NFT: Worst capital city?

By far

returned to my childhood home in upstate NY. How does Albany stack up? It was never the greatest in the 70s and 80s. Plenty of crime and kind of non-descript with a lot of ugly, monolithic government buildings.

Of all the ones I've been to, Hartford takes the cake. The Mark Twain house is cool, but not a lot going on other than that.

shakes either.

I am not a fan of Atlanta. Trying to get anywhere in that city at any time of day is just brutal. I actually look forward to long island traffic when i'm there.

In comment 14006924 figgy2989 said:

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I am not a fan of Atlanta. Trying to get anywhere in that city at any time of day is just brutal. I actually look forward to long island traffic when i'm there.

I was seriously considering relocating to the Atlanta area, but the thought of spending hours, as in plural, in traffic was a no go. The traffic there is absurd. Also throw in that MARTA goes like 5 minutes outside the city limits & you're hopeless if you live in an outer suburb.

live? Visit? Work?

I grew up in CT and Hartford has very few redeeming qualities, if it's not the worst it's near the worst.

Trenton sucks too.

Harrisburg might the worst though, such a shit hole and unlike Hartford where you have some very affluent communities near by, many of the surrounding Harrisburg towns are downtrodden shit holes.

There is incredible history and it is right between NYC & Philly right on the river. They just elected a new mayor, hopefully it can start to bounce back.

It’s all been taken

Harrisburg, PA and Albany, NY are not great either. I’ve never spent time in Trenton aside from the train stopping on the way to NYC.

In comment 14006928 pjcas18 said:

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live? Visit? Work? I grew up in CT and Hartford has very few redeeming qualities, if it's not the worst it's near the worst. Trenton sucks too. Harrisburg might the worst though, such a shit hole and unlike Hartford where you have some very affluent communities near by, many of the surrounding Harrisburg towns are downtrodden shit holes.

Harrisburg! Forgot about that shit hole.

To the above poster, Albany is ha much nicer city than Hotfed or Trenton.

In comment 14006916 David in Belmont said:

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By far

Just the sound of it pisses me off....but its the Dakotas, sooooo.

Trenton isn't the worst, it has to be up there.

In comment 14006936 Pete in MD said:

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Harrisburg, PA and Albany, NY are not great either. I’ve never spent time in Trenton aside from the train stopping on the way to NYC.

I actually really like Albany. Maybe it depends on what you want out of a city. If I were to rate cities where you had to live on the East coast (particularly the Northeast), do it affordably and safely and raise a family, and still have lot of things to keep you entertained, Albany would be near the top of my list of capitals.

Has an annual ranking of state capitals based on 51 factors including affordability, quality of life, quality of schools, etc. Austin was ranked #1. The bottom 5:

50: Trenton
49: Hartford
48: Jackson
47: Montgomery
46: Providence

In Jackson’s defense, it is smoother than a fresh jar of Skippy.

Best State Capitals to Live in - ( New Window )

but it isn't irredeemable. The Old Town has a lot of character, there's a lot of nearby outdoor activity, and it's got a pretty underrated music scene.

I have to think there are at least 10 shittier capital cities than Sacramento.

Not a lot going on in Montpelier, but I enjoyed an afternoon there. Concord's pretty nice too.

Albany really is underrated as far as Northeastern capitols and small cities go. I lived there for 7 years. It turns into a ghost town on the weekends, but your such a short distance from so many things and its an incredibly easy area to get around and find just about anything to do. It's also easy and safe to get around. Having grown up in CT and just returned (still asking myself why I did so), Hartford is absolutely one of the worst capitol cities, it leaves a lot to be desired in comparison to Albany.

Seriously. The city is ugly, unsafe at any hour of the day and has the worst scholastic scores of any public schools in the State. Calling it an 'armpit' is an insult to armpits.

In comment 14006970 Jim in Fairfax said:

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Has an annual ranking of state capitals based on 51 factors including affordability, quality of life, quality of schools, etc. Austin was ranked #1. The bottom 5: 50: Trenton 49: Hartford 48: Jackson 47: Montgomery 46: Providence In Jackson’s defense, it is smoother than a fresh jar of Skippy. Best State Capitals to Live in - ( New Window )

Providence being on that list is a joke. Maybe the list is from 1995. Being from CT, Hartford is a complete dumb with zero redeeming qualities aside from UConn games. (Disclaimer: I haven't been to Dunkin Donuts park which is supposedly gorgeous)

it's corrupt as hell (still today, even without Buddy Cianci - and I know this first hand), but there are things to like about Providence.

