Which area do you think is worst for living?

i would probably quite agree with most of that but i did not expect nottingham to come 2nd! i didn't realise its crime problem was that big, i thought it was quite a wealthy place.

but i'm supprised stoke isnt on the list. it doent even have a H&M and robbie williams was born there!

I don't think you could write off the whole of salford, afterall every city has bad areas.

The real salford:

http://www.aidan.co.uk/md/McrWorsleyPktHse3730.jpg
http://www.manchesteronline.co.uk/ewm/ic3/64.jpg
http://www.burofour.co.uk/salford.jpg

I don't think you could write off the whole of salford, afterall every city has bad areas.

The real salford:

http://www.aidan.co.uk/md/McrWorsleyPktHse3730.jpg
http://www.manchesteronline.co.uk/ewm/ic3/64.jpg
http://www.burofour.co.uk/salford.jpg

Don't be silly. Only a small selection of Salford looks like that. The rest are average at best semis, and then empty terraces:
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y57/caw123/P6230020.jpg

Yeah the thing did generalize the cities, which in Salford swung in favour to bad. The Quays were a good point which they brough out, but it is only a small part of Salford and isnt representative of most peoples lives in Salford.

I've never been to Mansfield, but it just seems depressing (unless someone can show me otherwise). Perhaps it's because I've been to nearby villages such as South Normanton and Creswell. They are absolutely atrocious.

Don't be silly. Only a small selection of Salford looks like that. The rest are average at best semis, and then empty terraces:
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y57/caw123/P6230020.jpg

there's about the same amount of uber nice areas and uber crap areas. The rest is suburbia, the same as in any other city, not unpleasant.

Plus, those terraces are being demolished. I think the show should have noted that the house prices will rise due to re-generation.

Ah come on now, Salford's poor areas are by no means cancelled out by the amount of nice places. Salford's a poor city man. It's horrible but we have to accept it. It's shameful how little money has gone into the areas that really need improving. The same was said of North East Manc until a few years ago when things have started changing. Salford really does need a lot of work, there really is no denying this.

You have to remember that it was researched on crime, education, leisure, environment and something else, not on architecture or buildings. Looking at Salford, the crime and education is pretty bad (when compared to the better areas) and the leisure and environment are only relevant to a small area, mainly around the quays.

Salford is not as bad as it's made out to be. OK, a lot of the city wouldnt win any prizes in a beauty contest, but quite a lot of the city is suburbia. We even have a country park and farmland within our borders.

The pictures of boarded up terraced houses can be found in any Northern city. Manchester, with the exception of Didsbury, isn't much to shout about either. Granted it has a had a good city centre for the past 15years, but the rest of the city is just as bad, if not worse, than Salford.

That programme was bollocks anyway.

At the Irish border, that's where.

We have a new looney, Welcome NewYorker.

Salford can be pretty grim, I plumped for 'boro though, not suprised to see Hull and Nottingham featuring but am suprised Stoke did get a top 10 place.

What's Nottingham doing there, with the trams it looks amazing.

Is it a crime thing or something?

We have a new looney, Welcome NewYorker.

Salford can be pretty grim, I plumped for 'boro though, not suprised to see Hull and Nottingham featuring but am suprised Stoke did get a top 10 place.

Stoke is a dump, but I really like the people and the architecture, if you are into run down victorian factories, industrial canals and coronation street type housing there is alot to see here. :)

What's Nottingham doing there, with the trams it looks amazing.

Is it a crime thing or something?

A serious crime thing, even the chief of the Nottingham Police admitted they hadn't the resources to deal with the problem, one of the reasons i decided to avoid Nottinham Uni despite it having one of the nicest campuses.

LN1, it's MiddlesBROUGH. Lose the extra O please.

Anyways, why no Barrow in Furness? It is without a doubt the most depressing place I've been to in the UK.

Well I cant chane it now. Any of the Humber area I find depressing and in the middle of nowhere. I hate York, but its obviosuly not a bad place to live. I do particularly like the south either, too rural away from London.

Any of the Humber area I find depressing and in the middle of nowhere. I hate York, but its obviosuly not a bad place to live. I do particularly like the south either, too rural away from London.

Likewise with Humberside, I lose the will to live after 30 minutes. North Lincolnshire across the Humber Bridge is funny as well, duelling banjos!

You don't like the countryside LN1? Shame on you! Get yourself out to Pateley Bridge, just round the corner from you and one of the most beautiful places I've ever been to, done some awesome mountain bike rides around there.

I quite like the country, but Id go insane living there. I dont often go to Pateley- theres nothing to go for. Its all very nice but theres nothing there. There are some very nice little villages around the area north of Leeds and Bradford, and just to the east of the A1 around the A64 corridor. There would be a much higher quality of life for everyone if everyone lived in really dense cities.
I often go cycling down Nidd Gorge and Knox. Malham is quite nice too. Knaresborough riverside, castle...ect is ok, not so much the high street.

There would be a much higher quality of life for everyone if everyone lived in really dense cities.
:hahaha:

Anyways, why no Barrow in Furness? It is without a doubt the most depressing place I've been to in the UK.
Barrow may look crap but it is an area with more potential than most people imagine. Its first stages of regeneration are beginning:
-Town Centre Masterplan
-Rail Corridor scheme
-M6 link road bridge across Morcambe Bay
-Port Cruise Terminal
-Barrow Port Masterplan
-Walney Airfield Masterplan
-Cavendish Dock scheme
-Buccleuch Dock scheme

http://filesdown.esecure.co.uk/westlakes/05022004-1559-05.jpg

Also remember that Barrow is smack bang next to the lake district, one of the UK's most popular tourist destinations. Barrow would make a very good base for exploring the Lakes and the Cumbria coast, cos Kendal and Keswick (and to some extent, Lancaster) are getting very overcrowded in the summer.

What's Nottingham doing there, with the trams it looks amazing.

Is it a crime thing or something?
LOL! With you a place could be in the middle of a civil war or burning to the ground, but its got trams, so its still good!

Hackney gets my vote. It's an utter crime-infested shithole.

In fact, just saying the name makes me shudder with fear and disgust.

"Hackney" ......

*shudder* :ohno:

LOL! With you a place could be in the middle of a civil war or burning to the ground, but its got trams, so its still good!

:)

I hadn't thought of it like that but you are right, I think I am too pro tram for my own good at times.

i would probably quite agree with most of that but i did not expect nottingham to come 2nd! i didn't realise its crime problem was that big, i thought it was quite a wealthy place.

!


lmao i like nottingham alot,but to call it a wealthy is a very naive comment

oi! i grew up in barrow and if anyone's going to criticise it, it's me. it certainly would have been bottom-ten material in the late eighties, when unemployment was at something like, erm, 100%. these days, it isn't too bad at all by the criteria this program was going on - it's a sleepy little town with the odd 2am ruck, better for families than some inner-city hole.

bad things:
isolation - this will always be its downfall, even if the m***cambe bay bridge ever does get built (it won't). it's not even as close to the lake district as people like to think.
unemployment - still a bit on the high side, i think.
not much to do around town - hopefully this'll change over the next decade or so.

good things:
tourism - uk cruises stop there regularly now.
relatively low property prices - you can still buy a house for plenty less than £40,000.
roanhead beach - lovely!
barrow park - about the same size as regent's park and just as lovely. that's how i remember it, anyway.
barrow afc - world's greatest football team. fact.
plenty of disused industrial waterfront land that would make a great place to build skyscrapers.

Yes. But Barrow is never gonna get skyscrapers lol. Or at least not in the next 100 years at least.

its a much beter than list than the "best" list but nottingham is completely out of place and only there becuase of its gang crime and binge drinking problems which are unlikely to effect most people.

Yes. But Barrow is never gonna get skyscrapers lol. Or at least not in the next 100 years at least.
I actually think that skyscrapers will be planned for Barrow in the next 10 years at some point. Once its redevelopment begins, and its economy turns away from manufacturing, Barrows fantastic location is going to be hot property. There is so much waterfront potential there. We can expect some pretty big apartment developments for Barrow in the not too distant future :)

Bradford hasnt even had any skyscraper proposals, and thats the 6th largest city. What sort of height is 'skyscraper' anyway. I would expect to see alot more low-medium (no more than 16 storeys) developments here.

Bradford hasnt even had any skyscraper proposals, and thats the 6th largest city. What sort of height is 'skyscraper' anyway. I would expect to see alot more low-medium (no more than 16 storeys) developments here.

The fact that it's the '6th largest city' is irrelevant. Nobody wants to move there. That's why it has no skyscraper proposals.

The first ever skyscraper was 12-storeys. There isnt really a specific height definition for skyscraper. Some say its over 12 floors. Some say its over 15. Some say it must be at least 150m.

