
Dream of the sea of lights, of the opportunities, the nightlife, and all of the things you've been dreaming of living in your adult life since you were a kid. Being in a city as an adult can afford you those opportunities.
But oftentimes the city will just afford you more expensive housing with no real way to keep up your standard and quality of life. Unless you make major budget cuts, you might often find yourself at odds with your own city, and growing to dislike it.
Sound familiar to anyone?
It certainly did to Redditor lookinsidemybrain1, who wanted to know:
"What city is overrated?"
Here were some of those answers.
Brotherly--Not Municipal--Love
"My best friend is from Philly, I'm from outside of Boston. We both met in Florida when we were teens and bonded over being the only two people who were hockey fans in the mid 80s."
"In 2010 we had a bet for the Flyers/Bruins series. Loser would have to pay for a trip to the winner's city to watch a game in their barn."
"Obviously the Bruins choked away that 3-0 lead and lost the series. So I had to pony up for the trip. My boy tells me he'd rather go to Boston and catch a game there and see the city."
"I said ok but the bet was going to the winner's city and I've never been to Philly. He says 'You don't want to go to Philly, it sucks...even I don't want to go there.' So we went to Boston and had a great time."-sebrebc
The Capital In A Few Ways
"I used to work an ambulance in Jackson, Mississippi. That city is not circling the drain. The water has drained and Jackson is stuck to the tub."
"It is a never ending cycle of poverty, corrupt city officials, fleeing businesses, and crime. Every city administration does nothing but pass blame."
"Some of the most atrocious things I have seen happened in Jackson MS, not 20 miles from my home, and I was in Afghanistan. Every shift was a shooting, an assault, an overdose, a fire standby, homeless and mental health calls."
"Many of the citizens live in absolute squalor. No businesses near them, no grocery stores, no opportunity. They can't afford cars and the public transit it is practically non-existent. You truly do not understand what poverty is until you see it."-[username deleted]
Rio De Goodbye
"Even us Brazilians don't consider going to Rio de Janeiro a good idea, unless you're sure that you know what you're doing (like going to the beaches outside of town)."
"In Brazil, the best places to visit are small towns. Big cities have crime and violence, and it's not safe to just hang around with expensive electronics."
"Brazil has thousands of small paradise places, either beaches, mountains, jungles or whatever. See, for example, Maragogi. Small towns are mostly safe, and 80% of Brazil's cities have less than 20,000 people."
"Hope you have a better experience in the next time."-rubenssm
See any place on this list you're now making a mental note to avoid?
Because Of The Car Industry, Margot
"San Jose. People come here thinking it's the silicon valley expecting to see all kinds of cool advanced stuff but it's just an urban sprawl."
"I know someone who came here from Shanghai and wanted to travel to San Francisco. She asked me why we don't have high speed bullet trains that will take us to the city in like 15 mins. I didn't know what to say."-Live_Mathematician99
Hollywood
"I live in L.A., and every time someone comes out to visit, they want to go to Hollywood to see the touristy stuff. I don't mind indulging them, but a a huge fan of movies and old Hollywood, etc., the real thing is insanely disappointing."
"It's filthy, crowded, smelly, and chock full of shysters and violent homeless people. I totally get going for the sake of going if you're visiting the area, but there are two things you should never do: wander off the main streets or hang around late at night."
"There are a lot of crazies down there who get stabby when the sun goes down."-WickedHello
Emirati Problems
"Dubai. What most people don't see is the fact that the majority of the city are slums where people don't even have running water."
"I remember visiting my cousin who lived there and while we were at the beach, whole families would use the showers there because they didn't have their own."-Flaky_Sandwich9353
"A photo that is still vividly in my mind is of Dubai. It shows the city boarder and how there are shacks literally on the other side."
