To wonder why there is so much snobbery about Milton Keynes?

I live in Herts which had some lovely old villages turned into new towns after the war. There is similar snobbery about Stevenage and Hemel.

I’m not supporting snobbery (though I think MK is a slightly different case - it has a better rep than Stevenage or Hemel) but I think these places were built at an unfortunate time in architectural history when Brutalism reigned supreme. I’m sure they have great communities and facilities but the contrast with the sweet old villages they once were is harsh.

Also - they were built and planned at a time when the car was king and some have grid plans, major roads and crazy ‘magic roundabouts’ going through the town centres.

My feeling towards these towns is based on resentment towards the architects and planners - I’m sure they are just as pleasant as communities as other, older towns.

Never lived there but used to live thirty minutes drive away. MK has everything you need - great theatre, Stables (music venue with top class acts), shopping centre and a football team. The snow dome shops aren’t quite as good as they’re used ti be , but always fun watching the skiers. We considered living there or a village nearby, but a new job meant we relocated elsewhere.

I can't think about Milton Keynes without picturing Marilyn Manson in all his corsety get up screaming it 😂

I live in MK. It’s very practical and does what it says on the tin. I quite like it. I come from a hill top town in Yorkshire where lots of the streets are cobbled, have 20 percent gradients and ginnels and terraces. It’s very pretty but day to day getting around on car, foot or bike is hard especially for the elderly. MK has none of that. Is it the richer for it? No, probably not - but it’s easy living.

"It's also been basically built for people on housing benefit 😂 sorry."

You're an idiot.

Try coming from East London or parts of Essex
You are looked down upon constantly
There are good and bad parts everywhere.

I live close to MK and absolutely love it, as people have said great shopping, open spaces and the theatre is brilliant. Concerts at Campebell Park in the summer, lots of choice on restaurants.

I used to work there and honestly really miss it.

The villages around are also lovely, lots of great pubs. And Bletchley Park.

It has a really good art gallery with some of the best exhibitions outside London.

I wouldn’t want to live there. But I’d not say that in rl. I also think Stevenage and Luton are hell-holes. But I know friends and colleagues that live in all 3, so I keep my opinions on these places to myself.

I feel like I need to pay a visit to mk now.

That's a good point! You need to come off the main roads to find the good bits.

You don't exactly get to see the best of Milton Keynes by driving through it. 😂

I do agree there's a lot of snobbery about MK but at the same time I'm not fond of it. Planning and design wise, it takes a lot of the worst of postwar American suburban planning (and I live in an American suburb now!) with neighbourhoods cut off from each other by large roads. It's not very pedestrian or transit friendly. It was also first built during a low point for British residential architecture, which can't totally be helped, but is noticeable all the same.

having lived in areas with multiple street layouts, I don't think there's inherently a clear winner in terms of grids versus curves unless the topography clearly dictates you can't have a grid, but MK's design tends to feel as if it were designed in the abstract and not around the needs of the residents. I don't find it dystopian; given enough time, residents will adapt their lives to the setting and make it workable. But when I've been there I've always felt like the planners had their ideas of how people should live and work, and didn't actually talk to or observe them.

The amount of greenery and parks is probably the best aspect.

I grew up in MK, left when I was 20 for uni and never moved back. It's one of my biggest regrets that I didn't go back home after uni or at least when the kids were little. My mum and sister still live there so we go back regularly and the kids have had the benefits of the parks and places like ninja warriors and the snow dome.

My kids are too old and settled here (50 miles north) so moving back is not really an option now, and also it is a lot more expensive!

County lines is also virtually a problem almost anywhere with a direct route to a major city 🤷‍♀️

Much like most places I imagine, Buckinghamshire holds pockets of poverty. Poverty in terms of money, access to education, families recieving benefits etc.
There was recent research comparing education deprivation for children in Aylesbury (30 mins away) and it falls well below the national average.
Yes- MK city centre is a bit soulless. Its modern. Yes there is "drug addicts" in/around the city centre- same as literally every single city centre I've been to in the last three years. You dont really see anyone walking around - I'd give that for small villages where everyone knows everyone!
MK has great facilities, green, accessible- it's a shame that people view it as "basically for people on housing benefit" (ludicrous!) 🙄

I've lived in Buckinghamshire all my life (in one of the villages where we have social housing, mansions owned by celebrities/rich people with well paid jobs- and lots of unemployment and families receiving benefits. I personally like MK and it's always a good day out.

