Absolutely worst Californian City/Town

[Taverner]

This is going to be tough - because with as many good cities and towns we have, we also have some seriously shitty ones.

Fresno



Bakersfield



Home of FreakRepublic!

Modesto



Home to Scott Peterson AND Carey Staynor!

Tracy



Home to the California NAZI Party!

Garden Grove



Home to the Crystal Cathedral - the worlds ugliest and largest glass paperweight!

Yreka



Actually, Yreka isn't that bad. At least its pretty there. I was just chased out of town by rednecks there once...

Barstow



"We were just out of Barstow when the drugs began to kick in..." - HST

[MonkeyFunk]

1. Gotta love Yreka

the home of the palindromic Yreka Bakery!

[KitchenWitch]

2. What about Barstow "the crossroads of opportunity"?

[Taverner]

3. Barstow is pretty bad

But Barstow is only 1 hour away from El Lay so it ain't that bad.

[Phillycat]

4. Well, Fresno is K-Fed's hometown.

So it should get double douche points for that.

[StrongBad]

5. Barstow

Is there anything to do in Barstow aside from making a pit stop on your way to Vegas?

[Taverner]

6. Um, see the worlds only McDonalds/Caboose?

Or a place to leave from when the drugs start to kick in :crazy:

[XemaSab]

21. I have seen the caboose

x(

[Shakespeare]

7. Thsoe are collectively trumped by the suckage that is Victorville.

[LeftyMom]

8. Unless they moved, FR'sin Fresno.

And Stockton is the official crappiest city in California.

[Taverner]

9. Ahhh but Stockton has Valley Brewing Co

Founder of the Uberhoppy Imperial IPA!

I thought RimJob lived in Bakersfield - no?

[Xithras]

19. RimJob is is Fresno.

If you hit the freeper homepage and scroll to the bottom, you'll see their mailing addy.

Imperial IPA aside, Stockton really is the crappiest craphole of them all. I voted for Bakersfield only because Stockton wasn't on the list. That's a city with no redeeming qualities, and lots of bad ones.

Hell, it's the home of George W Bush Elementary School!!!!!

[ellisonz]

10. Fresno.

[Gormy Cuss]

11. Crescent City.

Tsunami zone and Pelican Bay prison-- what's not to love?

Of course, the whole San Ramon Valley is pretty bad too. :P

[XemaSab]

12. SO tough

but I gotta say none of the above.

Needles has all the tweekers of Fresno and all the God-forsaken qualities of Barstow.

[CreekDog]

17. Needles, yah or Oroville

:dilemma:

[MsKandice01]

27. Needles....*shiver*

Just one step below Blythe.

[XemaSab]

36. The one and only night I spent in Needles

I bout had a damn nervous breakdown.

My mom and I were on our way to Arizona for two weeks. We were coming from Sacto. Right around Modesto I got a nosebleed that WOULDN'T QUIT.

I mean there's nosebleeds, and there's NOSEBLEEDS. This was BUCKETS of blood. EVERYWHERE. My mom kept threatening to take me to the hospital and I kept saying "No, no, it's okay!"

Then it would stop and a half hour later start up again. I was COVERED in blood but I was thinking it was pointless to change my shirt before the nosebleed stopped for good. It was BAD.

So we decided to spend the night in Needles. We checked into a motel, and I finally took a shower and washed the blood off. The whole time I was in the shower I was thinking "This might just be the worst trip ever." I mean, I was really scared that the next two weeks were going to be AWFUL.

I got out of the shower and put some clothes on. I was just starting to feel a little better about the trip.

My mom asked me to feed the dog, and so I got one of the little baggies of moist dog food and put it on a plate and it was like, CRAWLING WITH MAGGOTS. I started spazzing out again. Then my mom was like "SNAP OUT OF IT!" and she told me we had to go take the dog for a walk. I didn't want to go and but she insisted that I go with her.

The area around the motel was kind of shitty, so we got in the car and drove around into a neighborhood.

The street was dark and I couldn't really see very well, but we got out and were walking around the block.

We came to a streetlight and I FREAKED OUT.

The sidewalk we'd been walking on was COVERED with MONSTER ROACHES.

I totally freaked and was just about in hysterics. It was SO VILE.

We left Needles the next morning and went on to have a great vacation. B-)

[Taverner]

53. ROFL (Sorry - I couldn't help it)

That could be a scene from a movie...forgive me

[XemaSab]

61. It was straight out of Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom

It was AWFUL. x(

[Alexander]

13. Other: Blythe.

The ultimate pit-stop town.

