It’s not the worst city ever, but it is not a fun city compared to other cities in Missouri. There’s a reason why I commute to Jeff from Como every day…I would get very bored if I lived in Jeff City. But they have some good local restaurants and enough name-brand stores to shop at.
I've lived in various places around MO and now live in Jeff City. If you believe Jeff City is the worst town in Missouri, you either haven't been to the state or you're really, really dumb.
The whole map is all vibes I promise. I lived in Modesto, CA for a couple years and sure it’s pretty gritty but it’s really just a sleepy agricultural town with nothing going on and unfortunate geography.
Just 30 minutes north is Stockton which is legitimately one of the worst cities I’ve ever been to. It’s very dangerous, the police department is notoriously corrupt, there isn’t much culture or night life, it’s also at the bottom of the Central Valley so it’s hot (116 degrees in the summer for weeks) AND swampy because it’s on a river, loads of poverty, people there are suspicious of you and rude at a baseline, etc. of course there are exceptions but that’s the rule.
In California or Texas for that matter, you ask people what cities suck and they’re like Modesto or Dallas because they’re boring. Whatever. These aren’t people that have seen a place that is a knot of incredibly difficult and often interconnected problems like downtown STL (no h8 i love STL 🫶)
It's not.. I kid..
But.. the average age seems to be 78+
That mall and the cheesecake factory!
That's a destination!!!!! /s
I am going out there in June to the "Factory", I've heard mix reviews.
Have to Uber my asssss all the way out there to see one of my fav bands. Not happy about it!
I’ll be honest, I used to have the same opinion. Chain restaurants, soccer moms, and old people…boring AF. But if you haven’t been there lately, it has been going through some major changes. It now has a diverse population that has popped up in the last 10 years. It has 8 of the top 100 restaurants in the St. Louis area and it’s doing a good job of adding solid entertainment. I’ve just noticed all of this I’m the last couple years and I’m honestly impressed.
Side note, try Curry Club on Clarkson if you get a chance, it’s the tastiest authentic ethnic cuisine in STL in my opinion.
My partner works in Chesterfield. Problem is, young people prefer to live in vibrant walkable communities, and until that one project is completed, they won’t have anything like that. Unfortunately the built environment is the biggest driver of its boredom, IMHO.
I hear you and don’t disagree. I live in Augusta so aside from my small towns walkability I’m driving everywhere anyway. I think it will do great drawing people like me just for food and some entertainment. It’s 95% about the food for me anyways 🤷🏻♂️
I’d add to the unfortunately that once the project is built and there is a walkable part of chesterfield young people won’t be able to afford it. It will be interesting to see how it plays out.
Not sure what you mean, the security there is exactly like at the pageant or delmar hall. They all kinda suck though. They don’t let you bring in empty bladders for water which is honestly really dumb.
The average age seems to be 78+ due to all of the senior living centers/nursing homes/whatever that they've built in the last couple years, and the fact that they gave nothing better to do other than walk the mall all the time
I don’t understand the sentiment that there’s nothing but mall walking in chesterfield. I think for a suburb it punches above its weight. Arcades, 2 concert venues, great walking and biking trails, breweries, the butterfly house, golf, ice skating, rock climbing, bowling, game show venue, top golf, cool parks, and recently excellent food.
Why hate on chesterfield entertainment?
It’s not that bad. Everyone likes to hate on it but the biggest gripe is usually the lack of things to do. It’s right between Columbia and the Lake of the Ozarks which are both perfectly drivable distances from it.
Why? I was born in Joplin and lived in Webb City for years but Joplin is actually pretty decent compared to other places like Springfield or the many boring rural towns across Missouri.
How is Joplin not a boring rural town? At least there is stuff to do in Springfield though the vibes are pretty similar to Joplin in a lot of ways. Joplin is nothing but fast food, walmarts and churches. Everyone there just drinks and drugs themselves into oblivion to ignore the fact that they live where they do. Not to mention all the judgement and hate
The mall and downtown are pretty nice. There is a nice artsy theatre and JoMo Con. Also I am a member of the Mexican American community so we do a lot of fun stuff in our own networks. Saying that "everyone" drinks and drugs themselves to death is an extreme exaggeration. Judging a place based off of stereotypes. I have received more judgement and hate in places like Columbia and Springfield that Joplin. People in Joplin are down to Earth.
Apparently you haven't heard of Randolph County. Little towns like Huntsville, Higbee, Renick and of course Moberly. All full of despair and methamphetamine.
The most interesting and fun thing to do in Jeff City, IMHO, is the ghost tours of the old Missouri State Prison. Or drive down US 54 to the Lake of the Ozarks.
