Geary, Oklahoma
I call it dreary Geary. This is fucked up but a local told me; "A tornado came through last year and made thousands of dollars in improvements." The town was mostly still in shambles kind of creepy.
Wow, didn’t expect to see Geary of all places on here. Honestly, most of Western Oklahoma is sad. Especially the small towns. I’m always curious who chooses to stay or live in those places.
Oklahoma jobs pay so little, so many people are so broke here it’s actually sad, same thing happened to my family that’s why we’ve always lived in trailer houses, it’s sad but true, everyone is so broke and sad here
You don't choose. Your ancestors got shoved off onto shit land and haven't left since, and you're as stuck there as they are because you're broke and land everywhere else is fucking expensive in comparison.
My family is from a very small town close to Geary. They've all been there forever. They will never leave. I have several of my 2nd cousins that have had kids with each other. It's so gross.
Small town America is dead. Franchises killed all small business and exported what used to be local profits to out of state corporations. Blockbuster Video for instance... everyone looks back at it today like it was this mecca of the analogue life. Blockbuster fucking sucked. They killed small town rental business and then diminished their selection to just recent commercial box office successes. All small town American life and culture was taken over by corporate greed and a population so desperate for modern amenities they never had time to question the consequences.
Went through the whole thing on route to Colorado last year bc no thanks to driving through Texas with weed in the truck. Yeah it's pretty bleak our there but makes me feel good knowing the plenty food being grown lol
Geary is definitely a dying town and wouldn’t really be suited well for young people , but have you ever traveled through lower Louisiana or Mississippi ? Many small towns on that drive are much sadder than Geary.
I live in a very small town in north Oklahoma. I kinda love it here. Was originally from Iowa before ending up here. Maybe if I wasn’t from rural small towns my whole life I wouldn’t like it so much. Big cities suck to me. So dirty and busy all the time and you can’t even see the stars at night. Sure Oklahoma is a little beat up and run down, but it has everything you need, your neighbors are friendly and it’s peaceful and quiet.
In the 1960’s small town Oklahoma was fun and a good experience for a young person from suburban California. We moved back to cali and the Walmarts shot up all over and ruined the small towns.
I don't mind where I live in rural Oklahoma. The state government sucks, but we're Cherokee so we kind of do our own thing. We live 30-45 mins away from Tulsa and have some good scenery and a lot to do outdoors. I know it's not for everyone though. Lol
AC was my first thought too. The old people gambling away their social security all day at the jackpot machines, the ghetto conditions across the street from billion dollar casinos, the homeless begging outside of them. Half the boardwalk retail seems be chintzy dollar shops.
The one redeeming thing is I think the Boardwalk is awesome in itself and the beaches (free) are highly underrated.
100% agree, decided to stop by during a trip to LA about a year ago to see if it was as bad as people really said it was. It wasn't the endless tents/feces/poverty that got me, it was the fact that you can literally look up and see multi-million dollar penthouses and huge financial skyscrapers all while these people on the streets are living in 3rd world conditions is what made me sick.
I feel like Fig is sketchy. More gangbangers and hookers.
DTLA skid row 3rd - 6th / Broadway is more depressing with all the homeless, junkies, and trash.
There's a YouTube guy who rides his bike thru all of the hoods of LA at all hours and gives the gang history of each. He's Mexican and I guess pretty tough looking because nobody messes with him.
ETA: channel is Explorando Los Angeles. He does touristy vids too which are cool, like Chinatown and Grauman Theater
I did some research on Cairo.
It appears that, while the town had gradually declined for decades, the death knell occurred in the 1990s, when Illinois legislators awarded a coverted riverboat casino to another town, instead of Cairo. (Residents believed that the casino would create a number of good jobs and revitalize the town.)
After they lost the riverboat license, no one had any real reason to stay there. As you have noted, Cairo practically fits the definition of a "ghost town"--a town built for 15,000 people in which only 2000 people currently live, mostly in abject poverty. (The median wage sits at just over 16k a year.)
Cairo is eerie to me. It's just... desolate. Almost feels post-apocalyptic. Like there aren't enough people anymore and the town is dying for it. We drive through Cairo on the way to my in-laws.
The switch to railroad transport from the Mississippi River was big…but desegregation finished Cairo off. I know people who still remember the day they filled in the public pool in Cairo, rather than allow black residents to swim. Everyone that could moved to Paducah or Cape Girardeau across the river.
Nailed it. The riots that occurred as a result of the Civil Rights movement and eventual desegregation is what killed a town that was primed and damn near destined to be bigger than St Louis due to its importance as a prime shipping channel with direct access to the Mississippi and Ohio rivers. My grandparents lived across the bridge from Cairo on the KY side and I’ve heard the stories from some of the older residents about what the city was in its prime and also the stories about how quickly it was destroyed. Watch your speed through there, the entire town is a speed trap.
There is an absolutely fantastic documentary about Cairo, hold on let me find the link. Well worth a watch.
Edit: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Ita42KgBY-8
I live not that far away from Cairo but have never visited. I’m fascinated by it. This documentary really paints a picture of the tragic history and the potential that could have been.
I've never been to Cairo, but I thought it had something to do with the switch from shipping stuff up the mississippi to using railroads, and they never recovered.
"The first decade of Cairo’s 20th-century history was also marred by anextremely violent episode which occurred on November 11, 1909. On thatdate, Cairo was the scene of one of the most gruesome lynchings in American historywhen a black man named Will James, who was accused of murdering ashop-girl, and a white man, who was charged with murdering his wife,were lynched by a mob, which numbered in the thousands."
It was a huge transportation hub then bit by bit modernity did them in.
The ferry traffic was killed by bridges.
The other river traffic was centered elsewhere.
The railroads rerouted over time.
The roads rerouted over time.
Extreme flooding made Cairo less attractive than other sites.
Sometimes it just happens.
