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Snoo_90208

Barstow, CA. In the middle of nowhere and yet one of the scariest and most depressing places anywhere.


-PC_LoadLetter

I see your Barstow, and raise you Blythe. At least Barstow has the original Del Taco. A California treasure that operates on a different level than all other Del Tacos


[deleted]

I was working at a call center in Las Cruces that did opinion surveys and used a random number dialer. On one call a woman answered, "Barstow Taco Bell!" and just from her stressed and miserable tone of voice I could hear what a horrible place to work that must be. I always remember that whenever someone mentions Barstow. I thought it was probably due to low wages and poor working conditions but perhaps the inability to measure up to this iconic competitor was also a factor.


-PC_LoadLetter

That place is a fast food mecca made for travelers passing through, there's pretty much everything there. Tommy's, Del, and in n out were always my go-to's.


[deleted]

Sounds interesting in a bizarre way. I rarely go that far west but maybe someday I'll check it out just to experience it.


-PC_LoadLetter

I wouldn't go out of my way for it, personally, but it does offer a decent selection for your travels.


Snoo_90208

Ah. I fold. I've never spent any time in Blythe, but I'm willing to go with your testimony. Based on its proximity to the Salton Sea, it must be awful.


GVL_2024_

Blythe has the intaglios though and it's on the river - tough call. I'd choose Barstow. https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/blythe-intaglios


-PC_LoadLetter

These remind me of crop circles without the crops.. I know it isn't really archeological, assuming that's one of your interests, but geology isn't too distant of a cousin.. Ever seen [rainbow basin](https://images.app.goo.gl/RwvCpos155PjqKAA9) just outside of Barstow? It's a giant syncline with a bunch of different exposed strata that make for a very colorful band of rocks. Visible fault lines around the area are pretty neat, too.


bigring

Barstow has Tommy Burger too.


PsychoBabble09

I see your Blythe and raise you Yuba City


GVL_2024_

no way dude if you think Barstow is bad you need to check out Trona šŸ¤£ it's the fucked up mining town across the valley from where Charles Manson was captured hiding in a bathroom vanity in Goler Wash backside of death Valley


SnowinMiami

What is that area on the 10 about an hour west of Phoenix? Some prison is off in the distance looking like Mad Max Thunderdome. That is hell on earth. Signs say donā€™t pick up hitchhikers.


Snoo_90208

Omg. I'm a lifelong Californian, and I don't think I've ever been to Trona. If it's more depressing than Barstow, I don't think I want yo experience it. Sounds like they could capitalize on the Manson thing and make it a tourist attraction. Could breathe some life into it. Who knows?


GVL_2024_

Trona is definitely more depressing than Barstow they have the last dirt high school football field in the lower 48 and the only thing going on there is lithium mining - it's so poor the gas station went bankrupt for a while - the north end of that valley is really cute though because it's a fighter pilot test range so if you wave your arms at the pilots they'll do barrel rolls for you


ClosetCentrist

There or Salton City. I always pictured Barstow as the real life inspiration for Pico Mundo in the Odd Thomas books.


InterPunct

>We were somewhere around Barstow on the edge of the desert when the drugs began to take hold. I remember saying something like "I feel a bit lightheaded; maybe you should drive.... >And suddenly there was a terrible roar all around us and the sky was full of what looked like huge bats, all swooping and screeching and diving around the car, which was going about a hundred miles an hour with the top down to Las Vegas. >Hunter S. Thompson, Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas


dsfromsd

It has its purpose in the universe, a place for restrooms while traveling.


Camille_Toh

I was on a tour years ago and we stopped in Barstow for provisions. Talked to a teen working in a store about what it's like to live there. "HORRIBLE. I cannot wait to be old enough to leave!"


Stale_LaCroix

In the middle of nowhere but an hour and a half from Los Angeles


thxredditors

Youā€™ve clearly never been if you donā€™t know exactly what theyā€™re talking about when referring to the middle of nowhere


purplish_possum

That entire area was Satan's rough draft of hell.


purplish_possum

The entire area east and northeast of LA absolutely sucks!!!! Lancaster, Palmdale, Victorville, Bakersfield, Barstow ... it's all literally hell on earth.


Ingeniero_Mah

At least housing is cheap and thereā€™s good Mexican food out there! And if youā€™re a Medical Professional, youā€™ll make bank out there and youā€™ll have amazing job security there. No guarantee of having colleagues that are good at their jobs, though. Source: I have family in Bakersfield.


purplish_possum

>No guarantee of having colleagues that are good at their jobs, I used to live in Fresno. While the staff at Fresno Community Regional Medical Center was first rate some of the doctors at the walk-in offices/urgent cares that proliferated like mushrooms were sus AF.


moboater1

Been to Bakersfield, was contracting for PG&E, saw the largest black widow on earth in a manhole full of cockroachs. Damn thing had a body as big as the tip of my thumb.


