I've lived in so many cities - Memphis, New Orleans, Los Angeles, Phoenix, Des Moines, Rockford ... and visited fifty more - some of them in Texas. They all have dirty, ugly parts to them. They all have some good points, too. Texas is no different. Take a drive down one of your older, busier streets and get a good look at the strip malls, the empty lots littered with trash, and the abandoned buildings. Every big city has them. Then let your imagination go to work.