Meanest Cities in the U.S.

[tekkmortal]

The Top 20 Meanest U.S. Cities

Genteel and polite Little Rock, Arkansas has been branded the meanest city in the United States of America.

That's the word from the National Coalition for the Homeless, a national advocacy group, that has named the top 20 meanest U.S. cities based on how they treat the homeless who live within their city limits, as well as purported civil rights violations, reports The Associated Press. The list was created using data samplings from 179 communities in 48 states.

Little Rock received this dubious distinction due to its efforts to close 27 transient camps for homeless people around the city. Although the plan was tabled after advocates for the homeless objected, the coalition is concerned that the city could still move forward with the plan. This is the third year the report has been issued, and the first time Little Rock made the list at all. Previously, Las Vegas held the No. 1 spot.

The top 20 meanest U.S. cities:

Little Rock, Arkansas
Atlanta, Georgia
Cincinnati, Ohio
Las Vegas, Nevada
Gainesville, Florida
New York City, New York
Los Angeles, California
San Francisco, California
Honolulu, Hawaii
Austin, Texas
Sarasota, Florida
Key West, Florida
Nashville, Tennessee
Berkeley, California
Dallas, Texas
Fresno, California
San Antonio, Texas
Milwaukee, Wisconsin
St. Paul, Minnesota
Manchester, New Hampshire
The top four meanest states:

California
Florida
Hawaii
Texas


Looks like Ravensteve can move to Little Rock and be happy.

 

[e]

LOL @ comment about ravensteve

NY, well gladly i dont see alot of homeless roam around the city compared to san francisco/LA. which is i feel much safer in ny.

yeah, i agreed that SF was one of meanest city. an unfortune BEAUTIFUL city covered with homeless hanging around. i was visiting a friend in SF, i happened to carry a backpack, a bag and a kennel with my kitten in it. i was kinda lost from the direction so i tried to ask passerby on one of busiest street and everyone made a face and avoided me! and then a homeless guy came up asked me "do you need a help?". so he helped me with the direction and i told him thanks but i dont have any money im not homeless, ok! lol

 

[sequoias]

Thank god, Washington state or Seattle isn't in the list. There is lot of nice people here, too. I guess that's Pacific Northwest pride.

 

[The*Empress]

Thank god, Washington state or Seattle isn't in the list. There is lot of nice people here, too. I guess that's Pacific Northwest pride.

People in Seattle are mean too, they won't help passengers with
their bags at the airport.

 

[The*Empress]

Mixxixxippi people are the nicest people ever.
Drop the attitude and move to Mixxixxippi, ya hear? :P

 

[sequoias]

People in Seattle are mean too, they won't help passengers with
their bags at the airport.

You think u know everything, sorry I don't believe you. You are never out of the house or out of state and u expect to believe that Seattle is mean. The point is that on AVERAGE it is not compared to California or other cities. You need to keep ur mouth shut before throwing that shit to me and I live in Seattle.

P.S. Why don't u ask Alex or other mods to cancel ur account. That would keep u busy and stop being addicted to AD, thank you for your time. We are tired of u not making up ur mind.

 

[ravensteve1961]

The Top 20 Meanest U.S. Cities
The top four meanest states:

California
Florida
Hawaii
Texas

See what id tell you taylor.Cops here are shiiiitt. And them old bats are grouchy as hell. And these grouchy old bats will belive anything the liberal press tells em in the papers.Sheriff mascara is very corruptive,He and his fellow deputies belive everyone is guilty. I dont see maryland on the top meanest states. I dont see baltimore on the list top 20 meanest cities. Because mayor o`malley wont allow baltimore city police officers be corruptive and they will act professional and will call you sir instead of your first name.Because if any complants mayor omalley gets from the police he will personaly call the chief in his office and you know how mayor omalley gets when he hears complants.

 

[Cheri]

You are correct about Florida is the meanest State, I been to Florida every year and I see customers are such complainers. We had a customer who wanted a big box for their 3 bone rib because he wanted to take it home and I gave him a small box he didn't want that he wanted the big box, My dad told him it was for dinners or big meals only he got upset and wanted his refund. I thought it was Ravensteve... No offense

 

[Roadrunner]

Ravensteve, this thread doesn't specifically point out cops being the reason for the meanest cities listed above...so let's keep 'cops' out of this thread--huh? Thank you!

