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

Forum Index » Travel Discussion

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

Subject:

Emoticons





More smilies

Text Color: Font: Close Marks

[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]For me, it would have to be a tie between Utica, New York, and Torrington, CT -- with the NY side of Niagara Falls being hot on both of their heels.

You?[/quote]

I read this thread specifically, because I knew I would know somewhere someone was hating on. Didn't need to look too far (although I did look through the whole thread) - Torrington, CT.

I have been visiting Torrington all my life. My grandparents lived there and then my mother took over their house. In fact I was just there over the weekend! I love being in Torrington. It's a quiet town. Everything is much cheaper than where I live. There's so much to do. It's close to hiking, skiing. We go to Hartford to watch sports. Short drive up to the Berkshires. We go to the town pool. It's a small town of working people. It used to be very white. Now there are all different kinds of races and ethnicities living in town. We consider ourselves lucky to have Torrington as a free getaway. And my kids loved KidsPlay downtown when they were younger.

Having grown up in another New England post-industrial city, I'm used to the snobbery of those who consider these places "rundown". This country's anti-urban policies have left these once vibrant towns to fend for themselves. The real estate and construction lobbies push cheap new suburban construction over rehabilitation of urban areas. Our culture values the car over public transportation and walkability. Increasing concentrations of poverty intensify a vicious cycle of disinvestment.

Personally what I find depressing is suburban sprawl which we have in CT even though we have an aging and declining population. There's nothing more depressing to me than an empty suburban strip mall, but you can find those anywhere.[/quote]

I am the OP Torrington poster. It's not that it's rundown - it's that it is in the middle of nowhere, the very definition of "you can't get there from here." The housing stock is shabby and cheaply built throughout much of town. There's a huge alcohol and drug issue. The Berkshires -- the part closest to Torrington -- have a lonesome, haunted feel. It just has a sad, left-behind vibe, but more than that, geographically it's just in an unfortunate corner IMO.
[/quote]

Options

	Disable HTML in this message
	Disable BB Code in this message
	Disable smilies in this message

Review message

Search Recent Topics Hottest Topics