[petronius]

29. Doesn't Blythe have the big thermometer?

An attraction like that should raise it infinitesimally above "worst."

Personally, I nominate El Centro, Lemoore, Hemet, and pretty much everything along 395 (with scattered exceptions)...

[XemaSab]

37. The big thermometer is in Baker.

:P

[petronius]

40. Oh, well. Sucks to be Blythe, then...

:)

[Shakespeare]

41. That, and the giant "Bun Boy" sign that just looks SO wrong.

:rofl:

[begin_within]

90. Blythe does have 4 things going for it:

1. The Colorado River is right there, with recreational opportunities on the river.
2. It's surrounded by agricultural fields, and even in the dumpiest, most rinky-dink places to eat, the salads are unbelievably good.
3. The surrounding deserts have some really picturesque areas, particularly to the southwest of Blythe.
4. There is a run-down abandoned old cement building next to the river, onto which someone has spray-painted "Hard Rock Cafe Blythe"

Other than those, it is a hellhole in the middle of nowhere.

[martymar64]

107. My friends and I got pulled over in Blythe

The Cop asked us if we were "punk rock, oingo-boingo types"!!!
Ah, the 80's in California's asshole.

[begin_within]

112. I'm sure nothing has changed.

[Ellen Forradalom]

163. HAHAHAHAHAH

Oingo-Boingo types! That is CLASSIC!

[Ron Green]

14. What about Walnut Creek?

hmm?

[KamaAina]

15. Any place with a BART station is DQ'd

at least you can get on a train and be in civilization in twenty minutes or so.

[CreekDog]

16. shame on you!

:spank:

[Gormy Cuss]

106. Is that Astroturf in the foreground?

Why, from that angle one would never know there was the Palo Alto Shopping Center of the East Bay tucked in behind those office buildings on the right.:P

[hyphenate]

148. I have never, EVER

in my life seen such green in California. Are you sure that pic wasn't photoshopped?????

[Gormy Cuss]

155. !!

:rofl:


p.s. this is my backyard and that is what it looks like for about 8-10 weeks in late winter.

[hyphenate]

156. Oh!

On those very few days when a partially clear day emerges from the constant downpour of winter! Yes--I seem to remember a couple of them.....:)



Just before I moved back east again, I was at a mall on a late January day, and it was 81 degrees. Three weeks later, I was back in Massachusetts, two days before the "blizzard" of February 17, 2003. I'm not sure, even now, which was worse. I think my system went into complete shock for awhile.

[Arugula Latte]

25. I used to live there ...

It's gone downhill since I left ... :D

[Taverner]

28. It's not so bad - it's just a shopping mecca now

Basically they tried to recreate San Francisco without the charm, but they managed to include the parking mess.

But it's not evil - just a mall city, like Burlingame.

[Arugula Latte]

72. I grew up there in the 70s, and it had its charms then.

There were still orchards, and fields of mustard. Kids would ride horses to the shopping center. It was low-key and middle class.

Then,in 1980, Reagan was elected, and it seemed like overnight whole place turned into this crazed, greedy, OrangeCounty-wannabe, mega-mansion-building, Nordstrom-worshipping, appearance-and-money-is-everything hellhole.

I got out of there in the early 80s and breathed a sigh of relief living in Berkeley and San Francisco.

I'm still down there frequently, but I'm happy to be raising my kids in Portland.

[Jade Fox]

108. I lived in Walnut Creek when it still had walnut groves.....

and those fields of mustard, which I walked through on my way to school in the mid sixties. I haven't been back since.

[Arugula Latte]

113. Don't go back! Just keep your memories.

It would be nearly completely unrecognizable to you. Every now and again you'll get a glimpse of the way it used to be -- a small field that has somehow NOT sprouted a mega-mansion, or a tiny strip downtown that still retains that unpretentious mid-century, low-building architecture. But that is the exception.

I was there a few weeks ago and it took us about a half an hour to inch about a half mile down Ygnacio Valley Rd. due to the traffic. It wasn't even rush hour.

[Taverner]

124. Yes - they completely gutted and re-did Downtown WC

It looks nothing like the WC we grew up in

Of course Berkeley will always be Berkeley :)

[Xithras]

18. Hey! Neither Peterson or Stayner were from Modesto!

Stayner was from Merced, a town between Modesto and Fresno. AFAIK, he never lived in Modesto. Peterson is from San Diego. He only moved to Modesto a couple of years before the murders, because Laci was from Modesto. Even dumbass Condit was from Ceres, a town south of Modesto. Most of the people who give the city a bad rap aren't actually FROM here.