"It's insane that UAE is one of the richest counties in the world but a large chunk of their people live in poverty to the extent that their homes do not have walls and ceilings."-CaptainF*ckAll
These Actors Were Perfectly Cast In Their Roles | George Takei’s Oh Myyy
Sometimes an actor comes along that is able to reach the audience on a deeper level. The actor that immediately comes to mind is Robin Williams. Although it ...Let's Run Away....
"Atlantic City: A poor city with a poor population and all of its wealth coming from casinos, and casinos are depressing."-Topazz410
"I had to scroll way too far to see this. I don’t gamble so the casinos weren’t very exciting for me. The beach was pay to play and just a strip of sand with cold brown water."
"The boardwalk was good except it was the same exact merchandise in every 5th shop. We found one good restaurant and ate there daily. Left 2 days before our booking ended."-If_you_ban_me_I_win
And do you see any plans that you had on the back burner now fully making their way up?
The City Of Blues
"I've got such a great Memphis story. I've literally only been there once in my life and only for a couple of hours (aside from driving through it)."
"Over Christmas break 2004, I drove from east Tennessee to Abilene, TX to visit my sister. I drove back on New Year's Eve and at about 2:00am I got to Memphis."
"I decided I wanted to see the Mississippi River as I'd never been there before, so I pulled off the interstate and went to this very closed visitor's center on the river downtown. It's Tennessee, but it's still December, and it's cold. Maybe 40 outside."
"After using the bathroom, I walked down this path outside the visitors center that led along the river. I get maybe 100 yards down this not-illuminated path (again at 2:00am in downtown Memphis) and I notice there are these stairs that lead down toward the river. Awesome, I can see it up close! The stairs end at a tiny bank of dirt and then boom, there's the river."
"I start down these stairs and immediately realize, these are not like 'visitors, give these stairs a try' stairs. They are like 'these have been here for eight years and haven't been maintained in that time' stairs. I get about four stairs down and one of them gives way."
"In a split second, I am now sliding rapidly toward the Mississippi River in 40 degree weather with my flip phone in my pocket and absolutely no person who knows I am here and doing this. I make a mad scramble for anything I can reach for and by whatever providence, I grab a tree limb and stop the slide."
"I was able to get to my feet and realize that my shoes are wet. I was that close to ending up floating away down the Mississippi, probably drowning or freezing to death in the process. I can swim but come on."
"I regained my composure, crawled my way very, very slowly back up the bank, and got back in my car. That was arguably one of the dumbest things I've ever done in my life."-baltinerdist
A Piece Of Da Pisa
"I'm italian. I was planning a trip from the south to the north of Italy to take my car from my hometown to the city where I work, I was asking for advice about the cities to stop in for example Naples, Rome, Bologna, beautiful cities with many things to do and see."
"What about Pisa? Every single person I asked about told me to forget it. It is literally a hole with a crooked tower."
"'You look at it, take your picture and go away, but it's not worth the extra kilometers you would take for that detour.'"-FunnyPromise
No Infrastructure...Yeah, Im Good
"I think of all major American cities Los Angeles is the most overrated. It’s a cool place if you know someone who can show you around all the unique off the beaten path spots."
"But as a wandering, casual tourist who doesn’t have anyone in town you will spend a lot of time in traffic going to OK attractions."
"You're better off going to other California cities or visiting the beautiful nature the state has to offer then go to LA."-Amockdfw89
When looking for a place to live in this next stage of your life...buyer, beware. A city is only as good as it wants to be--so heed the warnings of others who have come before you.
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You would think in this age of modern society and seemingly faster-than-light information sharing, we'd see the reaped rewards of sharing positive information with one another. Tales of a better world, filled with people doing their best to help one another.
Then you read stories like these and it's hard not to think we're all maybe a little deserving of it.
That's obviously not the right line of thinking, and you should always do what you can to help someone out once a day, but wow. Some people suck.
*The following article contains discussion of suicide/self-harm.
Reddit user, kwarterz, wanted to know when people showcased the absolute bottom of humanity's offerings when they asked:
"What is the most f-cked up thing a person you know has done?"
