Why do men just stand around on street corners?

They do this where I live. They are not the slightest bit intimidating or aggressive. They're just chatting and smoking normally. Never crossed my mind to be offended by it! My daughter and I always say "ah the guys are out!"
They're doing what white British men should do in the pub in previous generations, and some still do.

How rude and presumptuous

That's not who the OP is talking about at all.

I can say they're 100per cent locals in my area.

FFS!!

The ones buy the local little shops are the local drunks one is a known nonce too.

The ones by town park are drug dealers.

The ones by the train station mix of dealers and hookers.

The ones in the dodgy area dealers.

The ones near M&S they go and steal from the shops and then sell at the local carboot.

Happens here in a leafy shire too. Except we only have a bus stop and a corner store.

There’s a couple of places like that near me, Basicaly they hang out smoking, drinking and behaving lewdly towards women (age doesn’t matter from young teen to older women). Very intimidating for a woman on their own.

My city has been having a lot of bother with gangs/groups. It is usually teenagers. I have no clue of cultural backgrounds, they all wear bandanas 🤷🏻‍♀️ but buses have been rerouted because of the behaviour of these people, inconveniencing ordinary folks going about their business.
I think I may feel intimidated by a bunch of 20 somethings on the corner.
I was called a cunt by a child 14/15, when I refused to give her a cigarette. My local shop has security guards.

In Dublin too, I think, because Geldof used the phrase in 'Rat Trap'. I thought he'd invented it, though I knew exactly what he meant.

Some of the assumptions being made here are fucking vile.

Mumsnet (Mumsnetters) can be a nasty place sometimes.

What’s you problem? Do you not think it unnerving when large groups of people congregate for no particular reason?

I‘ve always found that these groups of men will fall silent when I walk past and just watch me. It’s the most intimidating experience and I will actively walk fast in the opposite direction if I’m on my own and see a group of men hanging about. For me, it’s always been different cultures/immigrants that do it. The teenagers down here that hang out in groups at least tend to keep chatting and ignore you as you walk by.

Mostly 20s.

Then very likely cultural.

We grow up like this in some countries. Most people live in flats so no own back garden or many playdates, so from a very young age we congregate outside . At first we play and roam, then teen years kick in so we walk up and down the main street, or gather round a bench, the entrance of one of the apartment buildings , etc. It wasn't too bad in the summer and there'd also be cards/chess/rummy tournaments, but winter was bloody freezing. I'm talking -10 and lower. We still did it. Sometimes we'd go into a block of flats and sit in the entrance for warmth, but understandably we were kicked out for being a nuisance. Girls do give it up eventually, but not uncommon to see blokes up to their mid 20s still at it. The habit stays with you, especially if you're in a like minded group.

My mum says there's a few still doing it in the summer, same ones as when I was a teen. They must be in their 40's now.

though to add I often see older British men sat alone in their front gardens on chairs even full coat and hat.

I presume lonely watching the world go around. I’m aware in my own little section of street many knew each other all those years ago slowly dying off and the grand children or great grandchildren taking over the properties. The oldies always stop by for a chat if they see you gardening about how they remember Derek who lived here and you say oh that was my grandad and they fill you with stories.

Cold as it is on street corners at the moment, it’s normally warmer than an open space like a park. And it is far more common in many cultures to use the street as a social space.

Of course, they could also be dealing, but my understanding is most street dealers are British (so if these are immigrants that’s less likely) and dealers haven’t tended to hang out on street corners like that since mobile phones took over (if they were buying, they wouldn’t be there for so long).

Most of the dealers who live around here are white and didn't come over on boats.Doesn't quite fit with what the OP is getting at though.

Not new. It’s been a thing since I was a young teen and I’m in my 30’s, I used to hang around aimlessly as a teen just chatting to my mates. I’m also female and white British. There is sod all else to do unless you want to perpetually sit at home rather than being social. I grew up in quite a poor area so lack of resources explains it.

Happened in places where I’ve lived such as Dundee, Glasgow and surrounding towns with young white men in their teens and 20s.

Not sure of the exact situation now but in west coast Glasgow in the noughties some of the men were as old as late 30s/early 40s. They would stand near the corner shop and pub.

Looking back it was so strange some used to interact with teenage girls 🙄 some were dealers but I’d say most were just in and out of casual work and drank significant amounts of beer and buckfast.

Often engaged in banter laced with racism, sexism, homophobia unfortunately so could be intimidating going past, but others were quite harmless and respectful and even had some witty, intelligent chat when sober.

It's usually white men in the city where I live. Mostly from Albania or Romania. I don't understand why they do it but am not offended by it. Of course they may be homeless which is tragic. The fact that we have neuralink technology, phones with the internet on and man has been on the moon but there are still people on the streets in the 21st century is appalling. Offended? Not by the men themselves but that life is so hard for some people.

I was told that their wives/mothers/partners encourage them to go out so they can do the housework/chat with other women etc.

yes, I have noticed that this lot do it with laughter, gestures and mumbled words. Every woman who lives round this area is wary of them, they are there almost round the clock, there is no way I would walk past them after dark.

Men have been hanging around on street corners since the dawn of time. I think it’s in the genes.