 

[downing]

hahah... Virginia is one of the most meanest state. they don't give a shit for deaf ppl...they still abuse ada laws...and ppl have serious road rage here, ppl shooting each other, cutting off...too many to list... VA/DC/MD has to be the top list....

there is no way in hell that Texas is meanest state... they are all laid back, slow and mellow ppl...you must got it off from wrong list.

 

[The*Empress]

You think u know everything, sorry I don't believe you. You are never out of the house or out of state and u expect to believe that Seattle is mean. The point is that on AVERAGE it is not compared to California or other cities. You need to keep ur mouth shut before throwing that shit to me and I live in Seattle.

P.S. Why don't u ask Alex or other mods to cancel ur account. That would keep u busy and stop being addicted to AD, thank you for your time. We are tired of u not making up ur mind.

Well Seattle was a port... for me to get on Alaska Cruise....
Departure and Arrival, so I have been to Seattle. So there.

 

[sequoias]

Well Seattle was a port... for me to get on Alaska Cruise....
Departure and Arrival, so I have been to Seattle. So there.

Do you expect strangers who don't work at the airport to help u with the baggage, that's not considered rude. People do not have to help a stranger out . They want to mind their own business and move on. The workers at the airport are responsible for helping customers with baggage, not the strangers who are customers who depart and arrive at the airport, get my drift?

 

[Toonces]

Perhaps we should call Bloomberg, NY the meanest city for reducing the vouchers for the homeless families seeking emergency shelters? :P

Here's the link: City Reports a Drop in Claims by Families in Need of Shelter

 

[ravensteve1961]

Gee i wonder why Baltimore didnt make the list? Himmm?

 

[Codger]

I think some need to reread the article. This was a biased rating based on data sampling. Notice only 48 states were included? Why? Little Rock tops them all? Because of a failed initiative to close 27 squatter camps? Little Rock is not that big folks. Their "treatment of the homeless" was the only criteria for these ratings. It has nothing to do with police, airports, ADA laws, road rage, shootings, complaining customers, averages, or any other factors. Look at which cities are tops per capita in crime if you want to see one that is most unfriendly.

There are valid reasons for cities not wanting numerous homeless camps. Drugs and crime is one. Yes, something should be done about housing for the homeless, but a large portion choose that lifestyle. And the migrate to cities that offer handouts.

 

[deafclimber]

I think some need to reread the article. This was a biased rating based on data sampling. Notice only 48 states were included? Why? Little Rock tops them all? Because of a failed initiative to close 27 squatter camps? Little Rock is not that big folks. Their "treatment of the homeless" was the only criteria for these ratings. It has nothing to do with police, airports, ADA laws, road rage, shootings, complaining customers, averages, or any other factors. Look at which cities are tops per capita in crime if you want to see one that is most unfriendly.

There are valid reasons for cities not wanting numerous homeless camps. Drugs and crime is one. Yes, something should be done about housing for the homeless, but a large portion choose that lifestyle. And the migrate to cities that offer handouts.

PAH ! he made a right point about homeless issue not people's attitudes.

 

[Kalista]

You are correct about Florida is the meanest State, I been to Florida every year and I see customers are such complainers. We had a customer who wanted a big box for their 3 bone rib because he wanted to take it home and I gave him a small box he didn't want that he wanted the big box, My dad told him it was for dinners or big meals only he got upset and wanted his refund. I thought it was Ravensteve... No offense

he wants a special your BBQ to pour over on his weinner.

 

[Codger]

Little Rock, Arkansas has a population of 585,228. The two million being spent on homeless shelters by the city is nearly four dollars for every city resident. Bah!



Little Rock is dubbed ‘meanest’ for homeless
BY ANDREW DEMILLO AND JILL ZEMAN

Posted on Tuesday, November 9, 2004

URL: http://www.nwanews.com/story/adg/98289

Efforts to close 27 transient camps earned Little Rock the title "meanest city" in the nation, according to a report due out today from a national homeless advocacy group.

