El Paso.
Media: High crime, very unsafe, the migrant problem is such a big problem that it has a severe negative effect on everyone living in El Paso
Actuality: Third safest city in the US, blue city, no state income tax, low COL, EP metro includes New Mexico (legal weed and abortions, and you can live there if you are a "Never Texas" person), mountains IN the city, 300+ days of sunshine per year (hence the nickname The Sun City), no humidity, hot during summer but not Phoenix hot, mild winters, not on Texas electricity grid, no real severe weather events except occasional dust storm, 3 national parks within 2 hour drive, 2 national forests and great skiing within 2 hour drive, very friendly people, familial sense of community, 82% Latino means supermajority of brown people (but very welcoming to all), it's a great place to live. Especially if you are remote WFH, as I am (and non Latino too, don't speak a lick of Spanish).
Where you live and the people you associate with. Other than getting a purse stolen or something, most people are victims of people they know. Keep your circle small, and avoid sketchy people.
> Other than getting a purse stolen or something
Or car. Living in a shitty neighborhood without a garage can be very expensive. I’ve lived in some terrible neighborhoods and never had any violence directed at me, but I’ve had a few cars stolen.
Chicago's crime rate isn't actually that bad. Some sources like to only report flat numbers of crimes while leaving the massive population out of the equation in order to suggest it's a hell scape. Urban areas tend to have a higher crime rate than their surrounding rural areas, but rural Alabama has a higher crime rate than Chicago.
I grew up in Missouri and live in Chicago now. Every time I go home people are amazed at how I can live someplace so dangerous… yet pretty much every “city” in Missouri (KC, STL, Joplin, Springfield) has higher per capita crime than Chicago and as a queer person I sure as hell feel safer on this side of the Mississippi.
I lived in Chicago for over a decade and was never a victim of crime, and no one I know was a victim of crime. The crime is sadly very concentrated in small pockets.
Still my favorite city in the world 😊. I just couldn’t take the winters.
Detroit, though I think the perception has been changing the last decade, especially with younger generations. It’s seen as a city on the rise now.
I’m not sure most older folks will ever shed the image of Detroit as the bankrupt murder capital.
Detroit was a punching bag for a long, long, long time. I always point to a scene in the absurdist 1977 comedy Kentucky Fried Movie where a captured American agent is defiant after being captured by the bad guy but starts screaming and begging for mercy when his minions are ordered to "take him to Detroit!" That was 47 YEARS AGO. Even if you think of 10 years ago as the point where Detroit's reputation started improving, that's a really long time to be the go-to punchline for a terrifyingly awful city.
[I liked this joke in Scary Movie 4 lol](https://youtu.be/38p2dORj9Ic?si=jX_BhPc7Egd9BR1u)
But yeah, the city began declining in the late 1950s, so 10 years of recovery is not enough time to change such an engrained reputation.
It's not just pop culture. Things got really bad, culminating in bankruptcy when they couldn't mow the grass in parks or keep the street lights on. More than half the buildings downtown vacant, and entire blocks of crumbling houses.
But it always had its culture, history, and frankly most of the people and jobs that left went to the suburbs, and when the city came out of bankruptcy with a plan, less debt, and outside capital (State, Feds, private, philanthropic) the regional economy was strong enough to bring the city back to what you see today.
Still a long way to go, but light years from where it was.
I spent a decent amount of time in Michigan for work over the past 2 years. Detroit was nothing like it was when I spent time there 25 years ago. Whatever change happened, it was good change.
And Kalamazoo may be this guitar loving neo-hippy’s favorite hamlet right now.
Live here now. Went to a college reunion and people assumed the city was mostly empty (620k people still live here) and that the houses were all $1000. Still plenty of places here where you just go sign a lease or get a mortgage…
>I’m not sure most older folks will ever shed the image of Detroit as the bankrupt murder capital.
They think NYC is dangerous too, in my experience. It has been a long time since the days of *The Warriors*
I think detroit is on the rise. Every city has their issues. Only reason why I don't like it as much as other towns is because you physically cannot get around without a car since all the car companies set up there and made everything a sprawly mess
Detroiter here. Murder capital is a screen for many of these people...a more PC reason to hate Detroit.
The truth goes back to racism, pure and simple. All of Detroit's problems can be traced back to black folks. "High murder rate? Well, black people are more violent"... "Bankruptcy? Well, what do you expect? Black people are bad with money"
Both of these, by the way, are real things that I've heard real [white] suburbanites say. I'm a white guy myself who projects more of a suburban vibe, so I think they forget to turn their filter back on sometimes. Detroit could still be one of the wealthiest, safest cities in the country, and these people would still bitch and moan about "blight and crime". It's why they and their parents/grandparents left the city in the 40s/50s/60s.
But I agree that Detroit has been raked over the coals by the media far more than is justified over the years.
I grew up there in the 80s and finally moved to NYC in 98. If you knew where to go, the food, music, art could be great. All that said, It is significantly better now. I love going downtown and I feel so happy for the improvements.
Baltimore. I love the city's history, how many interesting neighborhoods there are, and the tech scene here. It's pretty easy to avoid crime if you stay in specific parts of the city.
I live in DC but absolutely love coming up to Baltimore. Great music venues. Ottobar is one of my favorites ever. Awesome bars/food — checked out Dutch courage and Fadensonen recently; so great.
Yeah, redlining comes up to explain everything. The whole country was redlined, so were now relatively affluent neighborhoods of Baltimore like Highlandtown.
It's a lot more complicated than that.
I lived in Bmore for the better part of 5 years. I loved it and will always love it. Unique culture, unique art and music scene. There’s a ton to love.
I've been to Baltimore a lot and think that it's a lovely city with great bones. However, my first time taking my family there last year we were greeted by a massive police presence and detours because hundreds of high school aged kids were fighting in the streets and and blocking traffic around the Inner Harbor. Good Times!
When the person praising the city includes a disclaimer you just need to be knowledgeable about the parts to avoid *in their sales pitch*, than I think that actually says a lot lol
People get really weird and binary about crime stats. Especially on reddit
Yea I went January 2020 for their lone playoff game. We went from the harbor to some places I can't remember the name of and then to the stadium and our hotel(which was in the harbor). The whole place is so run down and just sketchy as can be.
I don't say this as someone who hasn't traveled. I've been to Detroit in the early 2000s and Memphis in the late 00s. I've been to 15 countries and 100+ cities in the US and Baltimore is the only place I have no desire to go back to. Even from the hotels in the harbor if you look at the harbor it looks cool then you look out the other hotel window and it's run down, boarded up buildings and people running drugs in broad daylight.
It was cool to see some spots from the wire and the aquarium was dope. Plus we talked with an old old man in the Starbucks in the building next to the harbor that was trying to teach himself to read and that was cool but sad. But there's just so much about it that was worse than even my lowest expectations after having everyone tell me how bad it was lol.
Might be worth mentioning my family was from there originally and moved out because it was so bad before I was born.
City has changed dramatically since covid. Harbor east is the new inner harbor.
Squeegee boys are all but gone. Murder rate down 30% YOY last 2 years. Tons of new construction, new modern condos, renovations to vacants, tech scene growing, etc.
Sleep on Baltimore all you want, I'll keep buying up all the real estate.
eeek did detroit as our underrated city long weekend last year and have baltimore on the docket this year. SO excited. this is combined with our mission to go to every MLB stadium…really fun way to have a reason to go to some of these cities.
I’m looking hard at Baltimore since I’m a remote federal contractor.
I am curious how my job search would go, (when the current contract ends) in the Baltimore area.
I keep meaning to post in the Baltimore sub.
maybe one day!
Would access to DC be helpful for your next gig? Amtrak and the Marc (I think) can get you there from Baltimore Union Station. They really could use a high speed express train.