I actually think that skyscrapers will be planned for Barrow in the next 10 years at some point. Once its redevelopment begins, and its economy turns away from manufacturing, Barrows fantastic location is going to be hot property. There is so much waterfront potential there. We can expect some pretty big apartment developments for Barrow in the not too distant future :)

What a load of bollocks Acura. Not a chance!

As you say the manufacturing industry there has died and it's too geographically isolated to attract investment without huge government subsidies. As for tourism, why anyone would even consider staying there for exploring the Lakes I cannot even begin to imagine. There's plenty of accomodation in the Lakes itself, up to around Penrith and even down to Skipton.

why anyone would even consider staying there for exploring the Lakes I cannot even begin to imagine. There's plenty of accomodation in the Lakes itself, up to around Penrith and even down to Skipton.

Because the western lakes are nicer than the congested touristy Beatrix Pottery eastern ones.

It is ridiculously out of the way though.

Yeah exactly. If Bradford doesnt have anything then Barrow hasnt got a chance. Its way too far out anyway. I would prefer to stay in somewhere like Skipton, Settle or Kendal to explore than Barrow. 12 storeys? If 12 storeys is a skyscraper then most towns I know have skyscrapers. I heard it was over 90m...

What a load of bollocks Acura. Not a chance!

As you say the manufacturing industry there has died and it's too geographically isolated to attract investment without huge government subsidies. As for tourism, why anyone would even consider staying there for exploring the Lakes I cannot even begin to imagine. There's plenty of accomodation in the Lakes itself, up to around Penrith and even down to Skipton.
www.westlakesrenaissance.co.uk
The places you suggest staying are way to overcrowded. In Skipton you can barely move during the day cos its so bloody crowded. Same with Kendal and Keswick.
Its not like all 'out of the way towns' dont do well. Look at Inverness and Swansea.

Hackney gets my vote. It's an utter crime-infested shithole.

In fact, just saying the name makes me shudder with fear and disgust.

"Hackney" ......

*shudder* :ohno:

lol your such a snob, just because you live in/near Kensington. ;)

^the poor little Brompton boy can't handle the grit :D

Swansea is much bigger. Inverness has alot more going for it and a bit bigger. Despite its size its the capital of the highlands and the only sizeable town until Aberdeen or maybe Elgin. Inverness is also on the main A9 spine route through the highlands, but Barrow is somewhere you would only go if you were going there. Its the same with Hull, the only thing is, Hull has alot of people going for the port, and some for The Deep. Barrow has nothing.

Barrow has Cruise ships and the lakes. As long as it can turn itself around (which it will eventually) it will have no problem attracting visitors. There is also no reason why it cant build a landmark development like The Deep. Give it 10 years and see!
Remember that Leeds was just a crappy provincial nowhere a few years ago, now look how well it has turned itself around. Its a popular city break destination.

Yeah but it still had size. Barrow is just a little town.

Barrow isnt that small. Every city and town has its assets that it can exploit. Once you have found and realised their potential, you're laughing.

bloody hell, what happened here? i feel persecuted...

barrow will be just fine. it's a small industrial town, in no hurry to become a big one. there's still some ship repair going on, though not much shipbuilding, and the gas terminal will be earning money long after any of us.

as for bradford, well... no, there are no skyscrapers. ten out of ten, that man. what does it have to do with anything anyway?

I believe the BAE Submarine manufacturer is still open in Barrow.

Well I think Barrow is quite small, and not too dense, and it wont be for a long time before it gets any skyscrapers. I think its more likeley to get residentail hi-rises than commercial ones. I dontt hink it will giet there. Some places that could get proposals though are Birkenhead, Blackpool, Bradford, Aberdeen, Hull, Bristol, Doncaster, Huddersfield, Wolverhampton and the east midland cities - I think all those could get them, but not Barrow.

Swansea is hardly out of the way. It has quite a large metro population, with Neath, Port Talbot, Mumbles, Gower, Llanelli, pretty much all of Ospreylia, and Cardiff's only 45 mins down the road with Bridgend in between.

I don't think Nottingham should be on the list. I've always found it a pleasant, clean city to visit. If it is on there due to crime, then why isn't West Belfast on the list? I know where I'd rather live.

What's wrong with 'ool (Hull)?

I lived near Beverley, near Hull, when I was 3 :cry:

Hull's not bad. The suburbs are pleasant (Swanland, Kirk Ella, Beverley are very well heeled). The coast isnt far, York is do-able for a day out. FC are in the Challenge Cup Final. Crime is high, but its mainly burglaries rather than gang warfare/car-jackings. The fish and chips are belting, as are the patties. Some good boozers. In the ugliness stakes, compared to other big northern towns/cities, I think Hull comes out quite favourably.

Even the city centre is quite nice, pedastrianised streets, decent old buildings, nice station.

how about Nechelles part of Birmingham ??

[QUOTE=kebabmonster]In the ugliness stakes, compared to other big northern towns/cities, I think Hull comes out quite favourably.
QUOTE]

Isolate city spread alongside water,
Posted with white towers, she keeps her face
Half-turned to Europe, lonely northern daughter,
Holding through centuries her separate place.
(Philip Larkin)

Hull, which has 101 chip shops, was also deemed the fattest town in the UK.
(BBC News)

http://www.lowefoto.com/konica/hull06.jpg

http://www.nh97.co.uk/east-y/hull-1/image/nh-2972.jpg

http://hullguide.com/cityhall.jpg

http://www.adzstock.com/Upload/Stock/Previews/19972.jpg

http://www.genuki.org.uk/big/eng/YKS/Churches/ERY/HullHolyTrinity_5.jpg

http://www.funkinghull.co.uk/places%20to%20visit/the_deep/deep.jpg

http://www.picturesofengland.com/pictures/500/Kingston_upon_Hull_1082606094.JPG

http://www.picturesofengland.com/pictures/500/Kingston_upon_Hull_1082612434.jpg

http://www.corusconstruction.com/uploads/Humber%20Bridge%203.jpg

Hackney, if not only because it makes people shudder at the thought.

Who's been to Skelmersdale?

Hackney from that list. I don't know some of them?

Salford is hellish- yet I'm moving back into uni accomodation there in September. Oh well. It still gets my vote.

Welcome to salford,

http://www.oneshockingcity.com/images/osc.gif

yhup.

I used to live near Hull. I agree that it's i bit of a dive, but the centre is nice, and the surrounding towns and villages are great places to live. The place i lived in was about 5 miles from the edge of Hull. It was a beautiful little quaint english village. And the other places in the area where just the same.

So i don't think it's all that bad an area to live in.

didn't it win based on the average weight of the population. Thats a bit harsh! lol.
although it did look a bit grim

Hull is quite nice.

[QUOTE=jolon]It was a beautiful little quaint english village. QUOTE]

beautiful little quaint Yorkshire village, please.;)

Where's Burnley & Colne, two mind-numbingly depressing places there ever has been?

And Pontefract too.

I agree. Burnley should be on there. Not sure about Colne though.

I used to live near Hull. I agree that it's i bit of a dive, but the centre is nice, and the surrounding towns and villages are great places to live. The place i lived in was about 5 miles from the edge of Hull. It was a beautiful little quaint english village. And the other places in the area where just the same.

So i don't think it's all that bad an area to live in.

I really liked Hull, and who can say Hull is such a bad place when it has one of the best night clubs I have been to - Spiders :)

Well remember its for living not visiting. While it has some nice buildings, it has lots of chip shops, poor education results, and its way out of the way, the nearest major city being Leeds which is still like 50-60 miles away, unless you count York as major.

Well remember its for living not visiting. While it has some nice buildings, it has lots of chip shops, poor education results, and its way out of the way, the nearest major city being Leeds which is still like 50-60 miles away, unless you count York as major.

You're saying that having lots of chippies is a bad thing?

Shame on you LN1, fish and chips are what made Britain great! ;)

chippies=scals

How can you say that? Chippies are absolutely fantastic you snob! :no:

chippies=scals

:hahaha:

Who's been to Skelmersdale?
Yeah, if Skem was on the list it would get my vote. It's a truly vile shithole of a place. I visited the town once and that was the first and last time. I tried to look for some redeeming feature like the inhabitants but to no avail. They all had this over-exaggerated phlegm-scouse accent which didn't help. They apparently were overspill from the dregs of Liverpool slums.
The only reason it's not on this list is that most people haven't suffered the misfortune of having to visit the place or have never heard of it.
Some of the places on the list are virtual 'garden-cities' compared to Skelmersdale ;)

Most people who live in Harrogate aren't snobs you know...

"Harrogate is the queerest place with the strangest people in it, leading the oddest lives of dancing, newspaper reading and dining." - Charles Dickens, 1858

:laugh:

Yeah well you shouldnt say stuff like that seeing as Manchester didnt particularly escape comments. People in Harrogate are generally the same as anyone else- I mean even though Harrogate has lots of flowers and parks, gardens, nightlife and the rest of it who really has the time to enjoy it unless you're retired or on holiday here. Most people here get up in the morning, go to work/school, and come home just like anywhere else. Just like in Leeds and anywhere else.

