's not perfect, but you can live and function here and I'd never call it dirty. And sure it's hot, but what do you expect it to do that close to the tropics? SNOW? We at least get a good ocean breeze so we didn't suffer like all those other cities in the recent heat waves. Don't ever try to find decent parking at any mall though, it doesn't matter if it's 8am or 11pm.

When I was little, maybe between ages of 2 and 5, we lived in Miami because my father was finishing up school there. It was a place called Libertyville or Liberty City or Liberty something! Do you know it? I don't know if that would be north Dade or south Dade.

[shinerbock]

No offense, as always...I'm not in the biz of offending people.. These places suck:

Detroit, New Jersey, LA, All of Wisconsin, Miami, the entire country of France, Cinci, Cleveland, All of Ohio, Philly, Pittsburgh, again Pittsburgh, Boston, people who talk like they're from Boston, Houston, New Orleans, ________, Florida, and NYC(especially NYC)...

D.C. and Atlanta both suck, but both have their redeeming non-thug qualities.

[PhiPsiRuss]

Originally Posted by valkyrie

LOL you sounds as defensive as people from Pittsburgh.

And haha, I agree with shinerbock re: LA. I swear, if I ever met anybody who responded to "So, what do you do," with "I'm an ACTOR," I'd punch him in the face. I don't like Hollywood, big movies, actors, theater, any of it.

ETA: I was totally not kidding/sarcastic about St. Louis. I really hated it. I haven't been there for years, but it was the creepiest place I've ever been. I remember driving down some long ass street where I thought we might be killed. Then, we hung out somewhere near downtown and the best thing we found was some crappy bar where all the food had meat in it and it was just dumb.

I'll tell you what. You come to New York, and I'll treat you to a beer in Chumley's. I'd treat you to a pastarmi sandwich at Katz's, but you're a vegetarian.

[PhiPsiRuss]

Originally Posted by shinerbock

No offense, as always...I'm not in the biz of offending people.. These places suck:

Detroit, New Jersey, LA, All of Wisconsin, Miami, the entire country of France, Cinci, Cleveland, All of Ohio, Philly, Pittsburgh, again Pittsburgh, Boston, people who talk like they're from Boston, Houston, New Orleans, ________, Florida, and NYC(especially NYC)...

D.C. and Atlanta both suck, but both have their redeeming non-thug qualities.

Have you ever even been to New York, besides one of the airports or Midtown?

[Tom Earp]

Originally Posted by Dionysus

LOL, some people call SLU and UM-St. Louis the "Oasis in the Ghetto", lol. I've never been on the east side, except for passing through on the highway. But, I've heard terrible things about it. And, yeah, if you love suburbish types of places, yes, Chesterfield, Ballwin, and Creve Coeur are ideal.

If any of you peeps ever find yourself in STL (yes, I'm going to blatantly defend my city), flock to Central West End (pretty classy), the nice part of Washington Ave. (fun things to do and cool restaurants), Soulard/Lafayette (good bars, home of the 2nd largest mardi gras celebration), the "Gay friendly" area of South Grand (has "culture"). I've heard mixed things about Laclede's Landing (bars and clubs). I've only partied there once, for Mardi Gras-Fat Tuesday. NEVER AGAIN! I felt like I was in a gangsta rap video. I was in a sea of white tees and grillz (I even seen a few with lights in them ). Fights like broke out every 10 minutes and saw way too many people flashing gang signs. Supposedly, it's different when it is not around Mardi Gras time, from what I've heard. All of Clayton, south part of U City, the Loop, and some areas of Maplewood are cool too. Technically, they are suburbs but they kind of border the city and have a nice urban feel. Urban as in classy (Clayton and south U City) and culture (the Loop), not as in ghetto, lol. STL is no Chicago or anything, but if you go to the right spots you'll be okay.

Honorable mentions:
The Hill (in south city)-If you're into authentic Italian food, this is the place for you.
Southern Maryland Heights (suburb)-because of Westport. Creve Coeur Lake/Park is cool too. Home of DPhiE's national headquarter.
Webster Groves and Kirkwood (suburbs)-Nice small town feel in a medium
sized city.
Ferguson (suburb), near the railroad tracks-Also have a nice small town feel.
New Town in St. Charles (exburb)-VERY small town feel.

Small town as in nice architecture, lack of cheesy strip malls and chain restaurants, and the "everybody knows your name" feeling.

What people do not realize is the St Louis is just that St. Louis and actually small.

