Worst city/state/place you've lived in? (jobs, expensive, quality of life)

[minnesota nice]

Hello,

I'm not trying to encourage hate or dislike for particular regions but I've been very contemplative of late and thinking about the things I like and dislike about my current situation.

I have lived in mostly Asia (Hong Kong and Taiwan) and partially in California. I currently live in Minnesota and am having a hard time adjusting to this place, after several years. Besides the climate (obvious one), the politics, standard of living and complex social environment are other factors that I find hard to adjust to.

Is there a place you particularly dislike living in the United States?

Again, I am not trying to encourage hatred for a particular region.

Thanks

[Worren]

This may be hard to believe but Honolulu Hawaii is my choice as the most miserable place to live. As a Caucasian male I had never experienced racial discrimination until I was stationed there. I soon found out that if you weren't Japanese or Hawaiian your chances of success post military were very small. And if you had specific skills that got you a managerial job the employees and vendors you worked with held you in contempt and you wound having a "local" help to get the job done. Everybody was on "the take" and if you didn't go along you should just pack up and go back to the "mainland" which is what I finally did.
In addition, it was hot and humid, the traffic was unbelievable 24 hours a day, not only did other drivers cuss you, they also threw things.
In it's defense, Honolulu is a beautiful place even though the apartments are expensive and tiny.

[reed067]

Valdosta, Georgia.




No jobs unless you know someone IF you find one & it pays $8.00 an hr count yourself lucky. The whole town revolves around football nothing else really matters. This is typical of small southern towns though. I've lived in smaller towns with more to do. The closest town is Jacksonville, Fl. Not a beach person but at least it's an escape. The mindset is VERY redneck football, hunting & God. Anything outside of their mindset is bad interracial marriage, being gay Not being a Christian & going to church. A date typically consists of dinner maybe a movie. Then you end up at one of the local Wal-Mart's hanging out in the parking lot. It's the most stereotypical small town that I have ever lived in. This comes from someone who been to 95% of just about all the states in the U.S. There is some good people here though but anyone who comes here from another place doesn't tend to stay here long. It' reminds of town that knows it's dying
but it keeps hanging on for some reason. I wish I could pull the cord on it.

My wife & I are here now taking care of my mom when she passes it will be the last time I ever plan to be here. Maybe I've been to many places I'm betting that if one grew up here & it's all you knew then it's fine. Until then for me this is the arm pit of the universe.

[Meemur]

*Any place* has the potential to be horrid if one is disrespected, underpaid, alone (and doesn't want to be), overworked, bored, or ill, including allergies to plants in the area or suffering from SAD in the winter.

The good news: lots of places have their own charm if one is in the proper state of mind to appreciate. For example, even "Podunk" can be a paradise if one has most other needs being met.

That's why we older people frequently tell the youngsters to "fix themselves" before moving because in many cases, that's the real problem, although I acknowledge that being young in an economically depressed area with a skill set in demand in a different (larger) area is a sound reason to move or for certain medical conditions that are made much worse in some locations.

So how does one go about picking a place? It's easier to suggest what not to do, such as don't pick a place because a lot of people think it's wonderful. For example, Des Moines is undergoing harsh weather right now, and lots of people are going on and on about how they want to live in Phoenix. The truth is that their families and jobs are here, and if they really did move, they would be miserable because they really don't like heat or the desert climate, but they are sick of cold because it's been in the teens this week, so they are convincing themselves that a move would make everything that is bothering them better.

What to do is more along the lines of making a personal inventory of what's necessary for a quality life, and those requirements will differ for everyone! Also, they will differ at each stage of life: a twenty something will have different requirements from a retiree. For example, Dallas might be a good choice for a new nurse who is having problems getting hired in podunk where the hospital has a hiring freeze, while a smaller area with 55+ housing near a busline and doctor offices might be the better choice for the retiree.

OP, I hope that helps a little. As for your dilemma, if you truly can't adjust to Midwestern culture, you might want to consider a coastal area on the East or West coast if you have an in-demand skill set for getting a job in that area, if you need one. You did move into an area that has "real" winter. Even I who grew up the Midwest would have some difficulties during a Twin City winter, which is why I live farther south. I get all the advantages of Heartland living without the weeks on end of sub-zero temperatures. The trade-off for some is even less "culture" here, but since I'm easily entertained with weekend RV and home shows (and such) at the fairground or at the arena, I'm good to go! And, yes, I'm older. Des Moines would bore a lot of young people to tears.

[Rocky Rose]

There are some pros and cons to the suburbs of NYC- so I'm just going to make this response like that instead of only harping on the negatives.

Pros-

-Easy public transport to and from the city
-Some great school districts
- Somewhat close to nature
- If you can afford it- you can easily go to NYC for a day and see a show on Broadway.

Cons

-Some of the highest taxes in the nation
-Traffic
-Depending on where you are, getting to decent trails can take at least 30-45 min drive.
- High Cost of Living
- The past few winters have been unusually cold for this area. Today is the 4th day this winter we've been below freezing the entire day.
- Noise pollution- this is to where I am specifically but it's one of the reasons we're moving soon.
- Quality of life- this depends on where you are in the suburbs though. A newer neighborhood built in the 50s has better quality than 1920s colonials. There are some beautiful Victorian neighborhoods around here too.

[Shorty458]

The northeast. I hate it here! The winter time is just miserable. I grew up in this area and in 2008 moved to Tampa, FL w/ the hubby. However, he hated it there and being so far away from family. We moved back to the icebox in 2014... I'm hoping we can move further south again one day (not as far south as FL) or even out west towards Portland. Not sure if they get the arctic blasts too though. (Last night w/ the windchill -24F)

[maggie2101]

Houston, TX was the worst for me. Flat as a pancake, hotter than hell, and humid to boot.

[Tominftl]

Olive Branch MS. Winters are cold and nothing to do. Summer is hot with nothing to do. Everyone is at Walmart or out to eat. I could be 300 lbs if I lived there. Eating is the favorite pastime.....

[gentlearts]

I've lived in Phoenix, Worcester, MA, Rockmart, GA, several cities in Ohio, Savannah, GA, and Wisconsin, and they all had things about them that I liked and disliked. I'm a sort of, "bloom where you are planted" type of person.

If I had to pick my least favorite, it would be Rockmart, GA, because it was a jerkwater town back then. I still didn't hate it, because it was new and different from what I was used to, and close to Atlanta. My favorite was probably Phoenix, because of the weather and how different it was from the east.

[Yakscsd]

Logan Utah.

Went there for grad school, but it was at that time a deeply Mormon town. If you weren't part of the church, you were an outsider. Left after one semester.