What on Earth does Harrogate have to do with you having some bizarre disliking for a chippy tea?

I never said I dont like fish and chips... but too many chippies isnt good.

I find if anything, there's a distinct lack of chippies these days. Growing up in Manc, I've seen them close down one by one because of Maccy D's and KFC etc. And in Leeds you'd be hard pressed to find a chippy anywhere near me. Fucking takeaway city round here. You want a burger and chips? Cool. Pizza? Sound. Kebab? Nice one. Pudding, chips, mushy peas and gravy? You ask for that and the experience is similar to asking for a chip barm in London.

Come to Preston, we must have about 100 chippies in the city centre alone! Nobody here is complaining! Food of the working class!

Fast food, aka McDonalds and KFC sucks. Its unhealthy and I think it'd be in administration if people knew where that food came from. I like Pret though.

Pret is a rich mans mcdonalds.

I love chip shops, thankfully I live roughy 100m from one which is lovely, plus there's 3 more around the town.

I can't recall ever seeing one in Leeds city centre though, there's every type of food available pretty much but not one chip shop, not even towards the outskirts.

theres about 3 decent fish and chip shops in Rayners Lane :D But 95% of the shops are infact Asian Greengrocers. We don't ffing need more than 2!!!! Makes you wonder how they stay in buisiness.

Double post due to slow network and me being an impatient sod! :bash:

Pret is a rich mans mcdonalds.

I love chip shops, thankfully I live roughy 100m from one which is lovely, plus there's 3 more around the town.

I can't recall ever seeing one in Leeds city centre though, there's every type of food available pretty much but not one chip shop, not even towards the outskirts.

There's one under the railway arches opposite the Scarborough Taps, but for decent fish and chips you need to go to Headingley, Bryans and Bretts to chose from. My perfect friday night would be watching the Rhinos win followed by fish and chips and a few cheeky beers in Trio! Mmm! :D

I can't recall ever seeing one in Leeds city centre though, there's every type of food available pretty much but not one chip shop, not even towards the outskirts.

http://www.citikey.com/search/category/30130/city/Leeds

You've made my life :D

Maybe Pret is a rich mans McDonalds but its still good. I usually go to Pret or The Headrow Centre's food court when Im in Leeds. Theres quite a few chippies around here too, none in the town centre though.

Does Leeds not have a Harry Ramsdons? I would of thought somewhere so big would.

There is one at Guisley. The Wetherby Whaler is quiet good, and so is Graveleys.

Does Leeds not have a Harry Ramsdons? I would of thought somewhere so big would.

We have the original Harry Ramsdens I'll have you know Accura! Out in sunny Guiseley.

LN1, I'd recommend Olivers on Cold Bath Road, it used to be a great chippy when I were a lad. Good call with Graveleys as well, I used to go in there every saturday when I was 16 and had a saturday job in town, mainly cos I fancied the lass serving chips! ;) I'm right classy me! :D

Yes. I sometimes go there, although I dont have fish and chips that much. Pizza is the in thing at the moment, often go to Pizza Hut. I usually get a take out from one of the chippes round here.

Pizza is the in thing at the moment, often go to Pizza Hut.

Yes, my sources tell me that the cutting edge fashionista are often to be found hitting the hut. ;)

L NO 1, you ever been to Fred Pizza by the corn exchange? It's a great little pizza shop that sells some pretty good pizza very cheap. Alot cheaper than pizza hut, and tastier in my opinion.

. Pizza is the in thing at the moment

Is it?

I thought food in general was the 'in' thing, and always has been? :?

Sushi - why the hell has that made it's way up north? Why didn't it stick to the soft southerners?

Disturbing thing is the three / four I know about are very busy all the time - who are the people that eat this shit? Old hippies who want to be seen eating in posh places?

Sushi's great. And it aint that expensive either.

Mmmmmm, raw fish!

not realy sushi but wagamama is one of my favorite places ever, and now manchester has 2!

3 Wagamama's - Printworks, Spinningfield and Trafford Centre (???)

There's a pub near Leeds corn exchange on Boar Lane/Duncan St, a Sam Smiths pub with a greasy spoon inside it. Can't mind what it's called now. Great though.

[QUOTE=Leeds No.1]Pizza is the in thing at the moment, often go to Pizza Hut.QUOTE]

I hope you don't go to this one.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/west_yorkshire/4157458.stm

No I go to Harrogate Parliament Street where you can see inside the kitchen anyway. I must say the Briggate one I always thought looked a bit mankey despite never actually going in. I never get pizza for lunch, so I dont go to anywhere in Leeds really. Pizza for lunch is a bit expensive...

A portion of margheritta at Fred Pizza is ony 1.60 ;) Bargain.

I tried sushi once at little tokyo, and it wasn't at all what it's cracked up to be. It isn't bad tasting, but it's by no means deliscious.

If anyone wants an entertaining read then I would suggest channel 4's Top 10 Best and Worst Places to live forum.

Maybe Pret is a rich mans McDonalds but its still good. I usually go to Pret or The Headrow Centre's food court when Im in Leeds. Theres quite a few chippies around here too, none in the town centre though.

I just spent a weekend in Leeds - Tintins was good, as was that restaurant tucked away near Subway - Rooms, I think it was called. Quite suprised that they were fairly cheap & we could just walk in on Friday/Saturday nights and get a table.

Good job the eateries were good, as the bars were awful.

Room it is. Its quite upper class I believe, I would never dream of going there just for lunch lol. Im sure I heard somewhere it does some of the best food in the north...Millennium Square, The Light area have some good bars and restaurants, from traditional to modern, such as tigertiger and hard rock café.

I just spent a weekend in Leeds - Tintins was good, as was that restaurant tucked away near Subway - Rooms, I think it was called. Quite suprised that they were fairly cheap & we could just walk in on Friday/Saturday nights and get a table.

Good job the eateries were good, as the bars were awful.

You obviously went to the wrong bars. Leeds has got some absolutely awesome ones both in the city centre and in Headingley and Chapel Allerton in the 'burbs. Sounds like you hung around Boar Lane where the bars are indeed dreadful.

Room's OK, never eaten there but heard good things about it. Anthony's on Boar Lane is absolutely superb and at about £30 per head for 3 courses and coffee didn't seem bad value when I went there for lunch a couple of weeks ago.

manchester

Sushi - why the hell has that made it's way up north? Why didn't it stick to the soft southerners?

Disturbing thing is the three / four I know about are very busy all the time - who are the people that eat this shit? Old hippies who want to be seen eating in posh places?

Well, I eat it. It's tasty and good for you, what's wrong with it??

PS I wouldn't call the chiller sections at Boots or Tesco "posh places" really (although maybe if you're used to Netto they would appear pretty posh)

Hey mate - you are dead right about Barrow-in-Furness, it is a rathole. I'm from Bristol originally and only moved here because of cheap house prices but Christ, I can see why they can't give them away here. Its impossible to get a job, dead boring, full of alcoholics and half-wits and there's nothing to do, day or night. Me and husband are upping sticks and moving back to Bristol....even if it means renting again.

worst place to live?

you cant compare a whole city (nottingham) to one london borough (hackney) for example.

the worst places i've come across so far are:

St Anns, Nottingham
Dalston, London
most of salford, Manchester, in fact practically all of the area surrounding manc city centre is horrific, longsight, levershulme, moss side, etc
Holyhead - what a shit hole
Kirkby in Ashfield, if you think mansfield is bad, try its uglier little brother.

the worst being Dalston in london. i have never felt so unsafe in a street full of people in my life

Yeah, Manc has a ring of poverty surrounding the city centre...but Levenshulme is not even the worst of it!!!

Its pretty thick to try and say that the whole of Salford is one big shit hole like some places mentioned.

Salford is a sprawling mass that has some dodgy spots and its good spots. For example the pictured Langworthy (thanks Caw) is a dump, yet 2 minutes up the road your on Eccles Old Road with its leafy streets and big houses, 5 minutes in the other direction is Salford Quays. Caw also didnt mention that the area is set for huge investment that will change the area forever, why invest in the area if its such a lost cause?

Then take Lower Broughton, one end of it is rough, the other end is a conservation area. There are countless examples in Salford where this is the case, its just a typical city.

And like Nottingham, Salford too has a tram line, ok only one, but its more then some places mentioned. And havent the council just been awarded with its 4 stars or something, blowing out the water any myths being thrown about its poor record on here. It also is the host of the world cup triathlon, the home of the Greater Manchester FA in Kersal (another area of contrasts), as well as the home of top flight rugby side Salford City Reds.

