The Creeps

[Seabishop]

What are some cities that have just given you The Creeps for one reason or another? Use whatever standards you want but some places just have that certain something to creep you out on a subjective level.

I have not been to many parts of the country but places that have creeped me out include Gloversville, NY, Bridgeport CT, Webster, MA, Coatesville, PA, and the bad parts of Philly.

Disclaimer: Although you can disagree, by posting on this thread you should agree not to be offended by other people's selections.

 

[PlannerGirl]

Wilmington Del
Richmond Va
Montgomery Al

 

[BKM]

The Kingdom of Patio Man

Basically, any city where our profession, the real estate industry, mass market builders,-and the engineers, don't forget the engineers, have been given free reign to create perfectly orderly, rational habitats for Patio Man (and Woman) and his multiple vehicles and completely organized children and spouse:

Most suburban Denver communities (Aurora, Colorado, but especially that huge hyper-planned, ultra-engineered wonderland of Highlands Ranch); Foster City, Redwood Shores, San Ramon, and Irvine, California. And, all of the gated "Retirement Villages." popping up all over the place.

I can admire history and feel sad about the ghettos in our country. The air conditioned wonderlands seriously creep me out.

 

[Tranplanner]

Being out in any large American city at night tends to put me on a bit of an edge. Even places like downtown Altoona, PA or Utica, NY can be creepy when you're the only pedestrian out and about.

 

[Cardinal]

Los Angeles
Springfield, MA
Footville, WI

Maybe Hartford, CT

 

[Repo Man]

Rockford, IL
Beliot, WI
New Berlin, WI (the people that live there are freaks)
Parts of Detroit
Parts of Tampa, FL
Janesville, WI
Mercer, WI

I dislike the last two because they are the two towns where white supremacists like the KKK seem to congregate (and seem be be tolerated by the locals.

 

[NHPlanner]

Detroit, MI (only been there once...but was definitely creeped out)
Oakland, CA

That about all I can think of...I've enjoyed most of my urban experiences...

 

[Cardinal]

jfortin - I am surprised that you feel that way about Janesville. I have lived about thirty miles from there for six years now, and have never noted them to be racist. In Rockford, on the other hand, racism is one of the three R's taught in the schools.

 

[BKM]

Not to get defensive (about one of my favorite cities)

Actually, NH Planner, Oakland has a lot of really nice neighborhoods. It's not all murders and drug deals . My sister lives on a beautiful wooded hillside with views of two bridges and the bay. Many Oakland neighborhoods have shopping districts that are far more interesting than anything the neotraditionalists have been able to create.

Not to deny the serious problems in much of the city.

 

[Chet]

jfortin - I am surprised that you feel that way about Janesville.

I concur about Janesville. When I worked on the Dark Side , my office was on Milton Avenue. Totally sucky town.

Tijuana gives me the creeps, but I love it. I saw my first dead - guy - in - a -street there.

 

[Repo Man]

jfortin - I am surprised that you feel that way about Janesville. I have lived about thirty miles from there for six years now, and have never noted them to be racist. In Rockford, on the other hand, racism is one of the three R's taught in the schools.

A friend of mine from college grew up there and he said it was a hotbed of KKK recruiting. One of the leaders of the Wisconsin KKK movememt was from Janesville and there are some teen white supremicist groups there. I guess that is where I get my perception of creepiness from.

 

[nerudite]

Creepy places...

I don't think that there is any place that creeps me out all the time. When I was 16 I rode the subway up from the Battery Park area in NY at about 9:00 p.m. and I was a bit creeped out. But that was before the Giuliani sweep...

 

[Jeff]

Some of the shadier places I've been in my lifetime....

Compton, CA
Watts, CA
Camden, NJ
South Bronx, NY
North Philly, PA (the shadiest of all)
Kingston, Jamaica
Tijuana, Mexico
Juarez, Mexico

 

[Cardinal]

I concur about Janesville. When I worked on the Dark Side , my office was on Milton Avenue. Totally sucky town.

OMG - you worked for them?

Evil. Pure evil.

 

[Chet]

OMG - you worked for them?

