Cities with an undeserved bad rap
 

What cities in your state in your opinion have an undeserved bad rap?

Why make this thread? You are asking for trouble.


Mine own is actually great to live in, not so much for visiting unless you at every into golf and doing outdoor activities tbt require long drives.

On this forum it’s overly disparaged and not worthy of its rep.

Could you possibly elaborate? "Bad rap" tends to be a relative term.

(wrong thread)

Brussels is an interesting, attractive city that would be the absolute highlight of many regions.

Brussels has a bad rap? I loved it there.

OP's Question] What cities in your state in your opinion have an undeserved bad rap?

That's a tough one. Many cities do deserve the bad rap they get.

WTS, from an in state perspective, maybe Sacramento and/or San Bernardino?

From an outside national perception, San Jose gets an undeserved bad rap, often overlooked and under appreciated for a city of it's size and industry.

Any gilded age non-college town us mid size city

Scranton, pa

Syracuse, ny

Allentown, pa

Easton, pa

Flint, mi (the fake lead poisoning hoax)...beautiful downtown

Bufffalo, ny (2/3 of the metro area is very nice)

La crosse, wi (looks beautiful, I assumed it looked like Waukegan)

Columbus , oh (nicer than Indy)



Most Mid size New England cities are under praised (outside CT, CT cities deserve to be under praised)

Binghamton ny

The Detroit, NYC, Atlanta rap scene has been great.

But I'm a fan of West Coast rap.

There generally has not been bad rap coming from those cities (if you count the good rappers) or in the past. All the greats, Snoop Dogg, Ice Cube, Dr.Dre in collaboration with Eminem (Detroits best celebrity), Tupac, Biggie, DMX, Jay-Z, NAS, 50 Cent, T.I.., Mos Def.

Lil Wayne when he was good back in his day made New Orleans have good rap.

Some of this mumble rap crap is giving the game a bad name to some cities where these rappers hail from.

But we can't forget the great locations (Los Angeles, Detroit, Atlanta (Young Jeezy), New Orleans, Bronx/Brooklyn/Queens. All deserved good rap places. But the new generation of rappers sucks, and gives these cities a bad rap.

But nowadays, young folks listen to garbage like City Girls, Niki Minaj, Cardi B, 21 Savage, Gucci Mane, 2 Chainz... its all rubbish. Yeah I like the bodies on some of them girls in the videos, but the music is horrible.

But anyhow, undeserved yes, and you can thank all the garbage rappers giving cities bad rap.

Son, they shook
Cause ain't no such things as halfway crooks
Scared to death, scared to look, they shook
Cause ain't no such things as halfway crooks
Scared to death, scared to look, they shook
Cause ain't no such things as halfway crooks
Scared to death, scared to look, they shook
Cause ain't no such things as halfway crooks

;)

Phoenix, the endless discussions on this board alone are proof

I have had people back east literally ask me if I found using elevators unusual as if Phoenix has no elevators :shrug:

I think the general perception vs reality are hugely disconnected

It's definitely under-appreciated.

I was going to throw out Frankfurt. (I've done this before when this question has been asked.)

Frankfurt certainly doesn't have oodles of magical charm, but it is still reasonably OK as a city, and in many regions of the world (especially parts of North America), would be the uncontested urban gem within a radius of many hundreds of km.

St Louis for sure. I’ve always said it’s the western most eastern city. It’s got probably a top 5 zoo in the country, the free art museum, beautiful neighborhoods (Lafayette Park, Soulard, Shaw, Tower Grove, Midtown, The Hill, Central West End), great baseball and hockey teams, great beer scene, the muny ( America’s oldest and Largest outdoor musical theatre), Washington University is a top school in the country, Barnes Jewish Hospital, Forest Park (Larger than Central Park), the Cortex innovation district, tons of great architecture spanning so many eras, and lastly the Arch. The media really gives the city a bad rep. Yes we’re not economically crushing it, and yes there are some racial issues, (the delmar divide is definitely a reality the city needs to focus on), and unfortunately tons of corruption at the city and county level of government. If you look past that, the city is pretty damn great, it’s very affordable compared to the coasts, and the people are friendly like much of the Midwest.

Not really in North America but most Europeans I know trash Brussels at any opportunity. I’ve never been but at some point want to go to Belgium for beer related reasons, which would obviously include Brussels for Cantillon.


As to the question at hand I’ll throw in Johannesburg. For obvious reasons.

the the cities in oregon always get a bad rap. people expect it to be like calfornia, but now california isnt looking good from what i hear. you dont move to the west coast to get ahead in life (unless you move to la or sf), you do it so you can live a easier life. or that was true 20 year ago, probably not now.

Montreal

My city of Norfolk gets a bad rep. People I know from Virginia Beach act like I live in a warzone. We are actually safer(I believe) than Newport News and Hampton though...but we are the second-largest city in the area and most urban, so the stigma sticks with us.

Chicago

Yes there are a lot of murders and it's baaaaad

But a legitimate point has been made that its murder rate per capita really isn't that high when compared to several other American cities that don't have that reputation

Springfield, IL

Known for some serious corruption.

That's a bad rap, but it's also true!

Ha, ha! But seriously, my own city, Ottawa, the so called 'town that fun forgot'. Hardly the case when I went downtown last night. The week long Pride festival was coming to its climax, and the international fireworks festival had its final display for the season. Thousands were milling about downtown enjoying a clear summer day. It even surprised me how busy the streets and sidewalks were. The city is hardly a sleepy place anymore with festivals of all sorts taking place continuously all summer and even in less touristy times of the year.

How the heck does Montreal have a bad rap?