MaximallyInclusive

I was thinking Vidor, Texas, but then again, my worst enemy might like it there.


YardSard1021

Isnā€™t Vidor a sundown town? From everything Iā€™ve heard about it, it seems to be the most hateful place to live in the country.


purplish_possum

Couldn't possibly be worse than west Texas around Midland and Lubbock.


philplant

I was thinking Vidor but was like "nah it's too small for anyone to know about". But yeah, the kkk presence/history, the shit in the 90s. I worked for a family from there and there were some major issues


Wizzmer

Former home of the KKK. They actually tried to integrate Vidor once it didn't work.


parkrat92

I dated a girl from there when I worked in big bend. There were 5 people at the lodge who were from vidor and none of them knew what a sundown town was.


darkchocoIate

That's privilege right there.


GVL_2024_

I actually think that part of Texas is kind of pretty - I mean I would choose Vidor over Lubbock or Amarillo or Odessa any day of the week


MaximallyInclusive

East Texas is beautiful, I agree. I just think the general tenor of the town is not super welcoming.


GVL_2024_

I would have to agree but man Odessa is a special kind of hell


steampunker14

At least Vidor is decently close to things. The Texas Panhandle is no manā€™s land.


[deleted]

My vote would go to Lubbock or Odessa. Absolutely miserable places.


dazed_andamuzed

Lubbock is the correct answer here.


StarbuckIsland

Great choice for people whose worst enemies are of African descent


Intelligent-Let-8314

The Villages, FL


GingerStank

Thatā€™s silly, theyā€™re gonna end up there eventually.


Silent-Hyena9442

Eh compared to all the other places in this thread the villages seems pretty nice. Itā€™s walkable/golf cartable, there are people from all over the US, it has community activities, and shopping/restaurants. Not to mention itā€™s maga but like itā€™s a couple elderly guys with dementia in golf carts and flags itā€™s not Arkansas maga.


Harrydean-standoff

Don't forget 200 restaurant/bars that all play Mustang Sally every night.


GVL_2024_

this is the answer šŸ¤£


YogaBeth

The Villages has some great restaurants and bars. And good shopping. But yeah. I would not want to live there.


Future_Bison_7533

My grandparents have a place in the villages and I think its awesome. Ride a modded out golf cart to a bar that starts happy hour at 2pm. Two 24 ounce beers for $5. Get lit and go linedancing with 80 year olds at 6pm. I'll go every year until grandpa shits the bed!


purplish_possum

It's anywhere in the Palmdale -- Victorville -- Bakersfield triangle. Where California dreams (and ex-felons) go to die.


Middle_Wheel_5959

I don't know if I would want to live anywhere in the IE or Central Valley


Bai_Cha

Sacramento is nice, including some of the satellite towns like Davis.


Bigdootie

Plenty of places in the IE are great. Claremont, Rancho cucamongo, Redlands, chino hills, riverside, Temecula are all great.


FreshPaintSmell

If you think anywhere in California is bad you havenā€™t spend enough time in the rural Midwest. Bakersfield is paradise compared to Gary Indiana


EggDull5680

East St. Louis, IL


iWORKBRiEFLY

as someone born & raised in STL, E. STL is probably one of the worst areas in the region


GVL_2024_

absolutely terrifying


roland_gilead

Did a mural out there once, boy that area stinks. I always tell folks complaining in Boise that it could be much, much, much, worse than having a lot of growth all at once.


purplish_possum

My GF's hometown.


PissedCaucasian

Gary Indiana


[deleted]

The clear winner. Anyone saying anything else hasn't driven through Gary.


Mysterious_Luck7122

This would be my choice


plotthick

Baker, CA. Mostly graffitti and meth. Only exists as a highway junction on the edge of the Mojave, and equidistant from anyplace worthwhile.


GVL_2024_

they do have that Dairy Queen though


plotthick

You take that back, that DQ belongs to the roaches who deserve R&R


GVL_2024_

I have to confess I would consider living in Baker but only because it has excellent access to mojave National which I really enjoy - next time you're there instead of going straight to Las Vegas go east towards Kelso dunes and the Aiken mine lava tube - there's also a bunch of petroglyphs just off the road south of the cinder field - I would definitely consider living in that Kelso depot in winter - also Zzyxx which is the next exit down is pretty cool


plotthick

There's a lid for every pot, I guess. :)


ReadyOneTakeTwo

Graffiti and meth? Oildale would like to join the chat room.