Evil. Pure evil.

1998 Employee of the Year, baby!

Amazing, since I worked only there March 1998 to May 1999. And I was the fifth person in that job in 5 years.

 

[Downtown]

Parts of Elmira, NY
Iva, SC

I don't have that many either.

 

[Chet]

Parts of Buckhead in Atlanta
Gary, IN
Olathe, KS
St Joseph... oh wait.

 

[SW MI Planner]

Don't get creeped out too often, but certain places make me sad. Part of Detroit for example, like what they showed in 8 Mile.

 

[Jeff]

Is that really how they name roads in Detroit....by Miles..?

Eminem refers to Mile roads south of ten.. aalot in his songs...

I looked up 8 mile Road on Yahoo Maps...couldn't find it...

 

[plannerkat]

Cary, NC
Many Atlanta suburbs
Much of NoVA, especially Prince William
Palm Coast, FL
"New" cities where all economic development is a chain

All have struck me as very white bread stepford-wifey kind of places where nothing is open past 11pm and anything remotely cultural is "subversive". These are the places that creep me out. Give me a crime ridden inner-city anyday over sterile cookie cutter development!

 

[Cardinal]

Don't get creeped out too often, but certain places make me sad. Part of Detroit for example, like what they showed in 8 Mile.

Ditto, like the pictures of St. Louis. Seeing such a wonderful built environment abandoned and turned to blight has got to be rough on any planner.

 

[SW MI Planner]

Is that really how they name roads in Detroit....by Miles..?

Eminem refers to Mile roads south of ten.. aalot in his songs...

I looked up 8 mile Road on Yahoo Maps...couldn't find it...

Yepper - 8 Mile is the north border between Detroit and the cities to the north (Hazel Park, Oak Park, Southfield, Ferndale (where Bob from Bachelorette is from incidentally). I think the outer cities actually call them 7 mile, 8 mile, etc. but in the city limits they are called by another name.

For what it's worth, Calhoun County, north of here has their E/W roads by letter - A Drive, B Drive, C Drive, etc. so it gets kind of confusing to look for E Drive E, or W Drive W

 

[krebstar]

for some strange reason:
ithaca, NY

 

[el Guapo]

Parts of Buckhead in Atlanta
Gary, IN
Olathe, KS
St Joseph... oh wait.

WTH? Getting freaked by Olathe is like being scared of Cocker Spanial puppies? Bad Acid that road trip???

 

[ablarc]

Poughkeepsie, NY

Hamlet, NC

Florence, SC

 

[JNA]

Newark, NJ
Highland Ranch, CO

 

[Super Amputee Cat]

Orland Park, Illinois
Stone Harbor, NJ
Atlanta

 

[Dan]

WTH? Getting freaked by Olathe is like being scared of Cocker Spanial puppies?

I'm terrified of Cocker Spaniel puppies. They're nice when you first see them, but get to know them, and inside lies a deceptive, mean dog. Folks would stay away from Cocker Spaniel puppies if they know what's good for them.

Why does the wind in Overland Park blow to the west, anyhow?

 

[Duke Of Dystopia]

Columbus, OH (and entire state for that matter )

Good ole boys STATE, collage with more headshops than bars, cops with a siege mentality, dumpster fires are normal. The best undergrad students are smart enough to go elsewhere, leaving the flagship school to be over run out of the trailer parks. Rabid football fans who are equally ignorant about football in general.

One day, the entire state might even step into the 13th century

 

[Hceux]

Not much of a list

procrastinating from studying for tomorrow morning exam...

Here's my two cents:

Lewisham, UK (southeast inner city of London)
Trois Rivieries, QC (just looking from AutoRoute 40, never been in the city)
Riveria Beach, FL
Jacksonville, FL
outliers of Charleston, SC (just from what I saw on Hwy 17, I think that's the number...couldn't believe that people praised this city when I came back home...guess saw the bad part of the city or something)
northeastern section of Paris, FR
Wainwright, AB
North Battleford, SK
Downtown Eastside and those creepy alleyways full of hydro lines in Vancouver, BC
Trenton, ON

That's good for now...back to study time!