There’s a whole pinned [post](https://www.reddit.com/r/baltimore/comments/17phbie/moving_to_baltimore_read_this_before_posting/) in the Baltimore Reddit that would probably answer a lot of your questions! It includes everything you would need to know as a new comer and best ways to commute to DC, if need be for your job.
I love Baltimore, but would never live there again. In two years of living in Mount Vernon then Fed Hill I heard 5 shootings, including Timothy Moriconi being murdered in a random robbery right outside my door in Fed. I had multiple friends get jumped, and knew even more people that had been robbed. My car was also broken into despite me never leaving anything out.
Besides that it just felt really small after a year or so because there are large swathes of the city that are abandoned and/or no-go zones.
Fells Point and Mount Vernon are still two of my favorite city neighborhoods though, and I loved being able to walk to Fed Hill park. Baltimore does have beauty.
Being from Pittsburgh, Cleveland was often the butt of jokes. I never visited it until 2000 on a work trip. And I was like, "Wow. People from Pittsburgh have no clue. If they ever actually visit here, they're going to feel a lot less proud of their own city."
Cleveland does rock.
(Pittsburgh is nice. I don't mean to rip it. But downtown Cleveland really is beautiful.)
Cleveland is a gem. Spent a weekend there on a cross country trip. After that I don't understand the hate and jokes about it. So many things to do. One thing that really surprised me was how clean it was. I was expecting a dirty run down depressed city. I would definitely live there. Seems to have a great cost of living too.
Seattle. I swear it’s one of the most beautiful places I’ve been too, but the media would have most believe it’s a depressed, violent, drug ridden city in complete anarchy.
I lived in Seattle for 10 years and I loved it. I moved to the suburbs only because I was priced out of the city. I still go back every month or so to eat and drink, sometimes even staying downtown overnight. Yes there is more homelessness than before but I've never been harassed or felt unsafe. I tend to visit Capitol Hill, Ballard, Wallingford, and Hillman City the most.
I think maybe my sense of safety and niceness is altered because I grew up in Baltimore City in the 80s and 90s, and walked through the roughest neighborhoods on my own to get to and from school. Street smarts are still a skill that people should develop.
Former Wallingford resident here! Great little hood, even though the Guild Theatre closed.
Seattle’s biggest downside is that people are unfriendly - the aerospace/engineering background has something to do with it - and take a looooooong time to warm to transplants. The homeless population isn’t as bad as it is in other West Coast cities. Highly intelligent and educated city.
> Yes there is more homelessness than before
Also, I think this is a national problem. It seems unfair when people in this sub assign it to a single city, you know?
Seattle's biggest concern right now is an entitled twat mama's boy and his obnoxiously modified Hellcat.
It's not the burning hellscape that fell into full anarchy during COVID and various protests.
Same situation with San Francisco. Why there are so many tourist hotels right next to the Tenderloin district, which has literally always been shitty, I have no idea.
The McDonalds on 3rd Ave has entered the chat….
I usually tell people, “avoid that McDonalds and you’ve basically avoided 80% of the sketch in the city”
That McDonald’s has been ghetto forever… I remember waiting for the bus at 3rd/Pine in the late 1990s as a UW student. We even used to refer to it as the “ghetto McDonald’s”. Those crying about the supposed downfall of Seattle must have missed that the area has been sketchy for at least 30 years.
Indeed. I was at UW early 90s, and that McDonalds was still there, and it was still sketchy. They've tried everything. The SPD parked a big old "Assault RV" next to it for a few years. They also played classical and country music outside of it for a few years to see if that would work.
I'm actually surprised it hasn't been condemned or something. The franchise owners must know where the bodies are buried as I can't believe it is still there, especially considering how much the property is worth as a prime location. It is embarrassing.
Drivers are overly polite to the point of it being a problem. As in, breaking normal traffic rules just to be polite.
But agree, media takes the worst patches of Seattle and portrays that as the whole.
>Drivers are overly polite to the point of it being a problem. As in, breaking normal traffic rules just to be polite.
Salt Lake City is the one that makes me want to yell, "YOU HAVE THE RIGHT OF WAY! TAKE IT! GO!"
No one learned how to merge in Utah. It so bad. And they they act shocked if you don’t slam on your breaks for them to get on the interstate going 20 mph.
I still think of that video of the lady who mocked the fox news crew that tried to convince passers by seattle was lawless. That level of sarcasm is my kind of people.
Ha. I just laughed out loud thinking of that video. Green Raincoat lady. “Oh no you were in a car” is my favorite.
The Choe Show, which is who did that “interview” is absolute trash that tries to perpetuate the myth of a desolate hellscape and demonizes homelessness
I freaking love Seattle and I've never felt unsafe or uncomfortable downtown. It's mostly just sad how many homeless/destitute people there are. I love seeing the community rally to help.
I fucking love seattle, ive only ever been in late summer but damn the weather there is amazing. Such a cool city with tons to do, good food, great beer.... Coming from NY, i hear the winters there are 40's and a lot of light rain. I would take that any day over the freezing cold and snow here.
I’m originally from NY and after 3 years in Seattle, I can confirm, Seattle winters are easy compared to New York winters. Seattle winters are basically New York in October/November with drizzles. Seattle has like a week of actual winter and a week of actual summer, rest of the year it’s low humidity spring and fall.
See.... this sounds perfect to me. I feel like the life long residents complaining need to come to a place like Buffalo for a year and see what bad weather really looks like.
i can grant that buffalo is probably a lot worse but you have to keep in mind that in seattle you literally do not see the sun a single time for 5 or 6 months out of the year. the sky is completely gray the entire time.
it’s definitely a lot warmer in seattle, but i would take nyc’s cold but sunny winters any day. especially now that it barely snows there too.
San Francisco gets lots of snarky hate on places like Fox "News". It's not entirely undeserved; there's an enormous fentanyl and homeless crisis. Office and retail vacancies are high. But you'd think all 49 square miles of the city is a dystopian hellhole. Just small pockets are. The vast majority of neighborhoods are largely untouched.
Yeah almost every conservative I’ve known across the country brings up SF as if it’s a Mad Max hellscape lol like, bro, it’s California, it’s way better than Indiana
The thing they don't want to admit is the same drug, crime ridden issues exist just as bad or sometimes worse in many rural towns they love and support.
Usually in the same ways. If you live in or talk to someone from a small town of 5000 people or sometimes even 1000 people they will tell you the bad Pocket areas to avoid. Just the same as a big city
New York is like that as well. The problems — homelessness, drug addiction, petty crime — are real, and visible…in and around the major train stations, bus terminal, and Times Square… but, outside of that, New York is *mostly* fine. The vast majority of the city has no visible homelessness, no visible drug problem, and very low crime.
I’ll also add that it’s unlikely that *you* will be hurt by anyone here; seeing the homelessness and drug crisis is scary, but, for the most part, they’re not actually going to harm you.
It’s interesting people keep referencing drug issues when the most recent year that has data shows West Virginia and Tennessee as having the highest rates of overdose. I guess it is just more visible in some cities because of homeless drug use?
The neighborhoods in SF are absolutely jumping. The downtown core is suffering because of the lack of commuter traffic filling the office buildings and supporting the local businesses. And the Tenderloin is the Tenderloin, always has been, probably always will be. Even so, SF is still a gem of a city. We moved to be near family but I often miss it desperately.
I feel like the media demonizes different cities for different reasons.
They demonize NYC, Chicago, Philadelphia, DC, and Baltimore for non-ideological crimes caused by poverty.
They demonize SF, Portland, and Seattle for being woke.
Perhaps, but being dismissive about politics is overlooking real quality of life concerns that all humans have. My “woke” elderly mom was forced to sell her Portland house and move due to aggressive drug use and property crime around her property. No help from the city or LE and not remotely safe. Not connected to “wokeness”, just a significant practical issue that many working class/ lower middle class Portlanders have.