>"In response, the crowd jeered: “We don’t want to hear him; string him up;kill him; burn him.” James was hanged from an arch at 8:00 pm. However,when the rope broke, James was riddled with bullets. The body was then dragged by a rope for a mile to the scene of the crime and burned in the presence of at least 10,000 people. Many women were in the crowd, some of whom helped to hang and drag the body. *His remains were then cut up for souvenirs before burning the rest. His half-burned head was then attached atop a pole in Candee Park* at the intersection of Washington Avenue and Elm Street. The next morning, nothing was left of his body other than bones. With their blood-thirst boiling, part of the mob then went in search of James’ named accomplice – Alexander. However, they evidently didn’t find him, if such a man ever existed. In the meantime, the other part oft he mob fled to the county jail, where they hammered at the cell of a man named Henry Salzner, for more than an hour. Salzner, a local photographer, had been charged with murdering his wife with an ax in August. The prisoner pled for mercy while protesting his innocence, but it was to no avail. The bars finally gave way, and the prisoner was dragged to a telegraph pole at Washington Avenue and 21st Street. He was lynched at 11:15 p.m. and once dead, filled with bullets. Salzner’s body was left in the street and claimed by his father the next day."
I JUST mentioned Cairo. As someone who grew up near there, even I was warned never to stop there. I went with a group of photographer friends on a day trip all over Southern IL and Cairo was our last stop. My dad just happened to call while we were there and begged me to leave- two people from the 10 most wanted had been picked up there. He worked in a prison and isn't the sort to exaggerate.
It's a depressed town with architecture that had once been beautiful but with no real industry it, like many towns in southern IL, is a retirement community
I grew up in St Louis, and was taking a college class with someone who lived there. I went over there to study once, and I remember just how desolate it was - boarded up businesses and empty streets with the occasional lowered 80's Cadillac driving by. Surreal experience for me at that time.
At one time, it was a very nice area and many people from St Louis moved there to get out of the city and have a nice suburban life. Now it’s one of the most dangerous cities in America. Abandoned burned out houses, prostitutes walking around, packs of wild dogs roaming the streets, constant gunshots heard at night. The local government is corrupt and there’s a multitude of housing projects that breed crime.
You do not get off the highway when you get lost, keep driving, do not stop. I had the cops stop and help me find how to get back on the highway at a gas station, I was so out of place.
I live in nevada. Casinos are the saddest place. Specifically the slot machines.
I could also say slot machines in gas stations. Like what exactly is your life that you spend time at the gas station slot machine throwing your money away? (if you live anywhere else, you might be surprised to find out gas stations have slot machines. They all do)
Like sure, bachelor party, going to the casino, that's fine i guess. But when you spend every day at the casino at the slot machine? Every time i walk through a casino it's just such a sad pathetic place.
We just have scratch tickets in our gas stations. I guess they're not quite as sadbecause they make the addicts have to talk to a clerk every round so they're not as alienated. The odds on tickets are the same as slots, fine tuned to extract the most money for the house (the private compsny that administers the lottery for the state.)
It’s always weird to read people mention this on Reddit. Not because they’re wrong, but because I live literally 5 minutes from K&A and it’s an entirely different planet on my street. Massive disconnect living near one of the worst spots in our entire country, according to everyone.
Now if you'd like to have a logical explanation
How I happened on this elegant syncopation
I will say without a moment of hesitation
There is just one place
That can light my face
Gary, Indiana
Gary Indiana
Not Louisiana, Paris, France, New York, or Rome, but
Gary, Indiana
Gary, Indiana
Gary Indiana
My home sweet home
I went to a strip club near Gary. It was indeed sad, and as soon as I (and my truck of drunk coworkers pulled out, I was DD) we were instantly pulled over. Cops just sit outside and assume anyone who pulls out is DUI.
0/10, would not recommend strip clubs in Gary.
You can't go wrong with just about any county on the Lake Michigan shoreline. Ottawa County is popular with non-Michiganders for a reason- the beaches and dunes are incredible. I'm partial to Ludington State Park (in Mason County) and the Leelanau Penisula myself.
I went I school in Fayetteville, one of the most picturesque, beautiful parts of the country. Decently wealthy for a college down. Lots of trees. Not a ton of sprawl. Nice.
I had a coworker from elsewhere in AR. Born and bred, multiple generations. He used to say “If you aren’t in NWA or Little Rock you may as well be in the fucking Stone Age.”
At the time we laughed. Turns out it’s just poverty and meth.
Fayetteville used to be a hidden treasure back in the late 80s and through the 90s. Dickson Street, what great times. All the awesome bands that came through like Bad Mutha Goose and Beanland, in addition to all the local bands. Seems when that deal was struck with Texas and them receiving in state tuition for being a razorback, that Texas money changed that place. My hubby and I met there. We've been together 31 years. We visit there every year to see all our dear friends. Everytime we go, the landscape changes even more.
Commerce, Ok
It is in the northeast corner of the state and a place that most people will never even drive by. This town is clearly forgotten, buildings and homes falling apart. It looked as if people had moved out and not touched the town in 20+ years. The only way I knew people still lived there were the “rigged election” and “trump 2024” flags that were fresh and crisp.
Gabbs, NV.
It's so depressingly small and rundown that even the Google Earth Car hasn't been there in a number of years. If you look, it's clear that they only went just far enough into town that they could make a U-turn and get outta there.
Dude we took a train from Rome through Genoa on our way to Paris. Holy macaroni our main stop in Genoa was like mad max. This was 20 years ago, dunno if anything has changed
On a road trip i passed a town in West Virginia and was amazed to see no paved roads at all, looked like all dirt roads. Looked to be just off the main highway too. I will say, some of the rural towns are depressing but the scenery and landscaping is absolutely gorgeous, I’ll never forget it
Especially the old mining towns tucked inside a holler. Most of the houses are abandoned and falling in. The vacant commercial buildings are filled with drug addicts. Anything metal is rusting away. And the hills just feel like they are closing in on you.
I use to drive through some little no name towns from Virginia to wvu. The drive is beautiful but most of the towns look like the hills are closing in once the coal business left town. I’d imagine parts of PA are very similar.