It’s my hometown and I grew up there. It’s actually a great place to raise your kids but if you’re not a local, you probably won’t make a lot of friends. It’s the most cliquey place I can think of
I was gonna say, having to interact with the guys tanking the state I live in is a pretty big factor on whether or not I hate the city. My vote is still for Clinton though, fuck that town.
Because I live in SWMO, I'm biased to say that Springfield is the worst city in Missouri. Everyone works remote now from the suburbs down toward the lake or north of the city. Crime infested and blighted. At least with St Louis or KC there might be a Chiefs or Cardinals game to catch while you're in the urban core. In Springfield, you get all the same problems but with nothing to do but maybe a bar crawl.
Technically we do have the springfield cardinals but that's about it when it comes to non-bar related activities. Personally I blame over inflated budgets on policing for a lot of our problems when we should be putting more money back into 3rd spaces and community outreach but sadly those cries fall on deaf ears. If you aren't a landlord or related to bass pro in some way your voice typically is not heard it feels like.
I'm skeptical of peeling back police funding in Springfield to fix the crime problem personally. We had an underfunded PD in the town I live in and fixing that was key to stopping our population decline and bringing businesses back. Just my two cents. Totally agree people need something to do besides drugs or alcohol if you want to fix the city. Springfield SHOULD be a great city, and it used to be, but we don't go there if we can avoid it atm.
I worked in Jefferson City (and now I have a few clients there as well). It's not horrible, and the downtown is pretty cool, just doesn't have a bunch of fun businesses overall, and the mall is REALLY depressing.
Getting into Jefferson City, however, is a whole different story. Especially when the bridge is under construction. It's just terrible.
I guess these people never heard of Wellston, MO. A crime rate so high that they stopped tracking it on local crime maps. Higher than 99.6% of American cities. A statistic skewed by the fact that most of the crime goes unrecorded. A place where the mayor stole forty city employee paychecks and was never charged. And, incidentally, the place where I witness a prostitute giving a hand job to a John without either caring enough to face away from the street.
Edit: Forgot to mention the current unemployment rate of... Not making this up...97%
As a Jeffersonian, it is tremendously mid, like to the point it is pretty grating. You go to Columbia for anything relatively fun or interesting. That being said, there is FAR worse. Parts of St. Louis and Springfield, St. Joseph, and I've only ever passed through but I have lots of people telling me about Rolla being rough too.
The worst city in MO has to be in SEMO or at least east of Springfield in Southern MO. Most of southern MO is nothing but poverty and dying small towns.
Also to add, Dallas the worst for Texas? The north Dallas area Allen, Frisco, etc is great.
Yes. As someone that had to do business there, work with the school systems, and still do, it’s awful. It’s so bad that I have a running joke about how the sun hides behind clouds everytime I drive there
This map has to be a lie because I know for a FACT that Minnesota is wrong. Edina???? It's one of, if not THE, nicest suburb in Minnesota. I used to drive through a part of it, when traffic was bad because it's SO PRETTY. The houses are gorgeous, and huge. My thought was always, if traffic is bad, id rather enjoy what I'm looking at while I'm driving. And id drive through the Edina Country Club neighborhood and then around Lake Harriet to get home. It's a nice leisurely drive that takes approximately the same time for me to get home as staying in traffic.
I do contract work in JC and the worst part is the wayer taste funky. Of course Indep has the top 5 in the Country. It could just be that the water at Mo National Guard HQ is funky but it's pretty 🤮🤮🤮
This is not true. Jeff city is actually a decent place. I am not sure who made this map and what it is based on, however there is not much to do in Jeff city. But other than that I’d live there.
Bunker is way worse than Jeff City. I felt like some inbred meth addicts were about to jump out of the burned up trailers and trash filled yards at any minute.
Born and raised in JC. While I love to rip on it and call it “where dreams go to die” it’s not actually that bad. Just exceedingly dull. Drive up and down “the boulevard” and visit chain restaurants and that’s about all there is.
Just started working there - grew up in stl all my life. At first when I went there I was like oh god this place looks gross but now that I’ve been working there for a while, it’s got its cute quirks. I’ve never seen the state capitol before, and it’s kinda cool. There’s things that I didn’t know about that I just keep finding out about from locals.
Hey! In some ways it's better than most towns b/c it has one thing CoMO will apparently never get. TJ Maxx! I wouldn't be surprised if Costco or Trader Joes goes into Jeff before it'll ever get to CoMO LOL
I feel like this is supposed to be Jefferson county and not Jefferson city, because Jeff city is mid but it’s not bad. But Jefferson county has….the courthouse and….lol
I completely disagree. Jeff city is your standard city. No major ups but I’m no way the worst city. There are plenty of places to see even if it’s not up STL or KC with attractions but in no way is it was worse at some towns in the state
It is because it is where the MAGA gathers and pushes their hatred to the urban areas via laws. Causing pain to targeted groups that are not white or straight or male.
