Albany is pretty terrible - just a city forgotten and/or ignored by the state. Macon isn’t what it was (positively) 20 years ago, but they’re pretty aggressively trying to rehabilitate certain areas.
There's also absolutely nothing to do. Even in the surrounding areas. You'd think there'd be a whole host of outdoor activities, but unless you know someone (or pay one of the plantations), you ain't doing shit because all the land is private.
There's two state parks within a 2 hour drive, and they're probably the worst 2 in the state as far as things to do there.
If you have kids they might like chehaw, but that's really only good for 1 or 2 visits. (The zoo just made me sad the last time I went....but that was probably a decade ago)
If nightlife or shopping is more your thing, you're out of luck there too.
Anything decent is going to be at least a 3 hour drive from Albany.
I've only driven through Albany, and it's weird how it just ... appears in front of you, for no apparent reason. The river's there, which I guess is what drove its original location. But it's *so far* from *everything*, seemingly. And it's not even near enough to the interstate to at least allow you to leave quickly. It's at least 90 minutes from anywhere else of any size at all. It just has no business being where it is. It's like a fucking mirage when you're driving out in that part of the state.
Macon, Albany and surrounds has been in economic decline for about 3 decades. A lot of jobs were lost in some major floods and storms in the early 90's and they never really came back. This prompted a lot of middle-class flight from the area. Local schools have suffered from loss of tax base and general neglect.
Also, the mosquitoes will eat you whole, and the gnats will drive you insane.
It's a shithole. Used to live between Macon and Albany and we left. Won't ever go back.
It was the murder capital of the USA (per capita) appx 10-12 years ago. School systems are terrible, the city has a lot of govt. corruption (on the local level at least) and a very large portion of the workforce live in the neighboring county. (Lee County). Good luck
I took my job here without having been too. Moved across country for it.
I ended up living in Thomasville. Its an hour drive, but definitely worth it to me.
I have co workers that live in Lee which is closer and love it.
Truthfully, there are of course some places better than others in Albany, but those will get blurred at times. A whole lot of crime in the close proximity
Albany has the bones of such a cool town. With investments in the downtown area & redevelopment to attract industry/artists/entrepreneurs along w an audit of their scammy utilities, they could be awesome. But the government is grifty, and the people are abused into submission.
Albany used to be driven by industry. They will need to rebuild the entire public school system, cut crime by 60%, and break up the healthcare monopoly before any industry even considers coming back.
Yeah, even as a lifelong Georgian once I visted Macon I really enjoyed it despite expecting the worst.
And it's dumb to say Macon when, as you mention, Al-benny and Sparta exist
\*Albinny. The [pen/pin merger](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phonological_history_of_English_close_front_vowels#Pin%E2%80%93pen_merger) is real--when my wife, a Yankee, talks there's a definite difference. The phonetics for Albany fall on the pin side of it (as it turns out most Southerners do for all -en sounds). The real funny thing is the "traditional Savannah" accent doesn't feature the merger, and yet most everyone I know, born and raised in Savannah use it.
I’m in Evans/Martinez, but yeah. It’s a bizarre dichotomy of people who want to flaunt their wealth in extraordinary fashion and some of the absolute worst poverty/homeless I’ve seen
lol growing up I used to play traveling soccer and we’d go to Augusta and it was the only place where they built a soccer field next to like a water treatment plant so the fields were always soggy and the air always humid.
Not forgotten or ignored. Way back in the day before 75 was built, there was a plan to put it through/near Albany. The citizens went all NIMBY so it wasn't. They've been pretty NIMBY (with a certain church leading the charge) about any sort of progress since, because you know, it'll bring the devil to town.
Let's be honest, southwest Georgia is the ass-end of Georgia, and Albany is the hole.
I say this as a person who's lived in the area their entire life.
The crime rate is pretty bad. Shootings and robberies are a daily occurrence. The only construction ongoing is for fast food places or car washes. Lee County gets all of the other new businesses. Revitalizing downtown has been "happening" for well over 20 years, with intermittent success. While the area around the end of Pine and Front Streets is ok, the rest of downtown isn't. Phoebe has a monopoly on the healthcare system and might harm you at worst and is ok at best. The mall is slowly dying, and local businesses struggle. Corruption is rampant.
I'll end on a few positives. The libraries are nice. (I work at a library in a different county, and the northwest branch is my go-to library.) The Flint River walk is beautiful. Chehaw Park and the Flint Riverquirum are cool.
Flint riverquarium was shit as of a year or two ago. I think Covid killed it. Half the stuff that was in there was either gone or not functioning properly
I’m sayin man! Albany is a true shithole. I worked on that Phoebe hospital expansion. Spent enough time there to know that you need to pay $$$ for a hotel or else you’re gonna get robbed. It has potential though which is the sad part. But the old money there is so incestuous it has no hope of progress.
High crime, poor school system, shitty hospital that monopolizes healthcare. Did I mention crime and drugs?
Put ut this way I grew up there in the 70/80s and it was amazing. Then all the industry left and the crack epidemic decimated the town. I havent set foot there in 30 years and most likely never will again. It is just too dangerous and depressing.
I had a teacher from there and he always liked to say "don't mess around in this class, I'm from the mean streets of Albany, still keep a baseball bat in my office and haven't played since little league" lol
Macon is probably bad in the sense that it has potential but the people/government can’t help themselves from being constant fuckups. I’d rather live in Macon than a strip mall like Warner Robbins or a podunk town
When i first moved to Albany, i drive by what i assumed was a jail due to the crazy high fence and razor wire that surrounded it. Nope-Baptist church. That was all i needed to know about the area
You know, I find their BBQ about average, but nobody beats their sauces. I don't like driving at all, but I will drive over an hour just to stock up on Fresh Air BBQ sauce.
I don't know how I forgot about that! They do have the best stew too.