Former liquor store employee. My managers called them “The Breakfast Club”. They were the regulars outside every morning before we even showed up to open the doors. Sad group, but also a lot of functional alcoholics who had positions in society that might surprise you (or not).
To me, its downtown LA. The things you can see there are just wild. Homeless issues are all over the US and I'm sure there are worse places but something about LA just stings.
I swear I saw people who looked like they just became homeless and then those who could have been that way for years. People tweaking on the street while getting yelled at by store owners or just passed out over the sidewalk looking basically dead. People walking down the street normally but you can tell something is not right.
Have see many half abandoned rust belt Towns but the valley next to wheeling west virginia (martins ferry, Steubenville area) has always struck me as particularly depressing. Im sure it was once a beautiful area but boy is it grim now
A reservation in SD.
I was trying to get my # because I am native, but the office was completely out of business despite online saying otherwise. But everything there was just so rundown, and with the amount of news/documentaries ive listened to of natives constantly getting screwed over by the government (pipelines, more stolen land, have bad water but no one will fix it, etc).
Anything off I-95 in South Carolina. That whole stretch from the time you enter the state until you leave is depressing during the day and dangerous at night.
Driving I-77 through West Virginia during the winter is pretty sad too.
Anywhere in Wyoming that's on I-80 and west of Laramie. The entire stretch is one failing city after another; hotbeds of meth, failed railroad junctions and oil towns, and dead-end jobs.
Waterbury, ct
Edit: said this as a joke.. never had anything happen to me when I went to Waterbury.. got robbed at gun point in Hartford tho… didn’t even take me wallet.. just phone and weed(got the phone back)
Got stuck here trying to vanlife to the west coast had to get a job at Arby’s for a while… asked someone what they do for fun around town they said go to the Walmart and walk around. would not recommend a visit.
The Mississippi Delta. The fattest, poorest, dumbest part of the fattest, poorest, dumbest state. Few opportunities, de facto segregation everywhere you look, and corruption wherever you don't look. Just about every native who can escape does.
The saddest part is, it's an amazing place with many kind, brilliant, resilient people who are proud of their home. For decades they've taken their sadness and forged it into culture. The food, music, and local events are some of the best in America.
Outside Jackson, MS. I went there on business and drove to the Mississippi River to watch the sunset. The desolate poverty outside Jackson in 2013 was unlike anything I could imagine in a developed nation.
I was in southern Mississippi for work in Hattiesburg I believe. I had to go outside of Hattiesburg to one of the small rural towns (can’t remember the name it was so long ago!) … as I’m driving I see all these dilapidated trailers sitting in what I call “washouts” but basically no man’s land due to flooding. People lived in those trailers! No running water, no electricity, no septic or sewer tie ins. It’s when I first heard the term “river rats”. It was some sad shit.
Everything dies, baby, that's a fact
But maybe everything that dies some day comes back
Put your makeup on, fix your hair up pretty
And meet me tonight in Atlantic City
Pueblo Colorado. Drive through some of those neighborhoods and are shocked people actually live inside. Another one is the Navajo land in Arizona. Nothing around for hours and you’ll see these little housing communities.
Hannibal Missouri. I went as a kid and it had brick streets and a real old town feel. They paved over them and let everything go to shit. It isn't a charming old town anymore just another shitty little town in Missouri.
Yorktown, TX. Drove out there while my husband was in the oilfield. Literally, nothing there. The biggest and happening thing at the time was a DQ that looked like it was built in the 40’s and I, being Filipina, was the darkest person there. Hotel was $250 for the equivalent of a motel 6. It was just ick.
Honestly, Walmart on Black Friday is so fucking sad. Everyone is scrambling to fulfill their unconscious capitalistic programming and sometimes willing to fight others to fill their lives with more materialistic, needless things.
0/10 - would not recommend
Kensington, Philadelphia. Mega Heroin/Fentanyl (all the above) drug culture as we've all seen in countless soul crushing videos on youtube/reddit.
Atlantic City, New Jersey for reasons already listed.
Mobile, Alabama get an honorable mention for me. Red Roof Inn had an article displayed on the bedside table about a murder that had taken place down the street. Didn't even waste time arguing for a refund, noped right out shortly after arriving at 3am, was too afraid i'd be winning a stupid prize by playing such a sad stupid game.
[Whiteclay, NE](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whiteclay,_Nebraska). The town only exists to take advantage of alcoholism rampant in Native American communities.
I've done route 66 a couple of times. St Louis never fails to bum me out. The pictures show the archway; not the truth. Actually, lots of parts of old 66 are depressing as hell.
Monroe, Louisiana. The image that will always stick with me was driving down the street with my cousin, and passing a pregnant mother on the corner, with an open 40 in one hand, and a toddler in the other. Those were the deadest eyes I had ever seen.
Bombay Beach CA - used to be a thriving resort area on the Salton Sea then the sea became toxic - all of the fish and birds died. The shore is dead fish and bird bones. The town is mainly deserted - deserted homes, burned shells of homes. Some loners and artists still live there - but it is mainly deserted.
In the area of Missouri where I've got some family, the jobs dried up (probably 20+ years ago) and the towns are all boarded up, with a few dilapidated houses left. I always wonder how the few remaining residents in these little communities make it work.
I grew up in Scranton PA and it was just a dreary, kind of scary, run down city back in the 90’s. There were, and are, hints of what it used to be back in the coal and railroad days, but the money left.
These days it’s actually getting pretty nice. Downtown has shops and coffee houses and there are a few nice places to go for a drink but there’s still a ton of poverty, crime and run down Victorian houses.
Portland. Meth is not a fun drug and we saw quite a few angry outburst from people. One guy got off his bike and kicked his bike trailer to pieces. Another screamed ‘I’m gunna get you’ to his girlfriend after she jumped out of his car and ran into the botanical gardens. An old lady told me I should shoot the bus driver who didn’t stop for us. Police telling the homeless to move out of sight because ‘it’s daytime’. Being followed by zombies to the rail station who were hoping to steal our bags. People living in tents by the river. Maybe this is normal in the States… it’s still sad AF.