Salford is by no means perfect, but its not the worst place to live in the country

Salford is by no means perfect, but its not the worst place to live in the country

exactly. These ratings are from some bullshit Television program anyway...

the worst being Dalston in london. i have never felt so unsafe in a street full of people in my life

And why would that be might i ask???

christ that list is fucked up.

nottingham has nice areas and bad areas -- "nottingham" is too diverse and vague to warrant consideration.

yeah mansfield is bad but it's paradise compared to most of the pit villages in northern notts. they are absolutely the worst places to live in i've seen - crumbling ruins full of nothing but decaying old people, and decaying smackheads. there are areas in nottingham which are poorer/have much worse crime etc, but i know where i'd rather live.

I've never been to Mansfield, but it just seems depressing (unless someone can show me otherwise). Perhaps it's because I've been to nearby villages such as South Normanton and Creswell. They are absolutely atrocious.

yeah exactly. the villages around Worksop are much worse tho

A serious crime thing, even the chief of the Nottingham Police admitted they hadn't the resources to deal with the problem, one of the reasons i decided to avoid Nottinham Uni despite it having one of the nicest campuses.

you utter fool. it's not like you're contracted to join a gang or forced to live in St. Anns if you move here.

how about Nechelles part of Birmingham ??

that is surely one of the uk's worst

worst place to live?

you cant compare a whole city (nottingham) to one london borough (hackney) for example.

the worst places i've come across so far are:

St Anns, Nottingham
Dalston, London
most of salford, Manchester, in fact practically all of the area surrounding manc city centre is horrific, longsight, levershulme, moss side, etc
Holyhead - what a shit hole
Kirkby in Ashfield, if you think mansfield is bad, try its uglier little brother.

the worst being Dalston in london. i have never felt so unsafe in a street full of people in my life

Dalston has some great Turkish grocers though, bakers producing superb bread, borek, lahmacun and backlava, and some excellent ocakbasi.

Big cities have higher crime rates because they are Big Cities!

pussy towns like Oxford have low crime rates because no-one except maybe Uni-Students or elderly people have ever read of them little cities.

So yeah Channel 4 is for the pussies Not in the Hood. :baeh3:

Big cities have higher crime rates because they are Big Cities!

pussy towns like Oxford have low crime rates because no-one except maybe Uni-Students or elderly people have ever read of them little cities.

So yeah Channel 4 is for the pussies Not in the Hood. :baeh3:

You tell 'em Dog

The worst being Dalston in london. i have never felt so unsafe in a street full of people in my life

I have a friend living in Dalston so I go there now and again, it has a bad rep (big gun problem), but never thought it was that bad myself. IMO London's nastiest areas are Peckham, Lewisham, Harlesden, Seven Sisters, Denmark Hill, New Cross, Hackney and Mile End.

Big cities have higher crime rates because they are Big Cities!

pussy towns like Oxford have low crime rates because no-one except maybe Uni-Students or elderly people have ever read of them little cities.

So yeah Channel 4 is for the pussies Not in the Hood. :baeh3:

Oxford's crime rates are pretty tasty for a "pussy town". Remember, it's a fairly big and diverse and an multi-ethnic industrial kind of a place, over toward the east of the town (where I lived, naturally, and liked!).

Look at the figure for Sep-Dec 2004. Kinell! That's big city stats.

Read'em and weep punt boy! (http://www.crimestatistics.org.uk/tool/default.asp?region=4&force=4&cdrp=246&l1=0&l2=0&l3=0&sub=0&v=27)

^punt boy?

i've heard rumours that oxford is a bit of a shit-tip outside the centre - although probably paradise compared with merthyr tydfil or middlesbrough

Not you, Sconehead, but rather the stereotypical Oxford denizen: college-boy, pimms, the summer eights and punting, etc.

what about brixton?

A serious crime thing, even the chief of the Nottingham Police admitted they hadn't the resources to deal with the problem, one of the reasons i decided to avoid Nottinham Uni despite it having one of the nicest campuses.

Then you missed out in a big way. Nottingham is my favourite city in the UK and I'd move there tomorrow if I could.

I love you CharlieP.

Easy, tiger.

Then you missed out in a big way. Nottingham is my favourite city in the UK and I'd move there tomorrow if I could.

badman.

why is it your favourite city?

in town today was awesome, hot weather, fit women everywhere, smiles on faces and huge crowds of people everywhere. i also reckon that people around here have a bit of a moody attitude most of the time, but a really dark, twisted sense of humour compared with elsewhere in the uk. so good and bad, but i prefer manchester overall.

i have no idea...i'm from Texas.

Middlesbrough is the worst place I've been to in the UK.

http://i28.photobucket.com/albums/c205/kbg80/middlesborough.jpg

Middlesborough is the worst place I've been to in the UK.


Perspective is everything

http://www.picturesofengland.com/pictures/natural/Middlesbrough_1145126135.jpg

Middlesborough is the worst place I've been to in the UK.


From what I hear, it's an awesome place to be today! Parteee! :drunk:

Was having a football team in the UEFA Cup Final one of the criteria used? ;)

And yet again it's Middlesbrough, FFS! :bash:

Big cities have higher crime rates because they are Big Cities!

pussy towns like Oxford have low crime rates because no-one except maybe Uni-Students or elderly people have ever read of them little cities.

So yeah Channel 4 is for the pussies Not in the Hood. :baeh3:

That doesn't make sense, why would outsiders not having heard of a place affect the crime rate.

You're going to have to come up with a better explanation than 'Big cities have higher crime rates because they are Big Cities', what's that all about.

Of course they will have more total crime but why should they neccesarily have a higher crime RATE ie per head of population.

btw, I think Oxford is actually pretty famous.

You sound like you're actually boasting that somewhere has high crime when really it just means there are more scum living there, not a plus point imo.

Just two words - West Bromwich

Big cities might have more criminals=higher crime rate but you have to remember than they also have more good people too. Its the general principle- doesn't take a genius, even if some cities do have an above average crime rate in relation to their size; for example some of these cities have high crime rates (Hull, Nottingham, Salford, Hackney particularly) despite them all being small cities.

It's a shame Worksop was not part of this vote. Unless it's in a league of it's own.

How the fuck stoke or hull didn't make the list I'll never know. At least hull has nice fish and is getting some investment.

^^^Kingston-upon-Hull is there

and Stoke should DEFINITELY be there

It's a shame Worksop was not part of this vote. Unless it's in a league of it's own.

yeah it's all the obvious names being thrown around, but totally wrong. how on earth can Nottingham be an option (thriving cosmopolitan city), when Worksop exists? sort it out!

I know this programme was on telly many months ago but where are the usual hot shots for worst place in Britain of Cumbernauld and Barrow In Furness? Arnt those places usually in many peoples mind the worst places in Britain. Never been to either but these seem to come up a lot of programmes, forums, websites, books etc as awful hell holes? Anyone know better than me about these locations and apologies if I have offended anyone?

http://www.reurba.org/reports4/Cumbernauld/Cumbernauld.jpg Cumbernauld

http://www.morecambebay.org.uk/images/Barrow%20Aerial%20pic.jpg Barrow In Furness

I have a friend living in Dalston so I go there now and again, it has a bad rep (big gun problem), but never thought it was that bad myself. IMO London's nastiest areas are Peckham, Lewisham, Harlesden, Seven Sisters, Denmark Hill, New Cross, Hackney and Mile End.


Lewisham is alright

Of course this list is terribly biased against anywhere not in South East England. Luton and Slough are bloody awful shit-holes. Why is Stoke not there? It's like stepping into a time-warp. I've heard a lot of people say Blackburn isn't very nice, I've never seen it. I wouldn't put Nottingham on there, it was 2 good unis and is a fashionable, cosmopolitan place to live despite the crime. Merthyr truly is a scary place but most of the valleys are pretty grim really. Generally the most run-down places in the UK are small town ex-mining communities that have suffered most from industrial decline. Racial tension such as in Bradford, Oldham and Slough also doesn't make people want to live there.

nottingham has really been ruined by the media after a few shootings. ok, theres been a few shootings and theres some shit bits, but thats it. the city is very good. trams to be extended hopefully, a great city centre which is in the top 5 in the uk, 2 good football teams, albeit currently underachieving.

huge concert venue/ arena. the higest concentration of sports facilities per person in europe (i have no stats to back this up mind). great nightlife and modern city centre areas. huge regeneration plans and two unis that are growing fast. loads of new student flats, the second biggest university hospital in europe. give it a break.

Some suburbs of Birmingham are terrible when it comes to crime figures. They sort of segregating each other like there is a massive Somalian population in Sparkhill and there is a massive Asian population in Small Heath whilst in Lozells its a mix of Afro-Carribean and Asians. This sort of stuff causes tension racially and thats how the shootings start especially in Handsworth, Aston and Lozells with some happening in Smethwick.

I agree with above though. Nottingham is actually really nice but the over-exageration of some shootings has practically destroyed the city. The news sometimes reports a shooting as a man mown down in a hail of bullets when really maybe 5 were fired and only 1 hit him in the shoulder...