It used to the auto-theft capital of the US, not sure if that changed, but no doubt there were sketchy areas, but revitalization and gentrification have had a massive improvement there.

Unless you like drugs, gangs, corruption, shitty restaurants, awful entertainment and terrible traffic.

Cost of living is reasonable, not too much congestion, easy access to a lot of outdoor stuff. The biggest problem I've seen is the same as what appears to be the case all over the west coast: the homeless problem is staggering. I've seen it in Vancouver, Seattle, Portland, Salem, Eugene, and down in LA. And I've heard San Diego and San Francisco also have a huge homelessness problem. It's way more visible here than on the west coast, and I have no idea why.

Way more visible here than on the *east* coast, I meant to say.

In comment 14006983 pjcas18 said:

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it's corrupt as hell (still today, even without Buddy Cianci - and I know this first hand), but there are things to like about Providence. It used to the auto-theft capital of the US, not sure if that changed, but no doubt there were sketchy areas, but revitalization and gentrification have had a massive improvement there.

Agreed. Providence is faorly nice. The area around Brown and Fed Hill are nice spots. Plus, ur driving distance from Newport.

I think in recent years Hartford has "surpassed" it. Albany is no great shakes but easily is ahead of them both

but more people as a whole need to do more to “help” these cities. I find this to be the biggest dose of hypocrisy when talking about whether a city is a shithole or not.

People tend to bitch about how bad a given city is and flee to a surrounding suburb while doing nothing to help the struggling city. Even something as simple as supporting a local business during the day. It takes a community to revitalize some of these areas.

huge fan...minus the winter, this city is great.

In comment 14006921 SFGFNCGiantsFan said:

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shakes either.

Sacramento is nowhere near the worst. Now if you are talking Stockton, CA; that's a different conversation.

In comment 14007025 Sean said:

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but more people as a whole need to do more to “help” these cities. I find this to be the biggest dose of hypocrisy when talking about whether a city is a shithole or not. People tend to bitch about how bad a given city is and flee to a surrounding suburb while doing nothing to help the struggling city. Even something as simple as supporting a local business during the day. It takes a community to revitalize some of these areas.

How do you help a city that's filled with crime and corruption?

In comment 14007136 bc0312 said:


How do you help a city that's filled with crime and corruption? [/quote]

Thanos

In comment 14007136 bc0312 said:

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In comment 14007025 Sean said: Quote: but more people as a whole need to do more to “help” these cities. I find this to be the biggest dose of hypocrisy when talking about whether a city is a shithole or not. People tend to bitch about how bad a given city is and flee to a surrounding suburb while doing nothing to help the struggling city. Even something as simple as supporting a local business during the day. It takes a community to revitalize some of these areas. How do you help a city that's filled with crime and corruption?

Do little things when you can? Supporting a local business when able perhaps? My main point is we should never look at a city as a lost cause.

In comment 14007025 Sean said:

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but more people as a whole need to do more to “help” these cities. I find this to be the biggest dose of hypocrisy when talking about whether a city is a shithole or not. People tend to bitch about how bad a given city is and flee to a surrounding suburb while doing nothing to help the struggling city. Even something as simple as supporting a local business during the day. It takes a community to revitalize some of these areas.

A city is a shit hole it because its citizens have turned it into a shit hole and has little to do with the people who live in the areas near that city. Can you go there and support a local business? Absolutely... but when your car is robbed by the good people who live there, or your car is ticketed by the city that wants you to come back, or you are over charged for that meal because they think they can.... people tend to not want to go back.

I am a big believer in the fact that a city or town is a mirror image of the people who live there.

Is there garbage in front of your home or building? Pick it up. See drugs being sold? Call the police. Have kids? Make sure they go to school and don't end up in a gang. This is just the tip of the iceberg.

has really turned it around since I worked there (Hunt's Point) in the early 80's. Maybe politicians should look at what it took to get that done.

Learn from history. I believe Detroit is making slow progress also.

It's gotta be one of them.

Nj should make Denville the capital and give south jersey to Delaware

In comment 14007191 DennyInDenville said:

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It's gotta be one of them. Nj should make Denville the capital and give south jersey to Delaware

Sure... nothing better than sitting in traffic for hours on Rt 10 on your way to or from the State Capital

In comment 14007003 Go Terps said:

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Cost of living is reasonable, not too much congestion, easy access to a lot of outdoor stuff. The biggest problem I've seen is the same as what appears to be the case all over the west coast: the homeless problem is staggering. I've seen it in Vancouver, Seattle, Portland, Salem, Eugene, and down in LA. And I've heard San Diego and San Francisco also have a huge homelessness problem. It's way more visible here than on the west coast, and I have no idea why.

