Reader’s Digest recently rated the country’s cleanest and dirtiest cities. As you can see, the Big Apple didn’t do so well…

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50 Cleanest (and Dirtiest) Cities [Reader’s Digest]


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  1. I have been to almost every major city in the U.S. and trust me NYC is so gross. Thier subways are dirty, thier streets smell like garbage and they have the biggest rats I have ever seen. And chicago has a lake blowing away any air pollution, our water is blue, not black, we have no graffiti in our downtown, crime is down, our streets are spotless. We have people who hand sweep our streets. And we come in 2nd dirtiest. Please. All you have to do is look at your pictures to see that is a load of bull.

  2. Actually, the statistics are based on not only the city, but also surrounding areas. Chicago was cited as one of the cities that appears to be low, because of some filthy suburban areas. The city itself ranks pretty high.

  3. Looks like a half-baked stab at a ranking. I mean, no doubt NY is among the top 5 (having lived in both places, I can’t fathom how Chicago could be considered dirtier), but San Francisco cleaner than San Diego? Kansas City dirtier than L.A.? They don’t mention their primary sources, but it sounds like their methodology is pretty rudimentary.

  4. Not surprised on cleanliness rating. Amazes me sometimes how filthy our streets are and that people care so little.
    Lets take nominations for dirtiest streets in brownstone brooklyn. (then do something to get it cleaner).
    Was a bit surprised on SanFran being on clean list – last time I was there (maybe 5 years ago)-
    I thought looked worse than NYC – at least in downtown area of SanFran.