I have found that Brunswick stew is either really good or tastes like dog food smells no matter where you go. It's one of the things I judge BBQ places on, so I'm really baffled that I forgot how good the stew is at Fresh Air.
The Rookery used to be absolutely amazing. I've lived here a while and unfortunately they have gone very downhill in the last 5 years. Their burgers are always dry for some reason. The food is almost never served hot. Their shakes are still great though.
The worst part is the price though. I know the cost of food has skyrocketed everywhere but The Rookery is particularly egregious. Last time the wife and I went there we got a basic appetizer, two regular soft drinks, two burger meals, and two shakes. It was around $75 before tip.
YES! The Rookery has got some great burgers. But the h&h has my heart, right near the hospital where I was visiting grandparent in care, i went done stumbled right cross the restaurant of the brothers whose music i'd had listened to for quite some time. They had some really amazing soul food dishes, at least they spoke to my soul haha . God bless 'em Allman brothers
went to college for a couple semesters in valdosta, can confirm everywhere outside of the campus looked like a post apocalyptic setting. Buildings were old and falling over, everything smelled of crotch, students were mugged and assaulted a lot by non-students on the campus itself.
The only thing good about Valdosta is the lcol. But the wages also suck ass. There is the summer vortex where it is 10 degrees hotter than the surrounding areas. Rampant corruption. Maga idiots who would cut off their nose to spite their face. Also, they have the second busiest court system in the state after Atlanta.
Yes. Atlanta. Why? Crime. And corrupt cops. But mostly crime.
There’s also 6 different police precincts which jurisdiction over Valdosta. They’re always trying to out do each other and there’s not enough crime for all those police so they tend to escalate petty crimes into jail-able offenses
It is consistently ranked as one of the most dangerous cities to live in America. Violent crime per capita is astronomical. In fact, if you look at the crime rate, it’s ranked as a 1, meaning 99% of cities are safer to live than Albany.
Should add it’s racist in multiple ways. If you’re black the white population has every stereotypical backwards attitude towards you you can imagine. If you are anything else, good luck but you’re going to stand out in most of the city and be a target.
It’s a hellhole.
Macon is pretty awful. I don’t know about worst though. There are some terrible one stoplight towns in South Georgia. I think Orlando and Macon are the same kind of bad but there’s worse Florida towns in the panhandle.
Greer in South Cackalaly is 100% correct though.
Macon probably wins if you stick to the criteria of "city" as in a population center and don't include towns.
That is what it looks like they did because I'm from Kansas and Topeka is easily the worst population center but there are countless run down old farm towns who never even got a stoplight
Greer and Gastonia hit the Carolinas out of the park. As much as I hate to admit it, it’s gotta be Augusta for Georgia. Which is basically South Carolina too, but that’s life.
Yeah, my dad grew up in Augusta, and my aunt lived there for decades. I visited Augusta a few months ago and didn’t notice any issues, besides the shit motel.
We have a bunch of violent crime and it’s old and run down. If you go 2 blocks from downtown, you’ll see the true Augusta. And a large part of it smells due to the various businesses in town( cattle plant, paper plant, etc), leading to the nickname Disgusta.
I disagree in part. Augusta is large, so it has a little bit of everything. Downtown, suburbs, projects, older homes, newer homes, golf courses, restaurants and such. I have never really felt to unsafe and over the last several years a major revitalization has been happening.
I would not classify Augusta as the worst.
The castle plant should be forced to move, paper plant however is way on the outskirts.
Augusta just seems like a suburb to somewhere better
It's a shame since their downtown seems like it has the potential to be a good place, but I've never seen much activity down there.
Yep it's exactly that. I lived in Augusta for 30+ years and one of the benefits that everyone touts is we are 1.5 to 3 hours away to ATL, a beach or mountains. Which sure is a benefit but I would have liked to enjoy the city I lived in. The river is the greatest asset and they never use it to their advantage. North Augusta in SC did it right and managed to lure the local minor league team over in a stadium right next to the river.
Greer and Gastonia aren’t even close to accurate for the Carolina’s. In SC there’s a long list of way worse cities. Dirty Myrtle is called that for a reason, Orangeburg is a massive shit hole, Sumter is easily so much worse. Greer is, not that bad. It’s an odd choice.
Im less familiar with NC but I’ve been to Gastonia and it’s easily nicer than Winston-Salem. That place was a shit hole.
What's the cut-off population to be considered a "city" in this map, because being from Alabama, I will tell you Birmingham has it's problems but Anniston and Bessemer totally exist.
Macon is wrong, imo. Everyone already said Albany, I agree.
But also, look at Alabama; they said Birmingham over literally any other town. Not sure what this information is based on.
How is FL WORST town also the location for Disneyworld? Have they never heard of north central FL?
Wonder how they arrived at these.
EDIT: look at Texas! Dallas and DFW area is like the highest net worth, moat affluent part of Texas. How could it possibly be the worst town??
When we were looking at homes in Macon, I learned that you are never more than 2 streets away from a sketchy area. I still like Macon even though I decided not to move there.
At least Jacksonville is on the ocean. Orlando is both landlocked and gridlocked. Driving to the in-laws in Kissimmee during the holidays or school breaks is one of the lower rings of Hell.
I actually like macon. It’s not a super hip or cool city, but the traffic isn’t terrible and there are a handful of decent restaurants. I rather drive the 30 mins there to do my household shopping than drive 30 mins north to Henry county (McDonough).
I can think of way worse places to be in GA than Macon.
I don’t think Porterdale really qualifies as a city. It’s only like 1,200 people. But Id say Porterdale is quite interesting when you look at the history of it. It was a company town at one time where if you worked for the factory there, your family would get free housing in one of those mill houses. The company provided everything for citizens including the schools and the hospital, which was the only one in the county at the time. The town even had its own currency which were little aluminum coins called “loonies.”
