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

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Forks, WA!

Yes! And it was trying so hard to leverage its connection to the Twilight series.

I was just in Forks yesterday and it is indeed a strange little town. Port Angeles, also.

[Anonymous]

Americus Georgia, rural Mississippi, Newark, Cheyenne, Huntington WV, Roanoke VA

[Anonymous]

Sad question OP. I have travelled extensively. There are many towns across America with extreme poverty- both rural and urban. It is depressing to think about. Why would you gloat about it?

[Anonymous]

Gary IN

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Oak Hill, WV

Holy sh!t I don't know how those poor people live in that town.

My family and I went whitewater rafting in WV nearby this town. My dad is a huge, huge Hank Williams fan and knew that he died in Oak Hill, WV at some gas station. We drove up there as it was only maybe an hour from us and that town is so depressing. The gas station he died at was torn down so there's just a tiny plaque now. Other than than, like every store front in the town was empty, boarded up, or had smashed windows. There was no grocery store we found, either. We were going to re-supply while there and all we could find was a convenience store. There was also only 1 place to eat, a Wendy's, and the one worker at the counter was 100% high as a kite. She kept scratching her arms and hair so we left.

Pretty crazy experience because the other towns around there and where we were camping and rafting were lovely.

Oak Hill is actually one of the nicer towns in southern WV. There is a Kroger on the eastern edge.

The library where Hank was found dead was my local library growing up. You want to see depressing, go west and south. Logan County is much less well off then Raleigh.

Anyway I don’t find WV to be that depressing. I find cookie cutter suburbs like those in NOVA much more depressing. WV is beautiful.

We were mostly in Fayetteville, WV during our trip and I really loved that place. But we also explored Beckley, Thurmond, Hinton, and a I know a few other small ones that I'm forgetting. Friends who had been in the area several times took us to a place in Mount Hope for dinner and it was honestly some of the best Italian food I've ever had in the US. Prior to arriving in Fayetteville, we stayed for a day or two in Lewisburg which was a lovely place. I could live in a place like Beckley or Lewisburg.

Every town we visited was really cute and the state is gorgeous, but wow, Oak Hill was just depressing to me.

[Anonymous]

Bethesda MD

[Anonymous]

Agree with much earlier poster - Cape Coral FL.
What a mess.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:LA, San Fran now, Moscow, South Bend, Orlando.

These are all really weird.

All with terrible areas and depressing AF.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Oak Hill, WV

Holy sh!t I don't know how those poor people live in that town.

My family and I went whitewater rafting in WV nearby this town. My dad is a huge, huge Hank Williams fan and knew that he died in Oak Hill, WV at some gas station. We drove up there as it was only maybe an hour from us and that town is so depressing. The gas station he died at was torn down so there's just a tiny plaque now. Other than than, like every store front in the town was empty, boarded up, or had smashed windows. There was no grocery store we found, either. We were going to re-supply while there and all we could find was a convenience store. There was also only 1 place to eat, a Wendy's, and the one worker at the counter was 100% high as a kite. She kept scratching her arms and hair so we left.

Pretty crazy experience because the other towns around there and where we were camping and rafting were lovely.

Oak Hill is actually one of the nicer towns in southern WV. There is a Kroger on the eastern edge.

The library where Hank was found dead was my local library growing up. You want to see depressing, go west and south. Logan County is much less well off then Raleigh.

Anyway I don’t find WV to be that depressing. I find cookie cutter suburbs like those in NOVA much more depressing. WV is beautiful.

We were mostly in Fayetteville, WV during our trip and I really loved that place. But we also explored Beckley, Thurmond, Hinton, and a I know a few other small ones that I'm forgetting. Friends who had been in the area several times took us to a place in Mount Hope for dinner and it was honestly some of the best Italian food I've ever had in the US. Prior to arriving in Fayetteville, we stayed for a day or two in Lewisburg which was a lovely place. I could live in a place like Beckley or Lewisburg.

