What is the shadiest street stretch you have ever seen?

[SkahHigh]

I was doing some Streetview around Detroit and stumbled upon this beauty:

https://www.google.com/maps/@42.4177...7i16384!8i8192

Just imagine how gloomy walking at night in that area is.

This made me think, what are some of the sketchiest stretches of street you have ever seen? It could be one you've seen in person, or Streetview, hometown or not, anything! I'm looking to see if anything can match Detroit's worst.

[iheartthed]

What is the douchiest premise for a thread you've ever seen?

[the urban politician]

This is just gonna be a rehashed "urban decay porn" kind of thread and, once again, Detroit will take most of the licks.

[mhays]

"Shady" would usually refer to trees.

[Hudson11]

Originally Posted by mhays

"Shady" would usually refer to trees.

haha, I was thinking the same when I clicked on the thread.

[chris08876]

Here it is:

https://www.google.com/maps/@40.7069...7i13312!8i6656

The shadiest people can be found on this street.

Lots of shady deals, lives have been made or ruined here. And within these office towers, many shady and unethical deals have been made.

Its a different kind of shady, not just urban decay. Can exist among the gold pillars.

[Crawford]

The bombed out neighborhoods of Detroit (and presumably other places) tend to not be particularly dangerous, because they have few or no people.

The highest crime neighborhoods in Detroit are the far NE and far NW sides, and they're fully occupied and suburban looking.

[iheartthed]

Originally Posted by chris08876

Here it is:

https://www.google.com/maps/@40.7069...7i13312!8i6656

The shadiest people can be found on this street.

Lots of shady deals, lives have been made or ruined here. And within these office towers, many shady and unethical deals have been made.

Its a different kind of shady, not just urban decay. Can exist among the gold pillars.

Probably way more illicit drugs available on that street than on the abandoned block in Detroit, too.

[llamaorama]

If you mean personally experienced, I guess my workplace is in Northeast Houston which is kind of gross.

The east to northeast side of Houston was never desirable. You had really poor minority neighborhoods that petered out into a kind of rural slum among dense pine forests. The roads are narrow asphalt lanes with ditches along the side and it has a deep south country atmosphere. It's where the junkyards and landfills were/are. The Beltway wasn't even completed in this quadrant until 2012.

Jensen Dr. in Houston looks like a scene from a zombie movie. It's not so scary as it is just sad. Everything is abandoned and there are always people who look like they are very down on their luck jaywalking across the road in a daze.

[AviationGuy]

Deleted.

[chris08876]

There's a youtube channel called " CharlieBo313 " in which, he drives around shady areas. Literally, drives around various cities in the shady areas. Tons of videos for those that want to get their crumbling neighborhoods desire out of their system.

[GlassCity]

Originally Posted by Crawford

The bombed out neighborhoods of Detroit (and presumably other places) tend to not be particularly dangerous, because they have few or no people.

The highest crime neighborhoods in Detroit are the far NE and far NW sides, and they're fully occupied and suburban looking.

Vancouver is similar. The places that look the scariest aren't actually all that dangerous, because it's mostly just homeless people lying around who just want to do their own thing. Obviously there's always the risk of a tweaker just going off, but it's not the type of place with regular jumpings or assaults or whatever. It's the more innocuous suburban-looking neighbourhoods where you would really be watching your back and avoiding walking at night.

For example, the infamous Downtown Eastside is generally not bad to walk through, even at night. If you stick to the main streets, it's not even that threatening: https://www.google.ca/maps/@49.28131...7i16384!8i8192

However, I would avoid this area after dark: https://www.google.ca/maps/@49.13356...7i13312!8i6656

Winnipeg is much easier to read: the scarier an area looks, the scarier it probably is. Although the places themselves may not look as bad as they feel, or as the stories go: https://www.google.ca/maps/@49.91576...7i13312!8i6656

[chris08876]

Irvington NJ:

• Video Link

Parts of Camden:

• Video Link

[JManc]

Originally Posted by llamaorama

If you mean personally experienced, I guess my workplace is in Northeast Houston which is kind of gross.

