# Most Dangerous Region



## EphemeralStick

So, my mom and I got to talking about dangerous areas to travel through. She's convinced that the Midwest states are too dangerous to hitch through versus what I said was more dangerous, the Southern states. It's all relative really but it got me thinking, what areas do the rest of you find dangerous or shady?


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## Tude

Interesting topic there my friend. Will be interesting to see what is input here!


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## Kim Chee

The dirty souf has its share of mean people.

I did lose my wallet (threw it on the ground) as I was being accosted by three shitheadfucksticks in friendly Billings, Montana.


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## psychofoamer

East St. Louis, Illinois is the most a dangerous city in the country. Don't go there or serious you might not come back out...place is crazy


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## dirty andy

Kensington Philadelphia. Camden New Jersey. I only ended up in both of those places when I was trying to cop dope but getting out is fucking hard and scary. Slanging and busking was also a near impossibility them home bums redefine territorial....

Ia!


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## Deleted member 125

dont come to rva. its not that dangerous theres just too many dumb ass people here fucking things up and im tired of reading stories about people getting jacked/pinched in acca. ya'll know acca isnt the only fucking train yard here right?


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## psychofoamer

http://www.thirdworldtraveler.com/Third_World_US/SI_Kozol_StLouis.html


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## Peregrin

cantcure I am catching sbd out of ACCA hoping to boom down to jax with a friend. He knows kids in RVA, any advice on ACCA?


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## Deleted member 125

Peregrin said:


> cantcure I am catching sbd out of ACCA hoping to boom down to jax with a friend. He knows kids in RVA, any advice on ACCA?



if yer sbd where you outta be dont worry. if yer in the heart of the yard catching junk then buckle up its a shit show these days. if yer friend knows their shit and yer where you outta be dont worry. getting off in jax is another story after that what 16 hour ish ride? its been hell for me, the yard in jax isnt to awful its just in the middle of a fucking swamp...


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## Peregrin

Well the idea is to take GM to Baldwin and ride wbd to NOLA. Thanks!


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## Andrea Van Scoyoc

I'm with @Tude ...

This is going to be an interesting read.


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## psychofoamer

Memphis has some rough areas. west Memphis is pretty rough. North Little Rock. New Orleans. Houston, San Antonio, El Paso all have some pretty rough barrios.


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## Parker Free

I hope more travelers weigh in...since I'll be on the road myself at some point. I want to know what different places are like, also.


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## Hillbilly Castro

Billings, MT was surprisingly rough. LOTS of meth there. I also don't fuck with a lot of the tri-state area. Jersey City was gnarly at night.

I've also heard the border region between I-10 and the border is a pretty fucking sketchy zone in a lot of sections. I've never been down there, just hearsay.


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## psychofoamer

South of I-10 in Texas can be sketchy indeed


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## kokomojoe

Leadbellytherxrcur said:


> Memphis has some rough areas. west Memphis is pretty rough. North Little Rock. New Orleans. Houston, San Antonio, El Paso all have some pretty rough barrios.


In regards to north little rock, didnt personally have any encounters but while waiting on a train to kc, we saw at least a dozem cop cars within an hour in the middle of the night going back and forth across the bridges above and to the east of us. Idk what was happening but youd see a few head north then 5 would cut south right past them. It was kinda funny but definitely wouldnt recommend going to far north of the yard there. Cops in west memphis were cool and told us we were in a pretty crappy area but we hitched out within an hour of getting there


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## Mongo

West virginia can be a bitch and it rains all the fucking time in parts.


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## psychofoamer

Mongo said:


> West virginia can be a bitch and it rains all the fucking time in parts.



West Virginia is dangerous? Really. I felt that folks were kind of strange, but I never felt threatened. Everyone is just dirt poor..

The weather has no relevance to the thread btw


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## Mongo

Leadbellytherxrcur said:


> West Virginia is dangerous? Really. I felt that folks were kind of strange, but I never felt threatened. Everyone is just dirt poor..
> 
> The weather has no relevance to the thread btw


Thought I was in the worst state to hitch through thread. I had just been looking at that before this.


