The worst places you have lived

[Richmond Jake]

I did a search and didn't see this topic. Could be interesting....

I was born and raised in Ft. Bragg CA. Small coastal town in Mendocino County about 3-1/2 north of the Golden Gate Bridge (you do know where that is, right?). I thought, at the time, it was horrible. Little did I know what life had before me.

Worst for me? It's a tie.

- Richmond CA. I worked there for about two years. One of the highest murder rates per capita for cities in California. I would dread driving home from night meetings from city hall through the 'hood to my condo on the Bay (but they paid me really, really good).

- North Idaho. Lived there for 2+ years. Hated it. Rednecks, racists, bigots, losers, meth heads, cold weather, icy roads, snow, and California transplants.

Where are the worst places you have lived?

[Raf]

It is still and always will be: Modesto Ca. Although, my folks did say sumter, SC was pretty bad, but can't really knock what i can't remember. Why i hate this town? Well where do i start. Housing is utterly horrible. The nicest neighborhood (pedestrian friendly, beautiful homes)) is riddle with homeless folks. Their attempt at revitalizing the downtown has gone down in flames. Summer heat, winter fog, spring allergies. Culture? Non existent. Why do i stay? Cuz, they pay me to (well..at least through this pay period )

[Michele Zone]

A trailer. I would sooner live in a tent than repeat that.

It happened to be in Kansas....um, some little town between JC and Manhattan. Anyone? Anyone?

[ofos]

A trailer. I would sooner live in a tent than repeat that.

It happened to be in Kansas....um, some little town between JC and Manhattan. Anyone? Anyone?

Thanks for the flashback. I was thinking that I hadn't lived anywhere that fell in the worst category but you managed to bring back a trailer just outside Ft. Eustis, VA.

[kjel]

The SRO type place I lived at for a while in Bozeman, Montana. My roommates had decided to pick up and move to Florida without much notice and it took a little time to find someplace else. Some acquaintances took me into their abode in the SRO place. We had a queen size bed, a pull out sofa, a full size refrigerator, a sink, and a microwave. In order for us to all sleep we had to be in at the same time, the sofa pulled out blocked the door of the room so nobody could go in or out. The bathroom was down the hall and shared with 8 other rooms. Thankfully I only had to stay there 3 weeks.

[Zoning Goddess]

I was born and raised in Ft. Bragg CA. Small coastal town in Mendocino County about 3-1/2 north of the Golden Gate Bridge (you do know where that is, right?). I thought, at the time, it was horrible. Little did I know what life had before me. ?

This is where my oldest friend is screaming "Is he kidding me? They grow half the pot in America there!!"

I spent 15 years in Brooksville FL; pop 7000 when I got there, same when I left. Everybody knew everybody else's business. Break up with someone; the whole town knew. It was a cute little town, but if you needed shoes, it was Payless, or drive to Tampa. I guess it was the worst place I've lived, but not really bad for a town.

[JNA]

Snyder, TX - nearly 2 hr drive from anywhere else. 'nuff said.

[Bear Up North]

This Bear has been a NW Ohio resident for just about all of his "getting on in years" life. Except for.....

Lived on a beach in the summer of 1966. I hated that. NOT! Time of my life. But that's another story.
Lived in Chicago for a short while. Interesting, especially the cops "on the take". But that's another story.

When I was between marriages (early 1970s) I lived in a trailer park that is between Bowling Green and Toledo. Alcohol was involved. But that's another story.

Because I have no other "locations" (cities, states, countries) to pick from.....

My worst place nomination would be Palmer Street, Toledo. Wife 1 (Cynthia) and I lived in an upstairs duplex unit, a couple buildings from Cherry Street. The building was old...the basement (probably) had rats. We had a great wrap-around porch. We would watch the neighborhood goings-on from our upper perch/porch. Activities included the very-busy drug house across the street, staggering drunks, and the occasional streaker......

That first block of Palmer Street is now (I think) a parking lot for Central Catholic High School.

Bear

[Cardinal]

I am betting we will hear several comments about military bases. I'll seconf MZ's location. The worst was Fort Riley, Kansas. Heat and chiggers. It got worse from there. Really a shame, since Manhattan is such a nice place.

Ofos, I was stationed at Fort Eustis in the late 80's. Living in the officer's quarters on base was pretty sweet. I spent many night across the parking lot at the officer's club, and weekends down at Cape Hatteras.

[Gotta Speakup]

While I was studying for my MCRP, I lived in an apartment on the back side of Boston's Beacon Hill. The apartment was on hte first floor and you could not see the sky from any window because the neighboring buildings were so high.

One night, the dropped ceiling dropped! What a mess!

[Michele Zone]

Thanks for the flashback. I was thinking that I hadn't lived anywhere that fell in the worst category but you managed to bring back a trailer just outside Ft. Eustis, VA.

