For this Thanksgiving week, my family and I have been staying with my dad in Beaumont, Texas(He works for Small Business Association).  Earlier today today, we took a trip through some of the towns devastated by the hurricanes earlier this year.  The last city we drove through was Port Arthur, Texas.  Now, I have been through some "rough" towns in my 20 years of existence, but this place tops them all and then some.

It was understandable going through the other cities because you can easily tell that it was because of the storm damage, but in Port Arthur that excuse only goes so far.  Easily 85-90% of the damage in Port Arthur has been decades in the making.  It seriously made me think I was in the Capital Wastelands in Fallout 3.  It looks like it was a bustling port city 30 or 40 years ago, but suddenly everybody just left and let it decay.  It is that bad.  Buildings collapsing and boarded up, windows broken, streets unkempt.  It is definitely the most depressed I have ever been driving through a city/town.  I only saw about one or two businesses open and running.  The only buildings that were respectable were the city government office building and the local junior college, which begs the questions of who exactly attends the college and where do they go after graduating(well, this question not so perplexing).  The nicest residential areas were the public housing, which definitely tells you the shape the city is in.

I wish I had my camera with me so I could show you guys pictures, because words don't to it justice.  For those of you who have also had the displeasure of being in or around Port Arthur recently, you know what I mean.  Needless to say, it is one town that I can scratch off my list of cities where I will never live.  Ever.