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Whoops, didn't see that post. But yeah, you're absolutely right. It makes me laugh when people write off Durham based only on what they've heard. Bad part of Durham is pretty easily avoidable. I too live here. Wouldn't live anywhere else in the Triangle. Except maybe Chapel Hill.
I grew up in Western Wake and went to school in Chapel Hill. Still work and spend 90% of my time there too haha.
I don't think I could go back to Wake County. Chapel Hill often gets smeared by many as a pretentious and snobby place but honestly growing up in Cary/Apex I find that area to be much more snobby. Most people in Chapel Hill have no qualms about going into Durham regularly.
Quite a few people in Cary would like they're a brave pioneer for spending the day shopping at Southpoint Mall. haha
I actually would NOT say East St. Louis, but hear me out. ESL is such a bombed-out ghetto no one in their right minds would live there (or even stop to get gas there), so it's not really the "red-headed stepchild" but more like the "child-molesting uncle who's been in prison for 10 years." In other words, its reputation is too negative to be the punching-bag of the state.
My pick for IL would actually be Rockford (rampant obesity, absolutely nothing to do except go to Applebee's or McDonald's, awful weather and signs of post-industrial decay all over the place.)
Arizona:
Seems to be Yuma. I've never been to Yuma but everyone I've met in Phoenix makes fun of it whenever it's mentioned. I once was having a conversation with a group of Arizonans about the "wildest thing they've ever done," and one lady was like, "I haven't really done anything too wild but I did teach high school in Yuma." Cue hysterical laughter, so I think Yuma is a contender, lol.
Florida:
Florida def. has some towns that are extremely poverty-stricken (Belle Glade, Okeechobee, etc.) and thus have a "scary" reputation, but I'd nominate Miami as a punching bag. When I lived in FL, most people I met regarded Miami very negatively and viewed it as this trashy hellhole where you go in to party and never come out, lol.
I actually would NOT say East St. Louis, but hear me out. ESL is such a bombed-out ghetto no one in their right minds would live there (or even stop to get gas there), so it's not really the "red-headed stepchild" but more like the "child-molesting uncle who's been in prison for 10 years." In other words, its reputation is too negative to be the punching-bag of the state.
My pick for IL would actually be Rockford (rampant obesity, absolutely nothing to do except go to Applebee's or McDonald's, awful weather and signs of post-industrial decay all over the place.)
Arizona:
Seems to be Yuma. I've never been to Yuma but everyone I've met in Phoenix makes fun of it whenever it's mentioned. I once was having a conversation with a group of Arizonans about the "wildest thing they've ever done," and one lady was like, "I haven't really done anything too wild but I did teach high school in Yuma." Cue hysterical laughter, so I think Yuma is a contender, lol.
Florida:
Florida def. has some towns that are extremely poverty-stricken (Belle Glade, Okeechobee, etc.) and thus have a "scary" reputation, but I'd nominate Miami as a punching bag. When I lived in FL, most people I met regarded Miami very negatively and viewed it as this trashy hellhole where you go in to party and never come out, lol.
It's like Chandler in the middle of the desert, with more retirees and more migrant workers. Lots of stucco. Lots of chain restaurants. A few palm trees. Very boring. It's worse than Palm Desert, CA, but not as bad as El Centro, CA.
By the way, El Centro is definitely the punching bag of California. Worse than Modesto. Worse than Bakersfield.
Last edited by Dawn.Davenport; 01-04-2015 at 12:02 PM..
Disagree - ESL is considered more a part of the St Louis (MO) metro area and less a stand-alone whipping boy. I don't know that I've really even heard people from IL claim it in the first place. It's a suburb of 25,000, regardless. Have heard Rockford for decades straight. It's only about an hour from Chicagoland (as opposed to a 4-5 hour drive), there are 350,000 in the metro, and it's a garbage dump.
Quote:
Originally Posted by censusdata
Is Cairo still large enough to be the whipping boy of Illinois? That place is Detroit meets Bodie the ghost town. Last check the population was down to 2,000. 100 years ago it was similar size to Lexington KY.
Have heard Cairo and that southern-influenced tip a bit, but not as often as Rockford or the dumpiest of the Chicago suburbs.
I would defer all of this to long-time IL residents, but this is my experience in neighboring Wisconsin with lots of experience (work and otherwise) around the state.
Disagree - ESL is considered more a part of the St Louis (MO) metro area and less a stand-alone whipping boy. I don't know that I've really even heard people from IL claim it in the first place. It's a suburb of 25,000, regardless. Have heard Rockford for decades straight. It's only about an hour from Chicagoland (as opposed to a 4-5 hour drive), there are 350,000 in the metro, and it's a garbage dump.
By this logic, Illinois' whipping boy is Gary, Indiana.
Maybe it's different from your perspective living Wisconsin, but from living in Chicago proper (the Andersonville neighborhood) for eight years, I've heard Chicagoans talk the most crap about Northwest Indiana, followed by the dumpier Illinois suburbs (like Aurora, Joliet, and Maywood), followed by the conservative, religious suburbs (like Wheaton and to a lesser extent Barrington). Though horrid, I've never heard anyone take digs at Rockford. My guess is that few Chicagoans have been there.
Last edited by Dawn.Davenport; 01-05-2015 at 12:31 PM..
By this logic, Illinois' whipping boy is Gary, Indiana.
Maybe it's different from your perspective living Wisconsin, but from living in Chicago proper (the Andersonville neighborhood) for eight years, I've heard Chicagoans talk the most crap about Northwest Indiana, followed by the dumpier Illinois suburbs (like Aurora, Joliet, and Maywood), followed by the conservative, religious suburbs (like Wheaton and to a lesser extent Barrington). Though horrid, I've never heard anyone take digs at Rockford. My guess is that few Chicagoans have been there.
I agree with most of what you've said here, so it surprises me that you would even bring up ESL (as no one in IL ever does!). I was trying to find the city outside the Chicago metro that I've heard the most crap-talk about, and that would be Rockford. But I'm interested in other Chicagoans and former Chicagoans' opinions.
I'm sure this schtick has been done everywhere, but in CO the joke used to be: "My girlfriend asked me to kiss her where it smells, and I said, you want me to take you to Greeley?" (Hope I don't get in trouble with the mod)
I agree with most of what you've said here, so it surprises me that you would even bring up ESL (as no one in IL ever does!). I was trying to find the city outside the Chicago metro that I've heard the most crap-talk about, and that would be Rockford. But I'm interested in other Chicagoans and former Chicagoans' opinions.
I brought up ESL because not all of Illinois is Chicago. Folks in Springfield, Peoria, and Carbondale are probably more familiar with ESL than they are with Rockford and Aurora.
Due to all the STL transplants in Chicago, I did hear people dis ESL, albeit not as much as the more grimy parts of Chicagoland.
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