The town is certainly down at heel by comparison with the nearby capital, though it has a mildly exotic flavour in other respects, including five tattoo parlours on the main street.

ECONOMIST: Japanese immigration

For the time being, strong family ties help keep destitution at bay for most of the down-at-heel.

ECONOMIST: Saudi Arabia on the dole

They have kept it in sparkling condition, and primped some slightly down-at-heel rooms with subtle redecoration.

ECONOMIST: The nicest house in London

There is not much to the village now: a few boarded-up houses, a couple of shops, a down-at-heel courthouse.

ECONOMIST: America��s highways

Through that time, the programme set and I have had a series of make overs but somehow both of us have always managed to look rather down-at-heel.

BBC: End is nigh for the Politics Show - the souvenir blog

Leave the glitzy heart of Riyadh or Jeddah, the two main cities, and you find down-at-heel suburbs where poor Saudis live side by side with poor Asian and African workers.

ECONOMIST: Saudi Arabia

"Orphans, " Lyle Kessler's 1983 play about a shady businessman who takes two down-at-heel brothers under his wing, has finally made it to Broadway after being mounted by just about every regional theater in America.

WSJ: Theater Review: Daddy Issues