And we gave you George Lucas and Star Wars...that contribution alone should prop us up for at least another 20 years.

Modesto actually isn't a bad town (I live just outside of Salida, which is on the north edge of Modesto). It's an ag town and a bedroom community, but it doesn't have any really big negatives. Most people around here think it lives up to its name well...it's quiet, boring, and, well, MODEST.

On edit: I just have to mention that I voted for Bakersfield because it includes Oildale. I made the mistake of stopping for gas there once, and it took a day for me to get over that odd smell. I think it was a combination of leaking oil wells and meth lab vapors.

[pink-o]

132. You also gave us Gary Condit

The only man in America happy about 911.

[last_texas_dem]

20. What is Lodi like?

I've never been to CA, so I can't really judge any of its cities, but I always wondered what was so bad about Lodi just because CCR wrote a whole depressing song about being stuck there!

[XemaSab]

22. It's just a boring little town out in the valley

as opposed to big, scary, freaky towns out in the valley, which are half the options on this thread. :P

[Taverner]

24. Now its a bedroom community for the bay area

Great place to buy a starter home for under a mil

[Xithras]

23. Lodi is actually a pretty decent town nowadays.

Surrounded by vinyards and full of wineries. It's mostly flat and uneventful, but it's a pleasant enough place.

Back in the late 60's it was a remote and tiny farming community run by biker gangs and infested with mosquitos from the nearby marshes. My dad actually worked for an ag construction company in Lodi back when the song came out, and he's told me that it pretty well summed up the feelings of many of the residents (although they'd act outraged when outsiders asked them about it). The highway is now a freeway, the marsh mosquitos are history (mostly because the marshes were drained and built over), the crappy parts of town have long since been buldozed, the bikers were run off in the 70's, and it's much bigger. There's very little left of the Lodi CCR sang about.

[Throd]

43. I'm in the crappy part right now, Cherokee @ Victor

This part of town is quite the shithole, but the rest of it seems pleasant.

[Xithras]

59. Actually, Cherokee is the old highway

Back when the song was written, Lodi ran from Victor/Lockeford to Kettleman, and stretched from Cherokee over to the tracks. When the highway was realigned, it was just moved slightly to skirt the very edge of town. The uber scuzzy parts, with the biker bars and the seedy motels, was located on the "East Side" of the old highway, in that strip of land between Cherokee and the modern 99. Obviously, that's all been knocked down and replaced with more modern commercial and industrial buildings.

The housing to the west of Cherokee, which is where I assume you are, was actually one of the better areas of town back then.

Or so I understand anyway. Most of this is secondhand from my dad, who bizarrely always liked Lodi. Somehow he ended up back in Modesto, where he met my mom and stuck around. He owned his house on Church Street in Lodi right up to the mid-90's though, and rented it out. I remember spending many a summer scraping paint and doing yardwork on the home because our little old lady tenant couldn't keep it up. We finally sold it after she keeled over, and her druggie grandkid moved in and destroyed the place. It's hard to believe with prices now, but it sold for only $45,000, and my dad was ecstatic because that was a great price for a house that old, in that condition, in Lodi. I still can't believe that he owned that place as an investment for almost 30 years, and sold it right before prices took off.

[cemaphonic]

131. Apparently, Fogerty had never even been to Lodi

He just needed a name that scanned correctly, and picked Lodi

[MsKandice01]

26. Barstow..hands down!!

I've never gone to the train McDonalds in Barstow and been helped by someone who had a full set of teeth.

[OmahaBlueDog]

30. I've got to disagree with just about all your picks

You seem to have an intense dislike of the valley. The valley is dull, but is not so bad. I'd gladly hang in Fresno over places like Compton and City of Industry.

[Shakespeare]

31. That's why I mentioned Victorville, which is hell on earth.

I doubt anybody who's had the bad luck to spend any time there would disagree. Bleah.

[XemaSab]

42. There's a cluster of towns out there

Victorville, Hesperia, Lancaster, Palmdale... all the shittiness of a desert town, all the tweekers of a valley town, all the sprawl of Fresno or Sacramento, and all the gang bangers of L.A. ALL AT THE SAME TIME.

[Taverner]

51. El Lay is a strange beast

And when I say El Lay I don't mean Los Angeles - I mean pretty much everything south of the grapevine to the SD area.

Such beauty next to such tackiness next to such ugliness next to such inconceivableness.

[Shakespeare]

57. As an Angelino, I take issue with that description. Refer to it collectively as SoCal, but...

...areas way the hell out there like Victorville and Imperial County are an entire universe of difference from metro LA.

