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

I really like MK. Grew up in a small village in Northants but same drive to Northampton or MK. If people ask where I'm from I normally say MK rather than Northampton.
Lived in MK for a few years when I moved out of family home. Loved living there. I lived walking distance from the main shopping centre but could sit in my garden and listen to the birds. My commute to work was a quick drive on the grid system and loads to do in the area.
I'd happily live MK again if I ever move back that way.

I was led to believe that Mk was built after WWII when Londoners needed housing due to so many being destroyed?

No. The decision to build the city was made in 1967. The road infrastructure and building obviously took many years. It was 1979 before it had a shopping centre.

SaltLampFeelsDamp
Yes, you can get fruit and veg, meat etc outside of supermarkets. You might have to drive for it but MK is very much a driver's (or bus) place anyway.
Farmshops all round the edges of MK
Bletchley high street
Woburn Sands
Markets (not sure about MK central market but others)
Surrounding villages

I don’t think it’s that much of a stretch to understand people have different priorities and like different things. I wouldn’t worry so much what other people think, their thoughts have absolutely no bearing on your life and where you choose to live. Milton Keynes is obviously not going to be everyone’s cup of tea and that’s fine.

I live in London and absolutely love it, but I understand a lot don’t - there is pretty much a weekly thread on how much people hate the place. I honestly couldn’t care!!

I really like MK. I live about 45 minutes away and have been many times. The Stables, The Snowdome and the shopping centre are great. I love the way all the shops are inside and are on a grid system, esp if it's a rainy day

I was led to believe that Mk was built after WWII when Londoners needed housing due to so many being destroyed?

I've always found it odd that you never see any houses. It's dual carriageway, roundabout, dual carriageway, roundabout forever which does get a bit annoying as it's so stop/start. Never heard any snobbery about the place though. I just like going to places that are different and quite new to me

My parents lived in Milton Keynes for the last 27 years of their lives, so I've visited a lot.

I always found it very strange, but could never quite put my finger on why. I think it's partly the straight, flat roads, partly the way everything seemed to be less than 50 years old, the separation of pedestrians and traffic which seems weird when you drive around and don't see anyone walking (although I agree it makes it very safe).

But then I live in a small, historic town, with a Norman castle and medieval buildings, and where you can't walk more than a mile in any direction without going up a bloody great hill, unless you're walking along the river. Maybe it's just that it's very different from what I'm used to.

I live near it and avoid like the plague tbh. Yes to druggies around the very sad looking Point. It's all beginning to look very shabby, half the V and H signage has worn off completely. No road markings and the traffic is dreadful at rush hour to the person who said traffic fine! I wouldn't live there if you paid me but the train links are good.

Apparently it’s the greenest city in the UK. To be fair, it is so easy to access parks, walks, canals in and around Milton Keynes, I’m not surprised. It was a key part of the planning process when it was conceived.

I recently met a retired couple who moved there from Wembley. They really like it.

MK was designed to have loads of parks and green spaces. It encompasses some lovely villages, and the canal and the lakes are great features.

Before a brick of the new city was laid, trees were planted, so it's leafy and mature now.

Some of the earliest estates are a bit ugly, because it seemed that architects were obsessed with it being a new city, and designed ultra modern weirdness in order to be cutting edge. It didn't work. But as the place filled out, it became a lot more attractive.

It really doesn't deserve it's reputation these days.

I think people judge it on the city centre, which frankly looks like a communist experiment or the set of a sci-fi movie. It’s an ugly place that I find very difficult to navigate because every single wide boulevard and concrete/glass/steel building looks identical. It’s also impossible to get away from the station without walking in the road. There’s no soul to the place because there’s no history.

Saying that, I’ve got family and friends who live slightly further out of the centre and it’s really lovely - lakes and green spaces that are beautiful for walks, and the houses are on nice new build estates. I could happily live there.

Milton Keynes is nice!

Believe me there's MUCH (much!) worse places to live than MK!!

