It&#x27;s anecdotal, but enough reliable anecdotes do actually turn into &quot;data&quot;.<p>My personal marker has always been, when visiting a city for the first time, to pay attention to the roadside advertisements I see on the ride from the airport to the city center.<p>Aside from obvious things like payday&#x2F;title loan shops, the most reliable indicator I&#x27;ve seen of a neighborhood being badly off is ads for cheap dentures and dental implants.