There's not an easy way to categorize these, so just take them story by story and do your best not to replicate the acts seen by others listed below.
We Can Start Off On A Lighter Note
"I know a dude who sh-t down a chimney. Impressive as it was f-cked up."
cjthayes
Could've At Least Sent An E-Mail
"I know someone who was doing a semester abroad in China during college. She let her boyfriend at the time fly out from the US for a week+ visit, knowing she was going to dump him the second she saw him. She did it because it would have been “too hard” to dump him over the phone."
"...the guy did not speak Chinese, and he didn’t have enough money to change his flight so he just kinda bumbled around China for a week being miserable."
stebuu
Moral Of The Story: High School Kids Are The Dirt Worst
"There was a decomposing dead cat stuck between a fence and a wall next to the gym in my school. If physical education was our first lesson, we had to wait in front of the gym until someone fetched the keys. My friend Jason went to fetch the keys and left his bag. This fat class bully Toby used two sticks to pick up the dead cat, opened Jason's bag, and put the cat in. Jason hasn't noticed anything until we were in the locker room. He opened the bag, saw the dead cat, dropped the bag, cat fell apart, soup of rotten cat insides crawling with maggots splashed to the floor."
"Class was cancelled. Cleaning company had to disinfect the locker room."
LeaveThatHorseAlone
Surviving Doesn't Always Mean Living
"The brother of a girl I dated years ago, almost hacked his ex girlfriend to death with a machete and then tried to kill himself by overdosing."
"They both survived and I believe he's still in prison."
nelsonalgrencametome
Taking It Out On The World Usually Leads To People Getting Hurt
"My cousin was killed because a guy decided he’d kill himself by flooring it into another car on a major road. My cousin died, and his girlfriend had to undergo multiple extensive surgeries."
"The guy survived with minor injuries."
thisismycourage
Lucky To Not Be At Home
"My friends dad stabbed his wife in a heated argument and blew up their house while he (dad) was still inside. Heard the explosion from my own bedroom. Luckily my friend and his sister were elsewhere. The local newspaper articles were hauntingly graphic about it."
Qyro
Unable To Handle Your Own Insecurities
"He went to his wife's work new years party and got really drunk. He suddenly decided his wife was having an affair with her boss. A loud shouting match ensued and he suddenly pull out a gun. He shot his wife, her boss, and himself in the head. He and her boss were doa. His wife lost her vision but survived. They had 3 small children."
404photo
With family like this, would you even want to have more family?
That's not the expression, but wow, there are some messed up families in the world today.
Money Was Never The Issue
"My Aunt and Uncle are rather wealthy farmers. They have spent the last several decades building up new divisions of the business for their kids to run and eventually inherit. One of the big expansions was going from simply raising beef cattle to handling the butchering and selling the meat themselves."
"Anyway, for the butcher shop they built a beautiful million dollar shop and sent my cousin's husband to butcher school to get all his licensing to be the operations manager while my cousin would be bookkeeper. They never did a thing to earn it and were essentially handed a golden ticket."
"It's a little complicated what happened next, but after a few years my Aunt/Uncle started getting negative feedback about how the place is run. When they spoke to my cousin's husband they offered him more money thinking it was a motivation issue. They were already overpaid and could afford their own million dollar home. The husband made a snarky retort that he already makes that much."
"That raised red flags, they ended up looking at the accounts and things seemed fishy. They went to the business after hours and took the bookkeeping files, the husband found out and drove to their house to essentially scream at them in rage. In the end it turns out they had embezzled over a million dollars by cooking the books."
"They got kicked out of the family business (with no legal repercussions and a fat buyout bonus) and generally have little to do with any of the family. My Aunt and Uncle have made attempts at reconciliation because they want to see their grandchildren, but have been thus far rejected."
"It's insane because they were handed everything and it still wasn't good enough. They were going to inherit the business and they blew it."
