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.

When I was living in Australia a few years ago, I ended up going through similarly depressing towns. I can't say that they had damage from natural disasters since it was Australia, but they definitely had their own issues to contend with. I vividly remember one in particular for two reasons. One was that it was actually the world's opal production capitol. You wouldn't have been able to tell that just by going through the streets. But then on top of it, it was Australia's most patrolled city in terms of police force. Then throw in the homeless Aborigines with profound major drinking problems and you have a place which gets you thinking about how raw the place is in terms of humanity. There's something to be said when a man in tattered clothes easily approaches you for money, but will gladly take that sandwich you hand him instead.

Spin the globe and find a point, I would live in most, but the ones I wouldn't... who knows, who I would be.

Wow you guys are adventurers  lol , I am not really into trips and stuff

Damn...yeah I agree I wouldn't live in that depressing environment...bad for your health...

Don't live in Iowa. so depressing and boring.

You should drive through Detroit sometime. And I dont mean on the expressway going through as fast as you can. Take a tour of the real ghetto. They still have bombed out city blocks for the riots that happened 40 years ago.