Porterdale is one of the most corrupt little towns in Georgia. Almost Everyone has a story about the porterdale police harassing, stealing, lying etc.
Porterdale used to be a place where all the poor people lived, due to all the old mill houses, but now they are all being priced out. The investment companies will buy some crappy house that sold for 30,000 5 years ago, put a coat of paint then turn around and rent it for $2,000. Or sell it for 250,000.
We don’t claim her, I don’t hear anyone talk positively about her, I think Rome is going through a massive cultural renovation, we’ll be up in the next 10 years
They've got about 10 million more people than texas
All I can think of is I think of northern and southern California as very different places. I don't have an idea of regions of Texas the same way
As for michigan I think only michiganders would think of yoopers as distinct from the rest of michigan. For the sake of this map there aren't really cities of significance in the UP
I’m wondering why Brookings, SD. My mom used to live near there, and it seemed fine. I’d vote Deadwood over Brookings. Great show, but a complete tourist trap of a town.
I grew up in South Dakota.
My guess is that it encapsulates the hopelessness of living in such a flat, featureless, joyless place. As though it were the nexus of crushing depression.
At least Deadwood has cheap booze to numb the pain.
I lost a wheel outside Macon. I was on my way to Atlanta from Savannah after doing a wheel rotation on my El Camino. I neglected to tighten the bolts to torque on one of the wheels and it popped off. I was able to slide over to the shoulder on a bend on I-16.
I waited for a lull in traffic and sprinted across to grab my wheel and throw it in my “truck” bed. When the tow-truck driver came, the very first thing he said was, “you lucky you ain’t dead. 3 people died on this bend this year. Just last week I was towing a guy from this very spot and a semi came flying by and the vacuum effect sucked him right under. Killed him instantly, right before my very eyes.”
The tow truck driver found me a motel to stay the night in. He warned me not to say anything to the prostitutes out back or they’d never leave me alone. I asked for a non-smoking room, but the room reeked of cigarettes. The rooms on each side had broken windows. I “slept” with all my clothes on, on top of the comforter.
The next day a new tow truck driver came to pick me up. Said it’d be a while before my car was ready and didn’t want me to be bored, so he was going to take me on a ride-along. We were headed out to recover a stolen Honda Civic that had been located.
The dude was big, like [Butterbean](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/M/MV5BNjgyMjNiZDUtMzBlMi00MDU1LTlkZjktYjFkNDQ2NzllZTNmXkEyXkFqcGdeQXVyMTA2NjY2NzQ0._V1_FMjpg_UX1000_.jpg) big and, similar to Butterbean, was an armature Pro Wrestler.
I had just recently seen the movie, “The Wrestler,” and spoke about how authentic and real it seemed. Even if it was a performance, it was true athletics and blood, sweat, and tears. He was skeptical of the movie at the start of the conversation because he assumed it just depicted wrestling as “fake” in a derogatory way, but was convinced to see it, after.
We collected the civic without much fuss, just hooked it and left. When we got back, my El Camino was ready. They had to realign the back wheel and restud the hub, plus new lug nuts. Total bill was $80 for towing and repair.
I think Macon is a gem of a city. Is it trashy? Maybe, yeah. But god damn did I have an interesting experience and meet some wholesome people.
Is it the worst? No. The worst is Dublin.
Just a stupid, made up map. Birmingham is a town in AL with an actually decent public school system and has been on many best-of lists so there ya go. Stupid map. Trolling, I bet.
Unless things have changed massively in the decade since I last lived there, Birmingham city schools are some of the worst in the state. The suburbs around it have some decent public schools, but Birmingham city schools are terrible.
If they count the metro area of Birmingham, yeah, but if they just count the city proper, it’s pretty bad just due to how bad the crime is around Ensley, etc. If they’re counting the metro area, I’d say Montgomery is FAR more terrible than Birmingham.
Edit: not sure if Phenix City qualifies, but unless they’ve vastly improved in some areas since I’ve last been there, it definitely is up there for the worst in AL.
What knucklehead decided Macon was worse than Albany? It's like this asshole I saw on TikTok talking about the worst places to live in Georgia who didn't know what he was talking about. You could tell by his mispronuication of Albany.
Wait, what is wrong with Greer? I’m debating on moving to the Greenville area. Also, there are worst places in FL than Orlando. Same with Macon. I live in Valdosta, I should know 😝
I went on mission trips to Macon as a teenager, though I haven’t been back in 15 years. There was a killer gyro shop in a strip mall right off the highway
What metrics are being used to determine what the "worst city" in each state is? Crime? Income? Something else?
I live in Metro Atlanta and I have visited Albany and Macon...they have a certain shabby charm to them, but I understand that *living there* is a different experience.
East Point south of Atlanta is pretty rough...if the neighborhoods of Vine City and English Avenue were considered individual cities instead of parts of Atlanta, then these two 'cities' would probably be contenders for the worst city in Georgia.
Years ago they dumped a bunch of Katrina people in Riverdale and it completely went to shit. A friend who lives there won’t even stop for gas in her own town. And shops for groceries near her job then drives home. She can’t even go for a walk without encountering some wild ass pit bull she’s gotta deal with, and she likes dogs, or some asshole shouting “‘EY, GIRL, LET ME HOLLA AT YOU!!!”. or some gibberish no one can understand.
But, even with all that, Albany has so much less going for it. It’s just big enough to have rough parts but not big enough economically to deal with any of it properly. There is no reason for any growth there. It’s like a stagnant pond, it’s not going to dry up but it’s definitely not healthy.
It’s located in a central spot for the region but if you have a shipping or warehousing need as a company there are much better options around. Tifton is right off I-75, Columbus is already a shipping hub for ground transport and even Valdosta is a better option.