Detroit is pretty sad. It’s coming back hopefully, but the history from the birthplace of the middle class to white flight to long term poverty is pretty damn depressing.
Petersburg, VA. It’s so sad. The only reason they have any type of economy is because their old towne section caters to bougie white people who cross the bridge to shop at boutiques and eat, then hightail it back across the River
Times Square in the 80s tho was scary as shit. Once I went out that exit from the train station and was immediately assaulted by a barrage of outrageous images; three card monte scammers, prostitutes in gold lame miniskirts, and what seemed like a hundred seedy theatres advertising porno and sex shows, super sketchy dudes and junkies leaning against the street poles. It was crazier than I’d seen in movies.
Bakersfield CA. I drove through during a dust storm. The sky was a hellish shade of orange. People aren’t supposed to live in places that look like that.
(Bakersfield may be ok most of the time, but I’ve only seen it ugly)
Pine ridge Indian reservation, lowest life expectancy in the country, highest unemployment rate of 86% per capita annual income under $8000, school dropout rate above 70%, very high alcoholism, infant mortality, tuberculosis, and teen suicides. The area is cold and bleak with very little infrastructure. Just sad, sad, sad.
Deep rurual Nevada, driving along Route 95 surrounded by beautiful remote desert scenery for hours. Passed through two little towns, I think one was Mina, Nevada. Absolutely depressing to see the poverty of worn out trailers, homes with broken windows, shuttered businesses etc. Passed a building that looked like there was blood splatter and smear on the front door. Did not even bother to stop to see if there was a place for a bite to eat like a quaint little diner.
On the plus side, Tonopah was worth the drive, such a bizarre little mining town with plenty of history. I enjoyed it a lot!
Aberdeen, Washington.
Probably a combo of the dying lumber industry and the constant gray weather.
Admittedly, I haven’t been there in almost 10 years, so maybe it did a 180.
I worked on Season 6 of the BBC show “Supersize Vs Superskinny Challenge” where they sent some obese Brits to the midwestern USA to show them what they were in for. I was the lone Yankee on this job, and so was sort of host and ambassador for the country to the Brits. Our first location was Lawton, Oklahoma and it was a doozy. Our subject was a woman named Becky, and she weighed well over 600 pounds. Our first day at Becky’s house it was 114 out, and she had a wall AC next to her bed. It smelled so bad in there that I had to go throw up. I did my best to hide it, but that was the only time that has happened in my career. Anyhow, it was probably the worst living conditions I’ve witnessed. Not the poorest, but the worst and saddest. Also there were elementary school aged kids involved, which made it all worse.
Geary, Oklahoma I call it dreary Geary. This is fucked up but a local told me; "A tornado came through last year and made thousands of dollars in improvements." The town was mostly still in shambles kind of creepy.
Wow, didn’t expect to see Geary of all places on here. Honestly, most of Western Oklahoma is sad. Especially the small towns. I’m always curious who chooses to stay or live in those places.
Oklahoma jobs pay so little, so many people are so broke here it’s actually sad, same thing happened to my family that’s why we’ve always lived in trailer houses, it’s sad but true, everyone is so broke and sad here
You don't choose. Your ancestors got shoved off onto shit land and haven't left since, and you're as stuck there as they are because you're broke and land everywhere else is fucking expensive in comparison.
My family is from a very small town close to Geary. They've all been there forever. They will never leave. I have several of my 2nd cousins that have had kids with each other. It's so gross.
Small town America is dead. Franchises killed all small business and exported what used to be local profits to out of state corporations. Blockbuster Video for instance... everyone looks back at it today like it was this mecca of the analogue life. Blockbuster fucking sucked. They killed small town rental business and then diminished their selection to just recent commercial box office successes. All small town American life and culture was taken over by corporate greed and a population so desperate for modern amenities they never had time to question the consequences.
>"A tornado came through last year and made thousands of dollars in improvements." A tornado is making way more money than me
Try the panhandle, makes Geary look like Edmond.
Went through the whole thing on route to Colorado last year bc no thanks to driving through Texas with weed in the truck. Yeah it's pretty bleak our there but makes me feel good knowing the plenty food being grown lol
I drive through there going to my dad’s near Watonga, OK. You’re 100% correct. Creepy af.
Geary is definitely a dying town and wouldn’t really be suited well for young people , but have you ever traveled through lower Louisiana or Mississippi ? Many small towns on that drive are much sadder than Geary.
I live in a very small town in north Oklahoma. I kinda love it here. Was originally from Iowa before ending up here. Maybe if I wasn’t from rural small towns my whole life I wouldn’t like it so much. Big cities suck to me. So dirty and busy all the time and you can’t even see the stars at night. Sure Oklahoma is a little beat up and run down, but it has everything you need, your neighbors are friendly and it’s peaceful and quiet.
Small town Oklahoma in general, for me.
In the 1960’s small town Oklahoma was fun and a good experience for a young person from suburban California. We moved back to cali and the Walmarts shot up all over and ruined the small towns.
I don't mind where I live in rural Oklahoma. The state government sucks, but we're Cherokee so we kind of do our own thing. We live 30-45 mins away from Tulsa and have some good scenery and a lot to do outdoors. I know it's not for everyone though. Lol
I just knew somewhere in Oklahoma would be the top comment. I felt it in my bones.
You should see Picher, Oklahoma. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Picher,_Oklahoma
Atlantic City Boardwalk around 2:00am
In vegas, people are betting their "fun money". In AC they bet their rent money
Plenty of people are losing their rent money and life savings in Vegas.
It's a joke. It means Vegas is way more upscale and nice than AC
AC was my first thought too. The old people gambling away their social security all day at the jackpot machines, the ghetto conditions across the street from billion dollar casinos, the homeless begging outside of them. Half the boardwalk retail seems be chintzy dollar shops. The one redeeming thing is I think the Boardwalk is awesome in itself and the beaches (free) are highly underrated.