Regnes
Don't Be Surprised When You're Taken Off The Family Thread
"He slept with his son's long-term girlfriend. Like his son's first love. Told his son like it was no big deal."
"He told us about it at work, and said his son was being a bit of a b-tch about it. We then watched his life fall apart as both his kids cut him out of their lives. Dude found out he became a grandpa from his older daughter via an email with no pictures."
"As you can imagine, sleeping with his son's GF was the worst thing (I'm aware of) that he's done, but he was a horrible person generally speaking."
Ganglebot
Not The "Welcome Back" You Were Hoping For
"I was getting out of the army and had put back over $70k for a home for my family. My mother got my banking information and took every penny for drugs. When i tried suing my family disowned me"
Melodic-Spot7651
Keeping It...sigh...All In The Family
"My uncle left my aunt for their son's wife."
bluejester12
Just try to live your life, day by day, without making someone else's worse. If you can do that bare minimum then you'll be leaps and bounds over the people in this story. Sainthood Status, really.
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Everyone has their travel bucket list.
The list of places they absolutely must visit before they die.
There are those, however, who also have a rather different list of destinations.
The places that have no intention to visit.
Be it for safety concerns, language barriers, or simply that there's nothing at these places that calls to them, there are places some wouldn’t dream of spending the time and money to visit.
Redditor TrooperJohn was curious to hear which places were at the very bottom of the list of travel destinations for his fellow Redditors, leading them to ask:
"What is a popular tourist destination you have no interest in visiting?"
Oasis in the desert? No thank you.
"Dubai."
"Why and whats special about it?"
"Its a modern city in a desert."- Maximum_Calendar_791.
"Dubai."
"A fake city with fake people, no human rights, where the world's tallest buildings hide corruption and slavery in their shadows."
"It's like someone decided to take every problem of mankind and concentrate it in one spot."- PayNoNoticeOfMe.
"Dubai one i think it is ugly two I would die in two minutes of me being there I can't stand anything above 40 c°."- BookWormPerson.
One of the seven wonders is one too many for me.
"The pyramids. "
"Too many horror stories of Egypt."- Aemiom.
Landlocked.
"Not really a destination, but taking a cruise."- Shortbus_Playboy.
Mountains aren't really my thing.
"Everest."
"Just why."
"You use a bunch of money to get in there them come down."
"And trash your whole way there. It's literally a corner in the Earth insufferable for humans and we still made a way to go there to trash it."- ACLullaby.
It's in my own backyard... but still not interested.
"I have lived about 15km away from the Burj Khalifa ever since it was made."
"I could not care any less besides the occasional pointing out the 'shiny tall building' to my nieces.- legolosss.
The pictures are enough for me.
"Mount Rushmore."
"Friends who've made the journey to Mount Rushmore mostly say it was no big deal and not worth the effort or expense to travel there."- Back2Bach.
Hustle and Bustle? No thanks.
"Anything busy.'
"Whether it's cities, structures, I don't care."
"I'd rather go to a boring empty quiet place than a place full of people."- TheSmeep.
They're watching us.
"That creepy a** place in Japan with all the realistic dolls."
"No thank you."
Some dream of paying a visit to these places.
Others hope they never have to set foot there, and will choose to leave it to the other millions of tourists.
To each, their own.
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When it comes to electing a leader, the choice is an easy one if a potential candidate shares the same values as yours.
And while a candidate is fit to lead remains to be seen, we rely on our instinct to choose someone with whom we can relate.
But sometimes, our options are limited and we inevitably go with someone who is the lesser of two evils.
Curious to hear from strangers online about a hypothetical, Redditor Cashmeresquid2309 asked:
"Americans of Reddit, would you vote for an openly Atheist presidential candidate? Why or why not?"

Redditors were quick to point out the answer was a no-brainer.
We Already Know The Answer
"Asking Reddit if they'd vote for an atheist..."