During the six or seven months I lived there, I went and stayed with relatives in Georgia for about six weeks. If you know that I had a "thousand mile rule" (did not want to live within 1000 miles of my relatives), you will understand that was pretty desperate. We got back and the trailer had been overtaken by spiders and other bugs. My oldest son referred to it for many years as "the bug house".

I am betting we will hear several comments about military bases. I'll seconf MZ's location. The worst was Fort Riley, Kansas. Heat and chiggers. It got worse from there. Really a shame, since Manhattan is such a nice place.

I wasn't actually on base. Some little town whose name escapes me. I bet one of the folks from Kansas can name it.

During the Flood of '93, while living in a house in Manhattan, I got to see my old trailer court partly under water. I had lived on the low, flat side of town. Across the main drag it was very hilly. Uphill was mostly houses. But on the side of the main drag where I lived, it was mostly trailers.


EDIT: Actually, come to think of it, I visited relatives in Georgia for several weeks every single year that I lived in Kansas. Always during the spring/summer time. I was allergic to something there and it made me very ill. I loved Manhattan but at some point realized that I could not make a life for myself there. I was too sick, and it wasn't just the trailer (though that was extremely awful).

[Rygor]

Thanks for the flashback. I was thinking that I hadn't lived anywhere that fell in the worst category but you managed to bring back a trailer just outside Ft. Eustis, VA.

I lived on Ft. Eustis while in the Army. Stayed in the barracks on post, though. Wasn't too bad.

The worst place I lived, now, that would probably be this house I shared with 4 other roommates for a year after my freshman year of college. This place was a complete dump. None of them ever cleaned anything in the place, so there were ants all over, water all over the bathroom floor constantly (I thought the tub was going to collapse through the kitchen ceiling - it was one of those big old clawfoot tubs), and there were dirty clothes laying in every corner of the place. YUCK.

Worst LOCATION I ever lived would probably be where I was born and lived as a young child - Kankakee, Illinois. It's an old river town of about 30,000 people about 45 minutes south of Chicago. Like a lot of old river towns, it saw a lot of disinvestment and decay after about the 1960's. For the past 10 years or so it's slowly been resurging, though.

[Raf]

I am betting we will hear several comments about military bases.

I actually really enjoyed living on military bases. My father was stationed at Beale AFB just north of Sacramento. It was the sticks, but since the house backed onto a creek, it was awesome fort building/exploring time for a 6 year old.

[kjel]

The worst town I have lived in was Livingston, Montana. Although there is nothing specifically wrong with the town itself, I happened to move there during the height of the Church Universal Triumphant, the wackadoo group that stockpiled weapons and built bomb shelters underground.

[ofos]

Ofos, I was stationed at Fort Eustis in the late 80's. Living in the officer's quarters on base was pretty sweet. I spent many night across the parking lot at the officer's club, and weekends down at Cape Hatteras.

I lived on Ft. Eustis while in the Army. Stayed in the barracks on post, though. Wasn't too bad.

You notice that I didn't say that Ft. Eustis was the worst place, just the trailer off base. I went there for AIT after basic training in very late 1968 during the Tet offensive. I wasn't an officer, just a poor draftee out of grad school. We were in old WWII barracks that had been condemned but were still being used. In fact, they moved us into new barracks during a visit by General Westmoreland and then back to the old ones as soon as he left. Still, I ended going to two technical schools and leadership school so it delayed my promised trip to sunny, Southeast Asia. That delay and a subsequent troop cutback in Nam ended up meaning that I served out my tour in Germany after a brief stint in Savannah, GA instead. No complaints about that. I was a newlywed when I got drafted but was able to bring my wife to VA for my last 12 week tech school and the trailer was the only place that we could find to rent. Liked the Tidewater area though and spent every weekend either at the beach or at historical sites in the area. Also had a college buddy who was an officer in the Navy in Virginia Beach. He'd call my company HQ and say that he was Lt. and request that I be given off-base privileges so we could go hoist a few. No one ever asked if he was an Army officer and he never volunteered that he was Navy.

[Michele Zone]

I finally remembered: The trailer was in Ogden, KS. The town had a map given out as part of their promotional packet (or some such) -- probably by the chamber of commerce or similar. The "banking" option listed on it was an ATM. My vague recollection: One of the big businessmen who owned several establishments had diverse interests like "Billy's Pawn and Gun Shop" (or some such).

[rcgplanner]

Worst place I ever lived was an apartment I rented in Rock Hill, SC during my sophomore year of college with 2 of my best friends. The apartment was awful. A week before we were scheduled to move in, my roommates and I went by to see if we could take a look at our new apartment. The office gave us the building and apartment numbers. We peeked in the windows and were greeted with bags of trash, the oven in the middle of the living room and a door which looked like was attacked by an ax.

The office moved us into the apartment next door. Bad idea, for the next 6 months we fought a terrible roach invasion. The complex was also not in the best neighborhood, one night we hear yelling outside, so I peek out my bedroom and see 5 police cars and about 10 officers with guns pulled, yelling at the apArtment under us. Needless to say it was quite harrowing seeing that many weapons pointed towards our apartment.

