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I was just looking at some new photos of Seattle. I didn't know it had the amount of grit it has! I was last there 10 years ago but spent time mostly in the Downtown area. If there was such thing a "grit barometer", where do you think these cities would rate? Rankiing from 1 (highest) to 10:
Seattle
Atlanta
Washington, DC
Chicago
SF
Boston
Minneapolis
LA
Houston
St. Louis
I was just looking at some new photos of Seattle. I didn't know it had the amount of grit it has! I was last there 10 years ago but spent time mostly in the Downtown area. If there was such thing a "grit barometer", where do you think these cities would rate? Rankiing from 1 (lowest) to 10 (highest):
Seattle - 3
Atlanta - 7
Washington, DC - 7
Chicago - 7
SF - 4
Boston - 4
Minneapolis - 2
LA - 6
Houston (never been)
St. Louis (never been)
Portland - 2
Baltimore - 9
Pittsburgh - 6 (saw it in the dead of winter, might affect things)
Detroit - 10 (city proper)
Jacksonville - 4
Orlando - 2
New Orleans - 8
Denver - 4
Columbia SC - 6
Nashville - 5
Charlotte - 5
Phoenix - 4
Tucson - 4
Las Vegas - 6
"Grit" is a tough thing to categorize. In my opinion, you could go a few ways with it. I think there's such thing as "good grit" and "bad grit."
Good grit is a seediness (with illegal activity, unsavory characters/behavior, etc) that somehow manages to contribute character and uniqueness to a city. I think good examples of this would be Boston's old "Combat Zone" in the Downtown Crossing area. Times Square used to be similar. Both areas were chalk full of brothels, a good deal of drugs, some organized crime, etc. However, they were places that stood out and really gave a little bit of "edge" to their cities. If you talk to people who have experienced these areas, they'll often remember them more fondly than they recall the current state of those same areas (Times Square is glitzy and touristy and Downtown Crossing is just "blah"). I think the Haight-Ashbury area of San Francisco is good gritty (albeit a little bit too gentrified now). To a lesser degree, the Tenderloin could fit in here (lots of drugs, hookers, etc... but really cool bars and restaurants. I always enjoy going out there). Parts of SF's Mission District have that gritty blend of lower income "tough" immigrants and Hipsters "pioneering" a new frontier.
Then there's bad grit. Bad grit is simply ghetto. Few redeeming qualities, very dangerous, run down, etc. There are chunks of Chicago's South Side, East St. Louis, Mattapan in Boston, and a whole lot more that are like this.
For the sake of simplicity, I'm not going to make a distinction on my list. Just list the cities with the most "gritty" areas in my opinion. They may be good, may be bad, or may be both... doesn't matter on this list. Anyway, here's my attempt at it:
1)St. Louis
2)Chicago
3)Atlanta
4)LA
5)Houston (guessing on this one... no real experience behind it)
6)Washington
7)San Francisco
8)Boston
9)Seattle
10)Minneapolis
(Times Square is glitzy and touristy and Downtown Crossing is just "blah").
Ugh Downtown Crossing... turrible, just turrible.... It has a great Shawarma place though.
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