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Have you ever stumbled into the wrong neighbourhood?

ArtyM

I remember once in the early 80s I had a stopover in Hamburg that gave me a few hours to tour the city.
A local guide said St Pauli was a weird and unusual place so I headed there. Holy S**t that place was scary.

There were junkies everywhere (got offered everything), guys fighting, Hookers, sexshops, people being arrested.
A couple of very dodgy guys approached me and kinda surrounded me as they were talking ****e - they started edging me toward an alley/laneway.
I was dressed as a tourist and had 'easy pickings' written all over me (was also carrying quite a bit of money).
Thankfully a cop car pulls up and the guys back off and leave. Cops politely suggested I get the **** out of there for my own good. I concurred!
The wait for the subway felt like hours - there was a guy on the opposite platform sitting on a bench with a bottle of Vodka and what looked like a fresh stab wound in his abdomen - his sirt was literally turning red.
I was the only white guy.

Have you ever wandered into a bad neighbourhood or the wrong part of a town?

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pragmatic1

Red, white and blue areas of Belfast when the troubles were still on. Very bad things could happen at that time.

Cool_CM

ArtyM wrote: »

I remember once in the early 80s I had a stopover in Hamburg that gave me a few hours to tour the city.
A local guide said St Pauli was a weird and unusual place so I headed there. Holy S**t that place was scary.

There were junkies everywhere (got offered everything), guys fighting, Hookers, sexshops, people being arrested.
A couple of very dodgy guys approached me and kinda surrounded me as they were talking ****e - they started edging me toward an alley/laneway.
I was dressed as a tourist and had 'easy pickings' written all over me (was also carrying quite a bit of money).
Thankfully a copy car pulls up and the guys back off and leave. Cops politely suggested I get the **** out of there for my own good. I concurred!
The wait for the subway felt like hours - there was a guy on the opposite platform sitting on a bench with a bottle of Vodka and what looked like a fresh stab wound in his abdomen - his sirt was literally turning red.
I was the only white guy.
Have you ever wandered into a bad neighbourhood or the wrong part of a town?

Was there at the weekend, still a ridiculous place! Lots of police though and a ban on any weapons or glass bottles. The Reeperbahn makes Temple Bar at the weekend look like a playground to be honest!

Alter-Ego wrote: »

Wandered into an estate in Maynooth one Saturday night at 2am trying to find a mates house. There were a few guys sitting around in cars looking dodgy and "IRA" was crudely painted on the road.

Old Greenfield? Maynooth has gotten very dodgy in the last few years.

flas

in benidorm i think it was, went to this pub, really dodgy place, two huge african bouncers, i went to go to jacks on my own, two bouncers followed me in and tried to rob me, genuinly scared the crap out of me, remember then when i was home watching one of those shows about costa del crime or one of those, who did i see but the two bouncers, one of them was after being shot in the stomach...just thinkin to myself when i seen it, wonder what they were involved in!

couple of years ago in glasgow on holloween night, walkin back to our hotel through some really dodgy parts of the east end of glasgow, goin by a park with load of neds(scumbags) drinkin, started shoutin and coming after us, got back to our hotel quickly after that!

my cousin lived in spain for 18months, brought us to this pub that only opened up at 6 in the mornin, to get into it you had to knock this big metal door, this eye slit would slide back on the door, they would check that they knew you, which they did know my cousin, open the door, go inside this metal door, wait for another big metal door to open before you go into the actual pub, so thats two hude metal doors just to get into the place, no windows, and inside the dodgyest looking gangsters you will ever see, the pub owner just lives upstairs, appartently its regularly attacked by rival morocan gangsters and the last attack was a few days previous! very strange place!

got on a bus one night in amsterdam instead of a tram, ended up way outside the tourist zones surrounded by high rise flats! just felt dogy!

Latchy

Sean Quagmire wrote: »

Hardly over sensitive, i've been all over the UK in rough spots like the one you mentioned, and grew up in one in dublin. Im well exposed to nasty situations.

Im sure people have had a different experience but we know what we seen. KIP

Every city has it's bit of a Kip , it's low life's and scangers and some parts of every city mentioned , you just wouldn't venture into ,especially at night and you're description could be describing the Bronx or wrong part of LA town on a bad night to but that's your experience .