[Taverner]

58. You are right

But then again you are from Los Angeles, or the Los Angeles Area. "El Lay" is more of a state of mind you enter once you go over the Grapevine.

Los Angeles is an awesome place, and it is like no place on Earth. But it is not to be trifled with :)

I mean no disrespect...

And I wouldn't consider the Imperial Valley El Lay...

But seriously...let's just say you're driving down, say, La Cienega. You pass some beautiful old buildings that look like movie sets from a Bogie movie. You pass by an old old old neighborhood that looks like a Tudor village. Then suddenly, there's a refinery and ugly ugly buildings. They go on for a while and then suddenly brand new business park. And then, out of nowhere, a donut shop with a 50 foot donut. And it's perfectly painted.

[DBoon]

109. If Los Angeles stands for only one thing

that is a complete lack of good taste

And I say that with pride

On edit: In upscale old-money Hancock Park, we see the following:

[Taverner]

123. Oh come on - El Lay isn't all bad taste

This place is in Sherman Oaks



This place is in Burbank



This one is in Wilmington of all places



And this is more Classic California Style, and in Beverly Hills

[DBoon]

146. Don't worry we are working on it

Soon one of those fine homes will be painted bright orange and have a giant hot dog on the roof

[KansDem]

165. I agree!

As a "transplanted Californian," I'd have to agree with your assessment.

Victorville was definitely a place you wanted to pass through! And fast!!!

Never get out of the car!

[Taverner]

52. It's the Republican Bible-Thumping Meth and Ex-Meth Freaks

The other folks are fine :P

[XemaSab]

56. Lotta Nazis too.

:(

[LibDemAlways]

73. True. some of the worst shitholes in Cal are right here

in Southern Cal. Every time we head south on I-5 my husband has the same comment - City of Commerce is "butt ugly." Bell Gardens, Hawaiian Gardens, Norwalk, all those places - a vast wasteland.

[hyphenate]

149. City of Industry

isn't so bad. My mom and I loved going to Ikea and all those other fun shopping places there. Hell, I think my first Costco membership was gotten at that one. We started going to the one in Azusa for the simple reason Industry became so freaking crowded.

[Taverner]

151. Doesn't the COI at least have that Byzantine Mall?

You know, it used to be a tire facory and they turned it into a strip mall, keeping the Byzantine architecture.

There's beauty in that, somewhere...I'm sure of it.

[hyphenate]

154. Is this the one you're thinking of?

It's actually in the City of Commerce, on the 5 freeway coming up from Anaheim. Never been in there, but then, a mall is a mall is a mall (unless it's a tourist trap, and then it's a--well, tourist trap)....

http://www.citadeloutlets.com/info/ourhistory.cfm

[Taverner]

158. Yes - I love that building!

The mall, meh - its a fucking mall

But the design has always impressed me - even way back when it was a tire factory.

[Adsos Letter]

32. Gridley...

[XemaSab]

46. I see your Gridley and raise you

Proberta-Las Flores-Gerber. :scared:

[Taverner]

48. That's not even a city - it's a census-designated place

According to Wikipedia

:P

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gerber-Las_Flores%2C_California

But yes, it does look like a hellhole

ON EDIT: In the state legislature Gerber-Las Flores is located in the 4th Senate District, represented by Republican Sam Aanestad, and in the 2nd Assembly District, represented by Republican Doug LaMalfa. Federally, Gerber-Las Flores is located in California's 2nd congressional district, which has a Cook PVI of R +13<3> and is represented by Republican Wally Herger.

[XemaSab]

55. I've never been anywhere else that looked like a war had been fought there.

Seriously.

The "town" is about half trailers and half small houses, but every single structure runs the gamut from mild disrepair (such as peeling paint and unmowed lawn) to looking like a bomb has gone off. Fully 1/4 of the structures in town are burned down, missing walls, missing roofs, totally boarded up... it's just awful. Garbage everywhere.

Really, it was shocking to see that level of poverty in California.

[devilgrrl]

86. And it's represented by Republicans

:wtf:

[Tommy_Carcetti]

164. I'd suggest you take a look at Belle Glade, Florida

Truly the saddest town I've ever been through. Looks like the 3rd world. When you drive into the town, you see on one side a large penitenturary, and on the other side you see a massive sugar mill where immigrants are paid slave wages.

[Adsos Letter]

76. ...done...