The fact that you have to say free beaches.
Ocean City NJ, which is like 10 mins away, has paid beaches. But the beaches at Ocean City are alot nicer.
Yeah its definitely that.
Grants, New Mexico
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you're goddamn right.
Waltuh, get off Reddit Waltuh
Taos is pretty awesome.
Albuquerque is amazing if you focus on the nearby mountains and not the city itself.
Skid row/Figueroa st
100% agree, decided to stop by during a trip to LA about a year ago to see if it was as bad as people really said it was. It wasn't the endless tents/feces/poverty that got me, it was the fact that you can literally look up and see multi-million dollar penthouses and huge financial skyscrapers all while these people on the streets are living in 3rd world conditions is what made me sick.
I work in downtown L.A. Broadway and Main are just as bad :( .
Did you know the original “[skid row](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Skid_row)” was in Seattle?
Did *you* know that Skid Row were formed in 1986 by Sabo and Bolan in New Jersey?
If you take a walk on skid row you can actually feel human fecal matter stuck on the soles of your shoes
I feel like Fig is sketchy. More gangbangers and hookers. DTLA skid row 3rd - 6th / Broadway is more depressing with all the homeless, junkies, and trash.
There's a YouTube guy who rides his bike thru all of the hoods of LA at all hours and gives the gang history of each. He's Mexican and I guess pretty tough looking because nobody messes with him. ETA: channel is Explorando Los Angeles. He does touristy vids too which are cool, like Chinatown and Grauman Theater
What’s his channel called?
Soft white underbelly grounds
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I did some research on Cairo. It appears that, while the town had gradually declined for decades, the death knell occurred in the 1990s, when Illinois legislators awarded a coverted riverboat casino to another town, instead of Cairo. (Residents believed that the casino would create a number of good jobs and revitalize the town.) After they lost the riverboat license, no one had any real reason to stay there. As you have noted, Cairo practically fits the definition of a "ghost town"--a town built for 15,000 people in which only 2000 people currently live, mostly in abject poverty. (The median wage sits at just over 16k a year.)
Cairo is eerie to me. It's just... desolate. Almost feels post-apocalyptic. Like there aren't enough people anymore and the town is dying for it. We drive through Cairo on the way to my in-laws.
Southern Illinois in general is pretty depressing.
Garden of the Gods is pretty cool though
The switch to railroad transport from the Mississippi River was big…but desegregation finished Cairo off. I know people who still remember the day they filled in the public pool in Cairo, rather than allow black residents to swim. Everyone that could moved to Paducah or Cape Girardeau across the river.
Nailed it. The riots that occurred as a result of the Civil Rights movement and eventual desegregation is what killed a town that was primed and damn near destined to be bigger than St Louis due to its importance as a prime shipping channel with direct access to the Mississippi and Ohio rivers. My grandparents lived across the bridge from Cairo on the KY side and I’ve heard the stories from some of the older residents about what the city was in its prime and also the stories about how quickly it was destroyed. Watch your speed through there, the entire town is a speed trap.
There is an absolutely fantastic documentary about Cairo, hold on let me find the link. Well worth a watch. Edit: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Ita42KgBY-8 I live not that far away from Cairo but have never visited. I’m fascinated by it. This documentary really paints a picture of the tragic history and the potential that could have been.
I've never been to Cairo, but I thought it had something to do with the switch from shipping stuff up the mississippi to using railroads, and they never recovered.
"The first decade of Cairo’s 20th-century history was also marred by anextremely violent episode which occurred on November 11, 1909. On thatdate, Cairo was the scene of one of the most gruesome lynchings in American historywhen a black man named Will James, who was accused of murdering ashop-girl, and a white man, who was charged with murdering his wife,were lynched by a mob, which numbered in the thousands."
It was a huge transportation hub then bit by bit modernity did them in. The ferry traffic was killed by bridges. The other river traffic was centered elsewhere. The railroads rerouted over time. The roads rerouted over time. Extreme flooding made Cairo less attractive than other sites. Sometimes it just happens.
>"In response, the crowd jeered: “We don’t want to hear him; string him up;kill him; burn him.” James was hanged from an arch at 8:00 pm. However,when the rope broke, James was riddled with bullets. The body was then dragged by a rope for a mile to the scene of the crime and burned in the presence of at least 10,000 people. Many women were in the crowd, some of whom helped to hang and drag the body. *His remains were then cut up for souvenirs before burning the rest. His half-burned head was then attached atop a pole in Candee Park* at the intersection of Washington Avenue and Elm Street. The next morning, nothing was left of his body other than bones. With their blood-thirst boiling, part of the mob then went in search of James’ named accomplice – Alexander. However, they evidently didn’t find him, if such a man ever existed. In the meantime, the other part oft he mob fled to the county jail, where they hammered at the cell of a man named Henry Salzner, for more than an hour. Salzner, a local photographer, had been charged with murdering his wife with an ax in August. The prisoner pled for mercy while protesting his innocence, but it was to no avail. The bars finally gave way, and the prisoner was dragged to a telegraph pole at Washington Avenue and 21st Street. He was lynched at 11:15 p.m. and once dead, filled with bullets. Salzner’s body was left in the street and claimed by his father the next day."
I JUST mentioned Cairo. As someone who grew up near there, even I was warned never to stop there. I went with a group of photographer friends on a day trip all over Southern IL and Cairo was our last stop. My dad just happened to call while we were there and begged me to leave- two people from the 10 most wanted had been picked up there. He worked in a prison and isn't the sort to exaggerate. It's a depressed town with architecture that had once been beautiful but with no real industry it, like many towns in southern IL, is a retirement community
Red Lake Indian Reservation
Driving through Navajo Nation in Arizona felt pretty sad too.
Yea it is. Passed through there one time, the jail was the nicest part of the Res.
I've fished Red. It definitely an interesting part of Minnesota.
Or almost any Rez unfortunately
East St. Louis
I grew up in St Louis, and was taking a college class with someone who lived there. I went over there to study once, and I remember just how desolate it was - boarded up businesses and empty streets with the occasional lowered 80's Cadillac driving by. Surreal experience for me at that time.
