What's the most depressing U.S. town you've ever visited?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You don't need to go too far to find "depressing towns". The Bailey's Crossroads area is one, Springfield, Wheaton, Aspen Hill. Truly ugly and very depressing.

Aspen Hill is a neighborhood, not a town

You don't know what you're talking about. A neighborhood of what town exactly? Aspen Hill is it's own city.

uh, no. It's a census-designated place in unincorporated Montgomery County.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You don't need to go too far to find "depressing towns". The Bailey's Crossroads area is one, Springfield, Wheaton, Aspen Hill. Truly ugly and very depressing.

Aspen Hill is a neighborhood, not a town

You don't know what you're talking about. A neighborhood of what town exactly? Aspen Hill is it's own city.

Really? Who is the mayor? There is no local government. It's unincorporated, it is not a city.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The only place more depressing and third world IME is Cairo, Illinois. Lots of racism too.

Charleston, SC

I couldn't get over the racism there. Plus everything was grimy and dirty. Beautiful old buildings in rotten decay. I don't get how people like it there. I felt like the historical racism made the air thick.... and I'm white.

Wow I don’t see that at all. What parts of town did you go? I have only been once but I learned so much about the history of that region and how the black culture in and around the city evolved. It does have a terrible racist history but I feel like they own it and acknowledge it in a way a lot of other places paper over. For instance, this was years ago, but it was a historical site near Charleston that I first went on a tour that was centered on the enslaved people who built it and cultivated the land, rather than the slave owners. This is now more common in the South, but it was very uncommon then.

Also, the food in Charleston is phenomenal. And you can be at the beach in a half hour.

I can’t imagine calling it depressing in the way people are talking about here. It’s diverse, economically vibrant, culturally rich.

You really must have had rose colored goggles on. Yes the food is good. Everything else, not so much. South of Broad is where all the main touristy stuff is but you don't have to travel far to see the black people still live in decaying shacks. If they owned their racism, then why are they still so segregated?

There are middle class and UMC black people in Charleston. There is certainly a legacy of slavery and racism there— it’s far from perfect. But it’s not terribly different from New Orleans in that way. While I recognize the problems of these kinds of cities in the south, I’d never call either depressing except insofar as America is depressing.

[Anonymous]

Whitehall, NY

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Whitehall, NY

+1 Upper NY has some real strange people/towns

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Ashburn/South Riding - no character at all

If that is truly the most depressing place you've been, I hope you get the chance to travel more.

I said the opposite in South Riding. Most of the people I know who live there are extraordinarily hard-working, and generally very intelligent, families who are first or second generation in the country. I see it as a really nice example of the land of opportunity. I live in DC, in one of the swanky areas. When I go to South riding, though, I see the future.

This is PP. I'm not saying the people there aren't amazing and hard working. The depressing part is the cookie cutter suburban McMansion blandness that has taken over good farmland. There is a place labeled that the houses are "farmhouses" but they are all identical and on like 1/4 acre lots. There are ways to plan nice suburbs- like old school Reston- but the Toll Bros aren't doing that job.

And of course- horrible poverty is depressing too. Trust me I've seen some terribly poor places here in the US that others have mentioned- Toledo, Gary, St Louis, NM, most of WV etc. I will throw in south Georgia and the middle of NC too. Ive also seen the poverty in UK and Ireland too. It's just depressing in a different way.

[Anonymous]

This thread has deteriorated from legit to a typical DCUM snob thread. Gary, Indiana? Yes, depressing by any measure. A few other listed cities? Ditto. But Asheville, NC? Etc? Get real. Many of the cities listed here as "depressing" have large sections that are less "depressing" than the suburban sprawl that many of you are living in right now, I'm sure. I'd stick a fork in my eye before living in Fairfax or Montgomery counties.
Y'all think you're so damned special.

[Anonymous]

Dallas, Texas. So much concrete. And no trees. Depressing

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This thread has deteriorated from legit to a typical DCUM snob thread. Gary, Indiana? Yes, depressing by any measure. A few other listed cities? Ditto. But Asheville, NC? Etc? Get real. Many of the cities listed here as "depressing" have large sections that are less "depressing" than the suburban sprawl that many of you are living in right now, I'm sure. I'd stick a fork in my eye before living in Fairfax or Montgomery counties.
Y'all think you're so damned special.

omg u r soooo kewl.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Whitehall, NY

+1 Upper NY has some real strange people/towns

We pass thru on our way to the Adirondacks. The town has an interesting history of silk mills and is the birthplace of US Navy. It's empty and impoverished now. So sad.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This thread has deteriorated from legit to a typical DCUM snob thread. Gary, Indiana? Yes, depressing by any measure. A few other listed cities? Ditto. But Asheville, NC? Etc? Get real. Many of the cities listed here as "depressing" have large sections that are less "depressing" than the suburban sprawl that many of you are living in right now, I'm sure. I'd stick a fork in my eye before living in Fairfax or Montgomery counties.
Y'all think you're so damned special.

omg u r soooo kewl.

I mean, it's true. We have a second home about 75 miles outside of DC, and every time I drive through the DC suburbs going back and forth I get depressed. I could never, ever live in any of them. None is appealing in the least. None.

[Anonymous]

Oklahoma City. Horrible.

[Anonymous]

Have you guys been to Cumberland lately? It definitely has a long way to go but at least near the trail there are a lot of businesses that seem to be thriving, people eating/drinking outside, etc. To me it’s disqualified from being the MOST depressing. The scenic setting alone is worth something. There are some real armpits out there.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This thread has deteriorated from legit to a typical DCUM snob thread. Gary, Indiana? Yes, depressing by any measure. A few other listed cities? Ditto. But Asheville, NC? Etc? Get real. Many of the cities listed here as "depressing" have large sections that are less "depressing" than the suburban sprawl that many of you are living in right now, I'm sure. I'd stick a fork in my eye before living in Fairfax or Montgomery counties.
Y'all think you're so damned special.

omg u r soooo kewl.

I mean, it's true. We have a second home about 75 miles outside of DC, and every time I drive through the DC suburbs going back and forth I get depressed. I could never, ever live in any of them. None is appealing in the least. None.

Ok—explain to me the horrors of McLean, please.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This thread has deteriorated from legit to a typical DCUM snob thread. Gary, Indiana? Yes, depressing by any measure. A few other listed cities? Ditto. But Asheville, NC? Etc? Get real. Many of the cities listed here as "depressing" have large sections that are less "depressing" than the suburban sprawl that many of you are living in right now, I'm sure. I'd stick a fork in my eye before living in Fairfax or Montgomery counties.
Y'all think you're so damned special.

omg u r soooo kewl.

I mean, it's true. We have a second home about 75 miles outside of DC, and every time I drive through the DC suburbs going back and forth I get depressed. I could never, ever live in any of them. None is appealing in the least. None.

Yeah, I’m sure wherever you live is paradise in comparison. There’s a reason you didn’t share your superior place of residence - people in glass houses and all that.