Cleanest & dirtiest major cities in America? (crime, moving, market)
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Denver and SLC are clean, Charlotte seems clean, but Phoenix? I don't think so. Maybe in Glendale near the university and the wealthier areas.
It doesn't sound like you've frequented Phoenix much. What university are you speaking about in Glendale? BTW, there are much nicer, cleaner places in the Phoenix metro than Glendale.
The fact in the matter is people (certainly here anyways) always let those Internet lists affect their judgments here. Or maybe the fact that this site seems to attract more people that's willing to suck the you know what of Chicago more than any other city it's more convenient for people to let it. The fact in the matter is that anybody can easily tell those lists comes from your typical tourists and your average tourist would barely step outside the loop in Chicago to see what dirt really is.
From what I heard, the south and west side combined make up 70% of the city. Look up some pictures of that why don't you. Most tourists doesn't even step foot in those. Hell even for me I recently only went to the so claimed good parts of the south side on my second visit but only because I had my friend with me this time who know the place (I was actually visiting Milwaukee but went there after). And some people want to make that excuse that not all of the south and west side is bad, well hey guess what not all of any place is bad. The fact is even Chicago residents claim that not many people from the good side of town in Chicago find themselves in the sketchy parts of the south or west side so I don't exactly get how they would know much either. But are we suppose to ignore the fact that you see literally about every journalists that goes there write about the place sell it of as a filthy, gritty place? On top of that it felt like I was smelling something worse than dead fish anytime I walked past an alley in Chicago.
The fact in the matter is people (certainly here anyways) always let those Internet lists affect their judgments here. Or maybe the fact that this site seems to attract more people that's willing to suck the you know what of Chicago more than any other city it's more convenient for people to let it. The fact in the matter is that anybody can easily tell those lists comes from your typical tourists and your average tourist would barely step outside the loop in Chicago to see what dirt really is.
From what I heard, the south and west side combined make up 70% of the city. Look up some pictures of that why don't you. Most tourists doesn't even step foot in those. Hell even for me I recently only went to the so claimed good parts of the south side on my second visit but only because I had my friend with me this time who know the place (I was actually visiting Milwaukee but went there after). And some people want to make that excuse that not all of the south and west side is bad, well hey guess what not all of any place is bad. The fact is even Chicago residents claim that not many people from the good side of town in Chicago find themselves in the sketchy parts of the south or west side so I don't exactly get how they would know much either. But are we suppose to ignore the fact that you see literally about every journalists that goes there write about the place sell it of as a filthy, gritty place? On top of that it felt like I was smelling something worse than dead fish anytime I walked past an alley in Chicago.
They do? I'd like to see this.
I don't think anyone from Chicago who's seen it as a whole claims that it's clean everywhere. But generally speaking, I've found it to be cleaner than a lot of other cities. There's a lot that goes into being "clean" though. Air quality, water quality, etc. which I don't particularly know much about, but in terms of seeing clean with my two eyes, it's cleaner than a lot of other big cities that I've visited (granted I haven't been in every single area in those cities).
The fact in the matter is people (certainly here anyways) always let those Internet lists affect their judgments here. Or maybe the fact that this site seems to attract more people that's willing to suck the you know what of Chicago more than any other city it's more convenient for people to let it. The fact in the matter is that anybody can easily tell those lists comes from your typical tourists and your average tourist would barely step outside the loop in Chicago to see what dirt really is.
From what I heard, the south and west side combined make up 70% of the city. Look up some pictures of that why don't you. Most tourists doesn't even step foot in those. Hell even for me I recently only went to the so claimed good parts of the south side on my second visit but only because I had my friend with me this time who know the place (I was actually visiting Milwaukee but went there after). And some people want to make that excuse that not all of the south and west side is bad, well hey guess what not all of any place is bad. The fact is even Chicago residents claim that not many people from the good side of town in Chicago find themselves in the sketchy parts of the south or west side so I don't exactly get how they would know much either. But are we suppose to ignore the fact that you see literally about every journalists that goes there write about the place sell it of as a filthy, gritty place? On top of that it felt like I was smelling something worse than dead fish anytime I walked past an alley in Chicago.