^yeah tell me about it. notts is blatantly one of the uk's best cities. and within the same county you have ridiculous pits of despair like mansfield and worksop.

like someone said, it's small mining towns and villages that are surely the worst by miles. and cumbernauld.

Dagenham? Milton-Keynes?
or some Northwestern London suburbs.

Reading SSC for has long as I have has led me to conclude that the worst place to live in the UK is clearly Martin G's house...

or some Northwestern London suburbs.

eh?

Banff/Macduff/Fraserburgh, Scotland- alright places but so boring. Quite literally nothing there; nearest decent shops over an hour away in Aberdeen; Inverness even further away for a change. The most exciting place I found was Tesco...

Milton Keynes

Reading SSC for has long as I have has led me to conclude that the worst place to live in the UK is clearly Martin G's house...

Hexactly, Charles. Hyuk, hyuk!

Bah. That was hobviously just an haberration brought on by the 'eat...

I'd say the worst place to live in the UK is probably halfway between Liverpool and Manchester. Judging by some of the forum threads the front line must be horrendous. :)

The ex-industrial towns of the Welsh Valleys must take some beating.

^yeah tell me about it. notts is blatantly one of the uk's best cities. and within the same county you have ridiculous pits of despair like mansfield and worksop.

like someone said, it's small mining towns and villages that are surely the worst by miles. and cumbernauld.
Have you ever been to Creswell in Derbyshire? It's somewhere between Chesterfield and Mansfield, a former mining village which now looks like a ghost town. I went through it in October 2004 and the place was completely dead.

I'd say the worst place to live in the UK is probably halfway between Liverpool and Manchester. Judging by some of the forum threads the front line must be horrendous. :)
Did you think that they built the M6 solely as a transport route? ;)

Have you ever been to Creswell in Derbyshire? It's somewhere between Chesterfield and Mansfield, a former mining village which now looks like a ghost town. I went through it in October 2004 and the place was completely dead.

been through it a few times, long ago so i can't really remember it. but yep that's what i'm saying. the towns and villages round there are completely dead, apart from the thriving smack and crack industries. there is absolutely nothing else whatsoever.

I lost the will to live in Middlesbrough...
I tried to cut my wrist with a rusty spoon...
I was there for two hours...

Subliving

Of course this list is terribly biased against anywhere not in South East England. Luton and Slough are bloody awful shit-holes. Why is Stoke not there? It's like stepping into a time-warp. I've heard a lot of people say Blackburn isn't very nice, I've never seen it. I wouldn't put Nottingham on there, it was 2 good unis and is a fashionable, cosmopolitan place to live despite the crime. Merthyr truly is a scary place but most of the valleys are pretty grim really. Generally the most run-down places in the UK are small town ex-mining communities that have suffered most from industrial decline. Racial tension such as in Bradford, Oldham and Slough also doesn't make people want to live there.

Blackburn's a dump. The town centre consists of a really Pikey shopping mall and a load of ugly factories. There's nothing interesting, attractive or remotely decent about the place. Burnley isn't much better.

Ive heard that too- not been myself but really from what I've heard I don't really want to. Bradford- well the main part of it is horrible, but its on the up so I don't think Id say it is really really bad. Saltaire is nice, for example. I find new its often towns that are far from decent sized cities are the worst- Middlesborough, Hamilton, Luton, Grimsby, Hull, Yarmouth, Fraserburgh etc

Moss side.

I'd say the worst place to live in the UK is probably halfway between Liverpool and Manchester. Judging by some of the forum threads the front line must be horrendous. :)


Eh? You dissing my hood?

Oh, got you now!

Yes, Cheshire is probably in the top 10 most boring counties in the country...

Glad to see Salfords doing well, little tip, dont believe all you read in the Daily Mail and vote for places you know are shit holes

http://www.manchesteronline.co.uk/ewm/ic5/80.jpg

http://www.msa.mmu.ac.uk/landurban/9899/unitd/resource/salford3.jpg

http://www.adebroom.plus.com/images/salford-quays/slides/lowry-bridge-quay-west.jpg

http://homepage.ntlworld.com/kurt.stephens/Metrolink%20Pub%20Crawl/Eccles%20Line/Pictures/Weaste%20Station.jpg

http://www.northwest-hotels.co.uk/images/shopping-salford.jpg

http://www.hotelmanagement-network.com/projects/lowry/images/lowry1.jpg

http://www.getapad.co.uk/lettings/tTOWN_43edge.jpg

http://www.barryquick.com/img/Arc/00110.jpg

The top ten worst places to live in the UK 2006:
1) Hackney
2) Tower Hamlets
3) Merthyr Tydfil
4) Newham
5) Islington
6) Middlesbrough
7) Nottingham
8) Strabane
9) Blaenau Gwent
10) Manchester

Does anyone know the best? The tv programme wil lbe aired on C4 on 26th October.

Probably something like Cornwall. Always is. Aparently Hackney is really hitting back at this though.

Well yeah and I don't blame them; Hull did too. (2005)

Last years top 10 best (not in order coz I cant remember them, but theres a poll) were somin like Epsom/Ewell, Westminster, Harrogate, Mole Valley, somewhere in Cheshire.. erm.. cant remember.

worst place to live?

you cant compare a whole city (nottingham) to one london borough (hackney) for example.

the worst places i've come across so far are:

St Anns, Nottingham
Dalston, London
most of salford, Manchester, in fact practically all of the area surrounding manc city centre is horrific, longsight, levershulme, moss side, etc
Holyhead - what a shit hole
Kirkby in Ashfield, if you think mansfield is bad, try its uglier little brother.

the worst being Dalston in london. i have never felt so unsafe in a street full of people in my life

I once went for a job at Kirkby in Ashfield. Its only a small place, but their regeneration scheme consisted mainly of a new road that had just been built. Presumably to get people to avoid the place :dunno:

Mansfield seems pretty grotty as well. Like Kirkby, only larger and despite having an indoor shopping centre, it would get my vote.

The top ten worst places to live in the UK 2006:
1) Hackney
2) Tower Hamlets
3) Merthyr Tydfil
4) Newham
5) Islington
6) Middlesbrough


Wahey, the Boro's on the up, at least it was spelt correctly this year!

The inclusion of Manchester is just as provocative as their inclusion of Nottingham last year.

My question would be, what happened to Hull? Beautiful architecture, myriad problems.

how the hell is manchester considered bad? it obviously depends on the specific area of the city (they specify particular areas of London, why not Manchester as well?). just saying "Manchester" or "Nottingham" is ignorant, and breeds ignorance and contempt. it also demonises a whole fucking city, for fuck's sake. i'm sure hackney might be rough as fuck, but it ain't as downright horrible or depressing as decaying fishing towns or mining villages, miles from anywhere.

I think Manchester's gleaming city centre against it's pretty dire suburbs, makes them look even more poverty struck than they are.

The people on this forum are generally thinking of architecture, general sense of place etc when they think of particular cities; and most major british cities are excellent in those terms. But looking at places like London, Manchester (and Birmingham, Leeds, Liverpool, Glasgow- all of them), is quite alot of crime; Nottingham was really so high up on last years list because of crime, particularly gun crime; drugs are a major problem in most cities; Leeds' Little London has the highest drug dealing rate in the UK..etc. But other than that theres also the standard of education to consider; which is generally quite poor among most cities; usually one or two prestigious schools, and healthcare. Also pollution, green space..etc- considering all these things you get a fairer view of where the ratings come from. Do a fair bi-polar analysis of each authority on the areas and see what you get.

I think Manchester's gleaming city centre against it's pretty dire suburbs, makes them look even more poverty struck than they are.

As for Birminghams suburb which are undergoing a renaissance all over the place. Castle Vale is OK now. The only ones left in my eyes are Small Heath, Sheldon and Aston/ Lozells/ Handsworth. They are the desperate ones.

The reason places like Tower Hamlets, Hackney, Manchester etc do badly is because they are the poor parts of the relevant cities.

Quite obvious really isn't it?

FLD - you never been to Sale, Alty, Hale Barns, Bowdon I take it - this survey will not have counted them as Manchester, however, to suggest Manchester doesn't have decent suburbs is somewhat wrong.

Have a look at the number of £1m+ properties sold in Greater Manchester over the last X number of years www.houseprices.co.uk compare that to any other urban area in the UK. There are undoubtably more 'rich' suburbs in Manchester than anywhere else in the UK - they just happen not to pay council tax to Manchester city council.

191 properties in Greater Manchester sold for £1m+

http://www.houseprices.co.uk/e.php?q=greater+manchester&s=191&f=pd&n=10

47 in West Yorkshire

http://www.houseprices.co.uk/e.php?q=West+Yorkshire&s=41&f=pd&n=10

58 in the West Midlands

http://www.houseprices.co.uk/e.php?q=West+Yorkshire&s=41&f=pd&n=10


Just because the political boundaries in this part of the NW are drawn up in a specific manner it doesn't mean it's some poverty striken area, in fact it's the exact opposite.