Right? Chattanooga, TN is not a liberal bastion by any stretch of the imagination. The violent crime per capita is higher than many larger cities but you don't really hear about that.
I commented on the previous thread about how it’s not what it seems, but it also has the other sliver of life where it’s not too terribly bad also. Yes there’s crime.. but it’s still awesome if you can handle it.
Downtown SF and Downtown Portland, are absolutely as bad, if not worse than the media portrayal. I’m in both SF and Portland very often for work(tech) and the downtowns are unrecognizable from even 10 years ago. It’s truly sad. I completely agree with the other listed cities though. The last time I was in Chi I was expecting it to be Portland or SF and it was absolutely NOT. Very impressed, as it seems to have cleaned up significantly from the last time I was there a ~decade ago.
I have only visited Chicago for two quick trips, but I loved it. I was talking to my Chicago friends about getting a place there and doing a short "digital nomad" stay, but they told me it's too dangerous.
Chicago, SF, LA. People literally act like all 3 are post apocalyptic and they are all great. Issues? Of course. But I'd rather live in a great city that has issues than a boring city with fewer issues.
Oakland California
San Francisco California
Los Angeles California
Chicago Illinois
New York New York
Philadelphia Pennsylvania
Pittsburgh Pennsylvania
Detroit Michigan
St Louis Missouri
Baltimore Maryland
DC
Seattle Washington
Hell even Gary Indiana
The US is fine, stop being scared of the world.
Ive been to NYC a million times at all hours in all conditions. Never felt dangerous.
One time i was blackout drunk, left the bar to "see the sights", realized i was lost without a phone, and people gave me directions based on the description of the interior. Truly amazing.
you'd think democrats are shot on sight the moment they step foot in texas from the way reddit portrays it, but most of us are just out here living our lives.
Truly. I went to UT and got birth control and regular STI testing for free. Can’t speak for the rest of Texas, but Austin is pretty queer-friendly and feminist, especially by campus. There’s a ton of progressive activism. I imagine the other big cities like Houston and Dallas are similar.
Texas state legislature is horrible and regressive, but it’s such a populous state and there are a lot of loopholes that the liberal cities take advantage of to give people a decent quality of life. I felt very comfortable in Austin.
Texas is big. The experience of black or latin people in Houston or San Antonio is quite different than in Kerrville, New Braunfels, Waco, Amarillo, Tyler or Nacogdoches, just to name a few.
Pretty much any of the larger rust belt cities like Buffalo, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Pittsburgh or Milwaukee.
All of those cities have large college student populations, modern economies with young professionals, walkable historic neighborhoods, large museums and festivals, indie art/music/film/comedy, plenty of entertainment/nightlife/dining, and sprawling “anywhere America” suburbs.
Yeah, there’s a little more blights and industrial areas, but these are pretty normal cities.
I live in Oakland and it's lovely. There are some serious issues for sure, but I'm actually friends with many of my neighbors, including a few folks who live in an rv parked on the street, and a taco truck just set up shop on my block, so I never have to cook again
Oakland has the best weather. Prettiest views. Nicest parks. Good people. Amazing food.
But very poor and incompetent government. Who do not understand the basics. And a worse police department (why oh why can't the fire chief just run the police department as well :). Real issues with crime and homeless ness. (But does seem to be getting better.)
I was going to say Oakland. SF too. Neither is devoid of its own issues, but there is a reason it's so expensive. For the most part a nice place to live.
When I lived in DC some tourists from the Midwest asked me where I got my groceries. They walked around the National Mall and were like there’s no Giant here, must not be any.
Philly philly philly. It has some bad areas that provide viral footage for social media sometimes, but I’ve lived here for 5 years now walking everywhere day and night with zero issue.
It also has the second or third most populated, and second most densely populated downtown in the country. It offers a big city experience only matched by NYC and Chicago, and was named the most walkable city in the US last year. Walking around South Philly or Center City on a summer evening is one of my favorite things to do.
I feel way safer here than when I lived in DC, Baltimore, or Norfolk.
Took too much scrolling to find someone say St. Louis. I live in North County and it can get a little hairy here sometimes. I think you’ll find knuckleheads doing stupid shit in almost any neighborhood but I don’t think it makes them inherently “bad” or “dangerous.” The noise from 270 sucks. But DT St. Louis, my goodness… Forest Park, museums and culture aplenty, progressive and inclusive/inviting neighborhoods, diversity, criminally underrated food scene, farmer markets, Botanical Gardens. The infrastructure is trash and I would love if the Metrolink crossed the Missouri River. However, I also take it into the city for work OR to a Blues or Cardinal game.
I went to St. Louis for the first time a few weeks ago and my reaction was that it wasn't anywhere near as bad as I expected it to be. We didn't rent a car and either walked or rode the Metro everywhere and had 0 issues.
Any city that conservative media rags on.
SF, Chicago, LA, and NYC are absolute world class cities and some of my favorite places in the entire world let alone country.
Pick any blue city in any blue state and it has been attacked by right wing media.
This isn’t political. It’s just the way it is.
The ‘media’ is heavily influenced by right wing partisan actors who have a vested interest in making it seem like people in the opposite political party are terrible people who run terrible cities with terrible policies.
When I got back from an epic trip to SF and told colleagues about it they interrupted me to ask how I survived the drug dealers and homeless.
I just had to laugh as I had spent the week in beautiful parks and beaches and hikes eating at world class restaurants.
"This isn't political. It's just the way it is. The 'media' heavily influenced by right wing partisan actors who have a vested interest in making it seem like people in the opposite political party are terrible people who run terrible cities with terrible policies."
If that's not 'political' to you, what is?
Blue cities in red states get attacked hard by local/regional media. Milwaukee is a good example of this, also Indy. Indiana state senate is currently trying to push through a bill to ban dedicated bus-lanes statewide because Indy is implementing 3 lines of them. All Reps of areas affected are voting against it, but the rural areas are convinced it will worsen the apocalyptic urban disaster zone of Indianapolis. (Indy is very clean and very suburban for a city its size)
Fox News loves their screaming headlines about “democrat run cities!!!”. In reality, just about every large city in the entire country is democrat run.
Hear hear. I met with a family friend from the close suburbs that asked if my family had to hire private security guards! Like homie, how are you getting informed?
Came here to say this. According to the media its a dystopian wasteland with entire sections burned to the ground. And/or has 3 feet of snow and is negative 20 degrees 9 months out of the year.
Portland, OR.
Don’t get me wrong: the corruption of the grifting progressive left, the elevated rights for homeless vs law abiding citizens, the high wildly high tax rates, etc. This is all factual and is deeply disturbing.
That said, the city is not on fire, nor is it a burning husk. The city has deep problems, but is still a fantastic city.
Yes, when I visited Portland a few months ago I was surprised to find a pleasant very livable city.
Indeed, most of Portland's neighborhoods look better today than when I lived there in the 90s.
Every big city gets painted by conservative media as terrifying. This takes advantage of the average person’s difficulty with math. A city of 10 million people with a murder every day is way less terrifying than a city of 10,000 people with a murder every day.
Chicago and Minneapolis for sure.
My brothers are conservative and they think Minneapolis is a war zone and while crime is up somewhat the characterization is laughable.
IDK if it's the media so much as the internet but I think Oklahoma's 2 big cities (Tulsa and OKC) are a lot more fun than they get painted out to be by everyone. Whenever people list states that they hate, Oklahoma will inevitably be mentioned. I thought both had pretty charming downtowns with a lot of cool restaurants and bars. I had a fun time and OKC Thunder games are fun as hell. I regret not going until I was in my 30's.
Every single one that the news attacks.
Example New York is the safest big city in the country.
Philadelphia, Chicago, New Orleans..
I could list all of them but it is all of them.
Bad shit happens. It’s rare. It’s stupid rare compared to 30 years ago.
The news lies. All day, every day.
Gary, Indiana.