Another MK fan here! I live an hour away, near Cambridge, and love visiting. I’m always amazed at how much there is to do. You’ll find every kind of sports club/activity and not only is the shopping centre great it also doesn’t cost the earth to park there all day unlike Cambridge.

It was built very American in style but this makes it quick and easy to drive around. The green areas and spaces are so expansive, along with the off road cycle paths. It’s actually been built really practically compared to most places and property is good value for money.

Mine are older teens and settled now but, in hindsight, when they were tiny and we moved out of London we may have moved there instead. Great place for teens. Cambridge is beautiful but you get plenty county lines/drugs and homelessness there too.

We left Milton Keynes recently because unless you live in a million pound catchment the state schools are shit. There is a reason why everyone tries to move to the Buckingham / St Albans grammar school catchment.

I live in MK and I love it!

Low unemployment, great shopping centre, tonnes of green spaces, gorgeous lakes, easy to drive around (no bloody one way systems to get lost in), great community feel.

Lots of large companies have their head offices in Milton Keynes (Argos, Shell, Mercedes to name a few) so it's got something going for it.

It's only 35 mins to London should you so desire. And of course, as with any large city there is crime, and with a main train station there is county lines issues, but nowhere near as bad as places like Birmingham have.

People who turn their noses up ar MK, haven't lived here. It's a beautiful city..

I too, was an MK snob.

We decided to move out of London and it was one of the places we went to look at properties. I cried all the way home from those viewings and declared I could NEVER live there. (Very dramatic)

We ended up settling in Oxfordshire, which i love - but as MK is quite a short drive I'm regularly driving there for IKEA, had a great time at Gullivers....have tickets to the theatre planned next year, ninja warrier for the kids. I am also looking forward to visiting the shopping centre soon as well. So on reflection, I can see I probably would have been just fine buying there.

It's all a bit 'fear of the unknown' I think. Depends where they moved from as well, I know it took a long time for me to convince myself I would survive out of London, having been born there.

its like every other new town in the U.K. I guess…..I wouldn’t live in a new town….I like local history….old architecture …..I live in a 160 year old semi….there’s lots where I am …..full of character…..nothing like that in these new towns…but lots don’t mind so that’s ok too…..I’m no snob, but the word ‘soulless’ came straight to my mind as well

I like it!!! I don't live there but we go often for shopping music gigs, ikea and the theatre is fab. I've also used the sno dome.

It's certainly a place I'd consider if circumstances changed.

I've never been anywhere near MK as far as I'm aware so I just had a little sneaky peeky on Rightmove with a max budget of £650k.

The main things that jump out at me are:

1. The houses are soulless and look like they're on an estate. Fine, but it's every house aside from a couple of very obviously old houses that popped up. In an average town you'd find a lot more diversity of housing stock.
2. Even the expensive houses look crap; all the things you hate about new builds, small garden, endless expanse of brick wall without a single window.
3. The modern houses are not very exciting. They really missed an opportunity to do some interesting stuff with architecture and make it of the moment instead of trying to echo period features with modern building regulations and thick uPVC windows.
4. The internal layouts can be a bit odd. I suppose they've tried to add character and avoid every room being a box, but what that's meant is you've got a sofa Infront of a "bay window" on the side of a house and a chunk of wasted space.
5. It generally doesn't feel very inspiring. There was not a single house I looked at and had my imagination run away with me. As a RM junky this is unusual!
6. The tiny gardens make it feel like you're overlooked from every bloody direction.
7. All this is said purely based on the houses I've looked at, I have no idea what the town centre or paths are like.

I can remember going to the shopping centre there when it first opened in 1979, C & A was I think where the Next is now and was my favourite shop. It was all very exciting then