But hey, keep believing Manchester stops at the end of Deansgate if that's what makes you think that your city is somehow more important.

I think Manchester's gleaming city centre against it's pretty dire suburbs, makes them look even more poverty struck than they are.

Yawn.

If your going to make a statement like that atleast back it up with some factual evidence. As in........ I've been to all of Manchester's suburbs and the following one's are pretty dire......

I've been to West Bromwich. You can guess the rest. Here's a clue!:toilet:

PS.Manchester's gleaming city centre Atleast you got something right.

There are some highly desirable areas just a couple of miles out of the centre of Manchester such as Didsbury,Withington, Chortlon, Whitfield, Prestwich etc and then there are places like Halebarns Altrincham, Sale, parts of Urmston although latter ones are in Trafford, but me being a non Manc its all the same city to me.Just go south of the airport and you are in the really high class areas such as Alderley Edge ,Wilslow etc real millionare territory that.

They definately should've judged like with like, rather than bunging in towns, suburbs and whole cities together.

It's very true about the contrast between Manc city centre and the ring of poverty stricken inner city areas though...and i'm sure this is what put our city at 10...because places like Ardwick, Lower Broughton, Miles Platting feel really down at heel.

Every city has its really affluent suburbs (like Four Oaks and Little Aston in Sutton Coldfield in Birmingham) and then it has its shit heaps.

Yawn.

If your going to make a statement like that atleast back it up with some factual evidence. As in........ I've been to all of Manchester's suburbs and the following one's are pretty dire......

I've been to West Bromwich. You can guess the rest. Here's a clue!:toilet:

PS. Atleast you got something right.

Aaaah, so West Brom is in Birmingham now is it?? You see, that is your big mistake when describing Birmingham. West Bromwich is actually part of Sandwell!

I don't suppose you've been to Four Oaks, Sutton Coldfield or even Edgbaston, Harborne, Moseley or Hall Green?? These are all very close ot Birmingham City Centre, Manchester has no suburb close to it's centre to compare with Edgbaston! Believe me, Manchester is the only place I've been to in Western Europe where I visit companies and the security staff come out to me and ask me to remove my parcel shelf so would be car thiefs can see that there is nothing to steal!!! What a bleedin' shit hole the areas around central Manchester are!!

Indeed they are.

In my opinion by far the biggest 'failing' of Manchester is the HUGE economic divide between the rich and the poor.

I work in Wythenshawe, Benchill (one of the wards around here) is one of the poorest parts of the UK, less than 5 miles west is Hale Barns and Bowdon where houses regularly sell for £2m.

10miles south is Alderley Edge - the richest wards in the country outside of the SE.

Something needs to be done about the divide, and I don't mean make the rich poorer.

Indeed they are.

In my opinion by far the biggest 'failing' of Manchester is the HUGE economic divide between the rich and the poor.

I work in Wythenshawe, Benchill (one of the wards around here) is one of the poorest parts of the UK, less than 5 miles west is Hale Barns and Bowdon where houses regularly sell for £2m.

10miles south is Alderley Edge - the richest wards in the country outside of the SE.

Something needs to be done about the divide, and I don't mean make the rich poorer.


I think this is something you & me strongly agree on.

Glad to see Salfords doing well, little tip, dont believe all you read in the Daily Mail and vote for places you know are shit holes

http://www.manchesteronline.co.uk/ewm/ic5/80.jpg

http://www.msa.mmu.ac.uk/landurban/9899/unitd/resource/salford3.jpg

http://www.adebroom.plus.com/images/salford-quays/slides/lowry-bridge-quay-west.jpg

http://homepage.ntlworld.com/kurt.stephens/Metrolink%20Pub%20Crawl/Eccles%20Line/Pictures/Weaste%20Station.jpg

http://www.northwest-hotels.co.uk/images/shopping-salford.jpg

http://www.hotelmanagement-network.com/projects/lowry/images/lowry1.jpg

http://www.getapad.co.uk/lettings/tTOWN_43edge.jpg

http://www.barryquick.com/img/Arc/00110.jpg

What a dump

^^ The quays are a stunning piece of regeneration but Salford has the problem of a big rich/poor divide just like its sister next door.BTW who composed this list of statistics? Some one who probably things the ideal location is a qaint village in the cotwolds. God,I would die of boredom there, give be a big vibrant city like Manc any day even if it comes with a bit of grit.

^^I'd agree with you there.

How can the list change in just a year though? It's a bit daft, unless the places on the list last year have undergone massive regeneration in just a year.

^^ The quays are a stunning piece of regeneration but Salford has the problem of a big rich/poor divide just like its sister next door.BTW who composed this list of statistics? Some one who probably things the ideal location is a qaint village in the cotwolds. God,I would die of boredom there, give be a big vibrant city like Manc any day even if it comes with a bit of grit.

Couldnt agree more about the divide of rich and poor. Salford is a weird place, you can go down one street and it will be lovely, then the next street is rough as fuck.

Salford has a lot about it, a character, nice people, bad people, nice neighbourhoods, horrible neighbourhoods, significant cultural buildings, run down brown field sites, and of course Salford Quays.

It has a business district, numerous shopping centres, numurous markets, a Super League Team, a Tram line, its own University, and countless landmarks, a lot more to offer then most on the list above.......

Again, looks like people have voted who have never been, shame.

Is Salford no longer that bad, thank fuck for Manchester eh?

Don't be silly. Only a small selection of Salford looks like that. The rest are average at best semis, and then empty terraces:
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y57/caw123/P6230020.jpg

OI! loads of people say dat manchesters really grotty and run down coz of its industrial past, but its not so bad anymore! plus, its getting better!:)

I did notice something splendidly ironic when Manchester was pulling out all their big guns to justify the decision to base the first super casino there instead of 'wealthy' old Blackpool.

Andy Gill (of Manchester Tonight) was standing outside the site saying how these 'iconic regeneration schemes where vital to regenerate an area so poor... (standing as he was adjacent to the 'sport city' icon, which was supposed to do that job, but has obviously done no such thing, but, er...let's forget that one?)... best of all though.... as though to prove the point as to just how 'desperately this area needs this investment to ensure its revival', he was standing in front of 5 new houses from YET ANOTHER 'iconic' - 'neighbourhood' regeneration scheme... 4 of them where empty and boarded up.

The irony here is that it has been proven again and again that the regeneration industry and their 'iconic' projects never work.... in fact 'regeneration' always just fucks a place up more, if it involves places where people live... !!!!

Maybe it was a nice day or something, but I've never found East Manchester espically grim or anything.

I've never realy found any parts of Manchester that grim either, especially if you compare them to parts of Glasgow's East End.

Out of interest has anyone actually been to any of the places they voted against?. I didn't vote as haven't live in any of the places listed, so it would be impossible for me to know purely looking at pictures of what are obviously concentrated on the worst areas of each place, making them look scarier ang uglier than they probably are.

I've been to 'Ull (Middle sized city, seems fine to me),
Middlesbough (very Industrial, but that dosn't mean bad),
Salford (c'mon, it's got that Shopping centre with the arrow on it!), Nottingham, well a suberb anyway, which could have been anywhere really, didn't see any guns or anything!).

Not voted for any of those, or indeed anything.

I've never realy found any parts of Manchester that grim either, especially if you compare them to parts of Glasgow's East End.

There are quite a few real grot spots in Manc that I can think of. Most of them fringing the North and the East, but all in all its not bad. Areas around busy roads seem to thrive, even in the poor areas. Pendleton is a good example with the university.

Hull. With 20 votes.

Converted redbrick dockside warehouses
http://farm1.static.flickr.com/156/339001592_bd8c8683b6.jpg?v=0

Marina (one of several successful dock conversions)
http://farm1.static.flickr.com/99/295483679_bd062723c3.jpg?v=0

Victorian grandeur
http://images-041.cdn.piczo.com/p6/img/i239346993_83308_6.jpg
http://farm1.static.flickr.com/148/387077133_3749dab12e_b.jpg

Georgian splendour
http://farm1.static.flickr.com/104/302974875_9977c60b55.jpg?v=0
http://farm1.static.flickr.com/152/339024676_7a3ea65eae.jpg?v=0

Great, historic pubs
http://i61.photobucket.com/albums/h57/johnsjc/dramshop.jpg?t=1176152986
http://i61.photobucket.com/albums/h57/johnsjc/masters-1.jpg?t=1176152269
http://i61.photobucket.com/albums/h57/johnsjc/empress.jpg?t=1176154189

Icons of regeneration
http://farm1.static.flickr.com/162/355826659_c621121186.jpg?v=0
http://www.flickr.com/photo_zoom.gne?id=311979709&size=m
http://farm1.static.flickr.com/116/311979709_455795a758.jpg

Showing pictures of the regenerated area of Salford is a bit like showing pictures of Gloucester docks. When you actually get to Gloucester and have spent ooohhh lets say 2.5 minutes exploring the docks and there impressive history you then venture elsewhere in the town and realise that it is an unquestionable mess! and you then put your foot down to get the hell out of there!