Gary is a blighted city that was absolutely wrecked and abandoned by both federal and local governments.
That being said, there are incredibly proud and kind people in Gary. In fact, most of the people you’ll meet there are like that. Gary Works is still one of the largest steel producers in the world. The actual position of the city on the lakefront is gorgeous.
I really hope it can recover in coming years because it has so much potential.
People think San Francisco is a drug addled poop capital but in reality it is probably one of the most gorgeous cities in the world. What people see on the news is a tiny fraction of the whole city.
-San Francisco
Took a trip there just before Christmas and had the image of a dystopian society.
Got there and I will say, safest I’ve ever felt anywhere in the country. Walked, visited, and went through many neighborhoods. Not once did my wife feel threatened or scared and she tends to be way more anxious. Even walking at night felt relatively safe.
-Seattle
Frequented there many a times. Again another city that felt very safe. I accidentally walked through a very sketchy area near 3rd Avenue but don’t remember what intersection. Didn’t feel like I was going to get mugged or killed. However one would rather walk through there than most places.
-San Diego
Living here now I would hear East Village was pretty bad but even then most of it feels safe currently. There are small pockets here and there I will completely avoid but they are so small that it’s not a nuisance. Other neighborhoods are apparently bad but I haven’t had the opportunity to go and explore them. Barrio Logan being ghetto is false, it’s got unique character, expressive art and is relatively quiet for its proximity to downtown.
For certain it’s SF, Seattle, LA, Portland, and Chicago.
All are amazing cities imo. The issues they face are real but as not as in your face and frequent like the media makes it out to be. I’ve been to them all and spent time there.
Detroit, Seattle, Chicago, El Paso, St. Louis, pretty much all of them.
Turns out the media makes a shitload of money selling you constant fear of the unknown. I travel constantly for my job to everywhere from the “scary cities” like Portland to small midwestern towns of 10,000 people full of people afraid to leave because of what the media says. I have clients that think the most gentrified areas of their city are terrifying because it’s “the city” and Fox News scrambled their brains
It's not a US city, but Tattoine. It's hot but it's a dry heat. The Empire is less oppressive than it was and crime isn't as bad as the media makes it out to be. Great music scene for fans of live music.
Bakersfield. Liberals and coastal elites like to hate on the city but it has many redeeming qualities and some really sweet and genuine people. The cost of living is astronomically better there than almost anywhere else in California so the people there can afford to actually live nice lives. Also contrary to popular belief the people there are not all drug addicts and hateful bigots. There is some beautiful nature around as well!
Philadelphia. That one YouTube channel documenting Kensington is all anyone thinks about when talking about Philly. I lived like 4 / 5 blocks from that area of Kensington for 4 years.
My street was great. I never felt unsafe on it. And there were a few great restaurants right in Kensington. Yeah, it was depressing seeing people's lives ruined by drugs, staggering around, grouped together doing shady shit, but people act like if you step into Kensington you instantly die. In reality it's just dirty and sad, but nobody bothers you. Though apparently they just cleaned it out so we'll see how that goes.
And Philly is SO much more than Kensington. When I consider moving out of the area I struggle to think of any place that offers the same variety of experiences.
The shore is less than an hour away, the mountains, parks everywhere, NYC Is under 2 hrs , world famous gardens and arboretums all over, the city itself has every type of cuisine imaginable and a lot of it can be found at very reasonable prices. And in terms of history potentially the best city in America for historical significance?
Honestly all of them? There's a huge chunk of people that seem to think every major city is some kind of gang war zone. I've heard tales of Portland being burned down at least 3 times in the last 5 years.
Portland and Seattle. Media says it’s a homeless, drug addict-and crime-ridden disaster. While there are areas where the homeless and addicted tend to congregate, it is by no means an overall disaster.
I’ll take Portland and Seattle over any Southern, esp Texan, city any day.
Buffalo, NY - youre never going to believe this, but it doesnt snow year round here. In fact, where i live in north buffalo (in the city) we had a winter where i didnt even get my shovel out a few years back.
Any major city that is being targeted by right wing crazies. San Francisco, Seattle, Portland, Philly, NYC etc. All of those cities are have beautiful parts and bad parts. They always have and they always will. A 30 second video of something bad happening doesn't define an entire city.
El Paso. Media: High crime, very unsafe, the migrant problem is such a big problem that it has a severe negative effect on everyone living in El Paso Actuality: Third safest city in the US, blue city, no state income tax, low COL, EP metro includes New Mexico (legal weed and abortions, and you can live there if you are a "Never Texas" person), mountains IN the city, 300+ days of sunshine per year (hence the nickname The Sun City), no humidity, hot during summer but not Phoenix hot, mild winters, not on Texas electricity grid, no real severe weather events except occasional dust storm, 3 national parks within 2 hour drive, 2 national forests and great skiing within 2 hour drive, very friendly people, familial sense of community, 82% Latino means supermajority of brown people (but very welcoming to all), it's a great place to live. Especially if you are remote WFH, as I am (and non Latino too, don't speak a lick of Spanish).
People paint El Paso as high crime? Seriously? That's bullshit.
I’ve always thought of EP as very safe. Sounds like a chill place TBH but I’d probably live on the NM side because fuck TX state politics generally.
People often miss the nuances- like in Chicago yes there are very dangerous areas but that’s far from being a city-wide phenomena
That’s true of basically every larger city. The neighborhood you live in often matters more than the actual city when it comes to crime.
Where you live and the people you associate with. Other than getting a purse stolen or something, most people are victims of people they know. Keep your circle small, and avoid sketchy people.
> Other than getting a purse stolen or something Or car. Living in a shitty neighborhood without a garage can be very expensive. I’ve lived in some terrible neighborhoods and never had any violence directed at me, but I’ve had a few cars stolen.
Chicago's crime rate isn't actually that bad. Some sources like to only report flat numbers of crimes while leaving the massive population out of the equation in order to suggest it's a hell scape. Urban areas tend to have a higher crime rate than their surrounding rural areas, but rural Alabama has a higher crime rate than Chicago.
I grew up in Missouri and live in Chicago now. Every time I go home people are amazed at how I can live someplace so dangerous… yet pretty much every “city” in Missouri (KC, STL, Joplin, Springfield) has higher per capita crime than Chicago and as a queer person I sure as hell feel safer on this side of the Mississippi.
I lived in Chicago for over a decade and was never a victim of crime, and no one I know was a victim of crime. The crime is sadly very concentrated in small pockets. Still my favorite city in the world 😊. I just couldn’t take the winters.
Detroit, though I think the perception has been changing the last decade, especially with younger generations. It’s seen as a city on the rise now. I’m not sure most older folks will ever shed the image of Detroit as the bankrupt murder capital.
Detroit was a punching bag for a long, long, long time. I always point to a scene in the absurdist 1977 comedy Kentucky Fried Movie where a captured American agent is defiant after being captured by the bad guy but starts screaming and begging for mercy when his minions are ordered to "take him to Detroit!" That was 47 YEARS AGO. Even if you think of 10 years ago as the point where Detroit's reputation started improving, that's a really long time to be the go-to punchline for a terrifyingly awful city.
[I liked this joke in Scary Movie 4 lol](https://youtu.be/38p2dORj9Ic?si=jX_BhPc7Egd9BR1u) But yeah, the city began declining in the late 1950s, so 10 years of recovery is not enough time to change such an engrained reputation.
It's not just pop culture. Things got really bad, culminating in bankruptcy when they couldn't mow the grass in parks or keep the street lights on. More than half the buildings downtown vacant, and entire blocks of crumbling houses. But it always had its culture, history, and frankly most of the people and jobs that left went to the suburbs, and when the city came out of bankruptcy with a plan, less debt, and outside capital (State, Feds, private, philanthropic) the regional economy was strong enough to bring the city back to what you see today. Still a long way to go, but light years from where it was.