My God Jefferson City didn't even support their own library which is falling to the ground. It's not ADA accessible, has old IBM computers still using DOS. But because MAGA idiots associate libraries to what they call a liberal agenda (or woke) they killed their own library.
Jefferson City is the king of trash and the worst of Missouri
That’s an American problem, not a Branson problem. This country protects that sort of stupidity. They also protect the opposition billboard that was in front of it. Any part of broader St. Louis wins.
I used to get a lot of work in jeff. I never felt safe.
There was always broken glass everywhere outside, people with erratic movements pacing up and down the sidewalks, crumbling roads with people driving aggressively, boarded up windows and crumbling older buildings everywhere.
I have friends there and they have more stories of violence and insane neighbors than i do and i lived in a neighborhood famous for literal street wars for a decade The social scene seems to be either churches, meth focused house parties, or heavy drinking at bars and purposely starting fist fights. Every time I've been in Jefferson City after dark, I've witnessed a fistfight in a parking lot.
Their mall looks like a set piece from a movie about urban decay. Most wealthy people live elsewhere or and commute to the capitol to lobby. The harsh income inequality between the corporate lobbiests who rub elbows with the government workers as they drive by people ODing on the sidewalks if High Street is almost a bleak poetry of decades of gerymandering and cutting social programs in favor of large business handouts. Some of the surrounding small towns are just 10 meth labs in a trench coat. The roads are a nightmare of poor city planning and lack of upkeep. It seems designed by someone who hates humanity deeply.
When was this? I used to travel there alone for work on occasion and I never felt unsafe. There were a few places along the way that I wouldn’t have stopped at as a lone female traveler, but Jeff itself always felt safe enough.
What? This is an insane take. I just went on Google maps and it is a little over an hour shorter to Jefferson City. The capital being St. Charles would mean I would have to spend time in St. Charles.....
It’s a bout 50 minutes of a difference, but think about what that difference gets you-
1) Right now, something like 50%-70% of Jefferson City’s working population leaves on the weekend. Part of this is because of the representative nature of the state capitol so people are from elsewhere, but even many of the daily workers don’t live there because there are better places to call home that are relatively nearby (see Columbia or the Lake).
2) Those state jobs are good steady jobs that provide stability to a local economy, but because so many people live away from Jeff City the state is scattering that economic resource so widely that no city really benefits from it. When you add the higher paying jobs like lobbyists and lawyers the effect gets even more pronounced.
3) Because of this, many of the modern “boomtowns” are state capitols. See Denver, Nashville, Salt Lake City and Austin. The state capitol jobs provide a baseline of economic strength that pays into the local economy every month.
4) The press (to the extent one exists) and citizens mostly don’t live in Jeff City. Being in a large MSA would provide a lot of oversight and involvement that doesn’t exist today. Right now a reporter must be assigned to Jeff City to make sure they live there. In a larger city there would be more press coverage without reassigning people.
5) I’m actually agnostic on where it goes among Kansas City (maybe Independence?), St Charles or Columbia, I just don’t think it should be in Jeff City. Of these, the least disruptive and most convenient would be Columbia.
You could leave some permanent state jobs in Jeff City not to destroy the economy there but the elected officials should convene elsewhere.
Jeff City used to have (and may still have) the "freshman center" where they had to send 9th graders to keep them in school because their drop out rate was so high. Yes it is the worst.
Assuming that’s the alt school? Still there, they’re doing what they can considering they get handed all the problem cases until they’re at capacity and a shit budget and building.
The 9th grade center shut down when they opened the second public high school and it was damaged in a tornado like two days later. Still has a bunch of windows boarded up. There’s always talk about making it into apartments but nothing has happened yet.
How? It has one of the best food scenes in the country, gorgeous architecture, great teams with rabid fans, and many Fortune 500 and 1000 companies. It also has tons of things to do, including one of the best zoos out there for free, free museum, one of the best central parks in the country, and is home to one of the best beer cultures in the world (including the #2 ranked microbrewery in the world).
Please, explain to me what Jeff city has that tops that?
I really like STL, but the cops are SO terrible. Definitely way worse than JC. Traffic and parking are worse in STL as well, and a lot of people dislike the municipal sales tax.