On a side note , I've never seen Liverpool city center and waterfront looking so well as it does ,the new Museam of life is due to be open to the public later in the summer and there are further plans to expand and build on the waterfront . It has The Echo Arena ,The Albert dock ,the Cavern walks , Liverpool/Everton FC , the Walker Gallery , The Empire and Royal Court theaters, the new Beatle museum on the waterfront , the Matthew street festival every year and city attracted over 750,000 thousend visitors last year , which is expected to rise .

Cianos

theavenger wrote: »

Was interailing last summer, few dodgy areas alright. Got off a train one stop to early in east Berlin, think it was the ostabannhof station or something similar, wow v dodge also most of Budapest

Lived a few minutes from there for about a year...as with nearly all of Berlin it's safer than most parts of Dublin.

Alter-Ego

flas wrote: »

my cousin lived in spain for 18months, brought us to this pub that only opened up at 6 in the mornin, to get into it you had to knock this big metal door, this eye slit would slide back on the door, they would check that they knew you, which they did know my cousin, open the door, go inside this metal door, wait for another big metal door to open before you go into the actual pub, so thats two hude metal doors just to get into the place, no windows, and inside the dodgyest looking gangsters you will ever see, the pub owner just lives upstairs, appartently its regularly attacked by rival morocan gangsters and the last attack was a few days previous! very strange place!

I was in a place very similar in Toronto. Really dogy place over a Chinese restaurant. $10 in and $10 for a can of Budweiser. Two guys in trench coats going around selling drugs and you could smoke indoors as well.

It was a good night but I was worried that every woman I talked to would turn out to be some drug lords missus and I'd be sleeping with the fishes.:pac:

saintsaltynuts

Memphis.Was with meself,bro and mate and when we stepped off the main strip we got hassle from beggers saying they were homeless this that and the other and wanted a few bob.When we refused i was called "a nig*er hatin' mother fuc*er".Its a good job we were right the beside the hotel because at this stage i was going weak at the knees.Most scarred ive ever been....and i grew up in an area in Dublin that wasnt exactly paradise.

Sefirah

rebel10 wrote: »

"Tenderloin" in San Francisco

:P
Don't wanna know what happened you there

dj jarvis

ArtyM wrote: »

I remember once in the early 80s I had a stopover in Hamburg that gave me a few hours to tour the city.
A local guide said St Pauli was a weird and unusual place so I headed there. Holy S**t that place was scary.

There were junkies everywhere (got offered everything), guys fighting, Hookers, sexshops, people being arrested.
A couple of very dodgy guys approached me and kinda surrounded me as they were talking ****e - they started edging me toward an alley/laneway.
I was dressed as a tourist and had 'easy pickings' written all over me (was also carrying quite a bit of money).
Thankfully a copy car pulls up and the guys back off and leave. Cops politely suggested I get the **** out of there for my own good. I concurred!
The wait for the subway felt like hours - there was a guy on the opposite platform sitting on a bench with a bottle of Vodka and what looked like a fresh stab wound in his abdomen - his sirt was literally turning red.
I was the only white guy.
Have you ever wandered into a bad neighbourhood or the wrong part of a town?

could be wrong but st pauli are one of the football teams based in hamburg ( they fly the skull and cross bones and the irish tri color for some reason )
the place you are describing is a place called the reeperbahnn ,
its the red light / drugs / irish bar area of hamburg
used to frequent this area a bit in my clubbing days - not a place for the faint of heart - it has one street that is about the size of henry st and is closed with doors at each end , only men can go down this street ,
on it is windows full of hookers a la amsterdam

also at the end of the reeperbhann is a ww2 bunker that they can not get rid of because it was so well built , they tried to blow it up but no joy now looks like a haunted castle in the middle of a drug and drink filled play ground

that is all from the hamburg tourist board ..... carry on

Technoprisoner

SeaFields wrote: »

This only happened a few weeks ago.

Was up in Dublin with herself for a few days as she was graduating. On the sunday we wanted to go to Croke park to see the museum there. Got direction from where we were staying - just follow the canal and you cant go wrong.

Off we strolled on a sunny afternoon. There was a lovely walk a long the canal, a very well kept park and we could see croker in the distance. This nice stretch of canal ended and it became dreary and downbeat looking. But as we told follow the canal this is what we did. The girlfriend got very freaked out, said she had a terrible feeling about the place and wanted to get out of there. We hurried and got out of there and on to croker. Went home by a different route.

