My vote goes to Gary Indiana. I’ve heard that place is very dangerous if you don’t know what you are doing.

27 comments

  2. agreed OP Gary. I’ve been to most other dangerous cities I can think of. before i visited it Houston intimidated me for some reason

  3. Definitely St. Louis and it’s not even close. I would rather visit Chicago for a month than be in STL for a week.

  5. Detroit Michigan. I hear a lot of bad stories about violent crime and cold blooded murder in that city.

  6. Detroit, chicago and florida / LA.
    Based mostly on the media that has been served to the rest of the world since hollywood started up 😉

  9. OP, you are so right. Gary has got to be the sketchiest place. I drove around Gary for about 15 minutes on a roadtrip because my stupid GPS routed me off the interstate. I felt so uneasy driving through blocks and blocks of nothing but buildings in severe disrepair with street figures looking like they’d rob me if they were given the chance.

  10. I’d probably have to tread into a known gang territory/neighborhood somewhere like Ethan Hawke in Training Day to have a legitimate fear for my safety.

    I don’t think there’s a single US city I’d feel unsafe in.

  15. Los Angeles. Tremendous amount of homeless and drug use which often draws crime.

  18. Never been to America. For a whole city I’d say Chicago, for an area I’d say Skid Row.

  22. Grew up just outside of Gary. Its positively the worst.

    As far as cities go that I have not visited…hard saying, I’ve traveled a lot and, after Gary everywhere else seems not so bad. I guess NYC.

  23. “Stockton, motherfucker!”

    The way it’s represented in the media, it feels like Baltimore is probably the worst. And I feel like Detroit has an undeservedly bad reputation and isn’t really as horrible as people say. That’s just the impression I’ve been given. It might not be true.

    Also, before reading this thread I just thought Chicago was like New York with cheaper housing. I was completely unaware that it had such a bad reputation.

  24. OP, I stopped in Gary, Indiana as I was headed back east because I wanted White Castle and decided to take the risk for quick access to those juicy little steamed buns.

    It was a two-sided drive-thru, which I had never seen before in any fast food chain. I was asked to move to the other side. Granted, we ordered a decent bit of food. But it was taking forever, so I started to get worried.

    At one point, I was just looking around to make sure we weren’t about to get set up for a robbery/car-jacking. The girls working there were extremely nice, which only intensified my suspicions.

    Nothing happened, and made it peacefully out of Gary. I’d still risk it again for White Castle. Harold and Kumar were on to something.

  25. Flint and Detroit Michigan, I remember watching something on tv when the police captain or commissioner of one of the cities warned people not to come because “they can’t protect” them. If the police tell you not to come you know it’s bad.

  27. I’ve lived in or directly adjacent to Detroit for most of my adult life. It’s no more dangerous than any similarly sized city and the downtown area is quite nice with many expensive apartments, boutique hotels and high-end restaurants. I’ve spent a lot of time in Chicago, never had any issues. Same with Miami, New York, and DC. As with most cities, if you leave downtown and seek out the more poverty-stricken neighborhoods, the crime risk increases. I lived in Houston for a spell, pretty much the same thing there – most cities have nicer neighborhoods and sketchier neighborhoods.

    Based on stories, I would probably agree with Gary. Never heard anything good about it, crime stats seem to paint a grim picture, and it always looks pretty depressing and bleak when I drive by on my way to Chicago.

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