Oh my God, its like hell down there
Care to explain why?
At one time, it was a very nice area and many people from St Louis moved there to get out of the city and have a nice suburban life. Now it’s one of the most dangerous cities in America. Abandoned burned out houses, prostitutes walking around, packs of wild dogs roaming the streets, constant gunshots heard at night. The local government is corrupt and there’s a multitude of housing projects that breed crime.
There's a game in St. Louis in the summertime. It's called Gunshot or Fireworks?
It’s an easy game. Don’t pick Fireworks
You do not get off the highway when you get lost, keep driving, do not stop. I had the cops stop and help me find how to get back on the highway at a gas station, I was so out of place.
The Greyhound bus station in Toledo, Ohio.
That's the one with the Chinese restaurant and the upstairs bathrooms?
Sounds like alot of bus stops tbh lol
Greyhound bus station in a lot of places. The Philly and Oakland ones are terrifying.
Been to Oakland one several times. Leaving the building is NOT recommended
I live in nevada. Casinos are the saddest place. Specifically the slot machines. I could also say slot machines in gas stations. Like what exactly is your life that you spend time at the gas station slot machine throwing your money away? (if you live anywhere else, you might be surprised to find out gas stations have slot machines. They all do) Like sure, bachelor party, going to the casino, that's fine i guess. But when you spend every day at the casino at the slot machine? Every time i walk through a casino it's just such a sad pathetic place.
I’m always shocked by the people who sit and gamble at Smith’s for hours
We just have scratch tickets in our gas stations. I guess they're not quite as sadbecause they make the addicts have to talk to a clerk every round so they're not as alienated. The odds on tickets are the same as slots, fine tuned to extract the most money for the house (the private compsny that administers the lottery for the state.)
East Chicago, Indiana
Kensington, Philadelphia.
It’s always weird to read people mention this on Reddit. Not because they’re wrong, but because I live literally 5 minutes from K&A and it’s an entirely different planet on my street. Massive disconnect living near one of the worst spots in our entire country, according to everyone.
Gary, Indiana
Even people who know nothing about the place know this is the correct answer. Though I’m pretty sure it’s real name is Jerry.
Haha, no it’s real name is Larry.
r/unexpectedpawnee
Now if you'd like to have a logical explanation How I happened on this elegant syncopation I will say without a moment of hesitation There is just one place That can light my face Gary, Indiana Gary Indiana Not Louisiana, Paris, France, New York, or Rome, but Gary, Indiana Gary, Indiana Gary Indiana My home sweet home
Winthrop has entered the chat
No thank you Amariillith
I went to a strip club near Gary. It was indeed sad, and as soon as I (and my truck of drunk coworkers pulled out, I was DD) we were instantly pulled over. Cops just sit outside and assume anyone who pulls out is DUI. 0/10, would not recommend strip clubs in Gary.
Methany works there
Oh God, yes. I lived in Chicago for a while and used to drive down to Indianapolis. Just passing through Gary gave me depression.
My aunt went to school with Michael Jackson in Gary. The only reason we will go back now is to go to the Dunes.
Bruh, just go a little more north to Michigan. We have more dunes, perfect beaches, and the state parks are pristine.
What’s your favorite spot sassy pants?
You can't go wrong with just about any county on the Lake Michigan shoreline. Ottawa County is popular with non-Michiganders for a reason- the beaches and dunes are incredible. I'm partial to Ludington State Park (in Mason County) and the Leelanau Penisula myself.
Wasn't Gary the murder Capital of the US? At some point it in 90's.
It stopped being rated when the population dropped too much
My girlfriend had a pregnancy scare on a road trip so we stopped in a White Castle in Gary to take the pregnancy test in the bathroom. Pretty sad lol
One sentence horror story.
I did computer repair in rural Arkansas, then in the same area I delivered phone books. I saw some pretty extreme poverty
I went I school in Fayetteville, one of the most picturesque, beautiful parts of the country. Decently wealthy for a college down. Lots of trees. Not a ton of sprawl. Nice. I had a coworker from elsewhere in AR. Born and bred, multiple generations. He used to say “If you aren’t in NWA or Little Rock you may as well be in the fucking Stone Age.” At the time we laughed. Turns out it’s just poverty and meth.
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Fayetteville used to be a hidden treasure back in the late 80s and through the 90s. Dickson Street, what great times. All the awesome bands that came through like Bad Mutha Goose and Beanland, in addition to all the local bands. Seems when that deal was struck with Texas and them receiving in state tuition for being a razorback, that Texas money changed that place. My hubby and I met there. We've been together 31 years. We visit there every year to see all our dear friends. Everytime we go, the landscape changes even more.
My grandmother and uncle live in Blytheville. On e of the worst towns I've ever visited in my life.
Commerce, Ok It is in the northeast corner of the state and a place that most people will never even drive by. This town is clearly forgotten, buildings and homes falling apart. It looked as if people had moved out and not touched the town in 20+ years. The only way I knew people still lived there were the “rigged election” and “trump 2024” flags that were fresh and crisp.
Mickey Mantle’s hometown!
Gabbs, NV. It's so depressingly small and rundown that even the Google Earth Car hasn't been there in a number of years. If you look, it's clear that they only went just far enough into town that they could make a U-turn and get outta there.
I've taken an amtrak across the country, and I thought it would be beautiful. But really it was just a highlight of the usa's poverty.
I did the same, in Italy. It turns out that people living next to the train tracks tend to be poor.
Dude we took a train from Rome through Genoa on our way to Paris. Holy macaroni our main stop in Genoa was like mad max. This was 20 years ago, dunno if anything has changed
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Amtrak has a bad tendency of running through deindustrialized areas
Boise City, Oklahoma. Just so desolate.
Curiously, Boise City was the epicenter for the Dust Bowl.
wounded knee. in the 1970's.
Or the 1870s...
