I’ve lived in every major US city — these 3 are the worst

Travel

By Brooke Kato

These are the worst cities to live in when you’re in your 20s — where does yours fall?

A TikToker’s unofficial ranking of cities he hates has drummed up controversy after his recent video named Nashville as the worst place to live as a 20-something.

“As someone who’s lived in almost every major US city in my 20s, here are the three worst cities to live in in the US in your 20s,” Taylor Offer, the CEO of the clothing brand Feat, said in a recent viral clip with 3 million views.

He argued that Miami’s muggy weather and high cost of living make it undesirable, ranking it at number three. He also lamented the humidity and feeling “so poor” because of the array of expensive clubs and restaurants at his fingertips.

Ironically, the Florida city ranked seventh in WalletHub’s list of best places to start a career and sixth on Resonance Consultancy’s “America’s Best Cities” catalog, which crowned New York City number one.

“I know this is a shocker to a lot of people,” he said. “Miami is super fun for a weekend, you go there, you’re like, ‘This is awesome,’ but if you live there, you will hate it.”

The runner-up for the worst place on Offer’s list is San Francisco — despite its fourth place rank on “America’s Best Cities” index — which he called just plain “horrible” and “a s—thole of a city.”

“It is extremely expensive for rent, the guy-to-girl ratio is just like 12 guys for one girl — which sucks — at every bar, every club you go to,” he griped. “You’re paying thousands of dollars for rent no matter where you are, and every morning you have fresh human feces on your doorstep.”

Not to mention, “you can’t have a car,” otherwise it’ll get broken into, yet the city isn’t walkable due to “hills,” so Uber it is.

Taking the cake for the worst city to live in as a 20-something, according to Offer, is Nashville — bachelorette parties be damned.

“There is no healthy food, everything is fried, so you’ll gain 20 pounds instantly,” Offer complained. “They don’t believe in salads there.”

Then, there’s the overconsumption of beer, which he said will make residents feel “gross”; the southern summers, which are “disgustingly hot and humid; and how “racist and backwards” the city is.

But Offer’s outspoken opposition to the trio of cities ruffled the feathers of their residents, igniting a raucous debate in the comments.

While some people disagreed with Offer’s remarks, former residents or visitors of the three major cities said he was “so right,” with many vouching for living in Chicago.

“As someone who lives in Nashville in my 20s… you are wrong,” argued one user.

“Me living in San Francisco in my 20s with a car that has never gotten broken into and never taking Ubers,” another skeptic wrote.

“SF is not hilly everywhere, there is definitely walkable areas. It’s a great city, don’t like this negativity on SF,” agreed someone else.

“Not sure you’ve been to Nashville lately lol,” chirped one viewer.

“Disagree, spent seven years in Miami Beach and had a blast, especially the dive bars are great!” another commented.

In a subsequent clip, Offer named New York City, Austin, Texas, and Los Angeles as the best cities, respectively, to live in as a 20-something.