Huh? Over half the population lives on the north side, and the west/south aren't SEVENTY percent of the city. They're larger than the north half, although the south side has many many square miles of empty vacant land towards the bottom, and has almost all the industrial areas (no people) which can be pretty dirty.
I've lived around from Logan Square to Uptown and I've always been very surprised how clean Chicago is, even driving to my BF's work we go through the south side on side streets all the way into Indiana and those poor neighborhoods are still very clean (to the point I was kinda shocked). There are obviously very dirty areas of Chicago, although they're mostly the worst of the worst neighborhoods where most people have left over the decades.
It's stilly to make it out like if you leave the loop it suddenly becomes filthy with litter and trash. Certainly not the case. I think most of it stems back to the former mayor who took office in 1989. Back then the neighborhoods were REALLY dirty, the pictues are shocking. He was blasted all the time because people said he cared more about making sure everything was spotless, clean and had flowers/planters all over the city as opposed to worrying about the schools.
Put together a city with officials who breed a culture of cleanliness and the having all the alleys to keep the trash cans neatly stored away and it's not too hard to keep litter off the ground. There are thousands of workers who patrol the city every day emptying trash cans that I believe are on almost every corner of a major or minor street city-wide.
I've found pockets of the west side to be the dirtiest residential areas and the saddest looking. Much of it was burned during the riots of '68 and it just never recovered after that. Been sitting for 40 years. It's interesting to me that the city still spends so much time putting in new traffic signals to replace worn ones, planting trees all along the curbs and doing gutter replacements and repaving even though it's pretty bombed out and hardly anyone lives there.
I feel the need to chime in.lol
It seems like everyone is only including the largest of the major cities in America.
There are plenty other large cities that are getting forgotten.lol
And I know that everyone is going to bash me for saying this...
But I have literally been to every city in America..
And my list actually includes not only trash.. But air quality, street folks, and just the entire overall appeal of the MAIN sections of each of these cities.
NOT including suburbs.lol
DIRTIEST: NON APPEALING
1. Detroit, MI (I have always kind of had a liking for Detroit, but let us be honest.. The city needs serious work)
2. Camden, NJ
3. Gary, IN
4. Rockford, IL
5. Toledo, OH
6. New York, NY ( NYC is great, and it is pretty in some areas.. If you can see over the huge piles of garbage.. )
7. Philadelphia, PA
8. San Fran, CA ( Trying to clean it up, but still a LOT of homeless and hassling from addicts, sorry Frisco Fans)
9. San Antonio, TX ( Admire the history, but it has that scary mexico brothel feel.lol)
10. Pittsburgh, PA ( Here is the argument starter.lol.. I went to college in Pittsburgh. Sure some of the areas of the city are beautiful.. But as far as the actual downtown areas of the city go, just not that appealing. It seems outdated and some of the smaller downtown streets can be downright creepy at night. Wood St. Smithfield St. Liberty Ave. And behind the ice arena.. The hill.. Come on?lol just needs some updates in downtown as well as the north side. That is all. LOL
Okkkk.. Now on to MY favorite part..
CLEANEST: APPEALING
1. Minneapolis, MN (Hands down. This is my favorite U.S city. Modern. Artsy. Cutting edge. And the government officials actually PUSH to support the arts and to maintain a green and leed certified future. The downtown is always lit up, and the architecture is like walking through a modern art museum itself.
Just bundle up.
2. Naples, FL ( Paradise )
3. Charleston, SC
4. Sante Fe, NM ( Kinda annoying with the faux adobe.. But nice overall. And tons of art galleries)
5. Sioux Falls, SD ( Kinda boring, but a gorgeous main street and a lot of building going on)
6. Savannah, GA (So much history, and overall clean/well kept)
7. Fargo, ND (Fargo I like a lot. Veryyy safe. Clean. Plenty of pubs. Super friendly people. And inexpensive.)
8. Boise, ID
9. Salt Lake City, UT ( There are some homeless around, but the city is clean. No doubt. And surprisingly fun!)
10. San Jose, CA (I enjoy San Jose. Clean. Safe. A lot of history. And one of mh favorite weather cities)
I could make a much longer list of each.. But I am growing tired.