Every town we visited was really cute and the state is gorgeous, but wow, Oak Hill was just depressing to me.

Fayetteville is adorable. The place in Mt Hope is Gino’s probably, it’s amazing.

My grandma lived in Oak Hill so perhaps I have fond memories of it that no longer exist. They had a really great Christmas parade I would ride my dad’s antique tractor in, and the chili & slaw dogs at Tom’s were legendary. It isn’t that cute of a town in a Lewisburg or Fayetteville way, but it isn’t like Welch.

Does anyone live in Thurmond now? When I was a kid it was a ghost town. Interesting but not a place to reside!

The opioid crisis hit southern WV hard, as did the mine closures. The only hope left is tourism so I hope they get it cleaned up more like Fayetteville. But I would still move back to the area in a heartbeat if I had a chance.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm a total bleeding heart highly educated liberal, and when I see threads like this I totally understand the rise of Trumpism. You are all a bunch of elitist self-important snobs who think a little money and education makes you better than other people. No wonder this country is so divided. I'd hate us too, if I were them.

Shame on all of you.

Has your bleeding heart traveled extensively away from major cities. I’m betting your bleeding heart has never driven through or driven into Gary, Indiana. Get off your throne.

I've been to Gary. I went to grad school in the midwest. And my spouse is from a small midwestern town where I have spent a lot of time, including an extended visit during the pandemic (yes, unlike many of you I get along very well with my in laws despite our differences).

My ire isn't directed at the folks who say Gary is depressing -- I agree that it is. I'm mainly talking about people who write off entire states because they think they are too cool, too smart, and too sophisticated for them because they live in NoVA of all places. That's not the way to heal a divided America.

Gary’s not that bad if you get off I-80 and drive around the areas that aren’t the abandoned factories which indeed do look like Mariupol more or less.

Into the actual town it’s more like any other faded Midwest town. Not going to win any awards for cuteness, but better than parts of DC and Baltimore.

[Anonymous]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xjP2O9Qe4Ek


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mXpwgg5TxOU


Gary, Indiana, Gary, Indiana, Gary

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm a total bleeding heart highly educated liberal, and when I see threads like this I totally understand the rise of Trumpism. You are all a bunch of elitist self-important snobs who think a little money and education makes you better than other people. No wonder this country is so divided. I'd hate us too, if I were them.

Shame on all of you.

+1000. DCUM at its worst (and given how rancid this site is generally that’s no small feat).

Bullsh*t. Have you been to these towns? You don’t think it’s bleak and depressing when all the store fronts are boarded up? When there is nowhere to work?Or when homes are dilapidated and falling apart, and have been that way for decades? When adults can hardly read?

Shame on you for accepting this.

Lol no s*** do you kinda wonder WHY they’re boarded up and closing? Think really hard, you’ll get there!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Pueblo, CO
Rochester, NY —It is just so quiet.
Grand Rapids, MI
Hamilton, NY

There are certainly parts of the city of Rochester that are quiet and run down, but I can think of several places in NY state that are FAR more depressing and run down (hello, Utica). Go to highland park when the lilacs are blooming and it is sure to come off your short list.

Lots of depressing towns in ohio and WV that it’s hard to pick just one.

[Anonymous]

Gave a paper at Ole miss and found oxford Mississippi to be pretty depressing. Found out that a lot of the faculty and administrators actually live over the border in Tennessee and commute into Mississippi because the schools are so awful, etc. The campus was so pretty but there were unbelievable poverty right outside the gates o the school. It was also just so darned hot! Not a breeze anywhere and in July!
Wow!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Pueblo, CO
Rochester, NY —It is just so quiet.
Grand Rapids, MI
Hamilton, NY

Really? When were you last in Grand Rapids? I grew up there and it wasn't anything to write home about when I was a kid (born in 1978) but so much has happened in the past decade or so! Lots of development...very much a revival. Some great restaurants, very good economy, not some super exciting place but overall it's rated very very high on QOL measures. I read it's one of the hottest housing markets in the US.