Cities in the Heartland...best and crappiest

[eauclaireliberal]

The most beautiful city IMHO in the heartland is Duluth, MN. It's no contest: For an industrial city, it is layed out and the upkeep makes it awesome (although, it's got to be a HUGE pain in the ass in winter, seeing as to how it's built on bluffs).

The most crappy city in the midwest is-again, no contest-Gary, IN. Sometimes I wonder if the Indiana state government tried to sell that part of their state to Illinois. What a pile of shit to have as a tax burden.

The second most crappy city is Superior, WI. The place reminds me of the south side of Milwaukee (around 2cd and National that is).

Okay, let's see yours.

[bif]

1. Best=Chicago Worst=Detroit

[mairceridwen]

2. i l ike detroit

it's dangerous and kind of dirty. there are no parks really but I have inherited some detroit pride from my best friend. the music scene is good and in nearby dearborn you can have the best middle eastern food in all of north america. you can get an openfaced lamb's tongue sandwich at 3am at a local drive through

duluth is beautiful, went there for the first time this past summer.

memories of chicago are among my happiets. i am so glad my brother gets to live there

i don't get out much so I don't know about the crappiest. i imagine gary, IN would be bad.

[eauclaireliberal]

11. Gary, East Chicago, and Hammond....

are extensions of the crappy parts of Chicago's south side extended over the state border.

[barackmyworld]

3. Best=Chicago

no cities in the heartland suck. We all rule.

[ewagner]

4. Can't argue too much

Duluth is beautiful with the exception of playing "bumper cars" on the hills in the winter.

I have relatives from Gary, Indiana...they mourn the loss of their old home town as it was in the 50's and 60's...

Superior I find interesting because it looks and feels like what it is....an old longshoreman's town.

My favorite of all is Ashland, Wisconsin....Chequamegon Bay is beautiful. Small town, no-nonsense people.

I love Downtown Chicago...from the loop to the near-north side. Hate the 'burbs...

[eauclaireliberal]

17. RE:"Can't argue too much"

Superior I find interesting because it looks and feels like what it is....an old longshoreman's town.

The problem with Superior is that they let it decay. The should do what Ashland did-revitalize the shore and the city, and make the old ore piers historical landmarks.

[hollywood926]

5. I nominate Columbus, Ohio for...

best AND crappiest.

Parts of it (the short north, Clintonville, German Village) are beautiful and cool and liberal (!), and other parts are boring and ugly and full of freepers.

I do miss it sometimes. Not in December.

[mairceridwen]

16. yes

I lived in Columbus for two years. I spend my breaks up there with my boyfriend.

I don't really like it otherwise, but there are far worse places.

[maxsolomon]

6. chicago/cincinnati

i've lived in both.

chicago is vital & downtown-oriented. it has mass transit.

cincinnati is sterile & gutted.

[Magrittes Pipe]

8. Cincinnati has its problems...

...but "sterile" is not among them. Not by a long shot.

[Cyndee_Lou_Who]

7. Chicago is the best!!

Gary, IN worst - it smells funny.

[Magrittes Pipe]

9. Cleveland is both.

I fucking love Cleveland. A good local music scene, a great place to eat and drink, good people; not to mention the beautiful Terminal Tower, my favorite building in the world.

It's also the poorest city in the country, it's got shit schools and rampant governmental corruption, lots of crime, and no work to be found.

[Tweed]

10. Chicago is the best city in or out of the Heartland

Chicago just rules.

[eauclaireliberal]

13. RE: "Chicago is the best city in or out of the Heartland"

I lived in Wrigleyville for about three years (Belmont & Sheffield). I loved it.

[SemiCharmedQuark]

19. Damn right.

I usually go back home to Chicago on weekends, and they can't come quickly enough. Personally, I like Chicago better than New York, but that may be just my bias.

[Tweed]

28. "You can actually live in Chicago. You can only exist in New York"

You can quote me on that

[Metatron]

12. Be nice to Gary, Indiana - they always vote blue!

Although, Gary is definitely a troubled city with serious problems. I do think Chicago is the best city in the midwest.

[huskerlaw]

14. Best = Chicago

Worst = Kansas City (anywhere outside of the Plaza area is just plain crappy)

As for smaller cities...Best = Lincoln, Nebraska (clean, pretty, unusually liberal). Worst = Iowa (I'm going for the whole thing. Never seen a town there I didn't want to leave immediately).

[MuseRider]

21. Kansas City

I should stay out of this but I agree with you. The fountains are lovely but the rest? I have never known anyone from Kansas City who did not think the rest of the world should vote them the very best. HUGE identity crisis there. Perhaps if they could decide who and what they really are it would help. OK, I am going into hiding now.

[KitchenWitch]

15. Best Minneapolis

Worst St. Paul

People who live in the Twin Cities know that pretty much the entire city of St. Paul closes up after about 6 PM...the downtown area is a ghost town with no charm, or decent businesses.

Minneapolis has a very vibrant theatre district, there are clubs and businesses open in both downtown and uptown, there are lakes, parks and Norm Coleman was never the mayor!

[katinmn]

24. St. Paul is quieter and smaller than Minneapolis

but it's the best city for taking a stroll through historic neighborhoods and meeting your neighbors.

You're right about our mayors though. Coleman and now Kelly, both turn coats, let us down bigtime.

[Left Is Write]

26. I love BOTH Minneapolis and St. Paul.

Minneapolis is by far my favorite city, though.

I loathe Norm Coleman. My husband and I saw him shopping once in West St. Paul, and he acted like he owned the place. Pompous prick.

[SemiCharmedQuark]

18. Hands down, the best city is Chicago.

All you have to do is be there for Christmas and you'd agree. It's beautiful, the people are friendly, and for a city it is exceptionally clean.

Worst? I'd say...Cincinnati.

[Kurt Remarque]

20. madison wisconsin is good

[Lizzie Borden]

23. Madison Wi. is the best

most beautiful and most liberal bar none.

[AwakeAtLast]

22. I'm not sure there can be a best, but the worst has to be

East St. Louis, MO!!!!

It's scary there!

[eauclaireliberal]

25. RE: "I'm not sure there can be a best, but the worst has to be"

I went through there once, on my way to Alton.

It's in IL, BTW.

[Left Is Write]

27. We honeymooned on the North Shore near Duluth.

We stayed at a lodge in Two Harbors, but spent a large part of our time in Duluth. I've always enjoyed it there, but I do prefer the summer.