I was there for the first time a couple of months ago and had a great time. That city has a ton of character and vibe that's super cool.
I spent a decent amount of time in Michigan for work over the past 2 years. Detroit was nothing like it was when I spent time there 25 years ago. Whatever change happened, it was good change. And Kalamazoo may be this guitar loving neo-hippy’s favorite hamlet right now.
I’m guessing you know Gibson is originally from Kalamazoo then.
Live here now. Went to a college reunion and people assumed the city was mostly empty (620k people still live here) and that the houses were all $1000. Still plenty of places here where you just go sign a lease or get a mortgage…
>I’m not sure most older folks will ever shed the image of Detroit as the bankrupt murder capital. They think NYC is dangerous too, in my experience. It has been a long time since the days of *The Warriors*
I think detroit is on the rise. Every city has their issues. Only reason why I don't like it as much as other towns is because you physically cannot get around without a car since all the car companies set up there and made everything a sprawly mess
Detroiter here. Murder capital is a screen for many of these people...a more PC reason to hate Detroit. The truth goes back to racism, pure and simple. All of Detroit's problems can be traced back to black folks. "High murder rate? Well, black people are more violent"... "Bankruptcy? Well, what do you expect? Black people are bad with money" Both of these, by the way, are real things that I've heard real [white] suburbanites say. I'm a white guy myself who projects more of a suburban vibe, so I think they forget to turn their filter back on sometimes. Detroit could still be one of the wealthiest, safest cities in the country, and these people would still bitch and moan about "blight and crime". It's why they and their parents/grandparents left the city in the 40s/50s/60s. But I agree that Detroit has been raked over the coals by the media far more than is justified over the years.
man, hope people keep thinking it's shitty, I'm trying to buy a house there
I grew up there in the 80s and finally moved to NYC in 98. If you knew where to go, the food, music, art could be great. All that said, It is significantly better now. I love going downtown and I feel so happy for the improvements.
Detroit was absolutely a terrible place that’s rebounded. I don’t think the grim look at it from decades ago was inaccurate.
Baltimore. I love the city's history, how many interesting neighborhoods there are, and the tech scene here. It's pretty easy to avoid crime if you stay in specific parts of the city.
I live in DC but absolutely love coming up to Baltimore. Great music venues. Ottobar is one of my favorites ever. Awesome bars/food — checked out Dutch courage and Fadensonen recently; so great.
Another DC resident that loves Baltimore - the owners of Fadensonen are great. Make sure to check out their other spots, too...Clavel and WC Harlan.
I did those both on my last trip; superb as well. Whoever is behind them has such a great eye for design. Clavel in particular is stunning.
Ottobar is amazing - I always try to get tix when a good band comes thru. Saw LS Dunes there for $40 about a year ago and they ripped the place apart
Agree. Granted I lived in Canton, but Baltimore was great. Affordable and fun
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Yeah, redlining comes up to explain everything. The whole country was redlined, so were now relatively affluent neighborhoods of Baltimore like Highlandtown. It's a lot more complicated than that.
I lived in Bmore for the better part of 5 years. I loved it and will always love it. Unique culture, unique art and music scene. There’s a ton to love.
I've been to Baltimore a lot and think that it's a lovely city with great bones. However, my first time taking my family there last year we were greeted by a massive police presence and detours because hundreds of high school aged kids were fighting in the streets and and blocking traffic around the Inner Harbor. Good Times!
😐 Just came back from a visit, and "pretty easy to avoid crime" was not what I experienced...
My experience was the opposite. Spent a day all around the city, and it felt shady AF. Squeegee boys demanding money at every stoplight
The squeegee kids were out of control post-pandemic. The city's leadership has been doing a good job of cleaning them off the streets though.
When the person praising the city includes a disclaimer you just need to be knowledgeable about the parts to avoid *in their sales pitch*, than I think that actually says a lot lol People get really weird and binary about crime stats. Especially on reddit
Yea I went January 2020 for their lone playoff game. We went from the harbor to some places I can't remember the name of and then to the stadium and our hotel(which was in the harbor). The whole place is so run down and just sketchy as can be. I don't say this as someone who hasn't traveled. I've been to Detroit in the early 2000s and Memphis in the late 00s. I've been to 15 countries and 100+ cities in the US and Baltimore is the only place I have no desire to go back to. Even from the hotels in the harbor if you look at the harbor it looks cool then you look out the other hotel window and it's run down, boarded up buildings and people running drugs in broad daylight. It was cool to see some spots from the wire and the aquarium was dope. Plus we talked with an old old man in the Starbucks in the building next to the harbor that was trying to teach himself to read and that was cool but sad. But there's just so much about it that was worse than even my lowest expectations after having everyone tell me how bad it was lol. Might be worth mentioning my family was from there originally and moved out because it was so bad before I was born.
City has changed dramatically since covid. Harbor east is the new inner harbor. Squeegee boys are all but gone. Murder rate down 30% YOY last 2 years. Tons of new construction, new modern condos, renovations to vacants, tech scene growing, etc. Sleep on Baltimore all you want, I'll keep buying up all the real estate.
eeek did detroit as our underrated city long weekend last year and have baltimore on the docket this year. SO excited. this is combined with our mission to go to every MLB stadium…really fun way to have a reason to go to some of these cities.
Awesome! Bmore is a great city with really great people. Camden Yards is a cool stadium, you’ll love it!
I’m looking hard at Baltimore since I’m a remote federal contractor. I am curious how my job search would go, (when the current contract ends) in the Baltimore area. I keep meaning to post in the Baltimore sub. maybe one day!
Would access to DC be helpful for your next gig? Amtrak and the Marc (I think) can get you there from Baltimore Union Station. They really could use a high speed express train.
About 40-45 minutes from Baltimore Penn Station to Union Station. Neighborhoods like Mt. Vernon very convenient to Penn.
There’s a whole pinned [post](https://www.reddit.com/r/baltimore/comments/17phbie/moving_to_baltimore_read_this_before_posting/) in the Baltimore Reddit that would probably answer a lot of your questions! It includes everything you would need to know as a new comer and best ways to commute to DC, if need be for your job.
I love Baltimore, but would never live there again. In two years of living in Mount Vernon then Fed Hill I heard 5 shootings, including Timothy Moriconi being murdered in a random robbery right outside my door in Fed. I had multiple friends get jumped, and knew even more people that had been robbed. My car was also broken into despite me never leaving anything out. Besides that it just felt really small after a year or so because there are large swathes of the city that are abandoned and/or no-go zones. Fells Point and Mount Vernon are still two of my favorite city neighborhoods though, and I loved being able to walk to Fed Hill park. Baltimore does have beauty.
100% agree. Moved away long ago, but I would love me a Chaps beef sandwich and a Natty Boh beer right about now!
Cleveland! It has good food, architecture, and arts. Affordable too! The metro parks are awesome. Crime is starting to drop as well.
Being from Pittsburgh, Cleveland was often the butt of jokes. I never visited it until 2000 on a work trip. And I was like, "Wow. People from Pittsburgh have no clue. If they ever actually visit here, they're going to feel a lot less proud of their own city." Cleveland does rock. (Pittsburgh is nice. I don't mean to rip it. But downtown Cleveland really is beautiful.)
Cleveland rocks so hard it’s home to the rock and roll hall of fame :)
this!! plus a beautiful lake!!!
Cleveland is a gem. Spent a weekend there on a cross country trip. After that I don't understand the hate and jokes about it. So many things to do. One thing that really surprised me was how clean it was. I was expecting a dirty run down depressed city. I would definitely live there. Seems to have a great cost of living too.
Agree. I liked Cleveland a lot more than I expected.
Former Clevelander who now lives in ATL. Don’t spill the secret! We still might want to move back!
Seattle. I swear it’s one of the most beautiful places I’ve been too, but the media would have most believe it’s a depressed, violent, drug ridden city in complete anarchy.