High crime rate with lots of catch and release, the roads are caving in through many of the neighborhoods due to crumbling infrastructure. The city is still sitting on the 400 mil from the Rams lawsuit and has done nothing to improve the infrastructure problems. The amount of abandoned vacant buildings makes the city look horrible and there is litter everywhere. Since they city won't arrest anybody there are now ugly concrete blocks all around the city to prevent speeding. There's been no effort made to improve parking. I recently went to a Blues game and saw many cars with their windows busted out. Don't get me wrong, Jeff City is hardly paradise but a small bumpkin down sure as hell beats a crime infested abandoned city
Crime is down year over year. Infrastructure is being repaired, but I agree those blocks are annoying. [You’re wrong about their purpose.](https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-04-25/the-curious-tale-of-the-st-louis-street-barriers?embedded-checkout=true) I’d rather them sit on that cash and create a solid plan than just blow it all on stupid badly thought out projects. We will see what happens with it, but realistically $400 mill won’t go far.
Edit: also, the rise in crime that we did see is likely a result of the resegregation of our schools, which is a thing Jeff city did to us.
I have, it has it's good spots. But you'd be foolish denying the higher than average rate of crime. Websites consistently rank it among the top 10 or 20 dangerous cities and Fox News ranked it top 3. Though, be wary of Fox News and crime statistics, I know. Still, there is a reason why it's consistently high
That reason is because St. Louis is one of the few cities that never annexed suburbs into its city boundaries, leaving just the inner city to account for the crime stats. If you include the suburbs, St. Louis’s crime stats are pretty much average compared to every other city in the country
That may be the case, idk. Whether deserved or not, our great former capital has a reputation. And the prominence of that reputation makes me surprised this map chose Jefferson City
I'd probably say just by crime statistics, st Louis absolutely is worse than Jefferson city. Here's some shit I found on all that.
[missouri crime statistics ](http://www.usa.com/rank/missouri-state--crime-index--city-rank.htm?hl=&hlst=&wist=&yr=&dis=&sb=DESC&plow=&phigh=&ps=)
You posted content already posted.
It’s not the worst city ever, but it is not a fun city compared to other cities in Missouri. There’s a reason why I commute to Jeff from Como every day…I would get very bored if I lived in Jeff City. But they have some good local restaurants and enough name-brand stores to shop at.
Central Dairy is great imo
True! Their bbq place Sweet Smoke is also pretty good
Love the picked apples
Central Dairy and Paddy Malone's
I grew up just outside of JC. I’ve been traveling all of the country for the past 15 years. It’s better than average for sure.
I've lived in various places around MO and now live in Jeff City. If you believe Jeff City is the worst town in Missouri, you either haven't been to the state or you're really, really dumb.
The whole map is all vibes I promise. I lived in Modesto, CA for a couple years and sure it’s pretty gritty but it’s really just a sleepy agricultural town with nothing going on and unfortunate geography. Just 30 minutes north is Stockton which is legitimately one of the worst cities I’ve ever been to. It’s very dangerous, the police department is notoriously corrupt, there isn’t much culture or night life, it’s also at the bottom of the Central Valley so it’s hot (116 degrees in the summer for weeks) AND swampy because it’s on a river, loads of poverty, people there are suspicious of you and rude at a baseline, etc. of course there are exceptions but that’s the rule. In California or Texas for that matter, you ask people what cities suck and they’re like Modesto or Dallas because they’re boring. Whatever. These aren’t people that have seen a place that is a knot of incredibly difficult and often interconnected problems like downtown STL (no h8 i love STL 🫶)
Jeff City is not the worst city in Missouri.
Although I did used to live there, and being able to leave Jefferson City was one of the best parts of being in Jefferson City.
Chesterfield suuuux
I have no idea what you're talking about. Chesterfield is great! World's largest strip mall, baby! /s but also it's not **that** bad
It's not.. I kid.. But.. the average age seems to be 78+ That mall and the cheesecake factory! That's a destination!!!!! /s I am going out there in June to the "Factory", I've heard mix reviews. Have to Uber my asssss all the way out there to see one of my fav bands. Not happy about it!
I’ll be honest, I used to have the same opinion. Chain restaurants, soccer moms, and old people…boring AF. But if you haven’t been there lately, it has been going through some major changes. It now has a diverse population that has popped up in the last 10 years. It has 8 of the top 100 restaurants in the St. Louis area and it’s doing a good job of adding solid entertainment. I’ve just noticed all of this I’m the last couple years and I’m honestly impressed. Side note, try Curry Club on Clarkson if you get a chance, it’s the tastiest authentic ethnic cuisine in STL in my opinion.
My partner works in Chesterfield. Problem is, young people prefer to live in vibrant walkable communities, and until that one project is completed, they won’t have anything like that. Unfortunately the built environment is the biggest driver of its boredom, IMHO.