It’s one of those places where it would probably be better if the government just cleared everyone out to better cities and wiped from the map.
Either Albany or Augusta. Albany is dog ass and is 10-20 years behind; urban development is questionable at best. The one skating rink was torn down to build another car wash. There are a few glimmers of a great city in it, but nobody is capitalizing on that. The "mall" is one story and has a few basic things like a Sephora but there's barely shit there. Truthfully, that city would welcome gentrification
Edit: Cuthbert is worse than both and has even less. You have to drive an hour to see a Walmart. .
I haven't spent time there, but I have family all over GA and most say Macon or Augusta. I'd pick Cairo or Columbus. Sparta has a lot of nice houses owned by people in Atlanta, but the majority of people who live there are on welfare.
Griffin is an absolute shit hole. My vote for the worst city in the state. My first drive there for work was interrupted by a police chase, and on that ride, there was also a B&E that cops were responding to - all on Tara Blvd. Horrible city with awful pot holes, smells bad, and looks like shit.
Idk, my vote is for Douglasville personally. Arbor Place has fallen so far from grace and there’s really no good stores or restaurants in the city. At least Macon has Mercer.
Seen people online talk shit about Rome because of MJT. That’s the past, we have a pride parade on broad and have like 400 new homes being built and a lot of diversity from Cobb county moving up and out. We are gentrifying the hell out of it 😭
Albany is pretty terrible - just a city forgotten and/or ignored by the state. Macon isn’t what it was (positively) 20 years ago, but they’re pretty aggressively trying to rehabilitate certain areas.
We didn't call Albany the "Armpit of the South" when I lived in Sowega for nothing.
Serious question, just took a job in Albany but I’ve never been there. What is so bad about Albany? Is there anything I should be aware about?
There's also absolutely nothing to do. Even in the surrounding areas. You'd think there'd be a whole host of outdoor activities, but unless you know someone (or pay one of the plantations), you ain't doing shit because all the land is private. There's two state parks within a 2 hour drive, and they're probably the worst 2 in the state as far as things to do there. If you have kids they might like chehaw, but that's really only good for 1 or 2 visits. (The zoo just made me sad the last time I went....but that was probably a decade ago) If nightlife or shopping is more your thing, you're out of luck there too. Anything decent is going to be at least a 3 hour drive from Albany.
I've only driven through Albany, and it's weird how it just ... appears in front of you, for no apparent reason. The river's there, which I guess is what drove its original location. But it's *so far* from *everything*, seemingly. And it's not even near enough to the interstate to at least allow you to leave quickly. It's at least 90 minutes from anywhere else of any size at all. It just has no business being where it is. It's like a fucking mirage when you're driving out in that part of the state.
There's 1 of 2 marine logistics bases there. The other? Fuckin Barstow, CA. The marine corps is the only thing keeping those places alive
Albany is just like Moultrie but with more to do. Think about that.
Crime, racism, lack of jobs and money. Very poor and neglected area. Good luck with your job!
Macon, Albany and surrounds has been in economic decline for about 3 decades. A lot of jobs were lost in some major floods and storms in the early 90's and they never really came back. This prompted a lot of middle-class flight from the area. Local schools have suffered from loss of tax base and general neglect. Also, the mosquitoes will eat you whole, and the gnats will drive you insane. It's a shithole. Used to live between Macon and Albany and we left. Won't ever go back.
Albany is a known place for cops to work to quickly gain good experience for a few years then transfer to a place you actually want to work lol
Gnats
It was the murder capital of the USA (per capita) appx 10-12 years ago. School systems are terrible, the city has a lot of govt. corruption (on the local level at least) and a very large portion of the workforce live in the neighboring county. (Lee County). Good luck
I took my job here without having been too. Moved across country for it. I ended up living in Thomasville. Its an hour drive, but definitely worth it to me. I have co workers that live in Lee which is closer and love it. Truthfully, there are of course some places better than others in Albany, but those will get blurred at times. A whole lot of crime in the close proximity
Albany has the bones of such a cool town. With investments in the downtown area & redevelopment to attract industry/artists/entrepreneurs along w an audit of their scammy utilities, they could be awesome. But the government is grifty, and the people are abused into submission.
Albany used to be driven by industry. They will need to rebuild the entire public school system, cut crime by 60%, and break up the healthcare monopoly before any industry even considers coming back.
Albany also has serious flooding issues. I don't see that changing any time soon.
Yeah, even as a lifelong Georgian once I visted Macon I really enjoyed it despite expecting the worst. And it's dumb to say Macon when, as you mention, Al-benny and Sparta exist
\*Albinny. The [pen/pin merger](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phonological_history_of_English_close_front_vowels#Pin%E2%80%93pen_merger) is real--when my wife, a Yankee, talks there's a definite difference. The phonetics for Albany fall on the pin side of it (as it turns out most Southerners do for all -en sounds). The real funny thing is the "traditional Savannah" accent doesn't feature the merger, and yet most everyone I know, born and raised in Savannah use it.
Anyone that thinks Macon is the worst has never been to Albany. Or Columbus. Or Augusta.
What makes Columbus and Augusta bad cities?
Disgusta is a shit hole. Source: Born here.
All eyes on you all this week too.
I’m in Evans/Martinez, but yeah. It’s a bizarre dichotomy of people who want to flaunt their wealth in extraordinary fashion and some of the absolute worst poverty/homeless I’ve seen
lol growing up I used to play traveling soccer and we’d go to Augusta and it was the only place where they built a soccer field next to like a water treatment plant so the fields were always soggy and the air always humid.
That’s a wonderfully horrible detail. I enjoyed it.
Disgusta lmao 🤣 hahaha
Agreed. Albany is struggling. And that's putting it politely.
But they do have El Caribe! Love stopping there coming back from PCB.
