If you're interested in where I stay when I'm in Dhaka, it's on
this alley (no Street View there, alas) in South Bashabo near the base of the Khilgaon Flyover.
I've never ventured outside the city, but it is indeed a rather unpleasant place. I suspect much of that has to do with how new it is. Dhaka was a major city during the Mughal Empire, but that city has little relation to the city today. Under British rule the great metropolis of Bengal was Calcutta. The Dhaka that exists today is only as old as Pakistan.
With regard to the country in general, one of the main problems is certainly maladministration. Bangladesh has at no point in its nearly 45 years of existence had a government that was either competent or committed to democracy. Going further, I agree with the notion of a "sweatshop trap". Low-wage work creating garments for foreign countries does not lead to better opportunities.
