Who doesn't love a list?

An article listing the 10 Worst Cities to Visit in the United States on the website, escapehere.com caught my attention.

The introduction to the list tries its best to put lipstick on these pigs: "major urban centers can have their share of crime, poverty, and traffic dangers, which have earned the following American cities a bad rap that are not really justified."

For instance, the #1 Worst City on the list is Detroit. "This once celebrated center of the American automobile industry did experience an influx of poverty, crime, and exodus of city residents from 2008 to 2010. However, the Detroit of today is experiencing a million dollar revitalization, with abandoned buildings undergoing commercial real estate developments, young couples, community gardens, and new businesses breathing new life into the area."

See? It's not as bad as Flint, and they are razing some of those thousands of abandoned buildings. I'm not sure, however, how escapehere considers declaring bankruptcy and an inability to perform basic essential services is "breathing new life into the area." I guess that's what they call being on life-support without a pulse.

Here is escapehere.com's list. Maybe we can identify some trends:

Rank	City	Party Control	2012 Vote
1	Detroit, MI	Democrat	Obama 85.2%
2	St. Louis, MO	Democrat	Obama 79.9
3	Reno, NV	Republican	Romney 52.9
4	Cleveland, OH	Democrat	Obama 82.8
5	Chicago, IL	Democrat	Obama 87.2
6	Camden, NJ	Democrat	Obama 65.1
7	Memphis, TN	Democrat	Obama 78.3
8	New Haven, CT	Democrat	Obama 62.6
9	Stockton, CA	Democrat	Obama 57.8
10	Oakland, CA	Democrat	Obama 87.5

http://www.escapehere.com/destination/10-worst-cities-to-visit-in-the-united-states/10/

NB: Party Control determined by history of Democrat mayors as recorded by Wikipedia. 2012 vote for congressional district as reported by dailykos (http://www.dailykos.com/story/2012/11/19/1163009/-Daily-Kos-Elections-presidential-results-by-congressional-district-for-the-2012-2008-elections)

Maybe a picture will help those who don't like lists:

The Wall Street Journal did a similar listing of the 10 most dangerous cities. Here is that list:

Rank	City	Party Control	2012 Vote
10	Cleveland	Democrat	Obama 82.8
9	Baltimore	Democrat	Obama 76.0
8	New Haven	Democrat	Obama 62.6
7	Birmingham, AL	Democrat	Obama 72.4
6	Stockton, CA	Democrat	Obama 57.8
5	Memphis, TN	Democrat	Obama 78.3
4	St. Louis, MO	Democrat	Obama 79.9
3	Oakland, CA	Democrat	Obama 87.5
2	Detroit, MI	Democrat	Obama 85.2
1	Flint, MI	Democrat	Obama 60.7

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/the-10-most-dangerous-cities-in-america-2013-06-22

The statistics for Flint, MI give you an idea of what it takes to come in #1:

Violent crimes per 100,000: 2,729.5

Population: 101,632

2012 murders: 63

Poverty rate: 40.6%

Now, I know that coincidence does not prove causality, but the correlation between suckiness and Democratic party affiliation is pretty difficult not to notice.