Society & Culture Ugliest Cities of the World

[Exe Gesis]

Companion piece to the "Beautiful Cities of the World" thread....

Doesn't have to be just the look of it, or environmental reasons like smog, or intense daily humidity, can be time spent there, imbibed into their culture, found the locals and/or customs to be a bad experience. Etc.

I nominate the city I currently live, Sydney. It has beautiful beaches, mountains, parks, etc, etc, but the entire city is underwhelming.....poor town planning, ugly architecture, subpar amenities, public transport systems, not even a 24 hour place, the people suck, horrible and shallow, unhelpful, demeaning, even the immigrants who come here end up becoming Sydneyfied as shallow and self-centered. Etc.

And Sydney, Australia as a whole, is way way more expensive than it should be compared to other cities/countries in the world. Another complaint, is the city/country has far too many rules for everything....people with small to large businesses are crucified financially, ripped off by protocol, can't do anything without having the govt put theor hands into your cookie jar. Also things like everything heavily taxed (govt collecting money) for things that cost next to nothing overseas. House and land prices, on and on.

Ugly looking city, terribly planned, a hotch potch of things slappped together, s**t people in a shithole.

 

[Shell]

Detroit.

I've been there on three occasions and really do have a soft spot for the city.

2001- was there and saw Stevie Wonder in concert. Brilliant.
2003- was there for a baseball game. Lovely stadium there.
2012- just passing thru on way to Ohio, just an overnight stop really at a house in the suburbs.

The ugliness comes from the empty/burnt out houses tbh. Really run down and can be quite depressing. But like I said, each time I went there I had a good time- and fwiw felt safe too.

 

[Shell]

Companion piece to the "Beautiful Cities of the World" thread....

Doesn't have to be just the look of it, or environmental reasons like smog, or intense daily humidity, can be time spent there, imbibed into their culture, found the locals and/or customs to be a bad experience. Etc.

I nominate the city I currently live, Sydney. It has beautiful beaches, mountains, parks, etc, etc, but the entire city is underwhelming.....poor town planning, ugly architecture, subpar amenities, public transport systems, not even a 24 hour place, the people suck, horrible and shallow, unhelpful, demeaning, even the immigrants who come here end up becoming Sydneyfied as shallow and self-centered. Etc.

And Sydney, Australia as a whole, is way way more expensive than it should be compared to other cities/countries in the world. Another complaint, is the city/country has far too many rules for everything....people with small to large businesses are crucified financially, ripped off by protocol, can't do anything without having the govt put theor hands into your cookie jar. Also things like everything heavily taxed (govt collecting money) for things that cost next to nothing overseas. House and land prices, on and on.

Ugly looking city, terribly planned, a hotch potch of things slappped together, s**t people in a shithole.

Yeah look I really do like Sydney and have enjoyed... 5 trips up there.

But I would not and could not live there. No thank you.

 

[rank and file]

Companion piece to the "Beautiful Cities of the World" thread....

Doesn't have to be just the look of it, or environmental reasons like smog, or intense daily humidity, can be time spent there, imbibed into their culture, found the locals and/or customs to be a bad experience. Etc.

I nominate the city I currently live, Sydney. It has beautiful beaches, mountains, parks, etc, etc, but the entire city is underwhelming.....poor town planning, ugly architecture, subpar amenities, public transport systems, not even a 24 hour place, the people suck, horrible and shallow, unhelpful, demeaning, even the immigrants who come here end up becoming Sydneyfied as shallow and self-centered. Etc.

And Sydney, Australia as a whole, is way way more expensive than it should be compared to other cities/countries in the world. Another complaint, is the city/country has far too many rules for everything....people with small to large businesses are crucified financially, ripped off by protocol, can't do anything without having the govt put theor hands into your cookie jar. Also things like everything heavily taxed (govt collecting money) for things that cost next to nothing overseas. House and land prices, on and on.

Ugly looking city, terribly planned, a hotch potch of things slappped together, s**t people in a shithole.

My favourite architectural style is brutalist and Sydney has got it.
Take a Brutalist tour of Sydney
How good,stick the Opera House up your arse.

 

[undefined]

Love Sydney, though is expensive & not without its ugly areas. Would much sooner reside there than Melbourne, which I'd nominate as the most depressing city in the first world.

Aesthetically pleasing US cities aren't easy to come by. I'm a regular visitor to London, but have yet to cotton on to its world-renowned charm. Much of Paris has a romance comparable to Broadmeadows.

 

[cats_09]

Washington DC, as I've never felt as unsafe in a location as I did there - and I've been to places like Detroit & Flint in Michigan

I've never heard as many emergency sirens as I did during my 3(?) nights there

I went to KFC for dinner after arriving, they were just around the corner from the hotel & closer than the Wendy's which required a diagonal crossing of the intersection - there was more security & safety measures in the KFC than I've seen in banks. After that I ordered room service or went to the hotel restaurant for dinner

I did go out exploring and seeing different sites, but it was all via tour buses, picking up from the hotel & dropping off at various sites - which is normally not what I do as I love getting out on foot and just walking but just didn't feel safe to do so

 

[raskolnikov]

LA is one big steaming pile of s**t.

 

[Shane Sheridan]

I love Japan, but most of their cities are ugly as f***.
Houston.

 

[raskolnikov]

Manila is awful.

 

[cats_09]

LA is one big steaming pile of s**t.

I love LA, but it does depend on which county you're visiting - some areas I definitely avoid, others I'd love to either go back to it visit

 

[Butters and Pepper]

Melbourne.

 

[Spirit Level]

Paris is #1 on my list, apart from a few grand buildings in the tourist bubble and some nice-ish parks I found it to be quite a hole.

