Camden, New Jersey revealed as gloomiest place in North America - get paid $500 to yarn bomb it!

Have you ever wondered where the gloomiest places in the USA are? It’s something most Americans will have an opinion on, but we wanted to find out definitively which place is the gloomy capital of the country.

Why do this? There’s a cheery mission, we promise! Here at LoveCrafts we’re all about spreading joy, so thought if we could identify which areas are in need of a bit of a ‘pick me up’, we’re in a good position to do just that!

First off, we asked 8,000 members of the public to rank the US’s towns and cities by ‘gloominess’ and ‘joyfulness’, so we could collate a top ten for each. Respondents were asked to consider the landscape, atmosphere, architecture and cleanliness when deciding.

The results were certainly insightful, with a strong trend towards places with significant areas of disrepair, being identified as gloomy.

So, here are the top ten gloomiest places in the US:

Camden, New Jersey
Detroit, Michigan
Tenderloin, San Francisco
Laredo, Texas
Reno, Nevada
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Newark, New Jersey
Bakersville, California
Cleveland, Ohio
Louisville, Kentucky

We didn’t want to be all doom and gloom, so here are the 10 most joyful places in the US:

Boston, Massachusetts
Fort Worth, Texas
Oceanside, California
Minneapolis, Minnesota
Pearl City, Hawaii
Madison, Wisconsin
Boulder, Colorado
South Portland, Maine
Anchorage, Alaska
Blacksburg, Virginia

Now for the fun bit! We’re on a mission to brighten up the gloomiest places by recruiting crafty members of the public to do a spot of ‘yarn bombing’! ‘What’s yarn bombing?’ you might ask.

Essentially, it's a temporary street art installation using colourful knitted or crocheted yarn to jazz up a public area! Think fixtures, such as trees, benches and fire hydrants, covered in colourful woven yarn, often crafted into fun patterns. That's exactly what you could be paid to do!

We’ve allocated $500 per location, which will be paid to each yarn bomber. All we need is some people willing to take the time to decorate and add a bit of cheerful colour to these areas. We’ll also cover all materials, so you won’t need to spend any of your own money on yarn or needles.

Simply fill in your details, and we’ll be in touch if you’re successful with your application!

Apply To Be A Yarnbomber!

“The results of our research will certainly divide opinion. One thing we noticed was that most of the places in the top 10 have significant areas of disrepair, which might suggest that areas that are poorly maintained can be perceived as gloomy.

Edward Griffith, Founder of LoveCrafts.com, said,

“The results of our research will certainly divide opinion. One thing we noticed was that most of the places in the top 10 have significant areas of disrepair, which might suggest that areas that are poorly maintained can be perceived as gloomy.

“Getting creative with yarn is a fantastic idea to bring joy to these areas and put a smile on people’s faces. So, what better way to bring our passion for knitting and crochet to the cities in need of a bit of colour, than with some giant yarn installations! I hope we receive some good interest in our job openings, it should be a really fun project to work on.”