I'm not Manc bashing in saying that. Brum has the same problems in some areas, you have to expect that from any post industrial City that is undergoing regeneration. The point were all missing here is that the worst place to live in the UK has to be the soul destroying gateway to Hades that is...

...Milton Keynes. (shudder)

Whoever designed Milton Keynes had us all pegged as cyborgs. Every time I go there on business I end up like Michael Douglas in Falling Down. The boulevards, endless roundabouts and the endless, endless rectangular shopping center is so, so soul destroying. Oh theirs a nice circular sq. with a tree in the middle in the new bit of the shopping area, but I never get that far before running out of Prozac.

It's also impossible to leave. All those roundabouts lead you back to the town center and it's endless boulevards. At least in Salford and Hackney you feel alive because you never know when your next breath will be your last, but in Milton Keynes their is no reason to live anyway. :ohno:

I always get the impression that Milton Keynes is a great place to live and bring up a family, etc, but a rubbish place to visit. Unless you like skiing.

Lower and Upper Gornal are not the best places in the world are they? Well, from looking at my nan's area which is in the Gornals, it is pretty rough.

To all those snobs who haven't even been near Hull, but just geered at it whilst hearing jokes mocking it, or TV programs slating it. For god sake, visit it with an open mind, and don't judge it before you actually know what you are judging.

I went there once mate and I was well impressed. Lots going for it, but no-one seems to know about it outside Hull.

Went there last year with my mates and was pleasantly suprised after hearing all the bad press about it. I'd definately go again.
The media really are bastards sometimes.

None of the above.

I hated growing up in Worcester. Pretty, maybe. But landlocked and fucking boring. Left as soon as I could. Had mates at Uni in Leicester. It's just my opinion, but fuck me dead that city was a shithole.

Nottingham is by far the nicest on there, in fact it should be very far down the list compared to say Stoke on trent, Plymouth, Hastings, Hartlepool and Portsmouth to name a few all of which are more deserving to be higher up... silly channel 4 :tongue2:

Nice to see that someone actually respects Nottingham for what it is (A nice place to live) rather than these fools that have read the daily mail and instantly decided that it's a crime ridden shithole.

To all those snobs who haven't even been near Hull, but just geered at it whilst hearing jokes mocking it, or TV programs slating it. For god sake, visit it with an open mind, and don't judge it before you actually know what you are judging.

After visiting the Humber Bridge a couple of years ago, we spent a good chunk of the rest of the day in Hull and we were pleasantly surprised. Great waterfront location, nice Cotswold-esque and ye olde type buildings in the centre and just general niceness. Yes, we saw some not-so-good parts on the way in and out of the city but nothing worse than I've seen in other towns and cities. We met a friendly local who told us where to park and I thought the Hull accent was pleasant enough! :okay:

Another small selection from what Larkin called "The Lonely Northern Daughter"


http://farm1.static.flickr.com/135/405848790_26513e0d21_b.jpg

http://farm1.static.flickr.com/234/522264218_75fdf7bf43_b.jpg

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http://farm1.static.flickr.com/27/65801740_b6728aed62_b.jpg

http://farm1.static.flickr.com/72/171168955_68efa49f61_o.jpg

http://farm1.static.flickr.com/187/405755189_6d00b249ac_b.jpg

http://farm1.static.flickr.com/199/469409278_d49dcb2885_o.jpg

http://farm1.static.flickr.com/186/469418608_2cbb6c0b29_o.jpg

http://farm1.static.flickr.com/101/362873045_0310a9ef74_o.jpg

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The first pic is brilliant. The Humber Bridge really should have a better lighting scheme on it than it already does. It's a shame it can't because of the wildlife that live around it.
Even if it had small bulbs running along the main cables it would still look good.

Nice pics, some really good scenery as well as individual buildings.

I think I see the problem

http://farm1.static.flickr.com/101/362873045_0310a9ef74_o.jpg

Now this is a good building but it looks desperately in need of love, maybe Hull just needs some luvin.

I think I see the problem

Now this is a good building but it looks desperately in need of love, maybe Hull just needs some luvin.

Couldn't have put it better myself mate.

re: The Yorkshire Penny Bank building...It has now been fully converted and refurbished (under controversial circumstances - see link) by it's new owners Cafe Nerro. So, a decent result.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/player/nol/newsid_6580000/newsid_6588400/6588443.stm?bw=bb&mp=rm

There are literally hundreds more beautiful historic buildings throughout the city however that deserve a similar fate, but will not receive it as long as ignorant stereotypes in the media continue to prejudice investment.

i cannot believe walsall isnt on that list :O 3/4 of it is absolutely terrible! it has to be said!

i cannot believe walsall isnt on that list :O 3/4 of it is absolutely terrible! it has to be said!

You might think that, until you've been to places like Merthyr!!!!

Has anyone ever been to Spalding in Lincolnshire, btw? Sounds like a pretty place in your minds eye, but it is appalling!!!!

Merthyr is quite nice in the center, but is also in need of love! big time lol! It has a Manor house / castle as well so its not all bad :)

Why is Kingston upon Hull refered to Hull and not as Kingston? Kingston sounds much better, much more classy, with regal images of Kingston on Thames rather than the rusty bottom of an old fishing boat!

Is there a reason for this? Could the name be changed? has anyone suggested a change in tha past?

Hull was founded at the point where the river Hull meets the Humber, obviously with the Humber being by far the larger of the two rivers the city could even have been called Kingston upon Humber! Strange as you dont call the Newcastles 'Tyne' or 'Lyme, Stratford 'Avon' or Stow 'Wold' for example.

^^ But then Kingston comes before Hull though.

to avoid confustion with Kingston Upon Thames?

Ah forgot about that one.

i cannot believe walsall isnt on that list :O 3/4 of it is absolutely terrible! it has to be said!

Walsall has some lovely areas. Big houses, parks, trees a-plenty. The area around the Broadway is nice to drive through with its tree-lined streets and that's right by the town centre!

I don't know how this relates to other areas of the country, but Hull and Nottingham both lose out when the statistics for these "worst place" programmes are compiled because they have extremely wealthy suburbs that are an integral part of the city but are not included in the city's statistics due to "boundary issues".

DON'T VOTE ON THIS THREAD

Er, so where are all the other towns and cities in the UK? This poisonous negative voting for the 'worst' of everything brings the worst in people. Basically it's shit on someone elso before they shit on you. This site has forums where you can debate the pro's and con's of any town or city in the world, intelligently.

Why is Kingston upon Hull refered to Hull and not as Kingston? Kingston sounds much better, much more classy, with regal images of Kingston on Thames rather than the rusty bottom of an old fishing boat!

Is there a reason for this? Could the name be changed? has anyone suggested a change in tha past?

I'm trying to encourage 'KH' as popular usage.

There are even KH national stickers for cars - saw one in the Orchard Park Tesco carpark a few years ago. Mind you I hope to see the day we have 'NE' ones for Northern England instead of GB.

BTWFYI it was Edward 1 who gave the name Kingston-upon-Hull (king's town - geddit??!!??!?) to the new town he founded in late 13thC on the site of Wyke (aka Wyke-upon-Hull) and Myton he'd compulsorily purchased from the previous owners, the monks of Meaux Abbey a few miles upstream. There's some evidence the term Hull had been previously used by some to refer to the port (such as is was then). It was certainly common usage by Chaucer's time - in his rambling ballad Canterbury Tales, he says of a renowned ship's pilot 'There was none such from Hull to Carthage'.

So Hull (sorry, Kingston upon Hull) is the original 'New-Town'?

^^Wasn't every town originally a New Town? Where was the first populated place in England?

I think it depends. I would imagine most towns come about because of some sort of growth independent of government, whereas 'new towns' (and Hull though obviously in a different era) have come about because the government decided to put them there.

Well OK then. If it makes you happy, I suppose you could call Kingston Upon Hull a medieval 'new-town'.

But it isn't now. Primarily because It fought for and claimed it's own independence from the British Crown (which put it there in the first place) in the 17th c.:

In 1642 Hull's governor Sir John Hotham declared for the Parliamentarian cause and later refused Charles I entry into the city and access to its large arsenal. He was declared a traitor and despite a parliamentarian pardon was later executed. This series of events was to precipitate the English Civil War since Charles I felt obliged to respond to the 'insult' by besieging the city, an event which played a critical role in triggering open conflict between the Parliamentarian and Royalist causes. For some of the Civil War, and for some of the Interregnum, Robert Overton was governor of Hull.