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## OstrichJockey

It seems every time I've hitched 59 through Mississippi, I get picked up by fucking loonies. Never really had much of a problem elsewhere.



Leadbellytherxrcur said:


> Memphis has some rough areas. west Memphis is pretty rough. North Little Rock. New Orleans. Houston, San Antonio, El Paso all have some pretty rough barrios.



New Orleans is definitely a clusterfuck. The first time I hitched, West Memphis was the first truck stop I ended up at; met some amazing people there who showed me the ropes. Haven't been there since then - how is it rough?


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## Rackbone

Beaumont, Texas
East Saint Louis, wherever that is
Gary, Indiana
Detroit


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## Rackbone

but honestly, the only trouble I ever really get is from rednecks. Black Folk usually leave you the fuck alone and Mexicans, even the gangbangers, usually will give you a ride. 

not trying to make this a race thing. just for the most part, rednecks from the south are the absolute worst. They seem to really have it out for anyone not like them.


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## Maxxwest

Jersey and nyc are rough stops to be stranded in. But I think LA is the worst. Fucking townies will kill ya


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## urchin

Northern California (specifically Anderson), northern Idaho,and eastern Oregon if you're a person of color. Those are horrible places.


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## Hillbilly Castro

urchin said:


> Northern California (specifically Anderson), northern Idaho,and eastern Oregon if you're a person of color. Those are horrible places.



Seconding northern ID also if yr visibly queer / trans. Had to defend myself from nazi scum at the MT border.


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## sandpaper cowboy

It seems like you're more likely to get picked up by a drunk or nutjob in the south.


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## Johnny Maddox

EphemeralStick said:


> So, my mom and I got to talking about dangerous areas to travel through. She's convinced that the Midwest states are too dangerous to hitch through versus what I said was more dangerous, the Southern states. It's all relative really but it got me thinking, what areas do the rest of you find dangerous or shady?


Jersey for sure has the worst most dangerous states anywhere I've been. Trenton. Camden. Patterson. Irvington. They're all warzones


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## tennesseejed

Johnny Maddox said:


> Jersey for sure has the worst most dangerous states anywhere I've been. Trenton. Camden. Patterson. Irvington. They're all warzones



Have to agree with this. In certain parts of Jersey we were swarmed by crackheads too haha.

Edit: But I have also never been to alot of other places that i'd imagine to be pretty rough. Like Gary, IN, and parts of LA.


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## Hillbilly Castro

Johnny Maddox said:


> Jersey for sure has the worst most dangerous states anywhere I've been. Trenton. Camden. Patterson. Irvington. They're all warzones



This times a thousand. The amount of heroin there is insane.. there are many towns in MA and CT that approach this level of postindustrial burnout (Holyoke, New Haven) but Jerz takes the cake.


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## WanderLost Radical

Any big city is kinda sketchy, imo. that's why I tend to avoid them. Lots of tweakers, and very few good spots to sleep makes it wayy more dangerous.


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## tennesseejed

WanderLost Radical said:


> Any big city is kinda sketchy, imo. that's why I tend to avoid them. Lots of tweakers, and very few good spots to sleep makes it wayy more dangerous.




Yep, I have generally had alot better travel experiences (hitching, flying signs, nicer people) in more rural areas. The higher the population of an area, the more likely for you to get fucked with in my experience. Don't get me wrong though, have been through some small towns with A TON of sketchy tweakers


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## benton

Statistically, violent crime rates in the South are considerably higher than the rest of the US.


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## Deleted member 16034

New Orleans is one of the only cities *I've seen *where the people can be assaulted (Stabbed, raped, beat to shit) and the assailant is the one protected by the community, even if the community KNOWS that the assailant actually did it. 

I heard Oakland can be dangerous. I've never felt super sketched out while being there, but I might not go there often enough to know what I'm talking about.


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## Rob Nothing

Trenton NJ gave me the creeps, as a white guy.. nothing happened to me the few times I drove there though. 