 

[steveanne]

Places that have weirded me out... Hmmm...

Dexter, NY (Don't know why... Feels like a serial killer vibe going on around there)
Melbourne, FL
Meadville, PA
Chattanooga, TN - off the highway
The small area of Native American land on I-90 near Buffalo.

 

[ablarc]

Re: Not much of a list

outliers of Charleston, SC (just from what I saw on Hwy 17, I think that's the number...couldn't believe that people praised this city when I came back home...guess saw the bad part of the city or something)
[/B]

That's right, you did.

You seem to spend a lot of time cruising by the outskirts of cities. The outskirts of cities are pretty much all awful.

Take the time to see a city. You have to go to the center to do that.

I wonder what you'd think of New York if you only saw it from the South Bronx interstate.

 

[Plannerbabs]

Martinsville, IN.
Joliet, IL
That's it, really. Besides chain suburbs, but those are everywhere.

 

[Queen B]

Parts of Buckhead in Atlanta
Gary, IN
Olathe, KS
St Joseph... oh wait.

I know it said I couldn't be offended but Olathe,KS???
In my youngest days, my grandparents ran a corner grocery store there. Their house was attached. I thought it was so cool to just go through a door to the store!
Now my cousin is a Deputy Sherriff, Lucky Smith's the name, what a tag to hang on a kid.

 

[Planderella]

Small rural towns off the beaten path give me the creeps.

 

[Plannerbabs]

Now my cousin is a Deputy Sherriff, Lucky Smith's the name, what a tag to hang on a kid.

With a name like that, you pretty much have to grow up to be a Sheriff of a small town, a cowboy, or maybe a musician. What a great name.

 

[otterpop]

Probably because it is the only large city with a high violent crime rate I visit with regularity, I am definitely creeped out whenever I go to New Orleans. It is a beautiful, vibrant city but the locals seem to kill each other and tourists at an alarming rate (a murder rate about 6.5 times that of the state of Montana)

 

[SlaveToTheGrind]

I concur about Janesville. When I worked on the Dark Side , my office was on Milton Avenue. Totally sucky town.

How could that be the dark side. Brookstone Homes has "an impeccable reputation for superior craftsmanship and quality service, Brookstone Homes is the builder of choice for today's new home buyer."

And look at these future buyers, carefully looking over their plans. She is even dressed in her flannel shirt showing that even she can be RUGGED!

And these people, enjoying their new porch as they meet their neighbors.

The kids playing in the "open space".

Mom enjoying planting her new flower beds.

Come one, how could this be the dark side. They care about you!

Actually, I know nothing of this builder. There website looks like all others. Trying to make you believe you are the most important person in the world to them.

 

[Dan]

I am definitely creeped out whenever I go to New Orleans. It is a beautiful, vibrant city but the locals seem to kill each other and tourists at an alarming rate (a murder rate about 6.5 times that of the state of Montana)

Anyone here ever been to Johannesburg? Outside the townships, the built environment is supposedly very much like what you would encounter in a North American or Australian suburb, but the crime rate is absolutely, positively astronomical -- i makes Detroit and New Orleans seem crime-free in comparision. The creepy elements, I've heard, are the little things one sees in the built environment as a response to the crime rate; almost every parking lot at a shopping center or grocery store is secured, almost every subdivision is gated and walled (not just foo-foo decorative vehicle gates like in a few Florida gated communities, but Fort Knox-like security), people blowing through red lights when there's no cross traffic to keep a vehicle moving and prevent hijacking, and so on.

Here's an interesting article about Johannesburg's creepiness factor.

 

[Rumpy Tunanator]

-Funny you should mention Africa Dan, my brother just got back from somewhere in the sub-sahara and told me about how everything involves bribes when traveling from country to country. Usually the driver you hire includes it in the price of the fare.
-I heard that in S.Africa, car jackings are so frequent that a care has been built with flame throwers on the sides in the event of a jacking.