Now, I shall watch the comments fly.lol
I feel the need to chime in.lol
It seems like everyone is only including the largest of the major cities in America.
There are plenty other large cities that are getting forgotten.lol
And I know that everyone is going to bash me for saying this...
But I have literally been to every city in America..
And my list actually includes not only trash.. But air quality, street folks, and just the entire overall appeal of the MAIN sections of each of these cities.
NOT including suburbs.lol
DIRTIEST: NON APPEALING
1. Detroit, MI (I have always kind of had a liking for Detroit, but let us be honest.. The city needs serious work)
2. Camden, NJ
3. Gary, IN
4. Rockford, IL
5. Toledo, OH
6. New York, NY ( NYC is great, and it is pretty in some areas.. If you can see over the huge piles of garbage.. )
7. Philadelphia, PA
8. San Fran, CA ( Trying to clean it up, but still a LOT of homeless and hassling from addicts, sorry Frisco Fans)
9. San Antonio, TX ( Admire the history, but it has that scary mexico brothel feel.lol)
10. Pittsburgh, PA ( Here is the argument starter.lol.. I went to college in Pittsburgh. Sure some of the areas of the city are beautiful.. But as far as the actual downtown areas of the city go, just not that appealing. It seems outdated and some of the smaller downtown streets can be downright creepy at night. Wood St. Smithfield St. Liberty Ave. And behind the ice arena.. The hill.. Come on?lol just needs some updates in downtown as well as the north side. That is all. LOL
Okkkk.. Now on to MY favorite part..
CLEANEST: APPEALING
1. Minneapolis, MN (Hands down. This is my favorite U.S city. Modern. Artsy. Cutting edge. And the government officials actually PUSH to support the arts and to maintain a green and leed certified future. The downtown is always lit up, and the architecture is like walking through a modern art museum itself.
Just bundle up.
2. Naples, FL ( Paradise )
3. Charleston, SC
4. Sante Fe, NM ( Kinda annoying with the faux adobe.. But nice overall. And tons of art galleries)
5. Sioux Falls, SD ( Kinda boring, but a gorgeous main street and a lot of building going on)
6. Savannah, GA (So much history, and overall clean/well kept)
7. Fargo, ND (Fargo I like a lot. Veryyy safe. Clean. Plenty of pubs. Super friendly people. And inexpensive.)
8. Boise, ID
9. Salt Lake City, UT ( There are some homeless around, but the city is clean. No doubt. And surprisingly fun!)
10. San Jose, CA (I enjoy San Jose. Clean. Safe. A lot of history. And one of mh favorite weather cities)
I could make a much longer list of each.. But I am growing tired.
Now, I shall watch the comments fly.lol
Well-written and I agree with just about all of your city picks.
Most of Detroit is a cesspool, I hate to write it because I'm originally from near that area but it's a city I never want to set foot in unless I absolutely have to.
For as large as it is Phoenix is a very clean city, maybe not the cleanest of all but I would put it in the top ten.
Aside from the smog and dust problem Phoenix is squeaky clean, freeways and streets are mostly free of potholes, maintained very well and free of litter, busses and light rail run smoothly.
Much of this is because Phoenix is a new city in comparison and the lack of harsh weather makes the roads and mass transit easy to maintain, no icestorms, blizzards, tornadoes, or hurricanes to create messes or shut things down.
I remember reading that Miami Florida is the cleanest major city in the US. You can look it up yourself.
I think the dirtiest would be Los Angeles, you can literally see and taste the pollution.
Miami the cleanest city in the US?
And yeah, Los Angeles does feet pretty dirty. Until NYC, I'd never been in a place where it was so dirty. You could not only see the pollution, but you could smell it. It was so gross. A-plus city though.
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