To think our towns and cities are just so run down lately, and our standard of living has decreased significantly?

At a guess Manchester or Birmingham
I was a student at Birmingham in the early 90s. It was all warehouses in those days but has changed a lot since then with many being converted. No idea if that’s to public seating / bar etc areas though.
Remember though Tizer someone owns the buildings and land surrounding the basin. Just because it’s there doesn’t mean the council can chose to do anything.

Agree
Planners need to wise up when they can.
As an architect we were involved in re invigorating Maidstone and Gravesend. It went little further than a request to put in fake shop fronts 🤢🤢…..pathetic !

( ps. A friend of mine lives in Manchester and we went to a bar on the canal, can’t remember the name and no idea if it’s new. Agree the Palace has no bar to it . Although tbh I just love walking the canals ……which I know isn’t the point 🤷‍♀️)

It’s entitled twats who don’t give a toss about others.
Leaving rubbish all over the place, not using bins, vandalism and generally treating others like they are beneath them.
( it wouldn’t hurt to look where they are walking too, phones aren't great at doing that ….look up ! )
The number of thefts has exploded and now many of our local shops are like miny prisons with bars and barriers at the tills. Security guards everywhere also makes towns feel very intimidating.

In Norwich a few years back there were drug addicts or possibly drunks ( I didn’t ask ) passed out in phone boxes and lying on the streets.

@IAmNotASheep Yes - use it or lose it. However streets of chain shops stop being fun. Councils are a problem though. My local larger town has a canal basin. It’s flanked by a theatre with no seating or restaurant overlooking the canal and Waitrose - ditto. A college outpost - ditto. Then a multi story car park! The only stretch of water is completely undervalued and underused. There’s not a single cafe or shop facing it.

A very accurate description of your town, which is also my town. We have or had one of the most corrupt councils in the country, which didn't help. The out of town shopping centre built a couple of decades ago contributed to the decline. Why pay to park to go to a small M&S, when you can park for free more or less at the door of a nice, large modern one? Ditto, Smiths, Superdrug, TK Maxx and so on. Then, add the 'rehab' centres, and huge numbers of HMO's housing vulnerable people from other areas. A transient population is no good for a cohesive community, even without their addiction issues.
Sorry you had a shop that you had to give up. I also have a shop, although not in our town, thank goodness. I know what a slog it is.

and people not using their local shops.
We can’t always throw all the blame on others……

That's what 15 years of Tories gets you.

Yes, that's what brought us here.

No one is accountable for their actions, someone always makes excuses for them.

People have agency. They choose to behave the way they do. They don't have to spit on the street or put their feet on the seat on the Tube. They choose to do it.

I get fed up of how many people can't be bothered to keep their front gardens and drives weed free or free of rubbish. I work long hours but manage to keep things clean and decent looking. There is litter and dog mess all over the place when I walk down the street and I live in a fairly posh area in Surrey. It just drags everything down. The state of the roads is just shocking but it's like we are all just resigned to it now.

I live near London and love spending time there but the homeless issue is getting worse after being better for many years. The amount of mentally ill people wandering the streets acting aggressively is intimidating and upsetting. In one day I witnessed several occurrences of young people just pushing their way through tube and train barriers with the staff powerless to do anything (one even very politely offered to hold one open for me - I declined!).

It is so depressing. Makes me want to move away but who knows where to!

@OblahdeeoblahdoeLife is not just affected by national politics. Local politicians have a big role here and many have been Labour councils presiding over the fortunes of towns. The biggest issue is shopping on line and town centres being too large because planners see them as employment zones. They now need to be residential zones with leisure facilities. Far too many towns haven’t grasped this and preside over empty shops. We need to redesign town centres for leisure and living and reduce retail. That’s not the fault of the Conservatives. It’s the fault of local councils with dogmatic policies and no imagination.

Really? And how do you blame the Tories for people spitting the street or throwing rubbish on the streets instead of taking it home. Or should people never be accountable for their own actions and behaviours?

What is it?

A reason?

What a sad thread. The tories have a lot to answer for.

I did not say it was an excuse.

Really?

That's your excuse for fly tipping and littering, queue jumping and spitting on the street?

YANBU. I’ve been thinking about this a lot lately.

Britain has become really poor - many of our regions have lower GDP than regions in Eastern Europe.

Modern fashion doesn’t help, but people, streets, shops, clothes all look a mess.

We look like we live in a developing country - because that’s basically what we’ve regressed to being. We’re no longer a rich country- we’re a poor country with lots of rich people in it.

It was a multicultural area before.

More families though rather than just a proliferation of young, single, jobless men overwhelming the area, who don't speak English.

Years of grinding people down. Lack of hope. Insecurity of jobs and housing. That sort of thing.

I think that many people are oblivious to their surroundings and don't care if it looks awful. Some peoples houses are like this. People also think it's someone else's job to clean up, or they're not even bothered if it's never cleaned. I think they'd be happy to live in a landfill site to be honest. People's environment must impact their mental health at some level, even the thick, feral ones must subconsciously react in some way. Beauty is important to the human soul. I get so miserable even just driving through craphole areas or seeing them online. It's old fashioned to have high personal standards now. People go shopping in their dressing gowns and pajamas. I saw a girl in her knickers and a small tee shirt on the street one day. She wasn't a young child either. I think it's sad how far we've fallen.

I don't think it's fair to drag everyone else down with them though. In Germany there are by laws that require people to keep their areas clean and they come under strong pressure from others if they misbehave. Nobody is ashamed of anything in this country.

I tend to just fly over and not look down
😉

The general sense of entitlement, impunity and lack of decency.

What do you think causes it?

What do you think has caused this tidal wave?

What’s an “ordinary working class” area to you? Did you mean white English?

And do you really need to speak in such dehumanising terms “half the third world” 😒

And if you mean immigrants from Africa and Asia, just a reminder there’s plenty of areas with few immigrants and many problems.

Does it really cost a fortune for, at the very least, every householder to keep the immediate area of their property clean and tidy....A broom, dustpan and brush and garden hand fork at most is all the equipment needed.

A few parks, high streets and some main roads in the county I live in come under the care of the local town councils and along with groups of volunteers helping they see to planting, weeding and building structures, making the area look really nice.

Since this has begun they have won many awards by entering the areas in Britain in Bloom competitions and some people in the community will help out by watering areas such as those planted under the street signs near their houses, contributing to their surroundings.

Does community service still exist?
If so litter picking should be something passed down by the courts as part of a community service sentence.

Because of course it was all so simply amazing under the Tory’s!! This has been a very long time in the making - me thinks you have a particular agenda.

😂