...and let's not forget Kettleman City while we're at it... :scared:

[XemaSab]

94. Kettleman City's a wide spot

People actually LIVE in, say, Paskenta... :scared:

Paskenta's too sad and in too pretty of a setting to make the list, but DUDE, that's an area with generational poverty. :(

[pink-o]

133. Kettlemen City, where the wafting scents of the slaughterhouse add so much to the ambiance

...we got stuck there once when our car broke down on the way to LA...

Four vegetarians waiting two hours in the middle of fields where cattle are waiting to die.

That was life in hell.

[Adsos Letter]

139. and...you get extra points if it was the middle of summer...

I know it well...

[quadriga]

33. Stockton, hands down. I-5 and inland deepwater industrial port.

Had to think about this hard. I really like pretty much all of California.

[Taverner]

47. I don't get the Stockton hate

It's not that bad - very seedy around the docks but hey - what docks aren't seedy?

[Xithras]

62. They named an elementary school after Der Buschenfurher.

Seriously, what's there to like?

Then there's the overwhelmingly Republican politics, the corrupt government, the gang and crime problem that ranks right up there with L.A., the chronic unemployment, the public fellating of the developer class, the polluted air. The polluted water. The polluted soil. Most of the city is grimy and run down, and the nice parts are whiter than Norway. Most of all, it's the absolute disinterest shown by the population at large to actually fix any of it.

Oh yeah, and they stole our fucking baseball team. Bastards.

[Taverner]

63. The Stockton Ports?

[Xithras]

66. The Stockton Ports used to be the Modesto A's.

Modesto was home to the A's affiliate from the 1950's on, and I grew up watching Modesto A's games at Thurman Field. Stockton did some backroom negotiations with the teams ownership and pulled the team up to the new stadium, renaming it in the process.

The Modesto Nuts are a Colorado Rockies affiliate that the city managed to grab shortly afterward, but we still miss the A's and will never forgive Stockton for stealing them from us. And yes, I can pretty much speak for all Modestans (and close-to-Modestans) on that. It's only been a couple of years, so it's still a real sore spot.

[quadriga]

34. echo

[GreenPartyVoter]

35. I had a friend who had lived in Irvine. She hated it. Called it Stepsfordsville or

something to that effect.

[KitchenWitch]

38. Hey, I live in Irvine

It is MasterPlanistan

[devilgrrl]

88. Orange County. That's my choice!

It's everything that is wrong with America.

:popcorn:

[KitchenWitch]

103. LOL

You have a point...

[DBoon]

111. Irvine is what the whole country would look like

if the Germans had won the last world war

[Merrick]

161. I'm in Irvine Right Now!

Fortunately I'm indoors, and after I get off work get to go back to Long Beach.

[XemaSab]

39. I'm going to nominate for serious second-place consideration every town in Imperial County

Cities over 10,000 population
El Centro (County Seat)
Calexico
Brawley

Cities under 10,000 population
Imperial
Calipatria
Holtville
Westmorland

Towns over 1,000 population
Heber
Seeley
Niland

Towns under 1,000 population
Salton City
Desert Shores
Winterhaven
Salton Sea Beach
Bombay Beach
Ocotillo
Palo Verde

[GOPisEvil]

67. Ooh. Hell Centro.

Good call.

[devilgrrl]

89. They beat Appalachia by country mile on the hillybilly-O-meter

Those guys from the movie 'Deliverance' have nothing on some of the people who live out there. Next to Orange County, the scariest place in the State.

[begin_within]

105. I agree that Brawley is a helltown, but

I've had lots of fun in Ocotillo and Painted Gorge!

[Throd]

44. Wilmington is the diseased anus of California, hands down!

A post-apoctalyptic hellhole populated by mutants.

[Taverner]

45. Can't be all that bad with homes like this

[Throd]

49. That picture doesn't show the carcinogens and soot in the air

From the Port of Long Beach/Los Angeles about 1/4 mile away. Nor does it show the East Side Wilmas tag just out of frame.

[begin_within]

91. The whole Carson-Long Beach area smells like oil to me.

[XemaSab]

50. Indio

or somewhere else in the Inland Empire must be considered, if you want a truly comprehensive list.

[begin_within]

92. Most of Riverside County is abominable, including the city of Riverside, which

at one time, a long time ago, was California's most populous city. Now it's a boring, hot, stupid place.

[BrotherBuzz]

54. Vacaville, California

Just ask Cindy Sheehan

[kineneb]

135. good for shopping, not much else

has "the outlets" there, most importantly, the Sanrio outlet store...

[lutefisk]

60. Thanks for this. I was wondering why Fresno house prices looked affordable

Now I know.

