Best and worst cities you ever lived in

[el badman]

I don't think this has been done before, but having traveled quite a lot and lived in different cities in the US, I was wondering what you guys think are the best and the worst cities you've ever got a chance to live in (not just in the US of course), and why.

- I personally like El Paso TX quite a lot because I've done some studying here and that was my first experience on my own in the US, but I know it's kind of a shithole.
So far, Albuquerque NM is the best city I've lived in. It probably sounds horrible to most people but it's actually a pretty interesting city, lots of history, Indian reserves, Santa Fe is very close,...

- Los Angeles would be the worst city I've lived in. There's obvisouly everything you need there, but if you don't wanna live in the crappy areas and don't happen to be loaded with dough, life can be a nightmare there: traffic, prices, pollution, overall stress level...It certainly has the potential the be the greatest citiy for some people, but it just totally drained me after 8-9 months there.

Now if anyone's interested in sharing their picks...

[Donatello]

I don't live IN Portland, I live in a suburb. But.. I absolutely love the city of Portland. It's clean, it's got a great mix of 'old' and 'new'... an interesting variety of people as well. Good music scene.

I've only really lived in two metropolitan areas in my life, the first being Kansas City for age 1-23, and then Portland for the last 2 years.

I'd rate Portland WAY above Kansas City. Kansas City is dirty, old, the people are all the same and quite rude, there's a horrible music scene (nothing against rap/hip-hop, but amateur rap sucks).

[el badman]

I don't live IN Portland, I live in a suburb. But.. I absolutely love the city of Portland. It's clean, it's got a great mix of 'old' and 'new'... an interesting variety of people as well. Good music scene.

My friends from the band Kaddisfly are from there, they were staying at my place a couple of days ago and they kept telling me how great Portland is. I'll definitely visit at some point, sounds like an interesting place.

[Joe']

I'm still really young so the only two cities I've ever lived in are Milan and Buenos Aires. Both have pros and cons, but overall Buenos Aires is a much, much better city.

It's bigger, cleaner, and it actually has what no Italian city has: suburbs and neighborhoods, single-family homes, parks or other "green-areas" and buildings that aren't three-hundred years old.

It's probably not a big deal for most of you, because living in North America, you're used to condos being 2,000 sq. feet, but apartments here are 400 at most. And five people living in such small space can become pretty irritating at times.

Plus, lots of buildings were built before 1800 and newer buildings built in the past and the current century were built in a way so that they resemble the older buildings (read: look old). It wouldn't bother me if the buildings were actually an example of good architecture, like say Dutch Baroque or Queen Anne, but the fact that every single building is either an Italianate or a Renaissance piece, or a revival of either, is really depressing.

The only thing more depressing than walking down the streets in the morning and seeing those old buildings is seeing that they haven't been cleaned for a good fifty years.

Buenos Aires, as I said, is much better as a city. Although I don't know if I would like to live there as of right now. The safety is a big problem if you don't live in a fenced neighborhood, which are very common in Greater Buenos Aires, but still. And, well, Milan may be a lousy city to live in, but it's in Europe.

As for cities I visited, well I visited quite a few and the one I liked the most was New York City, even though I don't remember much about it, I was six at the time.

[Sauru]

best = boston

worst = atlanta

[Lamrock]

Best: Seattle (where I am now)

Worst: Eugene, OR (Not at all a bad place, but I've only lived in two cities, and Seattle is better.

[Cool2Fool]

Best = Seattle Washington

Worst = Los Angeles California because my family is so poor, I'm stuck here for the rest of my life

[Fitzy]

all you guys should move to horsham, it goes off here! woop woop

[J@3]

I've driven through Horsham a few times, it makes Canberra look like Vegas.

Best: Tamworth, England closely followed by Melbourne.

Worst: Newcastle. An absolute cesspool that probably should be bulldozed and forgotten.

[Indy]

Best- Chicago. Chicago is probably among the three best cities in the world to live in if you are a big city type person.

[Andrew]

Worst: Newcastle. An absolute cesspool that probably should be bulldozed and forgotten.

I'll never quite get your beef with Newcastle, unless it was just the area you were in. Cesspool seems a bit harsh, all the same.