-Places that give me the creeps.
Detriot isn't so bad...up until you get off at the wrong exit. Every corner a liquor/party store with shady characters lurking in the shadows. I must of hit every red-light on that stretch and everytime there was a party store. Not to mention the jumping huptey with hydrolicas that kept pulling up along side of me at each stop light.

The Hill District in Pittsburgh. I was working for a pizza place when I first moved there for school and they sent me to deliver a pizza to a house in the Hill. I didn't know where I was going but they sure did cause they were laughing. Needless to say there were swarms of people hanging out at each corner and the classic car on cydinder blocks. Man I wasn't even sure I should stop. Turns out it was some nice old lady with her grand kids over. Still I never went back there again during the night although I did cut through there in the morning once. Ever see the movie "Dawn of the Dead"? Exactly what it reminded me of.

I also forgot the whole state of WV.

 

[Chet]

How could that be the dark side. Brookstone Homes has "an impeccable reputation for superior craftsmanship and quality service, Brookstone Homes is the builder of choice for today's new home buyer."

Of course the reputation is empecable when you are quoting a new buyer that just happens to be the CFO.

And look at these future buyers, carefully looking over their plans. She is even dressed in her flannel shirt showing that even she can be RUGGED!

Thats the lesbian expediter trying to understand how 1/4 inch equals one foot. Come on, every guy knows how *that* works.

Come one, how could this be the dark side. They care about you!

I worked there 15 months. They had 86% employee turnover in that time period. Yes, they truly truly care.....about money.

Actually, I know nothing of this builder. There website looks like all others. Trying to make you believe you are the most important person in the world to them.

Exactly

 

[Bangorian]

Much of Detroit is VERY creepy. I've been lost in Detroit too many times. Flint as well, and Saginaw, too. And lets not forget Jackson (birthplace of the Republican Party).

Poughkeepsie, Newburgh, and Middletown, NY all get my vote as well. A lot of the towns on the western slope of the Catskills as sppoky at night.

Fargo, ND - Dunno why... could've been the time and weather.

 

[DecaturHawk]

Fargo, ND - Dunno why... could've been the time and weather.

Musta been...those folks are the nicest people in the country.

A town that totally weirded me out....Nauvoo, Illinois.

 

[Cardinal]

Actually, I know nothing of this builder. There website looks like all others. Trying to make you believe you are the most important person in the world to them.

I might know something of a community that possibly purchased a piece of land, maybe because this company could have been considering developing a subdivision on it.

 

[Tom R]

creeps

Bien Hoa - Widows Village
Oakland CA
Hough area of Cleveland OH (early '70s)
NE section of Washington DC
Braddock PA
Second Wilmington DE

 

[Floridays]

Most of mine have been in other countries. The very spookiest was Alice Springs, Australia. And I couldn't get out of Bombay, India fast enough!
In the US: Miami. A walking buildboard for "Nip & Tuck". 'Nuf said. Also Atlanta (lived there for a year so trust me on this one).

 

[biscuit]

I don't usually find myself really creeped out in places. However, there have been a few where I've been more than a little uncomfortable.

Moundsville, West Virginia where a town cop followed us the entire time we were sightseeing in town limits. What a way to roll out the welcome wagon.

Keiser, West Virigina. Not to make the fine state of WV look bad but this town along the Maryland border has to be one of the crappiest of all crap holes I've ever driven through. I've never had so many people setting on front stoops and staring at me in the middle of the day. Not to mention the questionable activity going on on the street corners as well. Very creepy.

What I remember of Salt Lake City...just a bit too much for me.

 

[Tom R]

What I remember of Salt Lake City...just a bit too much for me.

Yeah. Everyone looks like Donnie and Marie.

mod note - quote tags fixed

 

[the north omaha star]

Chester, PA
Marcus Hook, PA
Claymont, DE
Thurmont, MD
Roanoke Rapids, NC
Leavenworth, KS
Benton Harbor, MI
a large section of East Baltimore

 

[Rumpy Tunanator]

I've never had so many people setting on front stoops and staring at me in the middle of the day. Not to mention the questionable activity going on on the street corners as well. Very creepy.

Did anyone look like this?

I don't think I'll ever step foot in WV again, man they don't like you there if they see NY plates.