[The Straight Story]

64. I live in Bakersfield

People here tell me Fresno is worse :)

[Xithras]

69. Does Oildale still have that odd "burned oil and meth" smell?

That's the only town I've ever been to that actually had a distinct ODOR, and I'll never forget it. It's been many years since I was down there, but that town seemed just seemed...scuzzy.

[The Straight Story]

70. It has not changed, and probably never will

Oildale should be at the top of this list :)

[Xithras]

71. Oildale is the reason I voted Bakersfield in the poll.

Guilt by association, I guess :)

[doc03]

78. When I hear Bakersfield I think of Buck Owens one

of my favorite country singers. I love that song by Buck Owens and Dwight Yokum "Streets of Bakersfield".

[The Straight Story]

81. I was just on Buck Owen's blvd today near the crystal palace

He is the Jesus of Bakersfield :)

[The Straight Story]

65. And Needles sucks, but Barstow does as well. Tough call

At least needles is close to Arizona, so you have an out - Barstow is close to Dagget, which sucks as well...

[XemaSab]

97. Barstow has the Silver Spurs

which is a decent restaurant. :P

[QueenOfCalifornia]

68. I don't know if anyone has mentioned this HELL HOLE:

El Centro



The worst place on Earth - it even nudges out Bakersfield as one of the most horrible places to be trapped in.

[Inchworm]

74. I hate La Jolla

I was put in there jail for getting lost coming back from Tijuana. I guess I didn't pass the dress code :D

:hi:

[QueenOfCalifornia]

77. uh...

Well - I don't think that you got put in jail for getting lost. There is a big hunk of this story missing.

Yeah, sure it is a real hell hole

[Inchworm]

80. LoL

busted...

I was walking, err.. staggering, down the street at about 3am admiring all the pretty lights on the huge houses.

oops.

I didnt touch anything though. :P

:blush:

[Taverner]

125. I would love to have a La Jolla mansion, overlooking the sea

[harmonicon]

150. Oh, you have one of those La Jolla sky houses?

La Jolla is the biggest sack of shit on earth and should be razed.

[BarenakedLady]

95. yeah riiiiiiiight

[Inchworm]

96. I'll hunt you down

dont start pickin on me :D

Remember.. I'm gonna get you in the pick-up and you'll be sporting a beehive.

:rofl:

[DBoon]

110. I think people there are rude snobs

I say that from personal experience

It's about time this discussion starts picking on wealthy white areas.

[LibDemAlways]

116. The snob factor in the wealthier parts of LA is, of course,

legendary. One time I was showing a friend from New York around. She had big $$ and wanted to do some shopping in Beverly Hills. I reluctantly took her. We stopped for lunch at a restaurant that was nothing fancy, but boy were we ever given the once over when we walked in. They took us straight to the worst table in the place - with the pathway to the kitchen on one side and the pathway to the bathroom on the other. The service was awful and the food was overpriced. Could not get out of there fast enough. Never again.

[Taverner]

129. don't eat in Beverly Hills

There are a gazillion better restaraunts, all catering to WHATEVER YOU WANT all within a 5 minute drive from each other

West Hollywood has the best food in LA, hands down

[kwassa]

142. There is good food all over Los Angeles, at cheap prices, too

nothing special about West Hollywood.

It is also very easy to spend lots of money for terrible food, too.

[DBoon]

145. I've never had drivers push me off the road in Beverly Hills

That has happened twice in La Jolla. They didn't think my 10 year old toyota was fast enough for them

[Taverner]

128. No way El Lay beats us for snobbery!

We're smarter than the rest of you

We have better weather

And we take better care of ourselves

So take THAT! PThthththththtpt!

[DBoon]

144. San Diego doesn't have smog reports in the weather

They have smug reports

[Taverner]

153. But what part of "superior" don't you get?

I mean, here we are, cream of the crop, and you're, what, an out of work actor doing tables ;)

I keed I keed....

[devilgrrl]

152. I'll bite, fuckin' Newport Beach

People have everything they could possibly ever want and walk around as if it's just not good enough. The most miserable people on earth.

[hunter]

167. I have very similar feelings about Santa Monica.

:D

[Initech]

75. What about Costa Mesa? Or Yorba Linda?

Home to Trinity Broadcast Network, or my hometown of Yorba Linda, birth place of modern conservatism and the 37th Asswipe of the United States, Richard Nixon?

[DeposeTheBoyKing]

79. Barstow, from what I've seen

We drove through there on the way to SF and thought it was HORRID. Bakersfield is a close second, though.

[cloudbase]

82. Llano.

Of the places I've been to there.