"I feel like the answer would be obvious."
– sarahmagoo
Sci-Fi Analogy
"Americans of Reddit, would you vote for a Star Wars fan who heckin loves doggos?"
– WitnessChemical
For The Atheists In The Crowd
"Atheists of atheistville, would you vote for an open atheist?"
– nixcamic
Others weighed in with a range of opinions.
About 45
"What's funny is how many of them would probably say no, even though they voted for Trump and would do so again. Say whatever else you want about him, but I seriously can't understand how anyone could genuinely believe Trump is a Christian. He's so obviously faking it and is undoubtedly the most atheistic president we've ever had or are likely to have for a long time."
"This is a guy who's never even so much as read the Bible or attended church, who told a conservative radio host his favorite Bible verse was 'an eye for an eye', who told evangelical interviewers that he's never asked God for forgiveness because he's never done anything wrong, and who routinely commits all 7 deadly sins (pride, greed, wrath, envy, lust, gluttony and sloth) without remorse."
– empfindsamkeit
From A Different Perspective
"Not an american but interestingly according to this survey on 1006 people from 2007, being atheist was the worst thing you could be as a candidate (of the things asked) with only 45 % of people saying they'd vote for one."
– ilovecatfish
An atheist candidate isn't necessarily a big strike.
Double Negative
"I wouldn’t not vote for someone just because they were atheist."
– HabitualEnthusiast
Credibility First
"This is it. If they’re running on platforms I support with a history to back up those campaign promises, I don’t care if they belong to the church of the flying spaghetti monster. They could literally be a member of the satanic temple and I, an actual practicing Christian, would give less shi*s than a constipated sloth."
"Edit: yes, I realize the Satanic Temple does not actually worship satan. I used it for that purpose. The Church of Satan has some…problematic views and I probably would not vote for someone who literally holds a platform of eugenics."
– Phoenix_of_Asclepius
Some view the role of religion in politics as important.
It Depends
"Religion can be relevant: I would have strong reservations about voting for a Scientologist, even if I agreed with the policies they proposed. I would have strong reservations voting for a member of an apocalyptic cult or, possibly worse, a follower of the (highly heretical) 'prosperity gospel,' which unfortunately includes more and more so-called 'evangelicals' — I didn't vote for George W. Bush, but it's not because he was an evangelical."
"It depends on the role: I'd probably be more flexible with a legislator than an executive (mayor, governor, president), as their character is IMO more important than for a legislator and their policy stances somewhat less important relative to a legislator."
"Satanic temple — well, that's just an organized group of atheists and humanists with an intentionally inflammatory choice of name. They're generally fine people."
– alyssasaccount
A Bad Rap
"The Satanic Temple is an excellent organization that every decent person should be able to respect. A Church of Satan member, not so much."
"There's a huge difference between them!"
– StarsEatArtBooks
And Redditor boganvegan said it best.
"Better an open atheist than a fake Christian."
It all boils down to trustworthiness. Without full transparency, how could anyone put their faith in a candidate who spews nothing but lies?
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Being home alone isn't always the most tranquil thing.
No one is there to help or protect you.
And things that go "bump" in the night... sometimes they do more than bump.
Redditor ag9910 wanted to hear about the times home felt like an unsafe place to be. They asked:
"What is the scariest, strangest, most unexplainable thing that has happened to you while home alone?"
I'm always freaked out when I'm home alone. Lights on. Yeah, my electric bill is high.
Dorothy?
"I dreamed the front door blew open at the exact time the house alarm went off... I hopped up and sure enough, the front door was open. No intruder."
fatowl
I See You
"Not home alone but only one in right side of the house. Went to my mom's bathroom to wash my hands and saw a pair of feet behind the half open door. Laughed and said 'very funny Ma, I see you.' then finished up and left. Bumped into my mother in the kitchen unpacking, nobody else was in the house. I'm glad whatever was behind the door didn't peek out."