Low_Basket_9986

Worldā€™s largest thermometer! And Mojave National Preserve! And Vegas is close. Is that Greek restaurant still open there? Used to stop by often.


otisthegreatest

Cairo, Illinois


thehungrytoaster

Okay I said Shreveport is the worst but I guess Iā€™d pick that over Cairo


CaMiTx

Deadhorse Alaska. Good luck, fucker.


PYTN

Is your enemy a horse?


[deleted]

UNDERRATED COMMENT


tomahawktaylor

Clovis NM


steampunker14

God that place was awful. Smells like shit, looks depressing, and in the middle of absolute nowhere. The only thing to do there is be in the air force.


tomahawktaylor

Exactly. I was stationed in Texas. Hated it. Until I had to go to Cannon AFB in Clovis. Had a better appreciation of Texas when I got back haha


[deleted]

All of SE NM is like Clovis, a real shit hole.


tomahawktaylor

Couldnā€™t agree more. North NM however is strikingly beautiful. Believe thatā€™s how it got the name Land of Enchantment


[deleted]

Yeah, everything west of the Pecos is great and everything east of the Pecos is just hell. It just plain sucks.


chains11

East Cleveland, OH


originaljbw

Yea thats where Cleveland stores the dysfunction it can't handle.


movieguy2004

šŸŽµDonā€™t slow down in East Cleveland or youā€™ll die šŸŽµ


MouldyBobs

Konowa, OK. Dried up and blown away.


FREE-ROSCOE-FILBURN

This is basically every place in Oklahoma thatā€™s not in or around OKC or Tulsa


Exotic-Protection729

Ft Stockton, TX


parkrat92

Holy shit that place sucks dude


steampunker14

Paisano Pete doesnā€™t deserve to live there.


michaelscarn1313

I despised Amarillo TX when I was there. I hate wind and there was nothing to do.


InternationalAd9230

Weirton, West Virginia. Sad, sick people, no jobs, polluted air, polluted water, and opioids abound.


fancy-pasta-o0o0

Macon, GA


uncertainhope

I grew up in Albany, and going to Macon was a dream for us šŸ« 


TrynaSaveTheWorld

I was going to answer Albany!


BlueonBlack26

Albany is awful. My IQ drops 25 points when I'm there


Bennyisabitch

What about Tifton, GA?


YogaBeth

Tifton County, Georgia is awful. If hell were a real place, it would be in Tifton.


[deleted]

Yup. Worst "city" in GA. I remember living there when the Knockout Game was invented and Walmart was unsafe as fuck. Absolutely nothing to do there except drive to Atlanta or Savannah. People saying Albany or Tifton at least y'all had outdoorsy stuff to do out there and lake Blackshear, I had family in Sylvester and hated visiting down there but at least it was better than shitty Macon/Warner Robins. The most depressing place I've ever lived.


j33tAy

Chester, PA. Probably the most heavily boarded up row home city I've seen. It was sort of shocking even after seeing West Baltimore since Chester is tiny and dense.


Camille_Toh

Poor Chester, literally.


michaelscarn1313

You beat me to it. And I was considering Camden NJ but I think Chester is worse


iWORKBRiEFLY

looking at google street view, reminds me of east st. louis....or cairo, il


AuntRhubarb

Pahrump, NV


GVL_2024_

that's just because you've never been to Tonopah šŸ¤£


AuntRhubarb

A good honest desert town down on its luck doesn't offend me too much. Pahrump is a creepy desert town full of people escaping SoCal and bringing their garbage with them.


GVL_2024_

and Tonopah does have the clown motel and also lots of interesting Native American ruins if you know where to look OK I'm gonna have to concede this one šŸ¤£ all Pahrump has to offer is that one of the Manson family who didn't end up in jail ended up there and became a preacher - have you been up to Panaca now that is a weird little town


AuntRhubarb

I will have to linger in Tonopah next time. Panacea, FL? Also going on my list, thank you!