[swag]

83. Fresno sucks harder than Bakersfield

and Barstow has a poetic name, so I voted for Fresno.

[Popol Vuh]

84. Baker

I am going to have to vote Baker.

[devilgrrl]

85. With the exception of the coastal areas, California is the hugest hillybilly state in the USA

Who would have thought?

BTW, Yucca Valley is pretty unsettling as well.

[Taverner]

126. By geography, yes. Population, no

We keep pushing those stupid knuckledraggers out of the city limits ;)

[begin_within]

87. And the winner is...

...Bombay Beach, California

situated on the shores of the lovely and polluted Salton Sea

Fed by agricultural runoff and the New River, the most polluted river in North America, carrying raw sewage and toxic wastes into the U.S. from the maquiladoras of northern Mexico

Don't forget to visit nearby Salvation Mountain:

The most god-awful tourist "attraction" ever conceived

And say "hi" to Leonard Knight, who created it.

[devilgrrl]

93. Hey! Leonard Knight is a great guy!

:spank:

Without a doubt one of the kindest human beings you'll ever encounter. I have a great picture of him holding Sen. Barbara Boxer's Congressional Record submission. I'll post it if I can figure out where it is.

http://www.salvationmountain.us/record_L2.html#c_record

[begin_within]

104. That's cool

I didn't make any judgement of him. I think his mountain is tacky and ugly, but in a way I guess it's so awful that it's cool too.

[Taverner]

127. I've heard of him - he seems like one of those Christians who actually read the Beatitudes

[XemaSab]

98. I have to stick up a little bit for Barstow

I spent three weeks last year there, and while it wasn't great, it beat the crap out of a lot of other places I've been.

I'd rather spend a month in Barstow than a month in Hanford.

At least you can take a shower in Barstow without smelling like cow shit afterward. :scared:

(And on edit: hi Whoa_Nelly! :hi: )

[Awsi Dooger]

101. Besides, Barstow has a Tommy's

Chili burger delight, my old post midnight stomping grounds at USC. The closest version to Las Vegas is Barstow.

Barstow has always been a convenient stop, basically the half way point between Los Angeles and Las Vegas. So it earns points for that alone.

Baker has to be a nominee. Unbearably hot, a few schlock joints with absurd pricing, then often a log jam trying to get back onto 1-15.

[drmeow]

99. Its not Garden Grove

its Garbage Grove (at least thats what we Fullertonians called it). As for Yorba Linda, what a tragedy. When they bussed the Yorba Linda students to my high school, there were still tons of orchards in YL. Not anymore!

Needles is pretty awful - I used to call it the pimple on the ass of California.

Irvine - the master planned community that restricted bowling alleys.

I actually like Riverside a lot when I lived there (I was at UCR). Mind you, this was 17 years ago and I'm sure its gotten pretty bad but I used to go on some AWESOME bike rides around campus which I remember fondly. I also liked the Mission.

[Mendocino]

100. Redding

I've only visited Cal a few times, but Redding sticks out as the worst. We saw it on our way from the coast to Tahoe. Full of pawn shops and gun stores. It wouldn't suprise me if the KKK has a branch there.

[XemaSab]

102. Hate to break it to you but the KKK has a branch in Mendo too...

There are things about Redding that are scary and suck... the racism, the fundies, the tweekers... but there's about 20 other cities in California that leave Redding BEHIND as far as suckage.

[Taverner]

119. The KKK is all over the US

Heck, there's probably a chapter here in San Ramon

But there are also Democrats and Progressives everywhere too.

I still think the strangest place I met a local progressive was Beaumont, TX. That city puts Fresno to shame - but the light of the world lives there too.

[kineneb]

136. still am glad I am -from- Redding instead of still living there

second hottest damned place on the earth, only topped by Death Valley. I grew up there, still have family there, have no desire to move back. Ever. I'm staying put in the foothills.

[LeftyMom]

114. A friend of mine was jumped and kidnapped by some racist fucks up there.

Before he got loose they branded him with a hot coat hanger. :wtf:

[Taverner]

121. Yikes

Redding always seemed what I like to refer to as "Contractor Redneck"

Lots of Rednecks with upper middle class incomes, and a lot of them are Contractors. They all wear stupid caps, have moustaches and go to fundie churches. Their dislikes are anyone who isn't white, christian and male.

[pink-o]

134. Oh, God I was waiting for someone to mention Redding!

...I lived there for one year 20 years ago. Gawd, it was soooo hideous.

My next door neighbour had a sticker on his truck that said:

God Created Man.
Smith and Wesson made them Equal.