Then, shortly afterwards, on the telly was a documentary "killers: sisters". Yep, it was the spot where the scissor sister dumped that fella they had murdered and cut up into little pieces! Weird!

hatrickpatrick wrote: »

I did work experience in Cauldron Studious. Stayed too long on the bus (forget which bus) and somehow ended up in the middle of Summerhill, near Croker.

The place was almost deserted but I remembered absolute horror stories about it, and a previous experience there when we walked through it on the way back from a transition year tour of croke park and got harassed and threatened at every single street corner. To say I was scared sh!tless is an understatement. I looked around to get my bearings, saw the sign saying "Summerhill" and actually felt the colour drain from my face. Don't think I've ever wanted to get the hell out of a place faster.

Ironically enough, this second encounter there wasn't so bad, there was hardly anyone around

i use to do chinese deliverys around that area and never had a minutes trouble...ive often walked home half cut from town through there and have been fine...if you think this is a rough place you should pay a visit to corduff or even ladyswell out in blanchardstown!! now thats a rough area lol

red menace

Went wrong coming out of Belfast and ended up around the Shankill.
Quickly realised where we were when we saw the guys in fatigues and balaclavas collecting at the traffic lights. Bad place to be in a D reg car
I never prayed so hard for a light to stay green in my life.
Light stayed green and we got the flip out of there, tense moments though.

Laika1986

Couple of years ago me and my mates were on a J1 in New york, headed to the Hamptons for trip. Ended up getting stuck in Jamaica, Queens(where 50 Cent is from) for a couple of hours!we were told to stay in the station but we were starving so we went out to get something to eat. There was no sign of a white person for miles around. Was good craic

theparish

During the last 20 years I have been walking around Limerick city,guess what,
nothing happened.I will never go there again.

blackdog2

Boxoffrogs wrote: »

Jeez, what type of boozers did you go to? I'd probably be fairly defensive of Liverpool as I lived there a long time and have great memories. There are some fantastic bars and great places to eat. In all my time there, I never once got into a scrape. I was however clued up on the places which should be avoided i.e. most of the Wetherspoons joints in the city centre are a magnet for trouble makers, probably not helped by the cheap booze on offer.

Was there back in February visiting the mot, seemed like a nice enough place. Noticed that about the Wetherspoons as well, people injecting outside a city centre pub, felt just like Westmoreland St. However she has just informed me that she is moving to Kensington, which according to google is a different kettle of fish...

As for the worst place I have been, has to be a toss up between Peckham and Sheriff St.

Witchie

I wouldn't recommend going anywhere with me coz somehow often end up in dodgy areas!

When I was 10 yrs old, my older brother and 2 cousins (13, 12, and 11 yrs old) and I were over visiting my aunt who lived in the Hague and we had gone to Amsterdam for the day. My aunts and uncles let us go for a wander on our own (wtf were they thinking!!! :eek:) in the city centre and we ended up in one of the streets with hookers in the windows etc and none of us could believe what we were seeing!

Years later when living in Mount Argus in Dublin while at College, I used to walk through a housing estate I later found out was nicknamed "hatchet grove" at nite on my own. Thankfully nothing ever happened.

Then when I went to get married in Barbados, myself and it had to go to Bridgetown to organise our licence etc and were having a look around when we seemed to wander into a very dodgy area. We were the only white people to be seen on the street, gangs of thuggish looking men were sitting on doorsteps and windowsills staring at us. We spotted a policeman and hurried to walk behind him back to the city centre without coming to harm but it was a very rundown dodgy area.

First time I went to Paris on my own I was early for a train from Gare de Nord and decided to go for a wee wander.....being followed by gangs of young turkish lads trying to sell me stuff and chat me up was a little scary. Was great ego boost though when a very posh looking Parisian gentleman whom I asked directions off proceeded to tell me I was the most beautiful woman he had ever seen and that he would never forget my blue eyes!

Charmer!

As for Liverpool, after Paris it is my favourite city in the world and really not intimidating at all!

BostonB

Downtown LA at midnight. Gangs, lowriders, fires on the corners, us in baggy shorts and t-shirts.... Judged the bus from Disneyland a little late.

steddyeddy

Witchie wrote: »

I wouldn't recommend going anywhere with me coz somehow often end up in dodgy areas!

