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UK........we all know about parts of London but for me parts of inner city liverpool were pretty grim
Some of the streets around goodison park , Anfield and Toxteth and croxteth were very deprived
Not done a lot of the states but Detroit and Cleveland gave me the willies
Many years ago whilst on a business trip to the US I was in Philadelphia and went for a drive. Got lost and ended up in South Philadelphia. Finally found my way out, told some US friends about this and they were horrified. I quote:-
While the majority of Americans report that they believe Chicago is the most dangerous city in America, looking solely at the murder rate per capita, Philadelphia could be considered one of the most dangerous big cities in America with a murder rate of 21.5 per 100,000 people.27 Jul 2020
Also got lost in Baltimore on the way back from DC.
Went to the League cup game against Liverpool in 2007. Surprised how dreadful the streets around Anfield were. My sister lived in a very dodgy area of Kilburn, moved to a block of flats in Battersea and saw someone being stabbed to death outside the front. She'd never live in London again.Quote:
Originally Posted by SLUDGE FACTORY
As for scary, when she was about 19 or 20 she went to South America chasing after a guy she'd met a few years before on a rugby trip. She crossed over a border from Colombia to Brazil and was followed at a distance by a bloke with a gun. Scared for her life, she went into a small shop just over the border and was offered shelter by the owner. Turned out her handbag was open and her camera was visibly on display, so the drug barons running the border were very suspicious of her. She managed to get a car and escaped.
Parts of Miami right up there for me, really deprived areas.
Went to Watt's in LA which has a bad reputation, but it wasn't too bad, but this was the middle of the day and there were a number of burnt out cars dotted around the metro station - so I imagine it was probably a little more intimidating when the California sun went down... considering the area and the history was somewhat surprised Cardiff Uni sent a small group of us into the area, but nonetheless some good street art and Watts towers, so not a totally redundant visit.
Not in the UK or US but Paris is by far the roughest place I've ever been, and the only city I've been too which I felt truly unsafe in.
Was up in Sunderland last year and parts of that seemed a bit grim and the locals didn't seem that fussed on outsiders. Oldham and Luton aren't places to hang around long in either. Not sure if its improved these days but Rhyl used to be a right dump, the seafront was full of boarded up houses with a rusting abandoned pleasure park for company.
Was up in Sunderland last year and parts of that seemed a bit grim and the locals didn't seem that fussed on outsiders. Oldham and Luton aren't places to hang around long in either. Not sure if its improved these days but Rhyl used to be a right dump, the seafront was full of boarded up houses with a rusting abandoned pleasure park for company.
my mate lives near Baltimore roughQuote:
Originally Posted by Taffy Blue in Berkshire
didn't the Colombian drug lords kill the player that missed a penalty in the world Cup?Quote:
Originally Posted by Eric the Half a Bee
Is watts LA or san fran ?Quote:
Originally Posted by Der Kaiser
Northern social housing in Paris is very scary
UK, some parts of East and South London are a bit hairy at times with the little gangs knocking about and constantly having to look over your shoulder.
Salford is very rough in parts.
The utter cesspit tag has to go to Luton for me.
As with most places things seem to ramp up after dark.
Both here and in the US though even in the very best and safest parts you're never too far from some rough areas. Most cities are the same. The locals just know the areas and steer clear. It's your visitor and football fans that will walk into the equivalent of The Jockey on Shameless without even realising.
We don't like outsiders up here , a lot of us want that university closed.......Sunderland landlord quoted in crap townsQuote:
Originally Posted by islandblue
Oldham , tough town
Rhyl , lots of drug users dumped in cheap bedsits there , must be a multi agency solution to the problem
They did.Quote:
Originally Posted by SLUDGE FACTORY
Andres Escobar.Quote:
Originally Posted by Eric the Half a Bee
He should have said he was a relation of the main guy...
we were playing Plymouth at home in the old soul crew days , a few young lads about 21 were walking in Plymouth tops towards the ninian Park pub which I had just passed , it was rammed with nutters out on the streetQuote:
Originally Posted by blue lewj
I told dont head that way guys , come with me and we went into the canton Cross
Later on plymouth were battered outside the ninian , one was in a coma in hospital for a while
You should have took them to Mothercare.Quote:
Originally Posted by SLUDGE FACTORY
Sorry, couldn't resist.
