Just visited Newport, couldn’t wait to leave, what’s your get me outta here place?

[TheChristmasElf]

Just have just visited Newport for an appointment, we weren’t there long, toilet stop and cuppa in Asda, half hour appointment in city centre and then got lost on the way out but felt very uneasy the whole time were there. It had quite a menacing feel to it and even on the bare aesthetics of the city seemed quite run down with a lots of old closed pubs, shops etc…

I would actually go as far to say it made me feel quite unwell but I guess that would just be coincidence!!

We actually live rural Devon so not even like I’m not used to the odd lay line of two but I was quite relieved to get back on the road…

Has anyone else felt that about a place before?

This is an odd thread really.
I am on local Facebook groups for both my hometown (not yet been mentioned here 🙂) and my husband's home town (has been mentioned).
Both are in the Midlands.
The Facebook groups are both very very negative about the towns.
Constantly complaining that "all the shops have closed down" (it's like that everywhere in the UK). Constantly moaning "there's nothing to do here" etc but if a new restaurant, cinema, anything opens it's all "well who can afford that?"
But really....yes both town centres are struggling retail wise but there is enough shops to get by. They moan about "all those warehouses" being built - but that provides employment.
There is plenty going on in both towns - community and social groups galore.
They complain "the schools are crap" yet all my younger generation relatives and friends children have done ok with school. They aren't the worlds greatest schools but they aren't terrible either. They are just typical English schools.
Yes there's run down areas. Yes there's ugly 1970s architecture. But there's also plenty of parks and walks and community gardens etc.
This could basically describe pretty much all UK towns. Run down areas. Soulless new build areas. Areas you wouldn't want to be at a 2am, areas that are full of fly tipping but also areas that are interesting, pretty, clean, safe and have lots of history.
I often wonder what utopia people want and I think people become very blinkered to what is actually there in front of them.

That's quite a statement to make. Have you seen the whole world?

@Needmorelego i think the weather doesn’t help. Even quite crap towns look much nicer with sunshine and blue sky. But the grey cloud and constant drizzle makes already crap places look downright depressing.

Walsingham in Norfolk. There is something very wrong about the place and all the sign posts lead back to the centre of the village.

We paid for a weekend break there. Arrived and checked into our hotel. Went for a walk came back and packed and came home. Awful place

Redcar.

It's an absolute Hell-hole.

I failed to mention the area I called the 'w' s in the West Midlands - they all kind of form one big mass of 'w's - West Bromwich, Walsall, wednesbury, willenhall and Wolverhampton. I actually did live in Wolverhampton for 3 years many years ago and it did have a few redeeming things -it was quick to get out to Bridgnorth and the M6 but the whole are gives me the willys- it was all scrap yards and warehouses and to me pretty depressing and mile upon mile of it. I couldn't wait to leave (moved for a bloke)

Manchester, couldn’t wait to leave. Dark, dire and scary. Harrogate - dull, dull, dull! Derby, Mansfield, Burgess Hill, Grimsby and Scunthorpe just a bit grim

People are very negative about our home town too.

"There's nothing to do, especially for young people. No wonder they mess around"

We have 2 swimming pools,5 gyms, cinema, shopping centre, skate park, basketball courts, football fields, open spaces, community groups, youth groups, youth centres, sea cadets, aoir cadets, at Johns ambulance, pump tracks, libraries with creative spaces, indoor sports halls.

Cafes, restaurants, high street and independent shops, McDonald's/nandos etc

Things not in immediate town, but are close by (as in within 5 miles and easily accessible by driving, bus or train.

theatre, bowling alley, ice rink, trampoline park, splash park, boating lake, water sports lake (kayaking, paddle boarding etc), high ropes, dry ski slope!

And I'm probably missing stuff out.

WHAT MORE DO THEY BLOODY WANT????

And Dumfries is the most terrifying place I've ever been.

I've been out on my own after dark in Glasgow and felt safer than I did in Dumfries. Even mid-afternoon it was a threatening atmosphere.

You sound like a dick yourself in fairness. Also, ley lines? Really?

A proper shithole.

Why?

Exactly. There are so so many posts on here slating Blackpool. It's almost trendy to hate the place now.

Los Angeles, California. The sense of desperation, anxiety, fear and greed is overwhelming. Its utterly unsafe any time if day.

Wokingham ? What ? W'ham is paradise compared to shitty Newport or even Swansea for that matter. never felt scared in the Uk, like I did in those 2 towns.
Bracknell is a shithole too but Wales is far far worse

Grimsby and I had to live there a couple of years 🤦‍♀️🤦‍♀️

@00100001 that is just spot on 🤣
When something new opens or a special event happens it's always like someone has to find the smallest tiny thing that's just not 100% perfect and they moan moan moan rather than looking at the 99.9% good stuff about it.

Sluff! I can't unsee this name now! Sounds like somewhere half decent now you've renamed it PP.

And all the scrapping going on and thread prefects bobbing in to bollock us for being mean or unethical. Hilarious thread!

Where to start?
Most Kentish Towns, particularly Maidstone.

Colchester
Newquay
Acocks Green
Kidderminster
Brierly Hill
Bourton on the Water ( very odd)

Newquay in Cornwall, absolutely awful
Coventry, quite awful
Hemel Hempstead, awful

Reading. The town centre looks more rundown every year and there’s a really menacing feel at night once the Broad Street Mall has closed. It is really intimidating to have to walk past gangs of men in the badly lit side street leading to the car park.

Also Swindon.

Paisley OP Did you ever vist there when living in Glasgow?

Why? Not a common opinion.

Most Kentish Towns, particularly Maidstone.
Yes, even Favesham - should be ok / nice enough, but no, it's odd and a bit depressing.
Sevenoaks is quite good though.