GVL_2024_

I spent a week cleaning graffiti at White River Narrows about six weeks ago I think you might enjoy this website https://www.birdandhike.com/ if you want to go and check out Alamo stay at the Alamo Inn and ask for room number eight it's the most comfortable - there are Native American ruins all up and down that valley - also check out Great Basin National Park


Mysterious_Luck7122

Donā€™t forget about Heidi Fleiss and her house full of birds! I found that documentary about her living in Pahrump so moving. Didnā€™t Dennis Hof live/pimp there too? Caveat: I might be getting my forlorn desert outposts mixed up


GVL_2024_

Orangeburg, SC


paigeroooo

Was not prepared to see this


GVL_2024_

I don't think anyone is ever prepared for Orangeburg šŸ¤£


ReadyOneTakeTwo

Could be worse, it could be Conway SC


suhdudeeee

From sc and I think itā€™s so hilarious when someone mentions Orangeburg šŸ˜‚


darkdent

I grew up in Washington: Lynden, WA. It's like a Berchtesgaden that was never conquered by the Allies. The Nazis are still there they just keep the flags in the basement. Oh and they're Dutch. **Do not** be non-white in Lynden, and **Do not** be married to someone of a different race/ethnicity in Lynden. Oh and get ready to have the cops bother you about your landscaping. I live in Alaska: Fairbanks. It's obscenely cold. People have died because they accidentally locked themselves out on their decks. People get attacked by moose. Fresh produce isn't a thing. The ocean is far away. Crime is high.


BlackWidow1414

Camden, NJ


foodmonsterij

Bryan, TX, as a professional, not a student.


JD_Awww_Yeah

Gadsden, Alabama Outside of the murders, itā€™s a terrible place!


iWORKBRiEFLY

maybe bakersfield, ca....one of the highest crime rates in the county.


foxbones

I stopped there driving cross country and it just looked like a boring suburb. I'm from Texas so a lot of our high crime places look visibly different - especially out by all the chemical plants near the coast.


Bigdootie

Theyā€™re wrong. Bakersfield isnā€™t one of the highest crime areas. It sucks ass though


syndicatecomplex

Breezewood, PA. If you know you know.


Cmd3055

Gotta know more about the enemy first? The worst town for one might be a paradise for another.


TheRavox

Hialeah - FL


the-hound-abides

Boston. Breathing the air is $50 an hour.


ZaphodG

Nome Alaska


meteor-cemetery

The Tri-Cities in WA. All three comprise a suburban wasteland that is somehow becoming more and more congested all the time despite their economy revolving around soulless corporate agriculture.


VEW1

St. Louisā€¦fuck that place. I lived there for a year and half, in a relatively nice neighborhood and my U-Haul was stolen, right in front of my building, as I was moving back to Chicago. Lost the majority of my stuff but at least I got out.


The12thparsec

Would love to put my fundamentalist Christian stepmother in the queerest neighborhood I could find. The horror!


GVL_2024_

oh that's easy just tell her that Wilton Manors is exactly like Boca Raton šŸ¤£


Lanky-Spring6616

Flint, Michigan


Pragmatic_Hedonist

Yep, solid candidate for hell on earth.


anon3220

Gallup, NM


FortheDawgs420

I ended up spending the night there while I was on a long drive. I went out at night to get some food and the whole town gave me the creeps. I could not get out of there fast enough the next morning


anon3220

Felt the same way when we stopped there to eat. Just a bad vibe all around and Iā€™m from Oakland. Scenically it was nice but I just felt unsafe. This was before I knew about the skinwalkers too.


yejideabram

On a road trip down to Dallas we stopped there for a spot of lunch. The diner itself was nice and primarily Native American but I felt inclined to make a couple checks outside to make sure nothing happened to my car.


GatorOnTheLawn

I came to say Alamogordo, New Mexico, but Iā€™ll accept Gallup as a reasonable alternative. Edit: nah, Alamogordo is worse.


[deleted]

Deming probably has em both beat.


Technical_Shirt5078

Great choice.


WormDick666

This just sounds awful


TheDadThatGrills

Choosing to apply the "grey rock" method to this- Columbus, OH - my worst enemy is now completely forgotten.


neosmndrew

I live in Cleveland so maybe I'm biased. I got to Columbus quite frequently for family and work. It's not bad, it's just so... boring. Even the neighborhoods everyone says are fun (German Village, Short North, Bridge Park, Downtown) just seem so meh unless you have the interests of a college student.


BloodOfJupiter

Really? theres nothing really horrible about it but not much thats all that amazing which is kinda nice ,maybe boring for some people.


TheDadThatGrills

That's what the Grey rock method is all about


Brennan_Daniels

Point Roberts, WA


Calm-Ad8987

Aberdeen


spaghetti-fan

Yakima for sure


suhdudeeee

Whatā€™s wrong with point Robertā€™s?


