Is Detroit really the worst U.S. city?

I saw a Yahoo thing on the worst cities and detroit was numero uno followed by flint michigan and sacramento Ca. Im from Pa so i know nothing about either cities.. Why are they the worst? IS it just peoples opinions?

currently Detroit has one of the worst economies in the nation... because of the failing domestic automakers and outsourcing factory jobs it has fallen into an extraordinarily bad recession. with jobs being hard to find and rising poverty rates, you can imagine how that affects crime. Detroit has been notorious for years because of its high violent crime rates and low arrest rates for murders. In the past I know that St. Louis Missouri had the worst crime rates in the country, but I haven't checked lately so it could have changed.

I am from a little town just outside Flint but retired so wimtering in Florida. From what I read and hear on the news Orlando is much worse than Flint or Detroit when it comes to crime. Because of tourism the word doesn't get out.

Yes our economy is pretty bad right now. I don't quite understand why Flint is on there though. I don't really think of Flint as a city that is hurting. I think they are mostly opinons though.

It depends on what kind of worst list you're talking about. If it's economic, although I haven't personally felt it, everyday when I listen to my local NPR affiliate they talk non-stop about how awful the economy is here. Which is related to the auto industry's downfall (GM just reported the greatest yearly loss of all automakers of all time). There is a staggering number of foreclosures in Detroit too. One of- if not the highest- in the US. But as for living here, there are some very nice parts and some not so nice parts, like most big cities. Downtown is turning around, there are lots of hip lofts and old building restorations going on. Good restaurants, lots of cool bars and venues, museums, etc. I love the diversity, art, and culture of Detroit. This city is turning around and hopefully we'll get off of that list soon!

I live in Detroit, and the people from New york that visit Detroit, always tell me " New York Wayyyy worst that Detroit." However that crap you are reading is base off the rate of (crime, Economy, etc). Therefore I will say that the people who is running Detroit (mayor, city council, etc) are not doing a good job. Police only want to find the big drug dealer, they will let the small ones go. It has a high drop out rate for high school kids, and the child abuse/ negligence is very high. We are also know to have the highest rate of the std called syphillis

FYI ........That Report said Stockton, CA not Sacramento, CA

Don't ya ever wonder who comes up with these lists and why?

Like that Blackwell fellow who comes up with the best and worse dressed celebraties. How does he benefit from that list? I mean it really doesn't serve a purpose other than providing gossip.

"OMG, Cher is such a lil ho she's on that list again. And she's 62!"

So the list of the worst cities is kind of like that. It doesn't serve a purpose other than providing fodder for discussion.

"My cousin moved there and someone stole his car door while sitting at a stoplight!"

The stories always get more exciting and dangerous than reality suggests. The Reality around here is that American manufacturing has left the country and we are in that convulsive stage where a new economy is rising from the old. It's not easy.

We're in the "not easy" stage.

Detroit has always been a tough city, so it's impression on the rest of the world could be a little ugly.
What bothers me is that it has consistently held that image for so many years. It is got to be the most corrupt city on the planet. There is so much pocket lining going on from elected officials, that it boggles my mind, that they continue to get re-elected.

One thing that is miss understood about Detroit is there is a distinct separation between the City of Detroit and the surrounding suburbs. The city of Detroit itself is terrible, I live here and it is. The economy right now is terrible, and people here better get used to the idea that the auto industry is not coming back. Detroit has a very high poverty level, a scary violent crime rate, and terrible politicians wasting the limited funds they do have. On the other hand the suburbs or the metro area as we call it here is actually very nice. Good schools, very little crime, and a changing diverse job situation.
All jobs are down in the area but the communities built around new technologies than the over inflated over priced auto manufacturing jobs.

As far as Flint goes understand that was at one time the headquarters of Oldsmobile, and since Oldsmobile no longer exists Flint has died.

Its just the opinion of Americas idiotic media.
Consider this, each metropolitan city in the united states has its crime issues, and each city has worse crimes in particular fields than others do, for instance, the only way i would honestly ever say Detroit and flint are the worst cities in the country is that they have the worst economy at the moment.
the worse the economy is the worse certain crimes are.
However, if you take a look at Miami Florida, they have one of the highest populations of illegal immigrants, one the highest crimes in scam artist, and let us not leave out the serious drug trafficking problems that infest that state, and may i say very high racial tensions in some areas.
LA has a far worse issue with gangs and gang violence, while Detroit does not have much of an issue with gangs. Usually when someone is murdered in Detroit its either because of a drug deal gone bad or an issue with robbery.
And lets not forget the problems in New Orleans as well. I can go on all day about each city and its problems.
My point is the media tends to turn the truth, stretch beyond the subject of reality and make things out to be what they are not.
Like i said, if one was to say Detroit and flint have the worst economy out of any city in the country, i can honestly agree, along with the rest of Michigan, and our economy is in a slump for another reason besides crime, which is a whole different subject.

If you are just talking the city of Detroit yes it deserves to be up there. The unemployment is probably higher than listed, high crime, high taxes, high insurance, corrupt police and city leaders. Failing schools producing thousands of kids who couldn't get a job if they wanted. Sure they are slowly cleaning it up (Greektown, Wayne State area are great examples) but its not there yet.

If you are talking metro Detroit no its wrong. Detroit has some of the nicest suburbs around. Good schools, low crime, colleges, stores, entertainment. Its pretty much the exact opposite of Detroit except for the jobs problem.

Musicman - Lansing was the home of Olds. Flint was the home of Buick.

No. The worst city is Columbus, Ohio.

Come on Dexter Ave and find out!

Dont forget ya pistol!

Tigers, Pistons, Red Wings, four seasons, casinos, great theatres and restaurants.

Methinks these people didn't even bother visiting.

Yes! High taxes, high crime, no jobs, bad mayor, bad governor,bad roads, traffic jams, bad weather,I could go on and on

Hmmm鈥?. let鈥檚 see, we have a Mayor committing felony鈥檚, City Council members threatening each other with guns, a Police Chief looking for the murderer of a stripper who was partying with the Mayor and was beat up by his wife, who ended up getting shot with the same type of gun the Detroit Police use (Glock) probably one of her own officers did the hit on behalf of the mayor. Check out www.freep.com or www.detnews.com www.wdiv.com

Well, Detroit's main economy booster were the auto plants, and it seems that those are going down. It's a trickle down effect, the many layoffs and outsourcing has taken money away from many.

I'm not really sure, but I'll tell you this much: Detroit sucks, but it's people have a spirit like nothing else.