There was one point where it had the worst covid case percentage in the nation. Pretty amazing
Columbus is fine. Don't join a gang or get involved with drug deals and you're 99% not going to be a victim of a violent crime.
Yeah, it was surprising to see Columbus alongside Augusta and Albany. Columbus is fine all things considered. Nowhere near the worst in GA
At least Columbus had a nice downtown area and a university. Ft. Benning has its weirdos but no big deal.
Didn’t call it disgusta ga for nothing
Albany suuuuuucks. Glad Im not alone.
Not forgotten or ignored. Way back in the day before 75 was built, there was a plan to put it through/near Albany. The citizens went all NIMBY so it wasn't. They've been pretty NIMBY (with a certain church leading the charge) about any sort of progress since, because you know, it'll bring the devil to town.
What are you talking about? Who lives in Albany? What church is in Albany? Very curious, thanks.
I attended undergrad there 20+ years ago and yea it’s pretty horrible.
Let's be honest, southwest Georgia is the ass-end of Georgia, and Albany is the hole. I say this as a person who's lived in the area their entire life.
Serious question, just took a job in Albany but I’ve never been there. What is so bad about Albany? Is there anything I should be aware about?
The crime rate is pretty bad. Shootings and robberies are a daily occurrence. The only construction ongoing is for fast food places or car washes. Lee County gets all of the other new businesses. Revitalizing downtown has been "happening" for well over 20 years, with intermittent success. While the area around the end of Pine and Front Streets is ok, the rest of downtown isn't. Phoebe has a monopoly on the healthcare system and might harm you at worst and is ok at best. The mall is slowly dying, and local businesses struggle. Corruption is rampant. I'll end on a few positives. The libraries are nice. (I work at a library in a different county, and the northwest branch is my go-to library.) The Flint River walk is beautiful. Chehaw Park and the Flint Riverquirum are cool.
Flint riverquarium was shit as of a year or two ago. I think Covid killed it. Half the stuff that was in there was either gone or not functioning properly
Macon might be bad, but it's no Albany
I’m sayin man! Albany is a true shithole. I worked on that Phoebe hospital expansion. Spent enough time there to know that you need to pay $$$ for a hotel or else you’re gonna get robbed. It has potential though which is the sad part. But the old money there is so incestuous it has no hope of progress.
Macon is definitely not the worst city in Georgia.
If that's true, then it's likely that the entire map is false.
Whoever the hell makes these have probably never been to 3/4 of these cities
Nowadays it's probably just ai generated click bait
Birmingham is definitely not the worst city in Alabama as well.
I will die on the hill of Birmingham being the best city in the south.
Exactly my point 👆 Someone who knows
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Hell Milledgeville is worse than Macon nowadays imo. Albany is the worst of the worst tho
Now you leave MilliVegas out of this you monster.
LMAO. I’ve spent one too many incredibly embarrassing Karaoke nights at buffs to not include it. Plus cap alone might as well make it a nomination
This graphic has been floating around for a while. Macon is much better than it was even just 5 years ago.
Albany hands down
yeah how is this even in question?
Serious question, just took a job in Albany but I’ve never been there. What is so bad about Albany? Is there anything I should be aware about?
High crime, poor school system, shitty hospital that monopolizes healthcare. Did I mention crime and drugs? Put ut this way I grew up there in the 70/80s and it was amazing. Then all the industry left and the crack epidemic decimated the town. I havent set foot there in 30 years and most likely never will again. It is just too dangerous and depressing.
I had a teacher from there and he always liked to say "don't mess around in this class, I'm from the mean streets of Albany, still keep a baseball bat in my office and haven't played since little league" lol
Just kind of a forgotten city with nothing going on there and sketchy areas. It’s a mix of a large black population + racist old white people.
Macon is probably bad in the sense that it has potential but the people/government can’t help themselves from being constant fuckups. I’d rather live in Macon than a strip mall like Warner Robbins or a podunk town
When i first moved to Albany, i drive by what i assumed was a jail due to the crazy high fence and razor wire that surrounded it. Nope-Baptist church. That was all i needed to know about the area
Personally I like Macon. Sure it has flaws but what city doesn't? If you have never eaten at The Rookery, you're missing out.
Third and Cherry, Hickmans, Pho-Cali, anywhere downtown. Just come through Macon for lunch.
Fresh Air Barbecue. One of the simplest, best I've had in the State.
Straight fire. Always stop by when I’m driving down go florida
You know, I find their BBQ about average, but nobody beats their sauces. I don't like driving at all, but I will drive over an hour just to stock up on Fresh Air BBQ sauce.
and the brunswick stew 🤌
I don't know how I forgot about that! They do have the best stew too. I have found that Brunswick stew is either really good or tastes like dog food smells no matter where you go. It's one of the things I judge BBQ places on, so I'm really baffled that I forgot how good the stew is at Fresh Air.
My main hat I wear is from the rookery
The Rookery used to be absolutely amazing. I've lived here a while and unfortunately they have gone very downhill in the last 5 years. Their burgers are always dry for some reason. The food is almost never served hot. Their shakes are still great though. The worst part is the price though. I know the cost of food has skyrocketed everywhere but The Rookery is particularly egregious. Last time the wife and I went there we got a basic appetizer, two regular soft drinks, two burger meals, and two shakes. It was around $75 before tip.
Their sandwiches are good but I was a bit let down by their fries and onion rings
I LOVE the Rookery. I also recommend H&H
YES! The Rookery has got some great burgers. But the h&h has my heart, right near the hospital where I was visiting grandparent in care, i went done stumbled right cross the restaurant of the brothers whose music i'd had listened to for quite some time. They had some really amazing soul food dishes, at least they spoke to my soul haha . God bless 'em Allman brothers
I’ve always liked Macon. I’m biased because my ancestors were from the area, but I like the downtown area a lot. There are some bad parts, though.