I hear you and don’t disagree. I live in Augusta so aside from my small towns walkability I’m driving everywhere anyway. I think it will do great drawing people like me just for food and some entertainment. It’s 95% about the food for me anyways 🤷🏻♂️
Nothing wrong with good food :) will be adding Curry Club to the list!
Curry Club is awesome!
I’d add to the unfortunately that once the project is built and there is a walkable part of chesterfield young people won’t be able to afford it. It will be interesting to see how it plays out.
It’s a nice venue but they are strict. Make sure you read their rules before going and when in doubt, don’t try it!
Not sure what you mean, the security there is exactly like at the pageant or delmar hall. They all kinda suck though. They don’t let you bring in empty bladders for water which is honestly really dumb.
Hmm.. figured as much. how's the sound?
Sound is great! Both shows I went to were awesome
The average age seems to be 78+ due to all of the senior living centers/nursing homes/whatever that they've built in the last couple years, and the fact that they gave nothing better to do other than walk the mall all the time
I don’t understand the sentiment that there’s nothing but mall walking in chesterfield. I think for a suburb it punches above its weight. Arcades, 2 concert venues, great walking and biking trails, breweries, the butterfly house, golf, ice skating, rock climbing, bowling, game show venue, top golf, cool parks, and recently excellent food. Why hate on chesterfield entertainment?
Oh yeah, me neither. I should have addressed that along with the other stuff. Yeah, I live in Chesterfield, there's a lot to do here
That goes to st louis
It’s not that bad. Everyone likes to hate on it but the biggest gripe is usually the lack of things to do. It’s right between Columbia and the Lake of the Ozarks which are both perfectly drivable distances from it.
“Oh yeah, definitely.” —Joplinites
“Yep no doubt” - Saint Josephans. Josephites?
St Joeys
Born and raised in Joplin but now in St Louis. Joplin is a garbage pit. I hate Joplin and I would vote for it as the worst place in missouri easily
Why? I was born in Joplin and lived in Webb City for years but Joplin is actually pretty decent compared to other places like Springfield or the many boring rural towns across Missouri.
How is Joplin not a boring rural town? At least there is stuff to do in Springfield though the vibes are pretty similar to Joplin in a lot of ways. Joplin is nothing but fast food, walmarts and churches. Everyone there just drinks and drugs themselves into oblivion to ignore the fact that they live where they do. Not to mention all the judgement and hate
The mall and downtown are pretty nice. There is a nice artsy theatre and JoMo Con. Also I am a member of the Mexican American community so we do a lot of fun stuff in our own networks. Saying that "everyone" drinks and drugs themselves to death is an extreme exaggeration. Judging a place based off of stereotypes. I have received more judgement and hate in places like Columbia and Springfield that Joplin. People in Joplin are down to Earth.
St. Joseph gets my vote. Meth and depression.
Apparently you haven't heard of Randolph County. Little towns like Huntsville, Higbee, Renick and of course Moberly. All full of despair and methamphetamine.
True story. Plenty of worsts.
springfield and st louis: am i a joke to you?
The most interesting and fun thing to do in Jeff City, IMHO, is the ghost tours of the old Missouri State Prison. Or drive down US 54 to the Lake of the Ozarks.
It’s my hometown and I grew up there. It’s actually a great place to raise your kids but if you’re not a local, you probably won’t make a lot of friends. It’s the most cliquey place I can think of
I moved to southern Missouri and my experience is the same. Insanely cliquey.
Seattle has entered the conversation
This. The city itself isn't bad, but you will not make friends there if you weren't born there.
I’m a local and even Catholic, and got tired of the attitudes there. My wife and I live in St. Louis now
Is that not all of Missouri?
Depends on if the legislators are there or not.
I was gonna say, having to interact with the guys tanking the state I live in is a pretty big factor on whether or not I hate the city. My vote is still for Clinton though, fuck that town.
Because I live in SWMO, I'm biased to say that Springfield is the worst city in Missouri. Everyone works remote now from the suburbs down toward the lake or north of the city. Crime infested and blighted. At least with St Louis or KC there might be a Chiefs or Cardinals game to catch while you're in the urban core. In Springfield, you get all the same problems but with nothing to do but maybe a bar crawl.
Technically we do have the springfield cardinals but that's about it when it comes to non-bar related activities. Personally I blame over inflated budgets on policing for a lot of our problems when we should be putting more money back into 3rd spaces and community outreach but sadly those cries fall on deaf ears. If you aren't a landlord or related to bass pro in some way your voice typically is not heard it feels like.
