While I haven't been to all of the cities listed, I can tell you that Detroit, Gary, Flint, Warren, and St Louis are very depressed cities. The downtowns are littered with gang-bangers, drug addled vagrants, panhandlers and the unemployed looking to find a way out or take advantage of somebody so that they can get theirs. The downtown areas of these cities are filled with graffiti'd, dilapidated buildings, burned out hulks of cars, and cracked sidewalks. The cities above are pretty much socially depressed, have no economic engine, have shitty weather, and a population that is hell bent on destroying itself with drugs, gang warfare and dropping out of school.