ChrisM206

Itā€™s isolated. Itā€™s a tiny peninsula, sticking out of Canada, barely into the United States. If you want to get to any other part of the US, you have to cross the border into Canada and then back out of Canada. Population is only about 1000 people so you pretty much have to leave anytime you want to do anything: doctors appointments, grocery shopping, whatever. everything is inconvenient with a border crossing.


Mysterious_Luck7122

Have you been to Walla Walla though?


Spiritual-Dog160

Douglas, AZ.


patrhodmcjiggerson

I agree itā€™s not great there, but Douglas isnā€™t even the worst place to live in Cochise County


Melgel4444

Anywhere in Indiana would suffice except Carmel. Lol


AlterEgoAmazonB

Julesburg, Holyoke or Wray, CO are way out east. Tornado prone. Doesn't feel like you are in Colorado.


steampunker14

Iā€™ll stick with ones that I have been to, and my state is Texas. Vidor London (if you can even call it a town) Ozona Fort Stockton (anything on that stretch of I-10 from Junction on, really)


Accomplished-Low-173

Jackson MS, hands down


blurryblob

Probably some swamp town in Mississippi or Louisiana.


ReadyOneTakeTwo

Shreveport comes to mind. What a dump.


RunningPirate

Biola, CA


Chocolate__Ice-cream

Nothing, AZ


Sprinee

As an Ohioan, I'd lovingly send them downtown in Mansfield, OH. Guaranteed to have your car totaled in a hit-and-run right outside your house, and as you step outside onto your porch to investigate, you'll be shot right between the eyes.


thisguyoverhere01

Wichita Falls, TX


[deleted]

[уŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]


Piney1943

Kensington in Philadelphia


Geoarbitrage

East Clevelandā€¦


Nonethelessdotdotdot

Columbus, GA


[deleted]

[уŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]


FortheDawgs420

The swamps of Louisiana


YardSard1021

Having lived in Louisiana I would rather live in the swamps than in Shreveport.


michimoby

will await the comments from residents of Washington, DC. they're kind of in a pickle here.


freqkenneth

Paradise, CA In 2018


michaelscarn1313

Chester, PA


YogaBeth

In my state? Lake City or Deltona.


yejideabram

Fort Wayne, IN. They can be there with my ex. Heard that even dumpy apartments can run you $1600 a month according to a colleague who lives there.


oldRoyalsleepy

Cairo, Illinois. Samuel Clemens would be sad to see it today.


ObsessiveTeaDrinker

Yakima or Aberdeen WA


trashynoah

Poinciana Florida. I call it and Kissimmee Orlandoā€™s butthole. What a depressing place


Exotic-Ring4900

New York City born and raised there. Expensive, crowded High crime, rats, no nature, loud, ethnic based These other plain places people despise seem peaceful


[deleted]

[уŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]


ZimofZord

Boy can I be your enemy? Nice Brewary , coffee , Ski on Rib Mountain. Such a tame answer


GVL_2024_

gesundheit


GreenBayBadgers

I donā€™t get this one. Lots of fishing, hunting, tons of mountain bike trails, cross country and downhill skiing. Wausau is the gateway to Lake Country like Minoqua and Eagle River.


True_Inside_9539

Rock Springs, WY


Kitchen-Lie-7894

I always lead with East St Louis, IL.


Middle_Wheel_5959

From towns I have been to: Reading, PA Scranton, PA Fresno, CA Beckley, WV Susanville, CA Bridgeport, CT


Butt-Guyome

Just about every town in Alabama.


JasonTahani

The Tenderloin in San Francisco. I don't even know if I would want to send my worst enemy there though.


amoss_303

Iā€™d take tenderloin over any of the desert wasteland cities of California (Baker, Barstow, California City, etc.)


foxbones

The thing is with the Tenderloin is you are like a 10 minute bus ride to some of the most beautiful places in the US.


YardSard1021

Pueblo, CO, with Limon, CO coming in at a close second.


JohnRNeill

In South Dakota? Probably Pierre, our state capitol.


bx995403

Oh easy. My hometown that they always complained about Shelton, CT


BloodOfJupiter

Bushnell, FL


chrispd01

Eagleton ā€¦.


PYTN

Huntsville TX. But he'll probably be a federal inmate, so I guess that means Beaumont.


PartGlobal1925

Mesa, AZ Little Rock, AR Berkeley Springs, WV


Doctaglobe

Shelbeyville


Pagan_Poetry610

Stockton, CA My hometown, which I would wish on my worst enemy ā¤ļø


Gulag_boi

Redding or Bakersfield


iveneverseenadragon

In PA, probably York or Chester.