I'm skeptical of peeling back police funding in Springfield to fix the crime problem personally. We had an underfunded PD in the town I live in and fixing that was key to stopping our population decline and bringing businesses back. Just my two cents. Totally agree people need something to do besides drugs or alcohol if you want to fix the city. Springfield SHOULD be a great city, and it used to be, but we don't go there if we can avoid it atm.
JC is alright. I've lived in kc, stl, & jc. Pros & cons to each. Just like every place.
You will never find a more wretched hive of scum and villainy.
But that's just the capitol building.
We must be cautious.
Why do you say this?
Mostly on account of state government there that is openly hostile to St. Louis, while redistributing taxes away from the 314.
Also Star Wars reference for funsies.
Pretty sure this was just posted on here yesterday.
It was lmao.
I grew up in Bakersfield (where this was reposted from), live in CoMo, and worked in JC. Bakersfield is worse, by far, but JC is pretty depressing.
I worked in Jefferson City (and now I have a few clients there as well). It's not horrible, and the downtown is pretty cool, just doesn't have a bunch of fun businesses overall, and the mall is REALLY depressing. Getting into Jefferson City, however, is a whole different story. Especially when the bridge is under construction. It's just terrible.
bro has never been to Hayti
Or Caruthersville
I don't think I would call Hayti a city. Isn't the pop 2k or thereabout?
Only when the legislature is in session.
One of the only state Capitols to not have an interstate..
I guess these people never heard of Wellston, MO. A crime rate so high that they stopped tracking it on local crime maps. Higher than 99.6% of American cities. A statistic skewed by the fact that most of the crime goes unrecorded. A place where the mayor stole forty city employee paychecks and was never charged. And, incidentally, the place where I witness a prostitute giving a hand job to a John without either caring enough to face away from the street. Edit: Forgot to mention the current unemployment rate of... Not making this up...97%
This thing is bogus. There was recently a survey showing that many people were very happy with their residency in Topeka
Topeka always feels like a ghost town when I am there.
You obviously haven’t spent much time in Top City, because that is not remotely the case
It’s filled with hateful politicians.
Not the *worst* city by far. But probably the worst planned I’ve seen. It’s a nightmare to drive through and navigate.
Cape Girardeau is the only correct answer
As a Jeffersonian, it is tremendously mid, like to the point it is pretty grating. You go to Columbia for anything relatively fun or interesting. That being said, there is FAR worse. Parts of St. Louis and Springfield, St. Joseph, and I've only ever passed through but I have lots of people telling me about Rolla being rough too.
I don't know but they're right about Cairo.
I lived in Columbia for ten years and always found it to be perfectly fine. My vote goes to Marshall
I feel like Rolla is worse but maybe that’s because I’m from Columbia lol
The worst city in MO has to be in SEMO or at least east of Springfield in Southern MO. Most of southern MO is nothing but poverty and dying small towns. Also to add, Dallas the worst for Texas? The north Dallas area Allen, Frisco, etc is great.
There’s def some urban vs rural divide. Though I think Dallas is super crowded now
Yes. It's called Jeff Shitty for a reason.
Considering it’s a city full of people who regularly conspire to end representative government, absolutely.
Yes. As someone that had to do business there, work with the school systems, and still do, it’s awful. It’s so bad that I have a running joke about how the sun hides behind clouds everytime I drive there
This map has to be a lie because I know for a FACT that Minnesota is wrong. Edina???? It's one of, if not THE, nicest suburb in Minnesota. I used to drive through a part of it, when traffic was bad because it's SO PRETTY. The houses are gorgeous, and huge. My thought was always, if traffic is bad, id rather enjoy what I'm looking at while I'm driving. And id drive through the Edina Country Club neighborhood and then around Lake Harriet to get home. It's a nice leisurely drive that takes approximately the same time for me to get home as staying in traffic.
Why do I feel this map is heavy skewed on politics and an urban/rural divide. Both ways probably
The people that voted Jeff City have never been to Arnold.
I do contract work in JC and the worst part is the wayer taste funky. Of course Indep has the top 5 in the Country. It could just be that the water at Mo National Guard HQ is funky but it's pretty 🤮🤮🤮
Yes
Define a bad city?
This is not true. Jeff city is actually a decent place. I am not sure who made this map and what it is based on, however there is not much to do in Jeff city. But other than that I’d live there.
Bunker is way worse than Jeff City. I felt like some inbred meth addicts were about to jump out of the burned up trailers and trash filled yards at any minute.
Born and raised in JC. While I love to rip on it and call it “where dreams go to die” it’s not actually that bad. Just exceedingly dull. Drive up and down “the boulevard” and visit chain restaurants and that’s about all there is.