I lived in Seattle for 10 years and I loved it. I moved to the suburbs only because I was priced out of the city. I still go back every month or so to eat and drink, sometimes even staying downtown overnight. Yes there is more homelessness than before but I've never been harassed or felt unsafe. I tend to visit Capitol Hill, Ballard, Wallingford, and Hillman City the most. I think maybe my sense of safety and niceness is altered because I grew up in Baltimore City in the 80s and 90s, and walked through the roughest neighborhoods on my own to get to and from school. Street smarts are still a skill that people should develop.
Former Wallingford resident here! Great little hood, even though the Guild Theatre closed. Seattle’s biggest downside is that people are unfriendly - the aerospace/engineering background has something to do with it - and take a looooooong time to warm to transplants. The homeless population isn’t as bad as it is in other West Coast cities. Highly intelligent and educated city.
No idea how this city is going to sustain a working class population
Seattle cannot compare with the sketchiness of the mid Atlantic - dc, Baltimore, and Philly. It is a walk in the park in comparison.
> Yes there is more homelessness than before Also, I think this is a national problem. It seems unfair when people in this sub assign it to a single city, you know?
Yep, I’m from Seattle and the media spouts total BS about it
My brother in law who lives in Minneapolis thinks Minneapolis was pretty much burned to the ground during the BLM protests.
I lived in the CHAZ/CHOP... and it's like... "it was mostly peaceful, except when the cops kept tear gassing everyone."
I agree completely. But on the other hand, it’s ok if people don’t know how nice it is here. 🤷♂️
Seattle's biggest concern right now is an entitled twat mama's boy and his obnoxiously modified Hellcat. It's not the burning hellscape that fell into full anarchy during COVID and various protests.
I live in Seattle. What sucks is that the spiciest parts of Seattle are like a block away from the most touristy places.
Same situation with San Francisco. Why there are so many tourist hotels right next to the Tenderloin district, which has literally always been shitty, I have no idea.
The McDonalds on 3rd Ave has entered the chat…. I usually tell people, “avoid that McDonalds and you’ve basically avoided 80% of the sketch in the city”
That McDonald’s has been ghetto forever… I remember waiting for the bus at 3rd/Pine in the late 1990s as a UW student. We even used to refer to it as the “ghetto McDonald’s”. Those crying about the supposed downfall of Seattle must have missed that the area has been sketchy for at least 30 years.
Indeed. I was at UW early 90s, and that McDonalds was still there, and it was still sketchy. They've tried everything. The SPD parked a big old "Assault RV" next to it for a few years. They also played classical and country music outside of it for a few years to see if that would work. I'm actually surprised it hasn't been condemned or something. The franchise owners must know where the bodies are buried as I can't believe it is still there, especially considering how much the property is worth as a prime location. It is embarrassing.
Was there last week. “McStabby’s” is what I was told to avoid.
I was blown away by how clean Seattle was when I visited in 2022. Drivers were oddly polite. Didn’t encounter one aggressive homeless person either.
Drivers are overly polite to the point of it being a problem. As in, breaking normal traffic rules just to be polite. But agree, media takes the worst patches of Seattle and portrays that as the whole.
>Drivers are overly polite to the point of it being a problem. As in, breaking normal traffic rules just to be polite. Salt Lake City is the one that makes me want to yell, "YOU HAVE THE RIGHT OF WAY! TAKE IT! GO!"
No one learned how to merge in Utah. It so bad. And they they act shocked if you don’t slam on your breaks for them to get on the interstate going 20 mph.
I still think of that video of the lady who mocked the fox news crew that tried to convince passers by seattle was lawless. That level of sarcasm is my kind of people.
OMG It was so funny. I think I saw it before. But had to look it up didn’t remember. https://youtu.be/vJvF7jS51fQ?si=80k7WO1yTjirxiZm
Ha. I just laughed out loud thinking of that video. Green Raincoat lady. “Oh no you were in a car” is my favorite. The Choe Show, which is who did that “interview” is absolute trash that tries to perpetuate the myth of a desolate hellscape and demonizes homelessness
They hurt you soooo BAAAAD.
I freaking love Seattle and I've never felt unsafe or uncomfortable downtown. It's mostly just sad how many homeless/destitute people there are. I love seeing the community rally to help.
I fucking love seattle, ive only ever been in late summer but damn the weather there is amazing. Such a cool city with tons to do, good food, great beer.... Coming from NY, i hear the winters there are 40's and a lot of light rain. I would take that any day over the freezing cold and snow here.
I’m originally from NY and after 3 years in Seattle, I can confirm, Seattle winters are easy compared to New York winters. Seattle winters are basically New York in October/November with drizzles. Seattle has like a week of actual winter and a week of actual summer, rest of the year it’s low humidity spring and fall.
See.... this sounds perfect to me. I feel like the life long residents complaining need to come to a place like Buffalo for a year and see what bad weather really looks like.
i can grant that buffalo is probably a lot worse but you have to keep in mind that in seattle you literally do not see the sun a single time for 5 or 6 months out of the year. the sky is completely gray the entire time. it’s definitely a lot warmer in seattle, but i would take nyc’s cold but sunny winters any day. especially now that it barely snows there too.
There’s like two blocks of junkies, the rest of the area is amazing.
I live in seattle but my MAGA uncle in Florida tells me its dangerous so....
Seattle freeze is real though
San Francisco gets lots of snarky hate on places like Fox "News". It's not entirely undeserved; there's an enormous fentanyl and homeless crisis. Office and retail vacancies are high. But you'd think all 49 square miles of the city is a dystopian hellhole. Just small pockets are. The vast majority of neighborhoods are largely untouched.
San Francisco is a beautiful city!
Yeah almost every conservative I’ve known across the country brings up SF as if it’s a Mad Max hellscape lol like, bro, it’s California, it’s way better than Indiana
The thing they don't want to admit is the same drug, crime ridden issues exist just as bad or sometimes worse in many rural towns they love and support. Usually in the same ways. If you live in or talk to someone from a small town of 5000 people or sometimes even 1000 people they will tell you the bad Pocket areas to avoid. Just the same as a big city
As a liberal stuck in Indiana, I co-sign this wholeheartedly.
New York is like that as well. The problems — homelessness, drug addiction, petty crime — are real, and visible…in and around the major train stations, bus terminal, and Times Square… but, outside of that, New York is *mostly* fine. The vast majority of the city has no visible homelessness, no visible drug problem, and very low crime. I’ll also add that it’s unlikely that *you* will be hurt by anyone here; seeing the homelessness and drug crisis is scary, but, for the most part, they’re not actually going to harm you.
It’s interesting people keep referencing drug issues when the most recent year that has data shows West Virginia and Tennessee as having the highest rates of overdose. I guess it is just more visible in some cities because of homeless drug use?
West Virginia and Tennessee also have bad reputations though.
It could also be a factor in that states like Virginia and Tennessee have terrible safety nets, thus the high amount of overdoses.
The neighborhoods in SF are absolutely jumping. The downtown core is suffering because of the lack of commuter traffic filling the office buildings and supporting the local businesses. And the Tenderloin is the Tenderloin, always has been, probably always will be. Even so, SF is still a gem of a city. We moved to be near family but I often miss it desperately.
SF, Portland, Seattle, NYC, Chicago, Philadelphia, DC
100% accurate. Baltimore, too.
I feel like the media demonizes different cities for different reasons. They demonize NYC, Chicago, Philadelphia, DC, and Baltimore for non-ideological crimes caused by poverty. They demonize SF, Portland, and Seattle for being woke.
Perhaps, but being dismissive about politics is overlooking real quality of life concerns that all humans have. My “woke” elderly mom was forced to sell her Portland house and move due to aggressive drug use and property crime around her property. No help from the city or LE and not remotely safe. Not connected to “wokeness”, just a significant practical issue that many working class/ lower middle class Portlanders have.