When I was 10 yrs old, my older brother and 2 cousins (13, 12, and 11 yrs old) and I were over visiting my aunt who lived in the Hague and we had gone to Amsterdam for the day. My aunts and uncles let us go for a wander on our own (wtf were they thinking!!! :eek:) in the city centre and we ended up in one of the streets with hookers in the windows etc and none of us could believe what we were seeing!

Years later when living in Mount Argus in Dublin while at College, I used to walk through a housing estate I later found out was nicknamed "hatchet grove" at nite on my own. Thankfully nothing ever happened.

Then when I went to get married in Barbados, myself and it had to go to Bridgetown to organise our licence etc and were having a look around when we seemed to wander into a very dodgy area. We were the only white people to be seen on the street, gangs of thuggish looking men were sitting on doorsteps and windowsills staring at us. We spotted a policeman and hurried to walk behind him back to the city centre without coming to harm but it was a very rundown dodgy area.

First time I went to Paris on my own I was early for a train from Gare de Nord and decided to go for a wee wander.....being followed by gangs of young turkish lads trying to sell me stuff and chat me up was a little scary. Was great ego boost though when a very posh looking Parisian gentleman whom I asked directions off proceeded to tell me I was the most beautiful woman he had ever seen and that he would never forget my blue eyes! Charmer!

As for Liverpool, after Paris it is my favourite city in the world and really not intimidating at all!

I take it you mean mount argos near kimmage. Lived there for years and never once had trouble a lot of places get bad names based on one or two incidents.

Boxoffrogs

blackdog2 wrote: »

Was there back in February visiting the mot, seemed like a nice enough place. Noticed that about the Wetherspoons as well, people injecting outside a city centre pub, felt just like Westmoreland St. However she has just informed me that she is moving to Kensington, which according to google is a different kettle of fish...

As for the worst place I have been, has to be a toss up between Peckham and Sheriff St.

Kensington at one time was very rough. I really don't know what it's like anymore. Before I left Liverpool, large parts of it were knocked down, there was a massive amount of regeneration following Liverpool being awarded Capital of Culture. Maybe it's a very different place these days. Would be nice to think so.

Witchie

Yeah SteadyEddie, the estate I used to walk through was between Mount Jerome cemetery and the Mount Argus grounds and I never thought it was scary at all.

rossie1977

some of the places mentioned here like liverpool city centre, ostbahnhof in berlin, budapest are not dodgy at all

its also nearly impossible to stumble into the wrong neighbourhood in new york, london or paris as those cities are so huge, there is a couple of cities like miami where tourists can easily stumble into the wrong neighbourhood (overtown) someone mentioned tenderloin in san francisco, now THERE is an area tourists can easily stumble into, its only around the corner from union square which is a tourist haven but wow what a difference, you could be walking down market street and passing all the high end stores and a few steps later still on market street you have street hookers, junkies, dealers, gang members, homeless, boarded up buildings, trash strewn everywhere, pawn shops, tattoo parlours, graffiti, not a nice area

maglite

opinion guy wrote: »

I have two questions:
Have you been to Detroit ?
Have you been to worse places ?

Yes,
Well to start with leitrim, but I have recently turned down applying to a company due to where they have active clients. Iraq, A'stan, Syria, some African countries etc. They would have required to be ferried to and from a secure armed complex in a bullet proof Jeep to client site.

I'm going to say those, and the more dangerous areas of those countries, areas of South America would be worse than Detroit.

BostonB

Variation on wrong neighborhood. On holiday in the Maldives, the first few days used to swim until about 7pm, till someone pointed out, after about 6 the rise in tide, meant sharks came into to feed. Baby sharks, but still....

FouxDaFaFa

rossie1977 wrote: »

someone mentioned tenderloin in san francisco, now THERE is an area tourists can easily stumble into, its only around the corner from union square which is a tourist haven but wow what a difference, you could be walking down market street and passing all the high end stores and a few steps later still on market street you have street hookers, junkies, dealers, gang members, homeless, boarded up buildings, trash strewn everywhere, pawn shops, tattoo parlours, graffiti, not a nice area

I not only stumbled onto the Tenderloin but accidentally ended up staying there. The motel owners (aware of the Tenderloin's rep) had advertised it as being in a different district of SF when I was booking it.I won't say that I spent the whole time being scared and nervous but we made sure not to be out on the street after a certain time. There were signs up all over the place near where we were staying appealing for information about a German tourist who had been shot dead for his wallet the week before. We had more than one person come up to us and tell us not to hang around and not to wear certain colours associated with gangs.