Not to mention the thermometer went up to 119 degrees the summer I was there. The only hotter place in the world that day was in Bahrain.

And as for the KKK...well...I read last year that a mixed couple woke up one morning to find a cross burned on their front lawn. Excuse me, 1956 just called, they want their town back!!!

It's true: Cali is loaded with redneck hick hillbillies--and not the Clampets in Beverley! We used to talk about splitting the state between north and south, we now want to split it between east and west.

[siligut]

115. I voted Molesto!

That town is full of predators and victims. Most everyone works at the cannery and those that don’t just prey on them. Sad.

[Zavulon]

117. Seaside.

So close to Monterey and Carmel, and it's a drug-ridden shithole.

[Fawkes]

118. Needles

Huge cockroaches everywhere. Ugh.

Then Bakersfield and Barstow.

A long time ago, I would have said Redding, but now I live here and I actually think it's beautiful. Still a lot of rednecks but that's changing. In the primary, voters were divided something like 53% repug and 47% democrats. We do not have huge cockroaches, thank god.

[XemaSab]

130. You saw huge cockroaches in Needles too?!?!?!

XOMG!!!!!!11111!!1!!!1

[Fawkes]

157. Yes, I did!

I was out for a walk with my dog and my daughter. They were horrible. I didn't even want to spend the night in the hotel we had already paid for.

[Ellen Forradalom]

120. Of the towns I've seen

Eureka and Crescent City are pretty sorry
The edge of Bakersfield was no great shakes. Didn't see downtown.

[Taverner]

137. Thing about Eureka is, you can always live in Arcata

Which isn't that bad...

[SKKY]

122. I'm going with Barstow due to its close proximity to China Lake...

[Blue_In_AK]

138. How are things in Marysville these days?

I used to live up there in Forbestown and had to go into Marysville to cash my welfare check. It sucked. (Maybe because I was going there to cash my welfare check, never a pleasant experience.)

[Adsos Letter]

141. Marysville is same-ol' same-ol'...

just like a lot of towns in that part of the country...Yuba City, etc.

[Adsos Letter]

140. Hey, now that I think about it...

Let's not forget to add Pittsburg and Hercules to that mix...all those nice oil refineries do wonders for the ambience...

[kwassa]

143. Downey, industrial armpit of Los Angeles

famous only for having the very first McDonalds restaurant.

I agree with the rest of the picks, here. A big chunk of California is featureless desert, with the occasional crummy little town inserted.

[hyphenate]

147. I like Barstow

Sort of like the oasis in the desert, ya know? Ooops.....it IS an oasis in the desert! :wow:

My vote for worst: either San Berdoo or anywhere in the SGV where David Dreier is the rep. I lived in West Covina, and I never, ever talked with his office and got satisfaction. On the other hand, my mom is still in Pasadena, and he's her rep now. I wish the bastard would get pounced in the next election.

[XemaSab]

159. kick

n/t

[chaska]

160. Rancho Cucamonga. Ugh. Most fake-ass, plastic, phony, middle class, shopping mall of a town on Earth

Zappa got his start there (had his first rehearsal hall/studio there). Even he couldn't redeem the place.

[Merrick]

162. Watts is pretty bad

Had a job there while working for a moving company during my college days. There was a dead dog behind the client's house. Upon informing the man of said dog corpse, he offered us the comfort of knowing that it didn't bite.

I live in Long Beach, grew up in San Diego and have been in lots of rough neighborhoods around LA and SD, but Watts takes the cake.

[CreekDog]

166. Gotta be Vernon, California

from wikipedia:

The city is also home to several rendering plants, food processors, smelters and metal working companies.

The city held no contested elections from 1980 to 2006; as the population is extremely low and the area of the city almost entirely industrial, most of the municipally owned housing is occupied by city employees, and has regularly voted to cancel elections (this is permitted by law, if the number of candidates equals the number of seats up for vote). Mayor Leonis C. Malburg is a grandson of one of the founders of the city, leading to frequent allegations of political fiefdom or illiberal democracy. Currently, the District Attorney's office of Los Angeles County is conducting a criminal investigation into allegations of public corruption by city officials, including former City Administrator Bruce V. Malkenhorst Sr.

[taught_me_patience]

168. Covina

Ugg that place is terrible. The problem is that there is always so much damn traffic on the 10 through Covina. WHERE THE HELL ARE ALL THE PEOPLE DRIVING TO?!?!? A crappy city is bad enough... but a crappy city with bad traffic 24/7 is just too much to take.