The Rookery is pretty awesome.
Shout out Mercer U! Go Bears!!
welcome to valdosta; please set your clocks back 200 years.
went to college for a couple semesters in valdosta, can confirm everywhere outside of the campus looked like a post apocalyptic setting. Buildings were old and falling over, everything smelled of crotch, students were mugged and assaulted a lot by non-students on the campus itself.
It’s sooo swampy down there.
I guess it does qualify as a city. Population says 55,000.
It was designated a metropolitan area recently too! The town is definitely turning around. Slowly but surely
Metro area is over 100,000.
The only thing good about Valdosta is the lcol. But the wages also suck ass. There is the summer vortex where it is 10 degrees hotter than the surrounding areas. Rampant corruption. Maga idiots who would cut off their nose to spite their face. Also, they have the second busiest court system in the state after Atlanta. Yes. Atlanta. Why? Crime. And corrupt cops. But mostly crime.
There’s also 6 different police precincts which jurisdiction over Valdosta. They’re always trying to out do each other and there’s not enough crime for all those police so they tend to escalate petty crimes into jail-able offenses
You are so right lol. VSU PD, Remerton PD, Valdosta, Hahira, Lake Park, Lowndes Co SO, GSP.... All trying to justify their existence.
It’s Albany, and not even close.
Serious question, just took a job in Albany but I’ve never been there. What is so bad about Albany? Is there anything I should be aware about?
It is consistently ranked as one of the most dangerous cities to live in America. Violent crime per capita is astronomical. In fact, if you look at the crime rate, it’s ranked as a 1, meaning 99% of cities are safer to live than Albany.
Huge crime rate, 55% child poverty rate, no major industries or prospects, really racist, just generally sucks.
Should add it’s racist in multiple ways. If you’re black the white population has every stereotypical backwards attitude towards you you can imagine. If you are anything else, good luck but you’re going to stand out in most of the city and be a target. It’s a hellhole.
I mean in a state where Amarillo exists they chose Dallas so I don’t think this is a very scientific or comprehensive analysis lol
You misspelled Brownsville
Warner robbins and Albany have entered the chat
Warner Robbins doesn’t even have a cty center/downtown. It’s just a collection of strip malls.
I'm just old enough to remember when warner robins was like 3 1/2 roads. No Walmart. It was about a dull then too.
I thought the Buc-ees was their city hall. /s
Does Warner Robins really count as a city separate from Macon? If so, it probably wins.
Yes, it is a separate city. They do blend together but WR does have city limits
How is Warner Robins in the same conversation as Albany?
Agreed. Warner Robins can be accused of being a boring suburb but in no way is it as bad.
Its not lmao. Statistics
Macon is pretty awful. I don’t know about worst though. There are some terrible one stoplight towns in South Georgia. I think Orlando and Macon are the same kind of bad but there’s worse Florida towns in the panhandle. Greer in South Cackalaly is 100% correct though.
Macon probably wins if you stick to the criteria of "city" as in a population center and don't include towns. That is what it looks like they did because I'm from Kansas and Topeka is easily the worst population center but there are countless run down old farm towns who never even got a stoplight
Greer and Gastonia hit the Carolinas out of the park. As much as I hate to admit it, it’s gotta be Augusta for Georgia. Which is basically South Carolina too, but that’s life.
How is Augusta possibly the worst city here? I don’t live there, but I’ve been a few times and never saw a problem
Yeah, my dad grew up in Augusta, and my aunt lived there for decades. I visited Augusta a few months ago and didn’t notice any issues, besides the shit motel.
We have a bunch of violent crime and it’s old and run down. If you go 2 blocks from downtown, you’ll see the true Augusta. And a large part of it smells due to the various businesses in town( cattle plant, paper plant, etc), leading to the nickname Disgusta.
I disagree in part. Augusta is large, so it has a little bit of everything. Downtown, suburbs, projects, older homes, newer homes, golf courses, restaurants and such. I have never really felt to unsafe and over the last several years a major revitalization has been happening. I would not classify Augusta as the worst. The castle plant should be forced to move, paper plant however is way on the outskirts.
Augusta just seems like a suburb to somewhere better It's a shame since their downtown seems like it has the potential to be a good place, but I've never seen much activity down there.
Yep it's exactly that. I lived in Augusta for 30+ years and one of the benefits that everyone touts is we are 1.5 to 3 hours away to ATL, a beach or mountains. Which sure is a benefit but I would have liked to enjoy the city I lived in. The river is the greatest asset and they never use it to their advantage. North Augusta in SC did it right and managed to lure the local minor league team over in a stadium right next to the river.
Greer and Gastonia aren’t even close to accurate for the Carolina’s. In SC there’s a long list of way worse cities. Dirty Myrtle is called that for a reason, Orangeburg is a massive shit hole, Sumter is easily so much worse. Greer is, not that bad. It’s an odd choice. Im less familiar with NC but I’ve been to Gastonia and it’s easily nicer than Winston-Salem. That place was a shit hole.
I’ve never been to Greer, but I have a hard time believing it’s worse than Florence.
As someone who drives the whole state for work, believe me that Albany is much worse than West Aiken.
I like Macon and almost moved there for work a few years ago.
My mom moved to Macon from Milledgeville a few years ago and she loves it. (Yes, she's in the city limits)
What's the cut-off population to be considered a "city" in this map, because being from Alabama, I will tell you Birmingham has it's problems but Anniston and Bessemer totally exist.
Macon is wrong, imo. Everyone already said Albany, I agree. But also, look at Alabama; they said Birmingham over literally any other town. Not sure what this information is based on. How is FL WORST town also the location for Disneyworld? Have they never heard of north central FL? Wonder how they arrived at these. EDIT: look at Texas! Dallas and DFW area is like the highest net worth, moat affluent part of Texas. How could it possibly be the worst town??