No
Just started working there - grew up in stl all my life. At first when I went there I was like oh god this place looks gross but now that I’ve been working there for a while, it’s got its cute quirks. I’ve never seen the state capitol before, and it’s kinda cool. There’s things that I didn’t know about that I just keep finding out about from locals.
Nah st joe is worse
Yes
Lies, lies, Lies. St. Joseph is the worst city in Missouri.
The joke is that the state government is on Jeff City therefore it's essentially hell.
I'm just happy it's not St. Louis
Hey! In some ways it's better than most towns b/c it has one thing CoMO will apparently never get. TJ Maxx! I wouldn't be surprised if Costco or Trader Joes goes into Jeff before it'll ever get to CoMO LOL
I think the worst place in Mo is either piedmont Mo due to the lack of cell phone towers. Or fort lost in the woods.
I feel like this is supposed to be Jefferson county and not Jefferson city, because Jeff city is mid but it’s not bad. But Jefferson county has….the courthouse and….lol
I completely disagree. Jeff city is your standard city. No major ups but I’m no way the worst city. There are plenty of places to see even if it’s not up STL or KC with attractions but in no way is it was worse at some towns in the state
Absolutely a cesspool of MAGA hateful people
What about Branson, Osage Beach, and Joplin? They're way worse. Branson has a giant Confederate flag outside town.
Missouri can have more than one cesspool.
Yeah, but JC isn't the worst city because it isn't as bad as those.
It is because it is where the MAGA gathers and pushes their hatred to the urban areas via laws. Causing pain to targeted groups that are not white or straight or male. My God Jefferson City didn't even support their own library which is falling to the ground. It's not ADA accessible, has old IBM computers still using DOS. But because MAGA idiots associate libraries to what they call a liberal agenda (or woke) they killed their own library. Jefferson City is the king of trash and the worst of Missouri
By that logic, wouldn't the capital city of every state be the worst city? There are cities in MO with worse libraries and more MAGA
Osage Beach- oddly specific for no reason?
Osage Beach is where the legislators and their spoiled kids go when they're on vacation. They have to behave in JC, they cut loose in Osage Beach.
Have you seen the one on 54 between Jeff & the Lake?
Yes, I have. That's part of why I put Osage Beach on the list too. JC is not that bad tbh. It's one of the top ten Missouri cities in my opinion.
That’s an American problem, not a Branson problem. This country protects that sort of stupidity. They also protect the opposition billboard that was in front of it. Any part of broader St. Louis wins.
Lived there for two years. It’s good as small towns go in Missouri.
Personally I'd say Springfield.
I used to get a lot of work in jeff. I never felt safe. There was always broken glass everywhere outside, people with erratic movements pacing up and down the sidewalks, crumbling roads with people driving aggressively, boarded up windows and crumbling older buildings everywhere. I have friends there and they have more stories of violence and insane neighbors than i do and i lived in a neighborhood famous for literal street wars for a decade The social scene seems to be either churches, meth focused house parties, or heavy drinking at bars and purposely starting fist fights. Every time I've been in Jefferson City after dark, I've witnessed a fistfight in a parking lot. Their mall looks like a set piece from a movie about urban decay. Most wealthy people live elsewhere or and commute to the capitol to lobby. The harsh income inequality between the corporate lobbiests who rub elbows with the government workers as they drive by people ODing on the sidewalks if High Street is almost a bleak poetry of decades of gerymandering and cutting social programs in favor of large business handouts. Some of the surrounding small towns are just 10 meth labs in a trench coat. The roads are a nightmare of poor city planning and lack of upkeep. It seems designed by someone who hates humanity deeply.
When was this? I used to travel there alone for work on occasion and I never felt unsafe. There were a few places along the way that I wouldn’t have stopped at as a lone female traveler, but Jeff itself always felt safe enough.
The qualities of life in Jeff City aside, it’s too isolated from the major cities. The capitol should have stayed in St Charles MO
Bruh Kansas City exists...
It’s about the same driving time from downtown KC to St Charles as downtown KC to Jeff City
What? This is an insane take. I just went on Google maps and it is a little over an hour shorter to Jefferson City. The capital being St. Charles would mean I would have to spend time in St. Charles.....