Even I couldn't have saved them from the horrors of thatQuote:
Originally Posted by blue lewj
Watts is in LA, South LA to be precise.Quote:
Originally Posted by SLUDGE FACTORY
Skid Row in Los Angeles probably the biggest eye opener of my entire life, but I would feel including that as 'rough' would be unfair, the deprivation and squalor for a western country was astounding, but these were people living in tents and wooden shacks as they had nothing else, unlike the other areas I mentioned.
Thats third world in the richest country in the worldQuote:
Originally Posted by Der Kaiser
I was staying in Grand Rapids, Michigan (nice place). My friend and I had tickets for the Lions Vs Bears game at the old Pontiac Silverdome.
I was driving the car up, very scenic route, however, when the skyline of Detroit became visible and traffic opened into 5 lanes, I became less confident. So my friend, a native of Michigan, took the wheel and I was tasked with map reading duties.
My friend asked me almost immediately which lane to take as we approached an intersection. At that point, I had not got any bearings, but stupidly, rather than be honest and say I didn't know, I told my friend to take a right and turn off.
It was now becoming dark and we found ourselves in a 'hood', no doubt about it. Every 3rd or 4th house was burnt to the ground. There was almost no street lighting and there was no sign of any lights coming from within the houses that weren't derelict. Very few people were walking the streets, aside from small groups stood on corners.
We pulled into a gas station and I remained in the car. My friend got out and said to lock my door. While I was sat there I had time to survey the environment and it was clear this was not an area for non-blacks. Even the occupants of passing cars were all non-white.
Anyway, my friend had noticed a police station a few hundred metres back and we decided to go there and ask for directions.
A very friendly officer showed my friend on the map that we were quite some way from Pontiac and we were in suburban Detroit instead.
While they were talking, I looked up and saw framed photos of officers taken on their graduation day in full-uniform. There were so many of these photos that they went around the entire four walls.
Written in bold were the words... "In memory of those officers who gave their lives serving this precinct".
We couldn't get out of there fast enough!
Baltimore has a high murder rate.Quote:
Originally Posted by SLUDGE FACTORY
I remember a long time ago there was a Baltimore police officer in uniform at one of the City's home games. He was stood alongside a SWP officer by the players' tunnel. I think it was something to do with Cardiff being twinned with Baltimore.
Anyone else remember this (it was featured in the Echo at the time)?
When I worked in London I stayed in Hounslow for just over two years and often went to nearby Southall. Both suburbs have tarnished reputations. The former is very cosmopolitan, while the latter is predominantly Asian.
Never had any problems or witnessed any during my time there.
Not one mention of Jackland? Tank would be disappointed.
In Chicago on business once. After a night out with a customer decided to walk home about 3am. Took a short cut straight through the middle of Cabrini Green. Had a bit of bother with some rather unsavoury characters and was pleased to get out alive.
Castle Street dining area is pretty wild in these high winds :hehe:
LA is a weird place. When I was 19 me and a mate had a 24 hour stop over there on our way back from Oz. Needless to say we didn’t have a clue where we were going trying to walk to Venice Beach. All these nice little bungalows etc, it didn’t look so bad. Asked a bloke for directions he said whatever you do don’t walk through that way as you’ll get robbed and possibly shot. Of course we’d just walked through the area he was on about. I think it was the 8am that saved us.....it wasn’t the image of a ghetto that I had in my head and it’s always stuck in my mind. Getting lost in Mexico City and surrounded by about 200 football fans was interesting also.Quote:
Originally Posted by SLUDGE FACTORY
Brandy Bridge nightclub in the petrol station in Merthyr definitely one of the roughest dives I been in UK.
Scoring dope down on Avenue D on the lower east side NYC was pretty scary on a few occasions.
Edmonton in North London is not a pleasant place, I have a friend who lived there and I visited his mother once. A lot of people on the street were looking and she laughed and said, "We don't get many visitors around here"
Almost all of Belfast in the 70s.
