Ugliest and Most Beautiful Cities?

[Cashie]

The most recently uploaded Wikipedia image of Tianjin struck me as strikingly beautiful. Haven't been there, so can't say if the city's really like that, but you can get an idea here.

Spoiler :

As far as Chinese cities go it does seem like one of the better ones.

Looks like a pretty picture of an ugly city: imagine it it daytime and not touched-up. I was there briefly, didn't strike me as too pretty - but I was mainly near the shipping part of town.

 

[DroopyTofu]

Here are some pics to go with my mention of Charleston, SC. In order, they are The Battery, an aerial view of downtown, St. Michael's Church, a view from the porch of 2 Meeting Street, and Rainbow Row.

Spoiler :

 

[Agent Cooper]

Rome, Italy and Gothenburg, Sweden are the most beatiful cities I've visited.

Although I enjoy the occasional trip to London, the city certainly has it's share of depressing cityscapes, grey, old and worn down. No wonder the people living there need a pub at every street corner...

 

[Truronian]

St. Davids is nice, mainly because it lacks all the suburbs and residential areas that blight most cities.

most beautiful I've been, Oxford (although, a bit small...). I would say Bath but too small to count. I liked Cambridge, Mass as well, and the old part of Quebec (the rest of the city is ugly though)

ugliest - London

Oxford is indeed nice, though it has it's eyesores like the Maths institute:

I don't think I been to any city that could be described as beautiful.

Ugliest place might be Port Talbot, if that counts. At one time it was so bad that one person described it as being like Mordor. The only real city that I ever been to is probably Bristol, which would probably count as ugly.

Whereabouts in Bath do you live Chukchi?

 

[Camikaze]

St. Davids is nice, mainly because it lacks all the suburbs and residential areas that blight most cities.

What makes it a city if it lacks suburbs and residential areas?

 

[Hygro]

I can't really decide on prettiest ones, but for ugliest I have an easy candidate. The rotten hellhole that is Charleroi.

Spoiler :

I find that kind of look really appealing.

 

[mitsho]

I find that kind of look really appealing.

YEah, I also don't quite understand that "old, medieval, ancient, ..." = beautiful while "modern, industrial, brick houses" = ugly. But that's just how the world turns...

 

[Hygro]

I will say, though, that a lot of 60s era architecture is atrocious. I invite you to tour Claremont McKenna College. The buildings are the ugliest on the outside, but the most beautiful on the inside where it was up to the interior designers. The worst buildings on my campus are from that era as well. Especially that blight of a math building. Ugh.

 

[Cato the Elder]

YEah, I also don't quite understand that "old, medieval, ancient, ..." = beautiful while "modern, industrial, brick houses" = ugly. But that's just how the world turns...

I suppose it also has to do with the image Charleroi has in Belgium. It has a 30% unemployment rate and a skyrocketing crime rate, with drug and social problems rife throughout the city. The building style Charleroi has is very similar to that of most of Belgium, however, compared to an average Belgian town, Charleroi is of a much darker, greyer tone. The entire city vibrates this feel of poverty and abandonment, which is precisely what makes it so ugly.

 

[Lone Wolf]

Enough trees and some open space can redeem modern brick houses.

 

[Hygro]

I suppose it also has to do with the image Charleroi has in Belgium. It has a 30% unemployment rate and a skyrocketing crime rate, with drug and social problems rife throughout the city. The building style Charleroi has is very similar to that of most of Belgium, however, compared to an average Belgian town, Charleroi is of a much darker, greyer tone. The entire city vibrates this feel of poverty and abandonment, which is precisely what makes it so ugly.

That very situation gave us techno in the early 80s in Detroit. There can be a beauty to decay.

 

[NovaKart]

Charleroi kind of looks like West Virginia without the mountains. Or maybe it has mountains I don't know, can't see them in the pic.

 

[Annex]

From personal experience:

Best: NYC and Miami (big Art Deco fan here)

Worst: Belize City, Belize

 

[Haseri]

The Hague is the best I've been to (which admittedly isn't a lot). Much better than Amsterdam, though its canals do give it a certain charm.

I also liked Mt St Micheal in France, although it was ruined by every other building being a shop, but the cathedral made up for it.

I do like going to London, and the parks are great, but walking around the streets, its absurdly grey. So grey in fact, I was not surprised when that was the main colour in the Mass Effect 3 trailer.

 

[Mango Elephant]

I've actually never been to Savannah, but St. Simons Island on the GA coast is very cool (I don't actually live there, I just say I do because I like the name ><)

Spoiler :

 

[Camikaze]

YEah, I also don't quite understand that "old, medieval, ancient, ..." = beautiful while "modern, industrial, brick houses" = ugly. But that's just how the world turns...

I think it has more to do with dirtiness and dullness. Those pictures of Charleroi fit both criteria perfectly. Modern, industrial, brick houses can be quite beautiful when paired with greenery.

 

[dosed150]

What makes it a city if it lacks suburbs and residential areas?

well in the uk most cities are cities because they have a cathedral, like st albans, my closest city other than london which has about 65,000 people, but there are 2 nearby towns that both have about 90,000 people

 

[Cutlass]

I suppose it also has to do with the image Charleroi has in Belgium. It has a 30% unemployment rate and a skyrocketing crime rate, with drug and social problems rife throughout the city. The building style Charleroi has is very similar to that of most of Belgium, however, compared to an average Belgian town, Charleroi is of a much darker, greyer tone. The entire city vibrates this feel of poverty and abandonment, which is precisely what makes it so ugly.

That description reminded me of being on a US Navy base in the 80s. It was fully occupied with working people, but moving from New London onto the base had the "feel" of crossing the Iron Curtain. Everything on the other side was just that much grayer.

 

[NovaKart]

The problem with Savannah is there are too many ghosts there. They have a lot of haunted houses.

 

[Joecoolyo]

Gary, Indiana is possibly the most wretched place in the developed world.

I can vouch for this. Even though I only drove through Gary, I still had to urge to wash myself once I got home.

Also, this reminded me. Springfield, IL is also one of the ugliest cities I have ever seen. I mean, who the hell puts a giant smog puking smokestack in the middle of a downtown area?