Blackpool - has it always been like this or do I have rose-tinted specs?

I grew up not far from WB but live in the south now (would much prefer to be back north but not in a position to move atm). I was really confused when a friend started talking about wanting to go on holiday there as I remember it being fairly rough and run down in the 90s and early 00s.

Re Blackpool, we used to holiday there in the 90s. It wasn’t great then, and the guesthouses we stayed in weren’t nice at all. Shared toilet in the corridor complete with shiny toilet paper, everywhere smelt like a combination of smoke and damp and I vividly remember seeing a bedbug crawling across my (damp) sheet. I liked the arcades though.

The landlady for one of the guesthouses we stayed in had a blue rinse. Whatever happened to those?

There’s a reason residents of Lytham don’t want the tram line extended to them!

Allegedly some unsavoury characters are also housed in the area after their release from prison. It’s had a transient population for quite a few years now. Spice and drug/alcohol abuse is rife. I think Blackpool might have one of the lowest life expectancies in the UK as well.

The disappearance of Charlene Downes remains unsolved and this certainly cast a shadow over its family friendly image.

Same here we went often as children gteat memories, went for a weekend last year and saw 2 people arrested within 10 minutes of arriving. Seemed to be lot of alcohol/drug problems and as you say really run down soon as you are off the main promenade

It's always been awful. The water quality and the illuminations have improved over the years, but it's horrible and run down. Horrible place.

It's been going downhill for a long time sadly. I went a few months ago and was shocked at the state of a couple of the horses pulling carriages up and down the promenade. One was clearly lame with a pronounced limp and really looked to be struggling, it was horrible to see.

It’s one of the most deprived areas in the UK with one of the poorest councils.

We have been going for 10 years and it has been like that.

we always stay in hotel in Preston and drive in for the day and go back afterwards so stay away from the back streets. Pleasure beach is still fun for kids.

the area just need a massive amount of investment but not sure what it would be for. The location is awkward for the rest of the country and Manchester and leeds have sucked up all the major investment.

So sad and hope it gets the investment it needs. I was on a course recently and whilst it's a nice ish walk along the promenade if you normally don't live near the sea, a couple of streets back and it's quite sad. I parked my car and was genuinely unsure if it would be there when I got back. The hotels were literally crumbling down and many advertised dubious looking ' party nights'. So many folk on ebikes with balaclavas too. I read somewhere it has large numbers of children's homes too.

We live in Lytham and I’m always shocked when I go through those bits you’re talking about. However a bit further down the prom as you come way from the centre there’s literally some of the most amazing houses behind the prom with really individual architecture but sadly even these are not maintained or looked after. They really are faded grandeur and still putting all these new build houses to shame.

I take the kids i work with to Coral island quite a bit as part of their reward/ treat. I bloody hate it and keep my eyes glued to the kids.
The prom at Blackpool is nice but as mentioned a street or two back, it's a different story. I've seen people spiced off their heads like zombies, people fighting, etc ,it's just a mess.
Apart from work I go to Blackpool regularly to go to the Bootleg Social as they have some great bands on. I'm OK here, I know where I'm parking and have never seen trouble in this area.

A little further back from the deprived areas Blackpool becomes nice again with some lovely well kept houses and areas.

It is very sad. A lot of seaside and coastal areas have similar issues too. Mainly as they are seen as cheaper areas for housing. A lot of bnbs/ hotels will rent rooms through the winter season for very cheap rates making them attractive solutions for councils with huge emergency accommodation pressures and seaside areas are desperate for the money so will take money from other councils to emergency house their residents. Unfortunately services become stretched and some councils see It as an opportunity to offload some of its more tricky and problematic residents. It creates a transient population with very little support.

Blackpool became a bit of a dumping ground for homeless/ people with complex mental health issues/ people with severe addiction issues a few years ago. Other councils were paying Blackpool council to take their residents with issues but the infrastructure to support these people was not there so they just ended up roaming around. Recently they became the place the government decided to house a lot of people waiting for their asylum claims to be processed. Again not adequately funding or providing the necessary support services.

Blackpool was massively impacted by the cheap package holidays abroad and ended up attracting the stag and hen crowd which on the whole can be a pretty grim group to attract due to the anti- social behaviour that comes with the territory of big rowdy stag and hen dos. They have tried to attract a more family market recently. There is promise for the investment in the seafront area. But requires an awful lot of investment in support services and proper year round employment opportunities.

Whitley Bay has come on in leaps and bounds. We quite often do the prom walk between Tynemouth and Whitley - coffee in Cullercoats and lunch or ice cream in Whitley or Tynemouth. Some nice shops in Whitley now, too.
Definitely worth a visit.

It’s got to much potential but it leaves a bad taste in the mouth to visit. Seaside towns have ben economically hit for decades and that creates complex social problems, making the economic ones even harder to solve.

Sadly, Blackpool began its decline when cheap holidays abroad became popular and Manchester/surrounding area factories began to close. In order to attract business, guest houses started offering cheap rates for hen and stag groupd...
It is now one of the most ompoverished towns in the UK
Even the Pleasure Beach is not opening some rides thi year, or only opening them at weekends because of falling numbers and staff shortages.
Yet the countryside surrounding Blackpool is gorgeous.
So sad

Whitley bay on the other hand has had a massive glow up! I used to go as a kid and was really suprised when we took our Dd to caravan holiday a few years ago!

Only been once about fifteen years ago for a ‘romantic’ weekend away with my now husband. Let’s just say ‘we don’t talk about Blackpool’ and I fully vet romantic weekend planning ever since 👀 I was shocked how awful it was 😬 I really hope things change for the better and it receives the investment and support it so clearly needs.

Stayed there for a week on a work trip 2 years ago. My work booked me into a B&B on the Palatine Road. The taxi driver warned me not to walk back alone at night and pointed out a couple of brothels en route. The B&B had a weird vibe and I barricaded my door with a chair every night. Saw people staggering about on spice at 11am, and a fight outside a pub involving broken bottles one night.

The whole town is grim and depressing. Feel v v sorry for families with young children trapped there, it’s an absolute shit heap.

I haven’t been since the early 90s but I’m sure I read it has one of the lowest life expectancies in the U.K. It is definitely extremely deprived and has been for some time.

I think it's definitely been like that for the past 30 years. It's great on the front - in fact it's nicer now than it was maybe 25 years ago- but night times, and further back from the front, it's been grim for a long, long time. It's one of the most deprived areas in England, and you can see why.
It's still fab for a day out with little kids if you stick to the prom. Or the zoo.

We went for one night back in 2017 on our way back south from Scotland. I can honestly say I will never go back. One of the few places in the UK where I actually felt unsafe during the day. Apart from along the seafront, which was buzzing.

I think most seaside towns have an undercurrent of deprivation if you step away from the promenade. They attract a relatively transient group of people working and living seasonally. Blackpool is the most famous and the most impacted. There are very high levels of addiction, CSE and poverty which are difficult to tackle. That said I still love it and it’s like nowhere else.

Yes it’s absolutely hideous. Went to a gig there a few years ago- walking from the carpark to winter gardens was an experience. Lots of people absolutely off their head on spice and HMO’s with people fighting in the yard. Winter gardens area was ok. Also have been to the big water park recently with the kids and that was grim too, lots of very strange and creepy men on their own in the pool area. Kids loved it, I hate it. Really menacing and depressing.

Haven’t been since I was a child but even then I remember wanting to stick close to an adult.

We went to one of our local beach’s the other week. Lots of shops have now closed even a couple of arcades and let’s face it if arcades are falling at the seaside lots of places don’t stand a chance.

Never been but don't think l will bother - how sad though