🙂 I've lived very happily in both places. Loved the American-style grid system in MK, as it made it so easy to navigate by car and very rarely any traffic problems. Loads of things to do, lots of great shopping and good value housing. Bedford, similarly, was good value in terms of housing, and had some really beautiful green parks and spaces, but traffic could be dreadful and the city centre was a bit lack lustre. MK was my favourite out of the two, but I enjoyed aspects of both places.

Isn't it quite an expensive place to live? Idk much about it but being near London and all.
So how can it be snobby to dislike it? The architecture is apparently boring so that's probably why

What weirds people out is that you don't see many pedestrians, because the city was built to keep pedestrians away from traffic.

This is one of the reasons I enjoy going there.

It’s nice not to have to constantly be at the mercy of drivers who are looking more at cars than pedestrians.

Tbh when I lived in London the vast majority of my food shopping came from Tesco or Ocado, so not really different from now. Borough market for a special occasion.

There are greengrocers and markets in some of the older areas like Bletchley and Stony Stratford. We have some really good local butchers near my end of town. Couple of bakeries around, I think, though I mostly use my bread maker. I'm not aware of a fishmonger, but in towns that far from the coast I don't think that's very unusual these days.

I'm 30 mins from MK and love it. So many parks and accessible green spaces. It's great for taking the kids cycling or to the cinema, theatre, sledging etc. Plus quick links to London and cute delivery robots!

I regret not buying a house there to be honest.

Unfortunately the independent bakers, butchers and fishmongers don't exist in a lot of places

Each to their own. We all like different things. Personally I find many parts of Buckinghamshire and Hertfordshire weirdly depressing. I can’t put my finger on why though.

What do you do if you live in Milton Keynes and you want really fresh fruit and vegetables (fresher than the supermarket), bakers, local butcher, and independent fishmonger?

Do these exist?

I know there’s a greengrocers in the outdoor market to one side of the shopping centre. I don’t know about any of the others though.

So I think it really doesn’t compare to inner London - or a decent market town for that matter - when it comes to food shopping?

I don’t think it’s snobbery. I just think a lot of Brits prefer older styles of buildings. That’s why builders build all those faux-Tudor or Palladian houses on housing estates.

I live about 25 miles away I like the roads and roundabouts and the H and V roads, I don't get lost so easily when driving there, used to go to the shops there a lot, only reason I don't go much now is because we have our own shops recently built. I still go to Ikea and it's my nearest John Lewis

MK is near us and I love it! Great cinemas, VR, brilliant shopping, snowdome, willen lake, theatre, bowling, crazy golf, great green spaces. It's a brilliant place for families.

I live 20 mins from MK, and have family who live there.

It’s much maligned, and the butt of jokes, but actually as many PP have said, it’s got great shopping, a mainstream theatre, several cinemas, plenty of places to eat, there’s some lovely ‘proper pubs’ in some of the old villages that are within the city (e.g. Woolstone, Loughton, Great Linford), the grid system works, the redways (footpaths and cycle ways) mean you can get around sometimes without even needing to cross a road, there’s the Grand Union canal running right through the middle, and so on.

And if you commute, you can get a train to Euston in 32 mins, or can go north to Manchester and Glasgow (and many more places!).

It’s not for everyone, but it’s not all concrete cows and soulless estates.

Built for people on housing benefit? That's hilarious. It wasn't. Unemployment is really low in MK - basically, if you haven't got a job, it's because you either don't want one or you're unemployable. The flip side of that is that recruitment can be a bit of a nightmare, because the good people already have good jobs!

There are some really rough estates, just like most medium-sized cities, but there are also some really lovely areas and historic villages within the city itself. What weirds people out is that you don't see many pedestrians, because the city was built to keep pedestrians away from traffic. As Bill Bryson says, many people find this amusing. Finally, the ultimate point in MK's favour is that it has the delivery robots. Those alone make it all worthwhile!