a previous thread made me think about this subject, so what's the worst neighborhood you've ever been in. doesn't have to be in the U.S. Could be Lebanon, Could be Bangkok - if you've actually been there.
Not heard about. Not seen on T.V. I'm talkin' where you wouldn't want to be there at night. Or when you drive through, you know you better keep the windows up.
I'll go first:
1. Downtown L.A. I've been going there since I was a kid because my dad used to drive a bus for 32 years before he retired. He put me through college that way. Well out of those 32 years, 25 of them he was based out of the hub out of Central and Alameda in downtown adjacent to Skid Row. Drug use is not only rampant, it's blatant. I would see fights all the time between homeless people. The bi-polar are always around talkin' to themselves and you just don't know what the hell to expect from them. I know tons of places to eat down there. I mean cool places. I used to go there to shop for toys at the wholesale places too!
But once the sun sets, foggetabout it. Don't go there unless you are looking for drugs, cheap missing tooth hookers, or to wither away and die and become forgotten. If you have a friend arriving at the downtown Greyhound bus station, don't take no fancy car, just do your thing, keep your windows up and drive away safely.
2. Oakland, CA. There are certain parts of Oakland that are just shaaady. That story about growing up around the tracks is no joke. That industrial/wherehouse area around the tracks in Oakland are places you definitely don't want to be at at night. I've been to Oakland many times, and overall, I don't think it's that bad. Just certain parts are REALLY bad. My sister-in-law is also an ER doctor at the county hospital in Oakland, and she's told me some shit that makes me go
WTF?
3. Tijuana, MX. Stay around Revoluccion and you'll be fine. If you look American, you'll be fine. If you're dark skin like me and you wander off by the red light district area lookin' for tacos then you better be walkin' in a pack. Also, the drug trafficking trade has become so rampant around that place lately, with shootings, murders, and kidnappings . . . but I didn't know how bad it was until I went to a favorite seafood restaurant I used to go to a few months back.
They put up a sign that sad, "Los Armas no se Permiten." Meaning, guns are not allowed inside. Yeah, well we all walked out of there within a heartbeat. Guns are illegal in Mexico. Period. So for a restaurant to have a sign that says it . . . things can be pretty hairy in this town.