It would probably be best for MSN to stop collecting these "bad city" type lists altogether, since they could be interpreted as politically defamatory (party-wise) and racist.
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18 cities in the US that are so bad you won’t want to visit
https://www.msn.com/en-us/travel/news/18...s-BB1iYoKL
The List (high crime rate one of the factors):
Detroit, Michigan
Baltimore, Maryland
Oakland, California
Albuquerque, New Mexico
Cleveland, Ohio
New Orleans, Louisiana
Shreveport, Louisiana
Baton Rouge, Louisiana
Pine Bluff, Arkansas
Little Rock, Arkansas
Alexandria, Louisiana
Gary, Indiana
Port Arthur, Texas
Passaic, New Jersey
Newark, New Jersey
Flint, Michigan
Camden, New Jersey
Huntington Park, California
Only one I’ve been to on that list is Cleveland, several times. Before the Toronto Blue Jays baseball team came into existence, Canadians like myself would journey to Cleveland for games. I remember one time coming into Cleveland, turning the car radio dial to a local station and hearing the words ‘Bloodbath in the streets of Cleveland last night’. We avoided the downtown area and went straight to ballpark. On another occasion we parked the car in a lot that had free parking, or so we thought. Immediately upon exiting the vehicle a kid came up to us saying that for ten dollars he’d protect our car. We said our car didn’t need protection and the kid answered ‘If you don’t pay me the ten dollars it will’. We paid.
My wife and some of her friends accidentally made it into Detroit where, lucky for them, police stopped them to provide escort back to the Ambassador Bridge to Canada.
In Canada I avoid Toronto and pretty much all of its surrounding cities. Montreal despite the anti English sentiment and such isn’t so bad, everyone there speaks the language of money.
I used to like Oakland and have spent lots of time there. It's always been a high crime area, so much so that its downtown was mostly vacant boarded up storefronts. I've almost been mugged there. Many parts of the city just kind of exude threat and danger.
But in recent years Oakland seemed to be reviving. Lots of artists and alternative types were moving there out of hugely overpriced San Francisco in search of lower and more affordable rents. The boarded up storefronts started to become alternative galleries and performance spaces. Excruciatingly stylish bars opened. Oakland was starting to become to San Francisco what Brooklyn is to Manhattan. It started to actually be a cooler place to live.
Oakland was a happening place.
But then it all fell apart in the last few years. Draconian Covid lockdowns crushed small business. And since Black Lives Matter and Defund the Police, the criminal element seem to control the streets and normal people (not just whites but blacks too) are leaving en-masse. The public schools are hopelessly bad so nobody with children wants to live there. The county's Soros DA won't prosecute and the county jail just releases criminals back onto the streets. Many businesses are closing after being robbed over and over, often by the same people who are effectively untouchable. The police have largely given up. Holy Names University went broke and closed. The California College of Arts and Crafts became the California College of the Arts and moved to San Francisco. The Oakland Raiders are gone to Vegas, the Golden State Warriors are gone to SF and the Oakland A's are in the process of leaving for Vegas.
There's very little left in Oakland to attract an out-of-town visitor (the Oakland Museum is pretty good, but that's about it) and today's Oakland is perhaps best avoided.
I had so much hope for Oakland not long ago and today's version is sad to see.
But I can't escape feeling a bit of Schadenfreude too. The new stylish residents voted for the local government candidates whose policies are destroying the city. You get what you vote for, Oaklanders. That's the essence of democracy. I hope you like it.
Without looking it up, I'd bet every one of those is a long Democrat-run city, even if in a largely Republican-run state.
Some may be trying to turn themselves around:
Jefferson county voted Republican in the two most recent Presidential elections, after voting Democratic in the previous four.
- https://www.bestplaces.net/voting/city/t...ort_arthur
Taco Bell has just announced that they are closing indoor dining at all of their Oakland locations.
This follows In-and-Out closing a location for the first time in the Company's history, due to increased danger both to employees and customers in Oakland.
Oakland is slowly dying. Elections have consequences.
(Mar 12, 2024 01:33 AM)Yazata Wrote: [ -> ]Taco Bell has just announced that they are closing indoor dining at all of their Oakland locations.
This follows In-and-Out closing a location for the first time in the Company's history, due to increased danger both to employees and customers in Oakland.
Oakland is slowly dying. Elections have consequences.
Hate to see Oakland die. As a kid I loved the Oakland A’s with Reggie Jackson and Catfish Hunter to name a couple. Wonder where the team will move to? Must be something they can do with the city. Interment camp for illegal aliens or convicts? Not expecting their current colony of criminals to build a nation out of it à la Australia. They’ll move on to the next soft target. Maybe it gets bulldozed as a last resort.
Well, Detroit is still limping along.
(Mar 12, 2024 03:13 AM)Syne Wrote: [ -> ]Well, Detroit is still limping along.
If it makes you big city folks any better, the small burg I live in had an attempted murder last night and a month ago some guy deliberately ran another man over with an SUV. No attempted murder charges in second incident, aggravated assault for now.
Lived here for over 20 years. Could leave doors unlocked back then. Last 5 years there’s been, along with the latest, a double murder and couple other murders. It’s a border town so it’s the end of the line for transients and to survive means theft or murder in some cases. Eventually a lot of them cross over to NY state and disappear….sorry about that. Most acts of violence around here committed by non citizens.
Don't worry, NY has so many they won't notice.
(Mar 12, 2024 04:15 AM)Syne Wrote: [ -> ]Don't worry, NY has so many they won't notice.
Probably fit right in.
For some reason we get a fair amount of Colombian refugees here. Free billets, clothing, food, health benefits. A lot of them only using us a stepping stone to USA. How they do it legally I’m not sure. Maybe a relative who’s an American gets them into the States. There have been cases of immigrants caught trying to enter NY state by crawling underneath a railway bridge from Canada that crosses Niagara River. Some try by boat. There’s cameras everywhere and if they fall in the water then say goodnight.