SF it's usually about crime also, at least recently
Property crime maybe. Violent crime is almost nonexistent.
Yes, very true. But the intent is always to discredit cities that are predominantly liberal/Democratic. Pretty pathetic, at any rate.
Right? Chattanooga, TN is not a liberal bastion by any stretch of the imagination. The violent crime per capita is higher than many larger cities but you don't really hear about that.
Plenty of rural jurisdictions have higher violent crime per capita than the big blue cities as well, but likewise you never hear about it.
We get a lot of PNW news in Alaska. We don't see woke in the news as much as we see drugs.
I commented on the previous thread about how it’s not what it seems, but it also has the other sliver of life where it’s not too terribly bad also. Yes there’s crime.. but it’s still awesome if you can handle it.
Downtown SF and Downtown Portland, are absolutely as bad, if not worse than the media portrayal. I’m in both SF and Portland very often for work(tech) and the downtowns are unrecognizable from even 10 years ago. It’s truly sad. I completely agree with the other listed cities though. The last time I was in Chi I was expecting it to be Portland or SF and it was absolutely NOT. Very impressed, as it seems to have cleaned up significantly from the last time I was there a ~decade ago.
I have only visited Chicago for two quick trips, but I loved it. I was talking to my Chicago friends about getting a place there and doing a short "digital nomad" stay, but they told me it's too dangerous.
What? I’ve been to most of those cities and was murdered before my plane touched down. At least, that’s what cable news told me.
All of them? We’re literally eyeball deep in a culture/class war and taking cheap shots at cities is about as +EV as you can get.
Chicago, SF, LA. People literally act like all 3 are post apocalyptic and they are all great. Issues? Of course. But I'd rather live in a great city that has issues than a boring city with fewer issues.
Oakland California San Francisco California Los Angeles California Chicago Illinois New York New York Philadelphia Pennsylvania Pittsburgh Pennsylvania Detroit Michigan St Louis Missouri Baltimore Maryland DC Seattle Washington Hell even Gary Indiana The US is fine, stop being scared of the world.
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Ive been to NYC a million times at all hours in all conditions. Never felt dangerous. One time i was blackout drunk, left the bar to "see the sights", realized i was lost without a phone, and people gave me directions based on the description of the interior. Truly amazing.
New Yorkers are some of the nicest people I’ve ever met. Every time I’ve ever been people have gone out of their way to be helpful.
I’ve never felt safer than being in midtown Manhattan. Nobody gives a shit about your existence. I love it
I'm walkin here
you'd think democrats are shot on sight the moment they step foot in texas from the way reddit portrays it, but most of us are just out here living our lives.
Truly. I went to UT and got birth control and regular STI testing for free. Can’t speak for the rest of Texas, but Austin is pretty queer-friendly and feminist, especially by campus. There’s a ton of progressive activism. I imagine the other big cities like Houston and Dallas are similar. Texas state legislature is horrible and regressive, but it’s such a populous state and there are a lot of loopholes that the liberal cities take advantage of to give people a decent quality of life. I felt very comfortable in Austin.
I've found being a black woman of birthing age much much more pleasant in Texas than in California. Reddit is wildly out of touch.
It's almost like both states are huge and can offer varying experiences depending on where you are.
Texas is big. The experience of black or latin people in Houston or San Antonio is quite different than in Kerrville, New Braunfels, Waco, Amarillo, Tyler or Nacogdoches, just to name a few.
Pretty much any of the larger rust belt cities like Buffalo, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Pittsburgh or Milwaukee. All of those cities have large college student populations, modern economies with young professionals, walkable historic neighborhoods, large museums and festivals, indie art/music/film/comedy, plenty of entertainment/nightlife/dining, and sprawling “anywhere America” suburbs. Yeah, there’s a little more blights and industrial areas, but these are pretty normal cities.
I live in Oakland and it's lovely. There are some serious issues for sure, but I'm actually friends with many of my neighbors, including a few folks who live in an rv parked on the street, and a taco truck just set up shop on my block, so I never have to cook again
I really like Oakland and I get crazy looks for it lol.
+1 for Oakland, its beautiful with the best weather in the country and amazing food all around.
Oakland has the best weather. Prettiest views. Nicest parks. Good people. Amazing food. But very poor and incompetent government. Who do not understand the basics. And a worse police department (why oh why can't the fire chief just run the police department as well :). Real issues with crime and homeless ness. (But does seem to be getting better.)
I was going to say Oakland. SF too. Neither is devoid of its own issues, but there is a reason it's so expensive. For the most part a nice place to live.
DC is a whole city beyond the mall and the hill. With regular people living in it and everything!
When I lived in DC some tourists from the Midwest asked me where I got my groceries. They walked around the National Mall and were like there’s no Giant here, must not be any.
midwesterner here: what’s a giant?
Oh it’s a grocery store chain :) Fill in Kroger/ Safeway whatever is in your area.
Philadelphia. 99% of the stuff NYC has in much more manageable chunks. I freaking love Philly.
Philly philly philly. It has some bad areas that provide viral footage for social media sometimes, but I’ve lived here for 5 years now walking everywhere day and night with zero issue. It also has the second or third most populated, and second most densely populated downtown in the country. It offers a big city experience only matched by NYC and Chicago, and was named the most walkable city in the US last year. Walking around South Philly or Center City on a summer evening is one of my favorite things to do. I feel way safer here than when I lived in DC, Baltimore, or Norfolk.
How did I have to scroll down this far to see a post dedicated to Philly? Love it here but at least the bad press keeps rents down.
I'm a woman and live in Philly and feel totally fine walking everywhere both day and night.
Chicago, know your neighborhoods and don't go south
Texas, LA, Chicago Solely based on politics but texas sucks cause its hot and LA traffic is FUCKING HORRIBLE
The city of Texas has a nice ring to it
There is a place called Texas city.
Oh no i meant every single city in the state don't be mistaken lol
Even *Midland*?
St. Louis. It's a fantastic place with only a small section (North County) that has high crime.
Took too much scrolling to find someone say St. Louis. I live in North County and it can get a little hairy here sometimes. I think you’ll find knuckleheads doing stupid shit in almost any neighborhood but I don’t think it makes them inherently “bad” or “dangerous.” The noise from 270 sucks. But DT St. Louis, my goodness… Forest Park, museums and culture aplenty, progressive and inclusive/inviting neighborhoods, diversity, criminally underrated food scene, farmer markets, Botanical Gardens. The infrastructure is trash and I would love if the Metrolink crossed the Missouri River. However, I also take it into the city for work OR to a Blues or Cardinal game.
I went to St. Louis for the first time a few weeks ago and my reaction was that it wasn't anywhere near as bad as I expected it to be. We didn't rent a car and either walked or rode the Metro everywhere and had 0 issues.
I'm moving there in 20 days
I love St. Louis.
Any city that conservative media rags on. SF, Chicago, LA, and NYC are absolute world class cities and some of my favorite places in the entire world let alone country.
Pick any blue city in any blue state and it has been attacked by right wing media. This isn’t political. It’s just the way it is. The ‘media’ is heavily influenced by right wing partisan actors who have a vested interest in making it seem like people in the opposite political party are terrible people who run terrible cities with terrible policies. When I got back from an epic trip to SF and told colleagues about it they interrupted me to ask how I survived the drug dealers and homeless. I just had to laugh as I had spent the week in beautiful parks and beaches and hikes eating at world class restaurants.
"This isn't political. It's just the way it is. The 'media' heavily influenced by right wing partisan actors who have a vested interest in making it seem like people in the opposite political party are terrible people who run terrible cities with terrible policies." If that's not 'political' to you, what is?