The east to northeast side of Houston was never desirable. You had really poor minority neighborhoods that petered out into a kind of rural slum among dense pine forests. The roads are narrow asphalt lanes with ditches along the side and it has a deep south country atmosphere. It's where the junkyards and landfills were/are. The Beltway wasn't even completed in this quadrant until 2012.

Jensen Dr. in Houston looks like a scene from a zombie movie. It's not so scary as it is just sad. Everything is abandoned and there are always people who look like they are very down on their luck jaywalking across the road in a daze.

Stray dogs and chickens in the street. I drive past that area all the time between downtown and Kingwood and you can see the blight and despair from 59.

[pdxtex]

i worked in sw detroit for two years near zug island. thats probably the scariest looking neighborhood you could conjure up in the western world but its probably not the most dangerous. my two surprised i didnt get stabbed moments probably took place in the tenderloin and near kings cross station in the mid 90s in london, tripping on acid and walking back from a rave at 3 in the morning! the only place where ive ever actually been violently accosted was here in portland, or. i was wasted and some tweaker pulled a knife on me downtown. i hastily windmill punched him in the face and took off quickly. it happened in front pioneer place. not a scary part of town....

[Sun Belt]

This is pretty shady, except it's not just one block on one street:

https://goo.gl/maps/qfqsDEuHCFJDJAdx7

[giallo]

Skid Row around Los Angeles St and San Pedro St are intense. If you're not used to it, it's unlike anything you've seen anywhere. The only places that come close to me was the area near the bus station in downtown San Jose, Costa Rica and pretty much all of Managua, Nicaragua.

LA is far from broke, but Skid Row makes LA look like it's on its last dollar.

[chris08876]

Just blocks and blocks of Skidrow too. Tale of two cities. You have the tents, the debris, the vagrants... meanwhile in the background, the glimmering towers of wealth.

I'm suprised LA isn't doing anything to reduce the tents. Possibly providing actual shelter. Take NYC, the homeless are out no doubt, but its not like it use to be in the 90's. Even early 2000's. Lots of shelters are around, and its not even 1% of what Skidrow is. At least, not that in-your-face scenario that Skidrow presents. Its just out in the open, and so close to downtown.

[eschaton]

Originally Posted by giallo

Skid Row around Los Angeles St and San Pedro St are intense. If you're not used to it, it's unlike anything you've seen anywhere. The only places that come close to me was the area near the bus station in downtown San Jose, Costa Rica and pretty much all of Managua, Nicaragua.

LA is far from broke, but Skid Row makes LA look like it's on its last dollar.

I always find it odd how much more common homeless encampments are on the west coast right in the urban core. I mean, I know the climate is much more hospitable to living outside 365 days a year, but still. I'm used to seeing the odd bum here or there with a sleeping bag, or finding a few tents in the woods or tucked in beneath underpasses. Not in areas directly adjacent to a CBD.

[lio45]

Originally Posted by Crawford

The bombed out neighborhoods of Detroit (and presumably other places) tend to not be particularly dangerous, because they have few or no people.

The highest crime neighborhoods in Detroit are the far NE and far NW sides, and they're fully occupied and suburban looking.

Yes and no.

Sure, the number of actual crimes per year is higher when there are people, but that's not the same thing at all as the odds of being a victim somewhere.

To illustrate:

If you go in nearly empty Neighborhood A, you're almost certain to get murdered or robbed. This happens 100 times a year (to crazy people who somehow go there for some reason).

Meanwhile, very densely inhabited Neighborhood B sees 200 crimes a year, but your odds of anything happening to you there are in the 0%-5% range.

Your numbers-driven logic leads you to think Neighborhood A is twice as safe (half the number of crimes), but in fact Neighborhood B is much safer.

Another factor is that not all crimes "concern you" equally. If Neighborhood C sees 500 crimes a year and Neighborhood D only 100, but in Neighborhood C (which is populated) it's all stuff like conjugal violence, while in Neighborhood D it's only muggings and robbings, then if you're going to walk alone in the streets as a tourist you're safer in Neighborhood C.