SatanWithFur
“It’s Doug!”
"One night I had forgotten to lock my apartment door and woke up in the middle of the night. My bedroom door was about 2 feet from my front door, as you walked into the apartment. First a big dog ran by, then a person. Holy crap I was so scared and I screeched 'Who is it?!?!!'"
"A man said 'It’s Doug!' As I was thinking to myself, who the f**k is Doug, he said 'oh, crap.' He turned around to go back out the front door saying 'Sorry.' I asked 'Didn’t you have a dog with you?' He said 'Oh, yeah. Hey, c’mon!.' He left, his dog ran out after him and I locked my front door."
"Edit: glad you all thought this was funny, because I did too, once my heart quit trying to beat right out of my chest! The next day the girls at work thought I was crazy for not being upset, but eh, done is done. Peace!"
scarletohairy
Confused...
"My sister and I were home alone and we heard someone big running up the stairs. The stairs make lots of noise with slight pressure so when there’s someone big on them you can tell. I went out of my room to check but saw no one anywhere and my sister also came out of her room and she asked if that was me I said no and we both looked around to see if there was anyone but found no one in the whole house. We were confused and called our parents and just waited until they got back and that was that."
JtSudbury04
I See You
"I very clearly saw a guy walk into my room. But when I went after him there was nobody there. I checked in the closet, under my bed, everywhere one could hide in my room."
HighlyOffensive10
This is why home video surveillance is key.
"NO"
"My parents were on a road trip, just left, and I sat down at my desk. I thought 'Weekend alone by myself' and a voice yelled into my right ear 'NO' so loud it hurt."
Th4ab
Wild
"I managed to lock myself out of my house on my birthday during a tornado while trying to bring my cats to the basement for safety. I later found out that the tornado was approximately a couple miles or less from me at that exact time. The sky was green and it got weirdly calm and then I could hear what sounded like a train coming before I found an unlocked window to climb through. Wild times."
SilverGnarwhal
Saturday morning in the 80s...
"I wasn't home alone but I was awake by myself one Saturday morning in the 80s when I was around 7 or so. I believe my mom was the only one home because my dad went to the lake to go fishing that weekend, and I'm not sure where my older brothers were, maybe they went with him, idk."
"Anyways, my mom's sleeping in, and I'm in the living room by myself, watching Saturday morning cartoons and making a fort out of sheets and cushions. Something made me turn around and I saw my dad in his pajamas standing in the hallway entrance with his hands on his hips, looking the mess I was making and shaking his head."
"He then turned around and walked into my room, which was just off the hallway entrance. Dude. I didn't even look, I just booked it to my parents room and woke my mom up. I don't remember what happened after that, this was around 35 years ago. And yes, my dad was fine, nothing had happened to him."
smriversong
Get the Bat...
"I was at home by myself on a call with some friends when all of a sudden my dog begins to bark like crazy, which was odd since it was the middle of the night and he's usually sleep. I go downstairs to check on him and find him barking at our hall closet, terrified I grabbed my bat that I keep in my room just in case and open the door. There was nothing out of usual at first at then I look down and notice a familiar looking object at the bottom of the closet."
"It was my mom's necklace she had lost when I was 9, (i'm 15 now just to put in perspective how long it's been). I showed it to my mom at breakfast and she was just as shocked as I was. I still have no clue how it got there or how my dog knew it was in there, definitely one of the oddest occurrences of my life."
SomeRandomIdiot14
Meow
"Many years ago, I was 14 or so, my first night alone in the house when my parents were out. Lying on the living room floor reading, my cat sleeping next to me."
"Suddenly, cat wakes up, stares intently into the dark corner of the room behind me, hair on end, growls and then bolts out of the room and upstairs. I look behind me and see nothing, but follow cat upstairs and hide under the covers. Freaked me out."
LairdofWingHaven
Thank God for alarms. I hate being home alone.
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