So Hull (sorry, Kingston upon Hull) is the original 'New-Town'?

No, just one of many in that era, some of which throve (pre-eminently KH) while others stayed small or failed altogether.

As for the execescences spawned in mid 20thC by the Commission for New Towns (mercifully none in Yorkshire or its neighbours immediately to the south) they're a different kettle of (rotten) fish.

In 1642 Hull's governor Sir John Hotham declared for the Parliamentarian cause and later refused Charles I entry into the city and access to its large arsenal. He was declared a traitor and despite a parliamentarian pardon was later executed. This series of events was to precipitate the English Civil War since Charles I felt obliged to respond to the 'insult' by besieging the city, an event which played a critical role in triggering open conflict between the Parliamentarian and Royalist causes. For some of the Civil War, and for some of the Interregnum, Robert Overton was governor of Hull.

Slight correction to that: Hotham and his son were executed by Parliament in London for changing sides and trying to hand the town over to the Royalists later in the war - they tried to escape but were headed off on the road to Beverley.

As for the execescences spawned in mid 20thC by the Commission for New Towns (mercifully none in Yorkshire or its neighbours immediately to the south) they're a different kettle of (rotten) fish.

I think I'm slightly offened by that comment.

Sure they have their faults (some more than others) and are far from being real towns but you can't deny that there aren't some positives that came from the new town experiment. IMO they also offer great opportunities in the future. Most have a lot of potential.

I think I'm slightly offened by that comment.

Sure they have their faults (some more than others) and are far from being real towns but you can't deny that there aren't some positives that came from the new town experiment. IMO they also offer great opportunities in the future. Most have a lot of potential.

My apols if some of my nasturtiums have fallen on your home town, which apart from the inevitable Ironbridge bit I can't claim to know well - I'd rather have liked to see the likes of Wellington, Oakengates and all that scatter of mining and other industrial villages and hamlets before their obliteration by The Great Experiment. I knew much of north Shropshire well enough in the early 1960s but never made it further south than Shrewsbury in those days. Anyway perhaps I'll get a chance to check Telford out after my daughter moves to north Shropshire this autumn to start work. Meantime how about some pix? - NOT, please, just touristy and well-hackneyed Ironbridge!

My jaundiced view of the 20thC New Towns is based on all-too-much familiarity with some of them - I worked for Bracknell Development Corporation for a year in the early 1970s and it was great civil engineering training, for which I'd turned down a job in S****horpe (which incidentally IMHO is arguably the best 20thC new town precisely because it was never an official New Town), but not a place to live. The one New Town I had a bit of a soft spot for was Cwmbran, which hadn't obliterated the former traditional valley town, was full of Welsh people and had Newport just down the road.

What in your view are the positives that came from the New Town experiment? ie do your best to convince me that there was any real experimentation at all, as opposed to a collection of dreary and unnecessary sprawls of low-density housing estates and vile shopping precincts. Certainly on the transport front it seems to me that the opportunities to try out radical approaches to transport planning and provision were just not taken - the only thing I can think of in that regard was the Runcorn busway, which in any case failed because it didn't take people where they wanted to go.

Having said all that, my longest-standing friend, incidentallly Hull born, bred and even higher-educated, swears by Milton Kenyes and wouldn't willingly live anywhere else. The place just makes me feel (psychologically) uncomfortable, particularly its USA style 'city' centre.

The only place on that list I've been to is Nottingham. Nottingham seemed ok... just like a big town really. There must be worse places.

...

My apols if some of my nasturtiums have fallen on your home town, which apart from the inevitable Ironbridge bit I can't claim to know well - I'd rather have liked to see the likes of Wellington, Oakengates and all that scatter of mining and other industrial villages and hamlets before their obliteration by The Great Experiment. I knew much of north Shropshire well enough in the early 1960s but never made it further south than Shrewsbury in those days. Anyway perhaps I'll get a chance to check Telford out after my daughter moves to north Shropshire this autumn to start work. Meantime how about some pix? - NOT, please, just touristy and well-hackneyed Ironbridge!

My jaundiced view of the 20thC New Towns is based on all-too-much familiarity with some of them - I worked for Bracknell Development Corporation for a year in the early 1970s and it was great civil engineering training, for which I'd turned down a job in S****horpe (which incidentally IMHO is arguably the best 20thC new town precisely because it was never an official New Town), but not a place to live. The one New Town I had a bit of a soft spot for was Cwmbran, which hadn't obliterated the former traditional valley town, was full of Welsh people and had Newport just down the road.

What in your view are the positives that came from the New Town experiment? ie do your best to convince me that there was any real experimentation at all, as opposed to a collection of dreary and unnecessary sprawls of low-density housing estates and vile shopping precincts. Certainly on the transport front it seems to me that the opportunities to try out radical approaches to transport planning and provision were just not taken - the only thing I can think of in that regard was the Runcorn busway, which in any case failed because it didn't take people where they wanted to go.

Having said all that, my longest-standing friend, incidentallly Hull born, bred and even higher-educated, swears by Milton Kenyes and wouldn't willingly live anywhere else. The place just makes me feel (psychologically) uncomfortable, particularly its USA style 'city' centre.

Well I can't claim to know that much about most new towns but in the case of Telford 30 square miles of post industrial wasteland, riddled with mine shafts, with a collapsed economy, awful infrastructure, unstable ground, slag heaps/spoil tips everywhere and few prospects of any improvement have regenerated into a fairly succesful town. It is stii far from being finished. I agree with your comments about density and transport totally and my town centre is rubbish and there are few buildings of architectural merit oh I forgot my point, here have some pictures

Anstice Hall Madeley
http://i159.photobucket.com/albums/t129/gradymclean/000_0234.jpg

Town park, 170 acres or hectares i can't remember but this was one of the worst areas of industrial dilapidation, the pools were holes in the ground and the spoil tips were regraded extra the abandoned railway tracks became footpaths. The 300 foot tall Stirchley chimney is left as a monument to the industry of the area. The park is right next to the town centre which is just off the top of the picture
http://i159.photobucket.com/albums/t129/gradymclean/Townpark.jpg

http://i159.photobucket.com/albums/t129/gradymclean/000_0124.jpg

Look how green it is, this is Tweedale the very first development by the Development Corporation
http://i159.photobucket.com/albums/t129/gradymclean/000_0243.jpg

New infrastructure.
http://i159.photobucket.com/albums/t129/gradymclean/000_0246.jpg

Another industrial relic
http://i159.photobucket.com/albums/t129/gradymclean/000_0230.jpg

This was saved from dereliction and is now a hotel
http://i159.photobucket.com/albums/t129/gradymclean/000_0232.jpg

Town centre, look at all the potential there are acres of surface car parks at the moment and IMO Telford has a chanve to become a showcase for sustainable development.
http://i159.photobucket.com/albums/t129/gradymclean/000_0047.jpg

Bloody motorways grrr
http://i159.photobucket.com/albums/t129/gradymclean/000_0036.jpg

http://news.bbc.co.uk/player/nol/newsid_6760000/newsid_6764500/6764529.stm?bw=bb&mp=rm

Just stumbled upon this thread.

Who voted for Hackney!?

Been watching too many f**king property development programmes I suspect! :ohno:

You soooooo just voted for Hackney, Nightjar :baeh3: ;)

I've never been to Mansfield, but it just seems depressing (unless someone can show me otherwise). Perhaps it's because I've been to nearby villages such as South Normanton and Creswell. They are absolutely atrocious.
I've been to Mansfield. Sadly, it's not great.

I find Barnsley odd to some extent but I suppose I could end up much worse

Mansfield certainly feels a bit grim, but it has its attractive spots, the Market Place and its surroundings for instance.

The list isn't really fair to be honest. And don't believe all that carp channel 4 tell you about Middlesbrough; there research which was done at the time was incredibly inaccurate. Those sort of programs shouldn't be allowed on TV as it really effects the economy of the area with all this very unfair negativity. Most towns/cities that i have been to in the UK have not been so much better than Middlesbrough, and in fact, in many cases i have thought how the hell can Middlesbrough be named the worst when there is this???

Hackney.

Why isn't Leeds there? Or Birmingham?

Hackney.

Why isn't Leeds there? Or Birmingham?

Or - since we're talking utter shit - Sheffield?

I would say Hackney out of that list but it's a old list, none of it was even done poperley.

Lol because Birmingham is too shite to be on the list.

Those who voted for Middlebrough - how many have actually been there? Or seen photos of places that aren't even in Middlesbrough which is said to be Middlesbrough.

Nottingham is a very decent place, Mansfield on the other hand...

I sometimes have the misfortune to work in Middlesbrough and a friend used to go to live there so I can see why it's seen as one of the worst places to live. It's up there with Luton and Livingston IMHO.