Politics completely aside (no desire to hash that out :) -- the homeless problem on the West Coast is absolutely exacerbated by the mild winter.

I've lived all of my adult life in SF and NYC and it's breathtaking how much cleaner Manhattan is.

Not a damn thing there and nothing to do but roast, roast, roast. Spent my two "lost years" there. Just awful.

In comment 14007003 Go Terps said:

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Cost of living is reasonable, not too much congestion, easy access to a lot of outdoor stuff. The biggest problem I've seen is the same as what appears to be the case all over the west coast: the homeless problem is staggering. I've seen it in Vancouver, Seattle, Portland, Salem, Eugene, and down in LA. And I've heard San Diego and San Francisco also have a huge homelessness problem. It's way more visible here than on the west coast, and I have no idea why.

Hmm. No mention of that other annoying problem: Sasquatch.

In comment 14007211 mrvax said:

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In comment 14007003 Go Terps said: Quote: Cost of living is reasonable, not too much congestion, easy access to a lot of outdoor stuff. The biggest problem I've seen is the same as what appears to be the case all over the west coast: the homeless problem is staggering. I've seen it in Vancouver, Seattle, Portland, Salem, Eugene, and down in LA. And I've heard San Diego and San Francisco also have a huge homelessness problem. It's way more visible here than on the west coast, and I have no idea why. Hmm. No mention of that other annoying problem: Sasquatch.

I've been on the lookout, but no sightings. Besides, you'd think that Sasquatch would serve as some kind of homeless cleanup service, right?

In comment 14007193 EricJ said:

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In comment 14007191 DennyInDenville said: Quote: It's gotta be one of them. Nj should make Denville the capital and give south jersey to Delaware Sure... nothing better than sitting in traffic for hours on Rt 10 on your way to or from the State Capital

Lmao the worst! I think I was kidding tho but who knows I'm
Starving right now about to eat finally

is very nice. The wine country there is amazing. Homelessness on the West Coast is absolutely crazy though. We just got got back from traveling with my wife’s Aunt and Uncle who live in LA. At one point, we were driving through Queens to get to the airport and her Uncle looks over to small grassy area next to the highway and says something like, “In California there would be a homeless encampment in that spot.”

In comment 14007174 EricJ said:

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In comment 14007025 Sean said: Quote: but more people as a whole need to do more to “help” these cities. I find this to be the biggest dose of hypocrisy when talking about whether a city is a shithole or not. People tend to bitch about how bad a given city is and flee to a surrounding suburb while doing nothing to help the struggling city. Even something as simple as supporting a local business during the day. It takes a community to revitalize some of these areas. A city is a shit hole it because its citizens have turned it into a shit hole and has little to do with the people who live in the areas near that city. Can you go there and support a local business? Absolutely... but when your car is robbed by the good people who live there, or your car is ticketed by the city that wants you to come back, or you are over charged for that meal because they think they can.... people tend to not want to go back. I am a big believer in the fact that a city or town is a mirror image of the people who live there. Is there garbage in front of your home or building? Pick it up. See drugs being sold? Call the police. Have kids? Make sure they go to school and don't end up in a gang. This is just the tip of the iceberg.

Very well said and you articulated it better than I did. It’s on the actually residents to be better.

In comment 14007212 Go Terps said:

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I've been on the lookout, but no sightings. Besides, you'd think that Sasquatch would serve as some kind of homeless cleanup service, right?

Maybe. I've seen books covering every State. I remember Oregon as one of the most amazing places to live, IMO.

In comment 14007209 lugnut said:

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Not a damn thing there and nothing to do but roast, roast, roast. Spent my two "lost years" there. Just awful.

Bite your tongue. I love going there for Gamecocks games.

In comment 14007230 mrvax said:

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In comment 14007212 Go Terps said: Quote: I've been on the lookout, but no sightings. Besides, you'd think that Sasquatch would serve as some kind of homeless cleanup service, right? Maybe. I've seen books covering every State. I remember Oregon as one of the most amazing places to live, IMO.

I've been here 2 years, and my only regret is that it took me this long to get here. It's been like a 2 year vacation.

Is amazing. I'd move there tomorrow.

In comment 14007191 DennyInDenville said:

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It's gotta be one of them. Nj should make Denville the capital and give south jersey to Delaware

We don't want it.

Maybe the author saw Reno and thought "OK, this is far enough."