Marseilles
Had tickets to see the Buckaneers v 49ers in Tampa about 20 years ago and staying in Clearwater at the time
Drove into Tampa on a warm, sunny Sunday on the morning of the game and got completely lost trying to find stadium
One minute was in a affluent, pleasant suburb with people out in their gardens, washing their cars etc but literally about 1/4 mile further it got considerably worse. Boarded up houses, gangs of young men hanging about on street corners, burnt out cars etc. Luckily a police car saw us and clocked the hire car plates and stickers. They asked us where we were going and escorted us back onto the main highway
Always remember this day as I was amazed how close these 2 very different neighbourhoods were and how quickly you can get yourselves in the wrong place without really realising it
Supermarket St Mellons
Acapulco in Mexico. Beautiful harbour, lots of lovely homes owned by the rich and famous but.........we had a walk around the beach area at night after the cruise ship docked. We walked around the beach for about 30 minutes before heading back. A lot of the local cabbies seemed to be shouting at us, presumably touting for business, or so we thought. The following day we realised how lucky we had been. The previous night there had been a drug war between the local cartels and number of headless corpses had been discovered on the beach.
:hehe:that has to be hands down the worst supermarket in Cardiff.Quote:
Originally Posted by life on mars
you see some sights in there.
Yeah, took some wrong turns on a night out in Miami. not good.Quote:
Originally Posted by Der Kaiser
Your mates know their stats fair play.Quote:
Originally Posted by Taffy Blue in Berkshire
Parts of Vancouver. There was a drug-related shoot out when we were there with 4 killed and, I think, 6 seriously injured.
Belfast...early 80's. Keep driving. Dont stop. Avoid the debris following a riot the night before. Also, the border with Eire on the same trip. Dont go in certain pubs. Dont speak to such and such. FFS dont let on you are from Britain.....the car reg was a bit of a give away though. Driving down a country lane, turned a bend, a gap had been cleared in a hedge and we were staring straight down the barrel of a light marching gun. It was (thankfully) the British army on patrol. Not a place to hang around.
Other dodgy places...northern part of what is now Namibia near the border with Angola, also in the early 80s. In the days when S Africa had invaded Angola to keep the Cuba-backed communists at bay. SA army were driving v-shaped armoured vehicles to reduce the effect of IEDs planted in the road. We had an Opel Kadett. All that for a bit of wildlife viewing.
Egypt...a coach load a Greek tourists were killed on the road to Giza from Cairo a week after I'd taken a school trip along the same road....mistaken for Israeli tourists. Outside Cairo we were driven in convoy by armed police everywhere. Bit like visiting Swansea🙂
Israel, near the border with Jordan and in Jerusalem when rockets had beed fired in the direction of. Again a school trip. A very tense time visiting the Western Wall. Armed people everywhere. Scared the students seeing so many firearms/protesters with banners screaming away through loudspeakers. There was trouble at the Al Asqa mosque, above the WW not long after and a siege at the church of the Holy Nativity which got shot up.
Back streets of Naples. Again with a school group when we had been dropped off miles from where we were going and took a wrong turn. Used syringes and dead dogs in the street. Leary locals watching us and you got the feeling any stragglers would be relieved of their possessions at knifepoint in daylight.
Northern Ethiopia near the border with Eritrea...we had an armed escort everywhere we went. Thankfully relations between the two countries have improved. Land mines were an issue if you strayed off the beaten track, too.
Bogata , Columbia went in a Taxi to the delightfully named "Bullet St."
In Cape Town a few years back we had a lecture from the hotel reception/security staff about personal safety and the places not to go.
We got back about 9.30 and one of the receptionists who gave us the lecture had her throat slashed when she resisted having her bag snatched right outside the hotel.
Have never wanted to go back there despite what people say about the country generally
Lyon was particularly rough for me the two times I've been there. Lots of homeless people and a lot of large tower block areas that the poor are channeled into.
Middlesbrough is probably the roughest UK city I've stayed in as a whole. The bigger cities like London/Manchester probably have rougher areas but these are counteracted with nice areas. I saw no redeeming features in Middlesbrough.
New Tredegar / Aberbargoed.
It’s literally still 1978 there.
My sister lives in Norbury, South London which isn’t too bad, a lot of young professionals live there now, but there’s some estates near by in Mitcham and Merton which that I certainly wouldn’t venture out at night. Tooting also.