The east coast, generally, makes asshats and would-be thugs here in the west look like clowns in comparison. It's a whole other F888ing world out there.

Austin TX, actually. In spots... Slaughter siding for instance is pretty bad. Gangs patrolling for train riders.. colored folk that hate whites.

Memphis was weird, but I think because I was so alien there they probably pitied me more than anything. I walked from Canada yard to Marion, through west Memphis.. but by that time was limping so again, probably looked more pathetic to the white-haters than deserving of a beat-down. 

Same experience in Houston as in Memphis.

Only rolled through El Paso, but was enough to get an impression..
And never been to East St Liou but I have had some sketched out experiences in Sacramento and Bakersfield.. Like I said above though, probably wouldn't even compare to the danger over in the east states.

Ive gone to limping a particular way when I'm alone and passing through a bad area. Glad to look like a gimp so long as it keeps me alive.


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## pewpew

WanderLost Radical said:


> Any big city is kinda sketchy, imo. that's why I tend to avoid them. Lots of tweakers, and very few good spots to sleep makes it wayy more dangerous.




Pretty much sums up this thread...It's common sense to avoid the cities mentioned in this thread. I tend to like to stay where homebums won't be, like at all. Which is probably the main reason I rarely run into travelers (hitch hiker ones) but I'm ok with that if it means I can stay away from trouble as much as possible. Sometimes I do have to bite the bullet and rush thru a big city but I won't stop for breaks or anything that day. As long as you wake up early when the normal people are going to work, and get thru the city before 2pmish, it's all good.


That being said, Chicago I stayed near the water, but apparently still took me 3 days because I had to avoid the south west at all cost and go around going north lol, still a ton of homebums but I bet not nearly as bad.


Jacksonville FL, This one was pretty easy since I had my bike at the time but still North Jacksonville was pretty ghetto and didn't help that my dog was snapping at every 'gangstas' feet, luckily I the worst was just a very angry stare down. Downtown was ok but the North side was sketchy as fuck. I was probably being more paranoid but just really felt uneasy...Also the cops are dicks....you know it's a shitty area for travelers when I got kicked off property twice for charging my phone aka "stealing electricity" =/ . Which is why I tend to ask the clerks and store managers now days just so I can feel comfortable.


Albuquerque NM, This was an ok experience, never felt threatened or uneasy and people were generally nice but the homebums were everywhere and was littered with trash 360 degrees. I got my electronic bag stolen but that was my fault I guess. Felt like using the tarp that night and I guess it was sticking out? Not sure, but it was gone the next day and fond a few chargers spread out about 20 feet from where I was sleeping. So I guess a little off topic but there's a reason why I keep moving even if I see one homebum in a town or city, just don't trust them and tends to make me look bad as well lol....Probably came off as a douche by saying that but idc, think most if not all travelers agree we have standards when it comes to meeting new people on the road....mostly just a quick look at gear, hygiene and the way they carry themselves, neatly packed and organized...pretty much not walking around with a shopping cart and looking all depressed.


I will say this, There really is no bad parts in Colorado, almost laughable when people told me to stay away from this and that bad area lol.....I mean it's Colorado...


Anyways, sorry for the rambling...but it's just common sense to stay away from places like Detroit or Chicago, and if you absolutely have to go thru a big city, ask around or Google what are the bad areas, usually the south parts, and stay on the outskirts if possible or leave extra early before all the tweekers start running around the streets, walk fast and no breaks lol.


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## Ranger

Prince George, B.C.(Canada) is brutal and definitely my least favourite way point....


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## Synchronicity

pewpew said:


> I will say this, There really is no bad parts in Colorado, almost laughable when people told me to stay away from this and that bad area lol.....I mean it's Colorado...


Have you ever been to Pueblo, CO? I felt uneasy as fuck there. Walking through dingy neighborhoods with used needles littering the ground. While hitching got middle fingers, spit at, and shit thrown at me. Took me ages to get out of. Not a friendly place.


