Is our town a shithole..

A lot of the problems I think are to do with the proliferation of HMOs. Usually filled with single men, often in low paid work or unemployed, quite often with a history of poor family relationships due to alcohol or anger management issues so not really rooted in society. They are not welcome in places like pubs or cafes,and can’t afford them any way, there are often no communal spaces in their HMO because every viable room has been turned into a bedroom, so they take their supermarket booze out into parks ( or in our local area into bus stops) because those are the only places they can socialise. There are often follow on effects from this as well , like encouraging prostitution, increase in street urination and defecation.

I live in an outer London borough. There are lots of homeless people and day drinkers/drug users around the main town centre. Littering has got worse and there are several boarded up shops. But it's far less depressing than several other town centres I know of , and the other "high streets" in the borough are much nicer. It's a good place to live overall.

I’m in the outskirts of Doncaster, and it’s the same here OP.

So many off road bikes causing a nuisance on parks, roads, canal paths. There’s been a few deaths of teenagers in accidents.

Shops and pubs shutting. Boarded up, derelict, buildings vandalised and set on fire by youths. Lots of decent shops replaced by Turkish barbers and Vietnamese nail salons.

Young children as young as 8-9 roam the streets after school in groups, littering, swearing, damaging cars and people’s front doors.

I think people who live in Southampton might disagree with you.

Ah, someone noticed I mentioned Middle Eastern men.
How predictable.

You still haven't explained this - no one mentioned it.

Similar in my town OP - and actually the ethnic demographic has changed massively too.

It's not just since covid - it's since Brexit. The obvious diversity of the town has increased because the EU staff have been replaced with staff from non-EU countries. That diversity is very evident now and marks a massive change. I can see why it's an easy target for e.g. Reform because it's been very fast and is very striking.

My town itself has had some decent investment of late, and is looking a lot nicer than it was.

The kids are getting a lot more feral, and dishing out horrendous racist abuse to local shopkeepers. Seems to be a mix of parents supporting reform and parents who just cba to parent anymore. I'm not sure why shit parenting is on the rise tbh.

Where? I'm in London and the crime, filth and dodgy men are getting a bit much! Time to leave I feel but not sure where....

Completely different to what I see... drinking is massively on the decrease and where it does happen its more common behind closed doors. Most people are choose to stay home that go out drinking (we are becoming quite a sheltered introverted nation). Its causing havoc to the alcohol industry.

Teen and pre-teen kids (not drunk) riding bikes in menacing group, stealing, smashing/burning things and causing anti-socal issues is an issue though. It always has been in the rougher part of town its just they have crept more into the center here especially since things like Mcdonalds opened up in the middle of the high street (and seems to be like a beacon to them).

This isn’t a town problem. It’s a people problem. So many people now don’t care about anyone or anything apart from themselves.

Don't fall for the goading.

My son lives in Mumbles which should be the jewel of Swansea especially as the city centre is a shit hole.

The first thing you see as you drive in is a Greggs. 😕

Ah, someone noticed I mentioned Middle Eastern men.
How predictable.
Makes a change from being called woke, I suppose. Enough of that rubbish please.

Who mentioned it?

You knew what you were doing when you wrote it.

How are they getting to these areas, I wonder? Where we live, it would be quite difficult to get to e.g. nature parks without your own car, which I’m assuming these people wouldn’t have. In answer to your original question, we’re in a town which is part of a city. In our town itself you wouldn’t really come across this, but it is apparent in the city. I’d be very put off by people like this being in quieter, more secluded areas like you’re describing.

By your aggressive tone, maybe you’re part of the problem and the reason it’s gone downhill.

Boston ?

I live in a naice leafy London suburb and it’s not quite as bad, but recently there has been a marked increase in public drinking and men gathering around public benches. My theory on this is that our local Wetherspoons and the next closest one both closed down last year. Say what you like about Wetherspoons (and I like them generally) but there aren’t many places left where men with not a lot of money and not many other places to be can congregate with friends and have a pint for £2. Except from a can, on the street.

Other stuff I just can’t reason about. Our canal and nature reserve, which have a dedicated team of volunteers who take care of them, are constantly strewn with trash and drowned shopping trolleys and Lime bikes. There’s nothing about being poor or not having much which innately means you actively destroy nice places and public property, particularly things like Lime bikes which are an affordable way of getting around if you don’t own a car or your own bicycle.

They have and I assume it's a mixture of many being generally down at heel and as a result a good, ie cheap place to move benefits claimants to en masses which then compounds the problem.

Yes. Groups of men clustered drinking from tins. It’s absolutely intimidating and horrible. I’ve only seen it over the last year when there’s just been way more people here. It’s horrible. I hate it! I think we might as a nation have to make drinking alcohol in the street illegal. It’s being abused. These people are so anti social. It’s absolutely horrible.

Sounds like Ipswich