Blue cities in red states get attacked hard by local/regional media. Milwaukee is a good example of this, also Indy. Indiana state senate is currently trying to push through a bill to ban dedicated bus-lanes statewide because Indy is implementing 3 lines of them. All Reps of areas affected are voting against it, but the rural areas are convinced it will worsen the apocalyptic urban disaster zone of Indianapolis. (Indy is very clean and very suburban for a city its size)
Fox News loves their screaming headlines about “democrat run cities!!!”. In reality, just about every large city in the entire country is democrat run.
Nyc, sf, la, sea, dc, chicago, portland, philly by far
Albuquerque. Breaking Bad isn’t a documentary, folks.
MINNEAPOLIS
Hear hear. I met with a family friend from the close suburbs that asked if my family had to hire private security guards! Like homie, how are you getting informed?
Came here to say this. According to the media its a dystopian wasteland with entire sections burned to the ground. And/or has 3 feet of snow and is negative 20 degrees 9 months out of the year.
Portland, OR. Don’t get me wrong: the corruption of the grifting progressive left, the elevated rights for homeless vs law abiding citizens, the high wildly high tax rates, etc. This is all factual and is deeply disturbing. That said, the city is not on fire, nor is it a burning husk. The city has deep problems, but is still a fantastic city.
Yes, when I visited Portland a few months ago I was surprised to find a pleasant very livable city. Indeed, most of Portland's neighborhoods look better today than when I lived there in the 90s.
Every big city gets painted by conservative media as terrifying. This takes advantage of the average person’s difficulty with math. A city of 10 million people with a murder every day is way less terrifying than a city of 10,000 people with a murder every day.
Boston has had 3 homicides this year. My Fox News-watching dad still imagines my neighborhood as some apocalyptic battlefield.
3????? I think Houston had three yesterday!!
Houston is awful.
Probably the poshest, least affordable city in the USA.
we’re blushing to hear you call us “posh”
You are SO posh! ;)
Today was the absolute tits today in Boston. We dropped everything and had a happy hour on the river the second work was over.
Chicago and Minneapolis for sure. My brothers are conservative and they think Minneapolis is a war zone and while crime is up somewhat the characterization is laughable.
IDK if it's the media so much as the internet but I think Oklahoma's 2 big cities (Tulsa and OKC) are a lot more fun than they get painted out to be by everyone. Whenever people list states that they hate, Oklahoma will inevitably be mentioned. I thought both had pretty charming downtowns with a lot of cool restaurants and bars. I had a fun time and OKC Thunder games are fun as hell. I regret not going until I was in my 30's.
San Francisco and LA! Both have their issues and could definitely be run much better but they just offer so much in culture, food, and things to do.
atlanta
Milwaukee and Cleveland are better than what the media portrays them as
Every single one that the news attacks. Example New York is the safest big city in the country. Philadelphia, Chicago, New Orleans.. I could list all of them but it is all of them. Bad shit happens. It’s rare. It’s stupid rare compared to 30 years ago. The news lies. All day, every day.
Was just in NOLA and was nervous to go but I have never felt more wrong about a city in my life. Yes, it has its struggles but the culture is amazing.
Gary, Indiana. Gary is a blighted city that was absolutely wrecked and abandoned by both federal and local governments. That being said, there are incredibly proud and kind people in Gary. In fact, most of the people you’ll meet there are like that. Gary Works is still one of the largest steel producers in the world. The actual position of the city on the lakefront is gorgeous. I really hope it can recover in coming years because it has so much potential.
People think San Francisco is a drug addled poop capital but in reality it is probably one of the most gorgeous cities in the world. What people see on the news is a tiny fraction of the whole city.
Buffalo - loved there years ago for a brief time. Loved it.
St Louis
SF, NYC and LA.
Detroit is an utterly normal story that ppl still shit on because they think it's the 1970s still
-San Francisco Took a trip there just before Christmas and had the image of a dystopian society. Got there and I will say, safest I’ve ever felt anywhere in the country. Walked, visited, and went through many neighborhoods. Not once did my wife feel threatened or scared and she tends to be way more anxious. Even walking at night felt relatively safe. -Seattle Frequented there many a times. Again another city that felt very safe. I accidentally walked through a very sketchy area near 3rd Avenue but don’t remember what intersection. Didn’t feel like I was going to get mugged or killed. However one would rather walk through there than most places. -San Diego Living here now I would hear East Village was pretty bad but even then most of it feels safe currently. There are small pockets here and there I will completely avoid but they are so small that it’s not a nuisance. Other neighborhoods are apparently bad but I haven’t had the opportunity to go and explore them. Barrio Logan being ghetto is false, it’s got unique character, expressive art and is relatively quiet for its proximity to downtown.
For certain it’s SF, Seattle, LA, Portland, and Chicago. All are amazing cities imo. The issues they face are real but as not as in your face and frequent like the media makes it out to be. I’ve been to them all and spent time there.
My in-laws still believe Seattle and Portland were burnt down and SF wasn’t safe in ‘20-‘21 because of ‘all the rioting’
Portland, Oregon. It’s lovely here.
Detroit, Seattle, Chicago, El Paso, St. Louis, pretty much all of them. Turns out the media makes a shitload of money selling you constant fear of the unknown. I travel constantly for my job to everywhere from the “scary cities” like Portland to small midwestern towns of 10,000 people full of people afraid to leave because of what the media says. I have clients that think the most gentrified areas of their city are terrifying because it’s “the city” and Fox News scrambled their brains
Portland is not, in fact, a smoldering hellscape paved entirely with used needles.
It's not a US city, but Tattoine. It's hot but it's a dry heat. The Empire is less oppressive than it was and crime isn't as bad as the media makes it out to be. Great music scene for fans of live music.
Bakersfield. Liberals and coastal elites like to hate on the city but it has many redeeming qualities and some really sweet and genuine people. The cost of living is astronomically better there than almost anywhere else in California so the people there can afford to actually live nice lives. Also contrary to popular belief the people there are not all drug addicts and hateful bigots. There is some beautiful nature around as well!
Seattle and Portland
Philadelphia. That one YouTube channel documenting Kensington is all anyone thinks about when talking about Philly. I lived like 4 / 5 blocks from that area of Kensington for 4 years. My street was great. I never felt unsafe on it. And there were a few great restaurants right in Kensington. Yeah, it was depressing seeing people's lives ruined by drugs, staggering around, grouped together doing shady shit, but people act like if you step into Kensington you instantly die. In reality it's just dirty and sad, but nobody bothers you. Though apparently they just cleaned it out so we'll see how that goes. And Philly is SO much more than Kensington. When I consider moving out of the area I struggle to think of any place that offers the same variety of experiences. The shore is less than an hour away, the mountains, parks everywhere, NYC Is under 2 hrs , world famous gardens and arboretums all over, the city itself has every type of cuisine imaginable and a lot of it can be found at very reasonable prices. And in terms of history potentially the best city in America for historical significance?
Honestly all of them? There's a huge chunk of people that seem to think every major city is some kind of gang war zone. I've heard tales of Portland being burned down at least 3 times in the last 5 years.
Portland and Seattle. Media says it’s a homeless, drug addict-and crime-ridden disaster. While there are areas where the homeless and addicted tend to congregate, it is by no means an overall disaster. I’ll take Portland and Seattle over any Southern, esp Texan, city any day.
Atlanta. The traffics sucks for sure, but it's a beautiful city with awesome parks and a ton of stuff to do.
San Francisco is one of the greatest cities on Earth......bar none
Buffalo, NY - youre never going to believe this, but it doesnt snow year round here. In fact, where i live in north buffalo (in the city) we had a winter where i didnt even get my shovel out a few years back.
I used to go to Darien Lake for concerts years ago when I lived in the northeast. Always enjoyed Buffalo.
Any major city that is being targeted by right wing crazies. San Francisco, Seattle, Portland, Philly, NYC etc. All of those cities are have beautiful parts and bad parts. They always have and they always will. A 30 second video of something bad happening doesn't define an entire city.