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## Rob Nothing

Pueblo was hands down one of the friendliest towns I went through this winter.
Just goes to show how mileage can vary out there. Everyone is different and so everyone gets treated / comes out with a different experience. 

I get the sentiment, "all cities are shitty and or dangerous". But in the context of danger there really is a huge difference between someplace like Portland or Seattle and somewhere like pine bluff, for instance, or el centro, or Nola, or e st Lou.. there are places you don't want to go alone, or at all.. depending on what you look like, no matter how much common sense you think you have. To me that is what this thread is about.


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## SammyG

EphemeralStick said:


> So, my mom and I got to talking about dangerous areas to travel through. She's convinced that the Midwest states are too dangerous to hitch through versus what I said was more dangerous, the Southern states. It's all relative really but it got me thinking, what areas do the rest of you find dangerous or shady?


Definitely Missouri. Fuck missouri.


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## pewpew

Yeah I went thru Pueblo about a month ago, I didn't care for it much but I already had some money and stayed in a motel the 2 days I was there, and usually when I do that I like to soak up as much TV and wifi as possible lol. So I can't say whether I had bad or good experiences with it, seemed pretty decent but it was getting to the shithole areas with trash everywhere, and I didn't care for how the town was set up near the interstate like that and all, other than that, it was ok. That sucks you got shit thrown at you and spat at tho, I guess that does makes sense about everyone has different experiences but I still wouldn't fuck with Detroit or New York at all lol.


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## drode

Pueblo isn't bad at all. The worst experience was with a cop telling me one thing about panhandling and another damn near writing me a ticket for it the next day. I walked through the dead of night there twice to scope out hopouts and there wasn't even an indication of sketchiness. Except meeting some weirdos playing accordion in a park at 2 AM.

Billings is fine if you stick to the area around the interstate. 


Alexandria LA is hood as shit. Don't move around at night in that town and definitely don't go down Lee st. 

I walked all the way from Bensenville to Chicago. I understand why they call it Chi-raq now.


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## DuHastMich

I have to agree with those who say Billings is a fuckhole. My experience wasn't so much with meth, but a few Native Americans who would get drunk off Listerine and want to fight me. Besides, the serpico aren't friendly, either.

Joplin, MO was "interesting". Chill one day, a completely clusterfuck the next.

Albuquerque (around the Greyhound station) was pretty rough.

Salt Lake City, too, was on-again-off-again fucked up. Head up towards Ogden, all is good.


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## justbreathe

i have to say- "rednecks" are almost always nice, good, giving people (as im def one myself) but they do judge -- as all do -- so just be honest. u drink? get high? whatever. just be true. if ( big if here) they can help, most will. i know there are ones that are assholes but every walk of life has assholes... lets just judge people individually not on race, sex or location- - just my opinion


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## Coywolf

Damn, I though I could give some good input, but everything has been covered already.

I would never hitch east of Texas, not because I'm afraid. There is just nothing worth seeing over there in my opinion. I likes me wide open spaces.

Be very careful hitchhiking on Reservations. I have horror stories. Including being brought to a meth den full of drunk guys, and nearly being jumped and left for dead in the middle of nowhere. And that was just the Navajo rez. Not even that bad.

Avoid major cities. Excluding a few, San Fran, Portland, Denver, Seattle. 

Meh. I don't have allot of negative stories hitching. I try to be very careful, becoming another statistic would go against everything I have been doing to promote a hitchhiking comeback.


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## DuHastMich

Yeah, I've traveled through several reservations, but never stopped. Once I tried to hitch from Michigan to the Badlands, but was kinda getting bad juju from the South Dakota locals around Yankton, so got the fuck out and never made it there (to this day). That was in '97.

Denver really wasn't too terrible to me. Fort Collins, however, was ruthless in terms of law enforcement on my nuts.


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## Coywolf

Ya man, ft collins is getting really bad in regards to cops crack down on homeless people. I once spent a night there in a port-a-potty hiding from the rain. Haha. Not proud of that one.


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