But, the burbs are a lot different for sure. I remember when Chesterfield was fields until they built Chesterfield Mall. Then it started booming.

The Hill for good Italian food is nice.

Cant remember all of teh burbs names, but stayed in Sunset Hills when I travelled to St L every other week.

Dionysis two things, do you remember Demetris in Chesterfield a great Greek Resturant and Florisent? N-S-E-W Florisent and all met at one intersection?

Wow. That was strange!

Clayton was pretty ritzy!

[Scandia]

I see various people here liked San Antonio. I loved it when I visited it. I saw the Riverwalk, the Alamo, the Mexican market, and the big Mall. I don't know if I would like to live there for good, but it is a wonderful place to visit and I can only say good things about it.

Atlanta- depends on the part. I like the suburbs (like Marietta and Smyrna). I like Buckhead. I did not like the southern part close to the airport.

NYC is cool to visit, but I don't want to move there. Too expensive anyway.

I really like Wisconsin. If it weren't so far away from my family, and if there were more things pertaining to my hobbies to do there, I would move there. I used to fantasize about going to work for Pleasant Company- and I still check their job listings every once in a while.

I used to say that the state I would like the least to move to was Utah. I have been there before. Now I can think of many other nominees before Utah would show up.

And I dreamed of Alaska last night, but have no interest in moving there. Still preferable to Hawaii, which does not appeal to me in the least bit.

[Munchkin03]

Atlanta. Just thinking about driving in that place gives me a headache. I hate the idea of sprawl, and it's not what I want culturally. Unfortunately, I have to go there for a conference for work next month. I will self-medicate with lots of Jack Daniels.

Panama City Beach, Florida. Dirty. Trashy. Dirty. Trashy.

Los Angeles Some people love it; I can handle the suburbs. I guess I have an aversion to traffic.

Charlotte. I like a little more culture in my cities, thanks.

I'm ambivalent about St. Louis. The boy's from there, and the reason I wouldn't move there is because of the inevitable parents-in-our-business, not the actual city. I've been there enough to avoid the areas where I could get shot.

[FirstAndFinest]

Whole lotta hate on this thread...

New Jersey, like many states, has its good, its bad, and its ugly. I spent the morning at the Shore and am heading to a dance festival in Hoboken shortly. There are few places in this country where you can find all the culture and beauty that is found here in the Garden State! Personally, I would not want to live in *any* city; I prefer the suburbs. I enjoy being close to NYC and all the benefits it offers (like Sloan Kettering - given the recent cases of cancer in my family lately, living less than an hour away from THE best cancer hospital in the US is truly a blessing!).

To answer whomever posted the question, I would agree that Newark, Camden, Trenton, Patterson, et al, are NJ cities to avoid. Please don't slam the entire state.

[/soapbox]

[Tom Earp]

Cherry Hills is nice and close to Philly!

Great Greek Resturant, but had an Italian Belly dancer? What is with that?

[ZAWannabe]

New york!!!!! > One, too much urine. Two, too much litter. Three, WAY too many people. Finally, People exist there. They don't live. They don't just take the time to sit down and relax. Now honestly, How many people do you see Sitting outside on their porch talking to their neighbor or playing with their kids or grandkids? Or even stop moving for 2 seconds?? I'm From Mississippi. Yeah, the SOUTH. I swear, I HATE that stereotype That we're dumb and lazy. We just like to relax a little, and people from the North don't understand that. They move around too much! Well, I love you anyway.

[LoveMyKeyKKG]

St. Louis and Memphis!

I watched a special about the New Madrid fault today. St. Louis and Memphis and anywhere within a 350 mile radius are screwed when that thing lets loose again!

[shinerbock]

^Good call.

To Russ, I've been in and around NYC, but I honestly am not familiar enough to tell you much about places I liked or disliked. I def have not spent enough time there to know streets or many different areas. However, I just didnt like it, for a couple reasons...
1) Its kinda dirty, I know they've cleaned up crime and such, but I just prefer cleaner areas.
2) Concrete, too much.
3) Too much of a melting pot for me.
4) Class. I'm not saying the city is completely unclassy, but people were just different. A lot more vulgarity, and a lot more rude people. I know NY'ers don't mind, but I do.

[blueangel]

Errr... I hate to break this to you, but NY has been found to have the politest people in the world.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/13452608/from/ET/

[Scandia]

I have interacted with two different people who were very blunt and overbearing bordering on rude. But others excused them for this saying "she's from New York". I refused to accept that excuse. After all, I would not want people not expecting me to meet high standards simply because of my hometown.