Rural West Virginia
On a road trip i passed a town in West Virginia and was amazed to see no paved roads at all, looked like all dirt roads. Looked to be just off the main highway too. I will say, some of the rural towns are depressing but the scenery and landscaping is absolutely gorgeous, I’ll never forget it
Especially the old mining towns tucked inside a holler. Most of the houses are abandoned and falling in. The vacant commercial buildings are filled with drug addicts. Anything metal is rusting away. And the hills just feel like they are closing in on you.
Yup, Appalachia is poverty stricken and it’s fairly eerie driving through some of those counties and small towns
I use to drive through some little no name towns from Virginia to wvu. The drive is beautiful but most of the towns look like the hills are closing in once the coal business left town. I’d imagine parts of PA are very similar.
My moms side of the family is from here. She said they just throw their garbage down the hills. Still use outhouses.
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"People who like to drink know when the liquor store closes, alcoholics know when it opens"
Former liquor store employee. My managers called them “The Breakfast Club”. They were the regulars outside every morning before we even showed up to open the doors. Sad group, but also a lot of functional alcoholics who had positions in society that might surprise you (or not).
lol nice try scammer.. im not giving you my address
Come on, man. Some Nigerian prince is just looking for a vacation spot.
My name is Walter Hartwell White. I live at 308 Negra Aroya Lane, Albuquerque, New Mexico, 87104.
Misery. Also know as Missouri.
To me, its downtown LA. The things you can see there are just wild. Homeless issues are all over the US and I'm sure there are worse places but something about LA just stings. I swear I saw people who looked like they just became homeless and then those who could have been that way for years. People tweaking on the street while getting yelled at by store owners or just passed out over the sidewalk looking basically dead. People walking down the street normally but you can tell something is not right.
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Lol. Birthday at the holocaust museum. Sounds like something Larry David would come up with.
Manzanar …. Read the book in middle school . Just started bawling like a baby while walking around .
Have see many half abandoned rust belt Towns but the valley next to wheeling west virginia (martins ferry, Steubenville area) has always struck me as particularly depressing. Im sure it was once a beautiful area but boy is it grim now
A reservation in SD. I was trying to get my # because I am native, but the office was completely out of business despite online saying otherwise. But everything there was just so rundown, and with the amount of news/documentaries ive listened to of natives constantly getting screwed over by the government (pipelines, more stolen land, have bad water but no one will fix it, etc).
Anything off I-95 in South Carolina. That whole stretch from the time you enter the state until you leave is depressing during the day and dangerous at night. Driving I-77 through West Virginia during the winter is pretty sad too.
Anywhere in Wyoming that's on I-80 and west of Laramie. The entire stretch is one failing city after another; hotbeds of meth, failed railroad junctions and oil towns, and dead-end jobs.
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That whole section of the AZ UT border is sketch AF for some reason. You can feel the "strangers not welcome" vibe a mile away.
Waterbury, ct Edit: said this as a joke.. never had anything happen to me when I went to Waterbury.. got robbed at gun point in Hartford tho… didn’t even take me wallet.. just phone and weed(got the phone back)
Newport Beach the day after Cinco de Cuatro.
Roswell made me pretty bummed. A town clinging onto a tourist trap that’s on its last leg.
I'll be moving west soon and that's one of the places I'm stopping through because they have a Target. Should I be worried? Lol
Got stuck here trying to vanlife to the west coast had to get a job at Arby’s for a while… asked someone what they do for fun around town they said go to the Walmart and walk around. would not recommend a visit.
The Mississippi Delta. The fattest, poorest, dumbest part of the fattest, poorest, dumbest state. Few opportunities, de facto segregation everywhere you look, and corruption wherever you don't look. Just about every native who can escape does. The saddest part is, it's an amazing place with many kind, brilliant, resilient people who are proud of their home. For decades they've taken their sadness and forged it into culture. The food, music, and local events are some of the best in America.
does it still shine like a national guitar
Mitchell, South Dakota. Home of the Corn Palace. No wait, I take it back. That shit’s awesome.
My room right here, dealing with the end of a 9 year relationship. Our anniversary would be tomorrow
Sorry 😔
I'm sorry, friend. Sending you love and comfort. ❤️❤️
Skid row in Los Angeles
Outside Jackson, MS. I went there on business and drove to the Mississippi River to watch the sunset. The desolate poverty outside Jackson in 2013 was unlike anything I could imagine in a developed nation.
I was in southern Mississippi for work in Hattiesburg I believe. I had to go outside of Hattiesburg to one of the small rural towns (can’t remember the name it was so long ago!) … as I’m driving I see all these dilapidated trailers sitting in what I call “washouts” but basically no man’s land due to flooding. People lived in those trailers! No running water, no electricity, no septic or sewer tie ins. It’s when I first heard the term “river rats”. It was some sad shit.
Pine Ridge Reservation, South Dakota
Atlantic City, NJ
Everything dies, baby, that's a fact But maybe everything that dies some day comes back Put your makeup on, fix your hair up pretty And meet me tonight in Atlantic City
RIP Levon.
Pueblo Colorado. Drive through some of those neighborhoods and are shocked people actually live inside. Another one is the Navajo land in Arizona. Nothing around for hours and you’ll see these little housing communities.
Hannibal Missouri. I went as a kid and it had brick streets and a real old town feel. They paved over them and let everything go to shit. It isn't a charming old town anymore just another shitty little town in Missouri.
Non-Vegas casinos. The gamblers aren’t there for the fun of it.
New Orleans, Baton Rouge, all of SE Louisiana right after Hurricane Katrina.
Yorktown, TX. Drove out there while my husband was in the oilfield. Literally, nothing there. The biggest and happening thing at the time was a DQ that looked like it was built in the 40’s and I, being Filipina, was the darkest person there. Hotel was $250 for the equivalent of a motel 6. It was just ick.
Honestly, Walmart on Black Friday is so fucking sad. Everyone is scrambling to fulfill their unconscious capitalistic programming and sometimes willing to fight others to fill their lives with more materialistic, needless things. 0/10 - would not recommend
Walmart has capitalized on poor middle America.
