[Hillary's Folly]

Having been to each of these cities I'd say the descriptions are fairly accurate, particularly Seattle.

[chimera]

Ohio may have it's triplet of loser cities, but one reason why they are somewhat unbreable is because of the lousy weather in this area. From about October through April, you just want to crawl into bed and hibernate. Cold, gray, wet, boring. Time to head south...

Actually, my home state, New Jersey, has its own triplet of hellholes, and I'm amazed that they didn't make the list. Anyone want to take their life in their hands, take a walk after dark in Newark, Camden, or Trenton. Schundler did a decent job of turning around Jersey City, so I'd have to leave that one out. Bayonne, OTOH...

[BlackRazor]

Not sure exactly who I'd take out, but Detroit and Hartford definitely belong in the Top 10.

[SamAdams76]

Maybe this city isn't big enough to make a list like this but the worst city I've ever stayed in (no offense intended to Iowans) was Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Now that is a nowhere, nothing happening kind of place. I stayed there for three weeks attending a technical school at Rockwell International (military aviation radio equipment) in 1982 while I was in the Marines.

It was a nice break from military life but there was absolutely nothing to do there. Bars were mostly empty, with a few regulars who weren't friendly to strangers. The sidewalks got rolled up at 7PM, or at least it seemed like it. It was also in the dead of winter so it was brutally cold, even for one who was born and raised in New England. Restaurants served up mostly bland food. Their idea of "spicy" food was to throw pepper and salt on it. We went to a Mexican restaurant and they used Cheez Whiz on the nachos and watered down Campbell's tomato soup for their chili. About the only thing we did was hang out at the mall or hang out at the Best Western lounge (where we stayed) where we were often the only ones there. All the rock stations in town played endless Journey, Styx and Men At Work (it was 1982). It was a pretty lifeless place. Don't know how anybody stayed in business in that town.

I agree with Seattle being a lousy place to live. But they didn't even mention the weather, which is cloudy and rainy about 70% of the time. A drab and dreary place to be sure.

Best big cities to live in are Boston and New York - if you can afford to live there. I'll get a lot of flack for that but that's how I feel. Best small cities I have stayed in are Burlington, Vermont and Huntsville, Alabama. Wouldn't mind living in either of those two places.

[Enterprise]

This is highly insulting. Can't they make room for Fresno in there?

[StolarStorm]

How could Houston not be on any list of worst cities to live in? Hot, humid, smelly, very very polluted, congested, very little culture, generica (too many chain resturants and identical strip shoping malls, torn up downtown streets, abundence of out of shape residents, poor political landscape (Lee Brown and nex Bill White), few public parks... and so forth. Yeah, I live here in Houston (for now) but as I travel extensively I've seen a lot of other places and Houston is without a doubt one of the worst.

[yarddog]

I am not Morman but think I would love living in an area with lots of them. Don't know for sure tho.

I remember quite a few years ago Rand McNally did a list of the worst places in the US to live and Dothan, Alabama was listed as one of the worst.

I lived in Dothan for about 6 years and thought it was one of the most pleasant towns I have ever lived in. When I saw the list of items Rand McNally used to rate them I realized most of them were relatively unimportant. Such things as nearness to major league sports, Arts etc.

They didn't seem to care about such things as cost of living, taxes, cleanliness, etc.

[Mr. Mojo]

How about D.C.?

[kidd]

Worst American cities:
10. San Francisco, CA (too liberal)
9. Toledo, OH (boring)
8. Hartford, CT (boring)
7. Albany, NY (boring and run-down)
6. Bridgeport, CT (boring and run-down)
5. Philadelphia, PA (very liberal and run-down)
4. Detroit, MI (very run down)
3. Newark, NJ (very run down, boring and liberal)
2. Camden, NJ (the American Calcutta)
1. Gary, IN (America's arm pit)

Cleveland doesn't make the list (I lived there - there are worse places). Neither does Cincinnati (never been there). Salt Lake City wouldn't even be close to being on the list - conservative, great skiing, well-kept town.

[OldFriend]

Hah, they wouldn't dare name Newark as one of the top TEN WORST cities.

[Porterville]

And I thought it was Barstow

[Types_with_Fist]

I'm surprised at no mention of New Orleans. Let's forget about the gaudiness, trash and gouging. As a "tourist" city, it's one of the most dangerous. You stand a good chance of being raped, robbed or kidnapped...and that's just with the cops!

[PISANO]

The ONLY CONSERVATIVE city on the list is SLC. Other than MORMONS, I wonder what is SO BAD about it? Anyone?

[humblegunner]

Just damn!
Houston didn't even make the list!

[Pahuanui]

The author is a tool.

Seattle and LA are fine, whereas those steaming piles Tulsa, San Antonio and Miami are missing.

[Sir Charles]

Seattle, with a complete turnover of about 80% of the residents of King County, would be an ideal place to live. As it is, the surrounding areas, where the real people live, are still great. Just don't rely on the automobile.

[doug from upland]

Divine Providence caused my parents to move to the West Coast from Cleveland when I was 5.

[gdani]

Cleveland isn't THAT bad.

Sure, the weather sucks & the economy is constantly spiraling downward but that can be said for a lot of cities.

Also not good if you're a sports fan. Cleveland holds the current record for longest streak among 4 major sports without a championship.

If you're younger, it has a great music scene with tons of clubs/venues & national acts always stopping through. It also has a couple of world class hospitals & a very low cost of living. It's also very cheap to fly in & out of and many destinations (Detroit, Pittsburgh, Chicago, Washington DC, etc) are a relatively short drive away.

I'd certainly live in Cleveland before Toledo or even Columbus - which bores me to tears.

[Joe Hadenuf]

The dumbest comment the author made is about LA. This guy obviously can't afford to live there.

Besides, LA just makes the rest of California look even more fantastic. Hehehe.

From the deserts to the sea, to all of Southern California! Yeee Hawww.....

____________________________________________________________ The greatest state of the greatest country on earth

[richtig_faust]

The list forgot Milwaukee, the original "hate whitey except for his tax money" city.

[WhiteGuy]

I guess this guy has never been to Cowlumbus............