Lewiston, Maine, Named One of the 15 Cities in America to ‘Stay Far Away From’

You could spend years of your life scrolling through the seemingly endless amount of various lists detailing the good, the bad ,and the ugly when it comes to towns and cities across America. Maine happens to be featured on a lot of these lists, most of which are filled with pure opinion and often influenced by reputation versus fact. That seems to be the case for one of Ranker's most controversial new lists that names Lewiston, Maine, one of the 15 places in America you should stay away from.

Ranker recently dished out their new list about the "15 Towns in America to Stay Far, Far Away From". The list was generated by people who have visited the 15 towns and then shared their less-than-positive experience through Reddit forums. Lewiston was named the #10 city you'd want to stay far away from, thanks to a Reddit review by Galaxy_ranger_bob that reads:

"It's not the people, it's the town. There is just something about the place that stains your soul. Even driving through the place and not stopping makes you want to shower afterwards, but soap and water don't make you feel clean because it isn't dirt or pollution that is sticking to you, it's the Darkness that is Lewiston."

Most people who live in Lewiston and Auburn will probably laugh off that "review" as something so ridiculous, it simply couldn't be believed by anyone. But reputation has dogged the twin cities (specifically Lewiston) for decades, and continued reviews like this don't help shake the stigma.

Lewiston continues to make strikes toward modernizing the city, with new restaurants and shops opening alongside a new focus on parks, the arts, and decoration around the city. Does Lewiston still have a long way to go? Yes. But it's not nearly what that Reddit reviewer claims it to be.