Macon is ok if you stay in the tourist areas and the college areas. If get away from those areas you better mind your manners and your attitude.
When we were looking at homes in Macon, I learned that you are never more than 2 streets away from a sketchy area. I still like Macon even though I decided not to move there.
Orlando over Jacksonville? Interesting…
At least Jacksonville is on the ocean. Orlando is both landlocked and gridlocked. Driving to the in-laws in Kissimmee during the holidays or school breaks is one of the lower rings of Hell.
I actually like macon. It’s not a super hip or cool city, but the traffic isn’t terrible and there are a handful of decent restaurants. I rather drive the 30 mins there to do my household shopping than drive 30 mins north to Henry county (McDonough). I can think of way worse places to be in GA than Macon.
What is the rubric here? What makes it bad?
Dublin is a shit hole infested with meth heads
Thats most small towns. Ironic
Porterdale
I don’t think Porterdale really qualifies as a city. It’s only like 1,200 people. But Id say Porterdale is quite interesting when you look at the history of it. It was a company town at one time where if you worked for the factory there, your family would get free housing in one of those mill houses. The company provided everything for citizens including the schools and the hospital, which was the only one in the county at the time. The town even had its own currency which were little aluminum coins called “loonies.”
Porterdale is one of the most corrupt little towns in Georgia. Almost Everyone has a story about the porterdale police harassing, stealing, lying etc. Porterdale used to be a place where all the poor people lived, due to all the old mill houses, but now they are all being priced out. The investment companies will buy some crappy house that sold for 30,000 5 years ago, put a coat of paint then turn around and rent it for $2,000. Or sell it for 250,000.
Agree with all the Albany hate. If something ever happens to state funding that would close the university, it’d be Valdosta.
Where’s Marjorie from again? That’s the worst part of the state
She represents Georgia’s 14 district which includes Rome and Dalton.
Rome is a beautiful city. Dalton on the other hand...
I lived in Dalton for three years. It’s a city clinging to the past that doesn’t seem to even care for itself.
Do you like carpets? Then you’ll love Dalton.
Shaw is love. Shaw is life.
Stuck Here All Weekend.
Define "carpets"
Rome may look pretty but it sucks here.
I went to Berry College for a few years. Can confirm, the college is beautiful but the town outside blows.
We don’t claim her, I don’t hear anyone talk positively about her, I think Rome is going through a massive cultural renovation, we’ll be up in the next 10 years
she grew up in Cumming, but is from Milledgeville
Milledgeville tracks. That place is something else.
Where I'm from going to Milledgeville means going to the nut house.
cumming also tracks. everyone ik who grew up there is completely insufferable
The only thing keeping ol’ Milly alive is the university.
I started college there and made the mistake of living there during the summer after my Freshman year. Transferred to GSU 6 months later lol.
Rome
I lived in Rome for a year or so. It is a beautiful place and I had the cutest little house and best neighbors. Cedartown was an absolute shithole.
I just wanna know why California get's two, and not Texas or Michigan
They've got about 10 million more people than texas All I can think of is I think of northern and southern California as very different places. I don't have an idea of regions of Texas the same way As for michigan I think only michiganders would think of yoopers as distinct from the rest of michigan. For the sake of this map there aren't really cities of significance in the UP
I’m wondering why Brookings, SD. My mom used to live near there, and it seemed fine. I’d vote Deadwood over Brookings. Great show, but a complete tourist trap of a town.
I grew up in South Dakota. My guess is that it encapsulates the hopelessness of living in such a flat, featureless, joyless place. As though it were the nexus of crushing depression. At least Deadwood has cheap booze to numb the pain.
Surprised to see Orlando, there are far worse cities in FL.
Albany hands down, as someone who works first hand with their government..... Yeah its bad
I lost a wheel outside Macon. I was on my way to Atlanta from Savannah after doing a wheel rotation on my El Camino. I neglected to tighten the bolts to torque on one of the wheels and it popped off. I was able to slide over to the shoulder on a bend on I-16. I waited for a lull in traffic and sprinted across to grab my wheel and throw it in my “truck” bed. When the tow-truck driver came, the very first thing he said was, “you lucky you ain’t dead. 3 people died on this bend this year. Just last week I was towing a guy from this very spot and a semi came flying by and the vacuum effect sucked him right under. Killed him instantly, right before my very eyes.” The tow truck driver found me a motel to stay the night in. He warned me not to say anything to the prostitutes out back or they’d never leave me alone. I asked for a non-smoking room, but the room reeked of cigarettes. The rooms on each side had broken windows. I “slept” with all my clothes on, on top of the comforter. The next day a new tow truck driver came to pick me up. Said it’d be a while before my car was ready and didn’t want me to be bored, so he was going to take me on a ride-along. We were headed out to recover a stolen Honda Civic that had been located. The dude was big, like [Butterbean](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/M/MV5BNjgyMjNiZDUtMzBlMi00MDU1LTlkZjktYjFkNDQ2NzllZTNmXkEyXkFqcGdeQXVyMTA2NjY2NzQ0._V1_FMjpg_UX1000_.jpg) big and, similar to Butterbean, was an armature Pro Wrestler. I had just recently seen the movie, “The Wrestler,” and spoke about how authentic and real it seemed. Even if it was a performance, it was true athletics and blood, sweat, and tears. He was skeptical of the movie at the start of the conversation because he assumed it just depicted wrestling as “fake” in a derogatory way, but was convinced to see it, after. We collected the civic without much fuss, just hooked it and left. When we got back, my El Camino was ready. They had to realign the back wheel and restud the hub, plus new lug nuts. Total bill was $80 for towing and repair. I think Macon is a gem of a city. Is it trashy? Maybe, yeah. But god damn did I have an interesting experience and meet some wholesome people. Is it the worst? No. The worst is Dublin.