Rome - just dirty and hot.

Brussels - Centre square is cool, but everything else is a sh*thole

Dallas - The neon lights aren't enough to mitigate the overall dullness of the place. Deep Ellum is cool but the rest is meh.

Places I know will be on peoples list which I actually don't find ugly:

LA - yes parts of it are s**t like any city but it has a lot of really nice areas (WeHo, Santa Monica/Venice, Silver late/Echo park ect)

London - would have been on my list before going there again last month but gained a real appreciation for the place, just has a bit of charm about it when you go to the right neighbourhoods (Soho, Fitzrovia, Camden ect)

New York - Loved it, yes it's messy but not in a bad way

Melbourne - The weather sucks but I like street art. I also don't find Sydney ugly either

 

[Shell]

Yeah I didn't mind LA. Granted I only spent a few nights there, and half the time was recovering from the flight.

 

[Sqotty from office works]

Utilla, all problems are handled locally and logically.
Ocean remarkable.
Food fantastic.
Cost of living is absolutely minimum.
Friendliest place on earth.
Only downside is that Americans frequent.

 

[edgie]

Companion piece to the "Beautiful Cities of the World" thread....

Doesn't have to be just the look of it, or environmental reasons like smog, or intense daily humidity, can be time spent there, imbibed into their culture, found the locals and/or customs to be a bad experience. Etc.

I nominate the city I currently live, Sydney. It has beautiful beaches, mountains, parks, etc, etc, but the entire city is underwhelming.....poor town planning, ugly architecture, subpar amenities, public transport systems, not even a 24 hour place, the people suck, horrible and shallow, unhelpful, demeaning, even the immigrants who come here end up becoming Sydneyfied as shallow and self-centered. Etc.

And Sydney, Australia as a whole, is way way more expensive than it should be compared to other cities/countries in the world. Another complaint, is the city/country has far too many rules for everything....people with small to large businesses are crucified financially, ripped off by protocol, can't do anything without having the govt put theor hands into your cookie jar. Also things like everything heavily taxed (govt collecting money) for things that cost next to nothing overseas. House and land prices, on and on.

Ugly looking city, terribly planned, a hotch potch of things slappped together, s**t people in a shithole.

Only one of those videos linked has a thumbnail that isn't punchable

 

[The Passenger]

No one would proclaim Dublin as beautiful, but boy is it lots of fun!!.

 

[Exe Gesis]

Another complaint, is the city/country has far too many rules for everything....people with small to large businesses are crucified financially, ripped off by protocol, can't do anything without having the govt put theor hands into your cookie jar. Also things like everything heavily taxed (govt collecting money) for things that cost next to nothing overseas. House and land prices, on and on

Example of this on the news just now.....local council planning to charge professional dog walkers $500 a year fee to use public parks. Just constantly looking for ways to take money off people/businesses.

 

[conrad_437]

No one would proclaim Dublin as beautiful, but boy is it lots of fun!!.

Loved Dublin. People are amazing, as are their pubs.

You're right though, there were some weird parts of the city that were trying to modernise, one which reminded me massively of Docklands. Looks brand new, high rise, wide walkways, but as dead as a doornail, completely soulless. Contrasted with much of the city which was fairly lively.

 

[Shell]

Thought Dublin/Ireland was a tad disappointing and so were the people.

 

[blueboy25]

Detroit.

I've been there on three occasions and really do have a soft spot for the city.

2001- was there and saw Stevie Wonder in concert. Brilliant.
2003- was there for a baseball game. Lovely stadium there.
2012- just passing thru on way to Ohio, just an overnight stop really at a house in the suburbs.

The ugliness comes from the empty/burnt out houses tbh. Really run down and can be quite depressing. But like I said, each time I went there I had a good time- and fwiw felt safe too.

There is a good book titled "Detroit - An american dream" by Charlie LeDuff which is a good read on the downturn of Detroit.

 

[Syd]

There is a good book titled "Detroit - An american dream" by Charlie LeDuff which is a good read on the downturn of Detroit.

The Detroit of my youth (60's to 70's was great, population of around 1.85 million, lots of historic architecture.
Lots of small ethnic enclaves with great cafes (Hamtramk with its large Polish population was always a favourite haunt for me and my mates)

Race riots in 1967 and 1968 nearly burned a large chunk of it down.

A lot of what was then replaced was the typical steel and windows monstrocitys and the view changed.

The exodus over the past few decades has seen the population down to around 680k now and vast tracts of land and buildings abandoned, burnt out destroyed vandalised and its become an ugly scarred landscape almost soulless in its existence.

Virtually nothing salvageable in Detroit anymore.

Makes me sad

 

[Billy ray]

The Detroit of my youth (60's to 70's was great, population of around 1.85 million, lots of historic architecture.
Lots of small ethnic enclaves with great cafes (Hamtramk with its large Polish population was always a favourite haunt for me and my mates)

Race riots in 1967 and 1968 nearly burned a large chunk of it down.

A lot of what was then replaced was the typical steel and windows monstrocitys and the view changed.

The exodus over the past few decades has seen the population down to around 680k now and vast tracts of land and buildings abandoned, burnt out destroyed vandalised and its become an ugly scarred landscape almost soulless in its existence.

Virtually nothing salvageable in Detroit anymore.

Makes me sad

Lions had a win

 

[Syd]

Lions had a win

Only Home State Team I followed was the Detroit Red Wings.

Denver Broncos in the NFL, Ohio State at College Level.

Lions suck

 

[Shell]

I went to a Tigers game. IIRC they were in the middle of a 40+ game losing streak.

 

[raskolnikov]

Denver Broncos...eeww

Why do I despise every team called the Broncos?