The National Coalition for the Homeless branded Little Rock with the title in a ranking of 20 cities. The rankings derived from civil-rights violations and attitudes toward the homeless. Atlanta, Cincinnati and Las Vegas ranked in the top 10.

Little Rock’s ranking results from a proposal this year to close more than two dozen camps of homeless people around the city, mostly downtown. The plan was tabled after objections from advocates for the homeless, but the coalition said a danger remains that the city will move forward with its plan. "This issue has been percolating here for some time," said Michael Stoops, director of community organizing for the Washington-based coalition. "This is the first time that Little Rock has been documented in our report."

This marks the third report released by the coalition. Las Vegas has held the top spot for the past two years.

City leaders and some shelter directors on Monday objected to the ranking.

Little Rock leaders who questioned the timing of the report, released a little more than a week before the Clinton Presidential Center’s opening, sent out a three-page news release defending the city’s policies on the homeless. "This has caught us totally off guard, and it’s unfair," City Manager Bruce Moore said of the report.

Moore cited steps the city has taken to help the homeless. He said such steps make the title of "meanest city" more dubious.

The city allocates money to the St. Francis House, which provides services for the homeless, Moore said, and Little Rock employees helped with a homeless outreach day on Sept. 25.

In its proposed 2005 budget, the city has set aside $70,000 in community development block grant money for a day resource center for the homeless. Moore said he hoped to allocate more money for homeless services from the city’s general fund in its 2005 budget. "I just think you’ve got a few people out there that are intent on making Little Rock look bad while we’re continuing to work with a group of individuals to address this problem," Moore said.

The report also cites comments by Mayor Jim Dailey, who has advocated sweeping out the camps, as a reason for the ranking. Dailey did not return a call seeking his comment.

Sandra Wilson, executive director of the Arkansas Supportive Housing Network and a vocal opponent of the sweeps, said she hopes the report will spur the city to change policy toward the homeless. She said discussions with city officials have seen little progress. "There aren’t enough resources for the homeless here," Wilson said. "[City leaders] have to actually look at that and say we really haven’t done any good.... Instead of being silent, we need talk about this."

Moore debunked the idea that Little Rock called for homeless camp sweeps to clean up the area before the Clinton library opening. "The Clinton library just has never been a factor in any of our decisions or dialogue," he said.

The report speculated that the Nov. 18 opening of the library, expected to draw more than 27,000 people, factored in the sweeps.

Little Rock numbers among 168 cities working on a 10-year plan to address chronic homelessness, a plan expected to come out in December.

Phil Mangano, the nation’s top official on homelessness, said he found the report "surprising," given the discussions. "There’s this unprecedented partnership around our country to do the right thing and be more solution-oriented in approaching homelessness," said Mangano, executive director of the U. S Interagency Council on Homelessness. "I know Little Rock is a city that is moving in that direction."

City Director Michael Keck said the city has "bent over backwards" to work with homeless advocacy groups and other organizations to help Little Rock’s homeless. "Having someone who doesn’t live here who is trying to get a headline because the library opening’s getting ready to occur — I don’t think it does anything to advance the cause. I really don’t."

As the report comes out this morning, city leaders will gather south of downtown to break ground for a $1.4 million shelter for Our House. The 70-bed shelter, expected to open next summer, will replace the shelter on Main Street.

Barry McDaniel, president of the shelter’s board of directors, had doubts about the ranking. "We’re certainly not at the forefront in the efforts to deal with homelessness," said Mc-Daniel, husband of City Director Barbara Graves. "But we’re certainly not in the rear either."

Copyright © 2001-2004 Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, Inc. All rights reserved.

 

[Cheri]

he wants a special your BBQ to pour over on his weinner.

Our hot sauce would do it, it would burn his weinner. Ouchie.

 

[The*Empress]

Do you expect strangers who don't work at the airport to help u with the baggage, that's not considered rude. People do not have to help a stranger out . They want to mind their own business and move on. The workers at the airport are responsible for helping customers with baggage, not the strangers who are customers who depart and arrive at the airport, get my drift?

but people worked at the airport won't help people with baggage....