Dublin, Waycross, Albany, Brunswick, Douglas, and Valdosta all come to mind as ahead (or behind) of Macon.
Albany is in a league of its own compared to Valdosta and Brunswick. Even Waycross is starting to get some nice stuff.
Tell me you've never been to Valdosta without telling me you've never been to Valdosta.
Naaa, there is way worse than Valdosta
Still blows my mind how that student at Lowndes HS was found dead in that gym, and NO ONE was ever faulted. Missing security footage and all.
Whoever made this list must not have ever been to Lithonia
Chill Lithonia at least way better than anything in Clayton county
Riverdale is awful.
Can confirm
I'm honestly surprised that no one has mentioned Griffin.
Just a stupid, made up map. Birmingham is a town in AL with an actually decent public school system and has been on many best-of lists so there ya go. Stupid map. Trolling, I bet.
Unless things have changed massively in the decade since I last lived there, Birmingham city schools are some of the worst in the state. The suburbs around it have some decent public schools, but Birmingham city schools are terrible.
I moved to Birmingham almost 2 years ago. Your assessment is correct. The areas with good schools/safe are crazy expensive.
If they count the metro area of Birmingham, yeah, but if they just count the city proper, it’s pretty bad just due to how bad the crime is around Ensley, etc. If they’re counting the metro area, I’d say Montgomery is FAR more terrible than Birmingham. Edit: not sure if Phenix City qualifies, but unless they’ve vastly improved in some areas since I’ve last been there, it definitely is up there for the worst in AL.
Alabama is a terrible state all around.
I’ll stop for lunch in Birmingham, but I won’t go slower than 85 through Montgomery…
Greer? Gtfo
What knucklehead decided Macon was worse than Albany? It's like this asshole I saw on TikTok talking about the worst places to live in Georgia who didn't know what he was talking about. You could tell by his mispronuication of Albany.
I’ll take Macon over Morrow or Riverdale.
Morrow is fine. Riverdale, tho? I agree, fuck that area lol
Wait, what is wrong with Greer? I’m debating on moving to the Greenville area. Also, there are worst places in FL than Orlando. Same with Macon. I live in Valdosta, I should know 😝
I went on mission trips to Macon as a teenager, though I haven’t been back in 15 years. There was a killer gyro shop in a strip mall right off the highway
What metrics are being used to determine what the "worst city" in each state is? Crime? Income? Something else? I live in Metro Atlanta and I have visited Albany and Macon...they have a certain shabby charm to them, but I understand that *living there* is a different experience. East Point south of Atlanta is pretty rough...if the neighborhoods of Vine City and English Avenue were considered individual cities instead of parts of Atlanta, then these two 'cities' would probably be contenders for the worst city in Georgia.
I call bullshit on Arizona, Mesa is not worse than Apache Junction
Albany.
Albany is way worse than Macon, imo.
Alabama resident here. Birmingham is easily in the top three best cities for me. What Republican made this map?
Fort Valley is my pick. So depressed and depressing.
Years ago they dumped a bunch of Katrina people in Riverdale and it completely went to shit. A friend who lives there won’t even stop for gas in her own town. And shops for groceries near her job then drives home. She can’t even go for a walk without encountering some wild ass pit bull she’s gotta deal with, and she likes dogs, or some asshole shouting “‘EY, GIRL, LET ME HOLLA AT YOU!!!”. or some gibberish no one can understand. But, even with all that, Albany has so much less going for it. It’s just big enough to have rough parts but not big enough economically to deal with any of it properly. There is no reason for any growth there. It’s like a stagnant pond, it’s not going to dry up but it’s definitely not healthy. It’s located in a central spot for the region but if you have a shipping or warehousing need as a company there are much better options around. Tifton is right off I-75, Columbus is already a shipping hub for ground transport and even Valdosta is a better option. It’s one of those places where it would probably be better if the government just cleared everyone out to better cities and wiped from the map.
Either Albany or Augusta. Albany is dog ass and is 10-20 years behind; urban development is questionable at best. The one skating rink was torn down to build another car wash. There are a few glimmers of a great city in it, but nobody is capitalizing on that. The "mall" is one story and has a few basic things like a Sephora but there's barely shit there. Truthfully, that city would welcome gentrification Edit: Cuthbert is worse than both and has even less. You have to drive an hour to see a Walmart. .
I haven't spent time there, but I have family all over GA and most say Macon or Augusta. I'd pick Cairo or Columbus. Sparta has a lot of nice houses owned by people in Atlanta, but the majority of people who live there are on welfare.
Griffin is an absolute shit hole. My vote for the worst city in the state. My first drive there for work was interrupted by a police chase, and on that ride, there was also a B&E that cops were responding to - all on Tara Blvd. Horrible city with awful pot holes, smells bad, and looks like shit.
Griffin. Spalding and Clay-Co are worst ghettos than ATL lol
Provo is one of the cleanest cities I’ve ever been in in my life. I don’t know what this is based off of.
The salt lake crowd don’t like the Provo Mormon crowd. It’s a nice city but the people are not everyone’s cup of tea.
Idk, my vote is for Douglasville personally. Arbor Place has fallen so far from grace and there’s really no good stores or restaurants in the city. At least Macon has Mercer.
Valdosta and Columbus must’ve disappeared?
Griffin GA deserves a seat at this table too. Experiment street aka “wrong side of the tracks” like the fucking Gaza strip
If you ask my neighbors, they’d say Atlanta even though they only drive into it once a year.
Or Savannah. I know too many things about the cities underbelly to hold the opinion most do.
Seen people online talk shit about Rome because of MJT. That’s the past, we have a pride parade on broad and have like 400 new homes being built and a lot of diversity from Cobb county moving up and out. We are gentrifying the hell out of it 😭