To feel depressed of the realisation that I'll never able to leave the ghetto

[wrapping]

We live in a dump. It's a deprived area but over the last 7 years it's very rapidly declined. There's a massive influx of people to the area via new food outlets and the building iof new college / uni buildings nearby. The parking is a joke- drivers become so aggressive just waiting for you to park your car ( if you're lucky to find a spot that is) .

The litter is horrific. The council litter pickers can't come often enough. All their hard work only lasts for a day before it's filthy again with takeaway trays and coffee cups and just all sorts of crap that just doesn't make any sense - there was a bag of hair on the corner the other day! Disgusting!

Fly tipping is also a huge problem. There's aggressive and antisocial teens hanging out causing trouble. The young kids playing outside are scared of them - they' steal their football/ bikes off them.

I could go on about other stuff but these are the main things. It genuinely wasn't like this when we moved here. I recently did a petition around my street and it was so sad hearing people feeling the same. So many like us regret buying here and want to leave but can't. Most of us are on modest incomes. We feel trapped. We're just about paying off the mortgage and to move to a nice area would mean a very high mortgage which is impossible.
Please don't tell me to just get a higher paid job/ retrain/ shit golden nuggets . We'd all be doing that if that was the case. I'm just having a big moan, that's all!

We've told the local councillorbabout these issues but they don't want to know.

What jobs do you do and where do you live?

Insist on a meeting with your council.

Write to every shop and take away and send them guidance/legalities from Keep Britain Tidy.

Start litter picking yourself. Others may see and realise it's better to keep a place nice.

Write to every local school outlining your concerns. Ask them to help as they often want to help with community projects.

It's shit. I lived in a similar place. I did make a difference by hammering it with all the above things but ultimately ended up moving as I hated living in a rubbish dump. Massive sympathies.

Where I live started to have similar issues. A community group was formed and they meet with the council regularly. It took a year or so, but the problematic family that had caused a lot of the issues was eventually evicted. They also organised litter picks and clean ups of the alleys. They group got local kids and teens involved with building planters and in the clean ups which has helped encourage pride in the area too. It's so much better now, children are playing out again and our motorbike is safer.

As theres a few of you, forming a group like that could make a massive difference.

I would downsize how many children do you have? If you have a three bed move to a two bed in a better area.

If you live near the uni could you rent to the students and use the money to rent somewhere nicer?

I couldn't rent it out as the rent elsewhere would be too high.

We've decided to stick it out for 5 years by which time I would have been here for 17 bloody years! Ugh! Sell the house and run.

There is an alleyway behind my neighbours garden which attracts teenagers hanging around. I'm tucked back from that row of terrace houses so the alleyway doesn't back on to my garden. There's been a spate of petty theft recently so the alleyway neighbours have clubbed together to buy security equipment. They've installed cctv cameras, security lights & a high pitch frequency sound box facing the alleyway. The high pitch frequency sound box, similar to the cat deterrent ones, has really made a difference. The teenagers can't stand the frequency so they move on and the street has become less intimidating. Maybe this is something that would help you & your neighbours.

I thought you were talking about High Wycombe when I read the OP. Now there is a dump, but a dump with extraordinarily high house prices.