Another area that was dodgy was downtown LA. Hostel was grand but the streets were a different story.There were literally streets where every single building was derelict with dozens of homeless people and junkies collapsed on the streets. Signs everywhere warning drug dealers and gang members not to gather in groups and that there were armed patrols doing the rounds every 15mins.

annascott

I actually drove into a Traveller's camp once by mistake. I had been looking for a country cottage to rent and as I was on back roads and have a less than fully functioning sense of direction I didn't realise where I was.
Heads appeared out of every door and window of the sort of bungalow buildings and caravans. If I had arrived in a space ship, they couldn't have been more curious. I got out of the car slowly with my hands up and clutching the directions that I had been given to the cottage. One of the women came up to me and stood so close that she was almost touching me. I apologised profusely and showed her paper. After whant seemed like an eternity but was probably only a few seconds, she turned and gave a sort of signal and the rest of them all backed away again.

I hadn't done anything wrong, but their (over) reaction to me was more than a bit disconcerting...

Storminateacup

Took a bus (mistake 1) alone, in Los Angeles. I was the only white person on the bus and felt quite intimidated, as I was dressed up and everybody else was dressed very casually, and there was one lady sitting across from me, who stared at me the entire journey with a look of sheer disgust on her face.

I felt very uncomfortable and got off at an earlier stop. I thought it was maybe a block away? It was a 2 hr walk, in the sweltering heat, and 4 months pregnant.

After walking through what I can only describe as the most miserable disgusting beat down neighbourhood i've ever been in. Men making lewd remarks, cops all over, no white people. I finally get to a bus stop where I can get the connecting bus to the shopping centre I was going to. Whilst standing waiting for the bus, this cracked out old black lady was panned out on the bus seat, with an umbrella over her head and a trolley full of rubbish beside her.

Directly across from her, there was a discarded syringe. At this point, I could feel my bottom lip quivering, I was so close to bursting into tears.

I got to the shopping centre, and spent the entire day - until they closed - there. Left at 9pm and went to catch the bus. The bus had stopped running at 7. I had no idea what the zip code was, to call a taxi. There were no taxi ranks, there were no people walking, there were no cops, it was just deserted and dark.

I kept walking and this security guard standing outside some building asked me if I was lost. I said yeah, and asked him if he knew where I could catch a taxi. He told me that he didnt know, but that he was done with his shift in 15 minutes, and he had a car and would take me "anywhere i wanted to go". I am sure he was being nice, but in my paranoid state, I freaked out, thanked him but no thanks, and continued to walk.

After about 40 minutes, I get to a filling station, go in and ask him where i can get a taxi, or what zip code/city am i in to try call one for myself. He was such a nice person tho, and called it for me. Told me to wait there until it came.

I wish that man good things for the rest of his life.

admiralofthefleet

i was drinking in dolphins barn in south dublin on paddys day a couple of years ago and changed pubs to the barn house. i thought i had walked into a methadone clinic. 90% of the customers were strung out and 14/15 year olds were pissed drunk. people were drinking outside on the path and i was warned off even saying hello to half the blokes in the pub
i had a pint and legged to the realitive safety of the bridge house across the road even though its dog rough itself.

Our man in Havana

Bristol. The entire place is a dangerous hole. They must find the worst people and send them all there.

KungPao

Here's a little home video of when me and the family got slightly lost in the US...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BRJnEbt89w8

previous user

blackalicious wrote: »

jesus a bit of an over-reaction no? my mate lives in summerhill and ive walked through it at all hours of the day and night for the last 10 years and never saw any hassle

They still got speedway takeaway there?

Flincher

Stumbled into Tenderloin in San Francisco a few summers ago, although I didn't realize that's where I was until later that evening. If I remember correctly, it was between Union Square, where I wanted to go, and work, which was near Lombard Street. Really intimidating area, but only a block or 2 off the main street. Beggars, druggies, run-down, and just a place that gives off really bad vibes. I did what everyone seems to do in that situation, try not to run or draw attention, and just power walk out of there.

I got home that evening and checked out where I had been on my map. My house mate had gone through it and highlighted places to go and places to avoid. Needless to say there was a big X through Tenderloin.