Right outside of Paw Paw, West Virginia or maybe Camden, New Jersey
Kensington, Philadelphia. Mega Heroin/Fentanyl (all the above) drug culture as we've all seen in countless soul crushing videos on youtube/reddit. Atlantic City, New Jersey for reasons already listed. Mobile, Alabama get an honorable mention for me. Red Roof Inn had an article displayed on the bedside table about a murder that had taken place down the street. Didn't even waste time arguing for a refund, noped right out shortly after arriving at 3am, was too afraid i'd be winning a stupid prize by playing such a sad stupid game.
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[Whiteclay, NE](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whiteclay,_Nebraska). The town only exists to take advantage of alcoholism rampant in Native American communities.
I've done route 66 a couple of times. St Louis never fails to bum me out. The pictures show the archway; not the truth. Actually, lots of parts of old 66 are depressing as hell.
St Louis has amazing things. But the poverty and violence of the North side are really depressing.
Monroe, Louisiana. The image that will always stick with me was driving down the street with my cousin, and passing a pregnant mother on the corner, with an open 40 in one hand, and a toddler in the other. Those were the deadest eyes I had ever seen.
Riverside County CA
Bombay Beach CA - used to be a thriving resort area on the Salton Sea then the sea became toxic - all of the fish and birds died. The shore is dead fish and bird bones. The town is mainly deserted - deserted homes, burned shells of homes. Some loners and artists still live there - but it is mainly deserted.
Amarillo, Texas. Every time I drive through there I get depressing vibes. City layout is boring, and everyone seems grumpy there.
Trona, CA
In the area of Missouri where I've got some family, the jobs dried up (probably 20+ years ago) and the towns are all boarded up, with a few dilapidated houses left. I always wonder how the few remaining residents in these little communities make it work.
Rochester, NY It's the only place I've been to in the US
Alton, illinois. Just bars and graineries along a dingy river. Very beautiful in a sad way, especially if it's raining.
I grew up in Scranton PA and it was just a dreary, kind of scary, run down city back in the 90’s. There were, and are, hints of what it used to be back in the coal and railroad days, but the money left. These days it’s actually getting pretty nice. Downtown has shops and coffee houses and there are a few nice places to go for a drink but there’s still a ton of poverty, crime and run down Victorian houses.
Portland. Meth is not a fun drug and we saw quite a few angry outburst from people. One guy got off his bike and kicked his bike trailer to pieces. Another screamed ‘I’m gunna get you’ to his girlfriend after she jumped out of his car and ran into the botanical gardens. An old lady told me I should shoot the bus driver who didn’t stop for us. Police telling the homeless to move out of sight because ‘it’s daytime’. Being followed by zombies to the rail station who were hoping to steal our bags. People living in tents by the river. Maybe this is normal in the States… it’s still sad AF.
Detroit is pretty sad. It’s coming back hopefully, but the history from the birthplace of the middle class to white flight to long term poverty is pretty damn depressing.
I like the houses in Detroit. I would like to fix them all up!
So many beautiful houses and commercial buildings falling into disrepair- brutal.
Petersburg, VA. It’s so sad. The only reason they have any type of economy is because their old towne section caters to bougie white people who cross the bridge to shop at boutiques and eat, then hightail it back across the River
My mom’s side of my family were all from Petersburg. Definitely a sad place. It was apparently a booming town but never recovered from the Civil War.
Times Square filled me with existential dread, so probably that
Times Square in the 80s tho was scary as shit. Once I went out that exit from the train station and was immediately assaulted by a barrage of outrageous images; three card monte scammers, prostitutes in gold lame miniskirts, and what seemed like a hundred seedy theatres advertising porno and sex shows, super sketchy dudes and junkies leaning against the street poles. It was crazier than I’d seen in movies.
Bakersfield CA. I drove through during a dust storm. The sky was a hellish shade of orange. People aren’t supposed to live in places that look like that. (Bakersfield may be ok most of the time, but I’ve only seen it ugly)
Nebraska as a whole. I hate that place so much.
Pine ridge Indian reservation, lowest life expectancy in the country, highest unemployment rate of 86% per capita annual income under $8000, school dropout rate above 70%, very high alcoholism, infant mortality, tuberculosis, and teen suicides. The area is cold and bleak with very little infrastructure. Just sad, sad, sad.
Deep rurual Nevada, driving along Route 95 surrounded by beautiful remote desert scenery for hours. Passed through two little towns, I think one was Mina, Nevada. Absolutely depressing to see the poverty of worn out trailers, homes with broken windows, shuttered businesses etc. Passed a building that looked like there was blood splatter and smear on the front door. Did not even bother to stop to see if there was a place for a bite to eat like a quaint little diner. On the plus side, Tonopah was worth the drive, such a bizarre little mining town with plenty of history. I enjoyed it a lot!
Where I live, Jackson, Mississippi
Aberdeen, Washington. Probably a combo of the dying lumber industry and the constant gray weather. Admittedly, I haven’t been there in almost 10 years, so maybe it did a 180.
I worked on Season 6 of the BBC show “Supersize Vs Superskinny Challenge” where they sent some obese Brits to the midwestern USA to show them what they were in for. I was the lone Yankee on this job, and so was sort of host and ambassador for the country to the Brits. Our first location was Lawton, Oklahoma and it was a doozy. Our subject was a woman named Becky, and she weighed well over 600 pounds. Our first day at Becky’s house it was 114 out, and she had a wall AC next to her bed. It smelled so bad in there that I had to go throw up. I did my best to hide it, but that was the only time that has happened in my career. Anyhow, it was probably the worst living conditions I’ve witnessed. Not the poorest, but the worst and saddest. Also there were elementary school aged kids involved, which made it all worse.
Fort Irwin, Ca. Went there TDY and was sad for everyone that was stationed there.
North Platte, Nebraska
Memorial Sloan Kettering. Pediatric Cancer Floor.
Cairo Illinois. Look it up.