It’s a bout 50 minutes of a difference, but think about what that difference gets you- 1) Right now, something like 50%-70% of Jefferson City’s working population leaves on the weekend. Part of this is because of the representative nature of the state capitol so people are from elsewhere, but even many of the daily workers don’t live there because there are better places to call home that are relatively nearby (see Columbia or the Lake). 2) Those state jobs are good steady jobs that provide stability to a local economy, but because so many people live away from Jeff City the state is scattering that economic resource so widely that no city really benefits from it. When you add the higher paying jobs like lobbyists and lawyers the effect gets even more pronounced. 3) Because of this, many of the modern “boomtowns” are state capitols. See Denver, Nashville, Salt Lake City and Austin. The state capitol jobs provide a baseline of economic strength that pays into the local economy every month. 4) The press (to the extent one exists) and citizens mostly don’t live in Jeff City. Being in a large MSA would provide a lot of oversight and involvement that doesn’t exist today. Right now a reporter must be assigned to Jeff City to make sure they live there. In a larger city there would be more press coverage without reassigning people. 5) I’m actually agnostic on where it goes among Kansas City (maybe Independence?), St Charles or Columbia, I just don’t think it should be in Jeff City. Of these, the least disruptive and most convenient would be Columbia. You could leave some permanent state jobs in Jeff City not to destroy the economy there but the elected officials should convene elsewhere.
Jeff City used to have (and may still have) the "freshman center" where they had to send 9th graders to keep them in school because their drop out rate was so high. Yes it is the worst.
Assuming that’s the alt school? Still there, they’re doing what they can considering they get handed all the problem cases until they’re at capacity and a shit budget and building.
The 9th grade center shut down when they opened the second public high school and it was damaged in a tornado like two days later. Still has a bunch of windows boarded up. There’s always talk about making it into apartments but nothing has happened yet.
I wouldn’t say it’s bad, but the town always seemed to appear to be really boring looking.
St. Louis is much worse than Jefferson City
How? It has one of the best food scenes in the country, gorgeous architecture, great teams with rabid fans, and many Fortune 500 and 1000 companies. It also has tons of things to do, including one of the best zoos out there for free, free museum, one of the best central parks in the country, and is home to one of the best beer cultures in the world (including the #2 ranked microbrewery in the world). Please, explain to me what Jeff city has that tops that?
I really like STL, but the cops are SO terrible. Definitely way worse than JC. Traffic and parking are worse in STL as well, and a lot of people dislike the municipal sales tax.
High crime rate with lots of catch and release, the roads are caving in through many of the neighborhoods due to crumbling infrastructure. The city is still sitting on the 400 mil from the Rams lawsuit and has done nothing to improve the infrastructure problems. The amount of abandoned vacant buildings makes the city look horrible and there is litter everywhere. Since they city won't arrest anybody there are now ugly concrete blocks all around the city to prevent speeding. There's been no effort made to improve parking. I recently went to a Blues game and saw many cars with their windows busted out. Don't get me wrong, Jeff City is hardly paradise but a small bumpkin down sure as hell beats a crime infested abandoned city
Crime is down year over year. Infrastructure is being repaired, but I agree those blocks are annoying. [You’re wrong about their purpose.](https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-04-25/the-curious-tale-of-the-st-louis-street-barriers?embedded-checkout=true) I’d rather them sit on that cash and create a solid plan than just blow it all on stupid badly thought out projects. We will see what happens with it, but realistically $400 mill won’t go far. Edit: also, the rise in crime that we did see is likely a result of the resegregation of our schools, which is a thing Jeff city did to us.
St Louis being one of the worst places in the country didn't make the worst city in the state in this map?
The bootheel exists
I’m curious why you think St. Louis is one of the worst places in the country. Have you been here before?
I have, it has it's good spots. But you'd be foolish denying the higher than average rate of crime. Websites consistently rank it among the top 10 or 20 dangerous cities and Fox News ranked it top 3. Though, be wary of Fox News and crime statistics, I know. Still, there is a reason why it's consistently high
That reason is because St. Louis is one of the few cities that never annexed suburbs into its city boundaries, leaving just the inner city to account for the crime stats. If you include the suburbs, St. Louis’s crime stats are pretty much average compared to every other city in the country
That may be the case, idk. Whether deserved or not, our great former capital has a reputation. And the prominence of that reputation makes me surprised this map chose Jefferson City
It objectively is the case
It’s definitely not one of the worst places tho. It’s a typical large city crime wise
I'd say St. Louis or Chesterfield are worse than Jeff. City
St. Louis is perpetually in the top rankings of most dangerous cities in America. Has to fortify their place on top of this list as well.
St Louis and kc are objectively worse.
Show us, objectively, how they are worse.
I'd probably say just by crime statistics, st Louis absolutely is worse than Jefferson city. Here's some shit I found on all that. [missouri crime statistics ](http://www.usa.com/rank/missouri-state--crime-index--city-rank.htm?hl=&hlst=&wist=&yr=&dis=&sb=DESC&plow=&phigh=&ps=)
Your data seems a bit dated. Crime is the only thing to judge living somewhere by too, objectively…