One day I go out to my car, a piece of crap 1994 Mazda Protege with cheap plastic Walmart hubcaps, and notice that my hubcaps have been ripped off. Seriously, who steals $20.00 hubcaps?! Finally after about 6 months we all said "f this!" and broke our lease.

When we moved out the apartment next store still hadn't been cleaned up.

[TOFB]

Trailer Park in Grandville, MI, just off Division. Veloice, 'Skis and the rest of the GR folks know where that is.

[illinoisplanner]

I love DeKalb, IL because I have so many friends and fond memories here as it is where I'm at for college right now, and there's a lot of history and a lot of culture and plenty to do. But I don't think I'd ever want to live here year-round or raise a family here. Because it's a big college town and because it's also an old blue collar outlying city, there's lots of drugs, robberies, assaults, a smattering of gang violence, run-down neighborhoods, vandalism, a local government that has basically gutted its planning staff and has no money, and so forth. But there's also a lot of nicer areas and lots of things to do and some really great, down-to-earth people. But the bad things are enough to turn me away from ever living here as a non-student with a family of my own...at least for now. Things could definitely be turned around though, and should that happen, I may re-consider.

[Veloise]

Quad Cities, specifically Rock Island, Ill.

It's a go to work, come home, watch TV type of town. (Or it was when I landed there, fresh out of the wonderful univ community of East Lansing.) One Mexican restaurant. A DT pedestrian mall. Nothing to do for young 20-something singles.

A few posts back Maister mentioned the Rock Island arsenal. The QC Bicycle Club held its monthly meetings there. I attempted to attend, once.

Soldier at the gate: you'll have to ride on the bikeway.
Me: It's after dark, and the signs state that the bikeway closes at dusk.
S: Then you'll have to ride on the sidewalk.

30 mph speed limit, four w-i-d-e traffic lanes, 12" curbs lacking curb cuts.

Me: I'll just ride on the street. [not like I'd never done that before.]

Went about 50 feet, and a Jeep pulled up alongside. A soldier thrust his ID out at me (what is that about?). He demanded that I leave the island immediately.

When I related this tale to the bike club newsletter editor, pointing out the irony of holding a club meeting in a locale accessible only by motor vehicle, self-defensiveness kicked in. The following issue of the newsletter was sprinkled with snide remarks about me and my sense of humor. (That soldier did not appear to be joking, viewing me as a threat to national security.)

I can't recall if I ever bothered going on any of their club rides.

[Zoning Goddess]

Hmmm... Rj and I have been talking tonight. I really don't like where we live. I like living with RJ, but the town, ugh. That may take a lot of time to resolve.

[Richi]

RJ I like Ft. Bragg, CA Havent been there in 10 years, but it was fine then.

Worst place- Travel trailer for 2 months in Cross City, FL. Teaching school in '70. No rental apartments or regular mobile homes. Eventually found a three brhouse to rent. Had to drive to Gainesville onec to get paperclips.

[wahday]

I took a year off from college and lived out in California. The first place I rented was a house out in a redwood forest in a place called Ben Lomand (outside of Santa Cruz).

I rented a room in this house form a very odd guy, along with another renter. We shared the kitchen, which is where the trouble started. The house was built on the foundation of a house that burned down because it was used for cooking meth and the owner/landlord bought the property cheap and rebuilt a house on it. That should have been my first clue right there that something wasn't right with the place.

Firstly, the neighbors were VERY secretive and hostile, I guess because they were also cooking meth...It was mostly dirt roads and one day I went for a run and jogged up the wrong road only to find myself shot at. Well, he shot in the air and then stood out in the road with a big a$$ rifle, so I turned around and never went for a run again...

Then, the true colors of our landlord began to show. The guy was a serious alcoholic and on a few occasions returned late at night and chowed on his cereal, only to wake the next morning and accuse ME of eating it. Seriously. We even got in a shouting match about it (and I don't shout very much). It just weirder from there. I lived there maybe three months and then got the hell out, surfing on a friend's couch til I could find something in Santa Cruz.

It was all very creepy. I couldn't tell if the redwoods were making the townspeople crazy, some type of mystical energy vortex (as many locals like to believe), or if something about the haphazard development patterns promoted isolation and cultivated insanity, but the place was seriously messed up...

[Richmond Jake]

wahday, that story could and does take place in just about any place in the San Lorenzo Valley from Felton to Boulder Creek. Look at the bright side, you could have been in Zayante or Lompico. Those whack-job folks make their valley neighbors appear normal.

[Zoning Goddess]

Worst place- Travel trailer for 2 months in Cross City, FL. Teaching school in '70. No rental apartments or regular mobile homes. Eventually found a three brhouse to rent. Had to drive to Gainesville onec to get paperclips.

Poor guy. I drive thru Cross City when I travel from the panhandle down to central FL. It really is in the middle of nowhere. (Although close to a pretty stretch of the Suwannee).

Nowadays you could just run down to the Wal-Mart in Chiefland for your paper clips.