Bristol - shabby city or is this true of everywhere?

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I've lived in Bristol for many years and always really loved out, great city, punches well above its weight, exciting place etc. And yet recently I've started to fall out of love with it a bit. It looks shabby, has lots of derelict buildings, crap traffic, looks ugly. I have never felt this before. Could it be a reflection of being menopausal and finding 90% of things a bit rubbish? Or is it really down at heel and a fading, tired city? And if the latter, where is better?

Two of my children live in Bristol. I do find it generally quite shabby and grungy, though obviously nice bits too like Clifton.
Bath is prettier I think.

I think, unlike some other cities, Bristol is not made of its architecture, but of its people. That’s what gives the city its unique atmosphere. Bristol shines best in the summer when there’s a festival on every weekend, music everywhere and people enjoying themselves. Maybe you feel down about it because it’s the end of a long, damp winter

It is noticeably shabby though.. I definitely noticed that when I come into Bristow now that I don’t live there!

I really like Bristol, but it is dirty and shabby, like most UK cities these days. Having recently been to several Canadian cities, and Split in Croatia, its a very stark contrast just how filthy the UK has become in recent years. So it's not you or your perception OP, things have got grubbier and more broken everywhere :(

I think it’s shabby in places, yes. I don’t live there but do go there.

It is a scruffy looking city, and nowhere looks its best at the grey damp tail end of winter. Also as we get older I think we look on things with a different eye - where a 22 year old sees potential for amazing regeneration, a 52 year old may think "Oh sort this place out already - I've been watching it decay for decades now."

I live in central Briz and I definitely feel it's got more grubby.

I don't think it's an especially happy place at the moment. The crappy bus service is making the city feel even more separated.

Broadmead has become extremely run down and naff.

There's been a rash of old buildings being taken up as student accommodation which has been a real shame.

Plus the budget cuts meaning libraries and pools all over the city are shutting. Also all the parks aren't being taken care of in the way they once were.

There just seems to be a sadness to it all that had got worse over the last few years.

Liverpool feels similar over last few years. Always felt edgy, now feeling levels of decay I've not seen since childhood in 80s.

Also, the traffic is supposedly some of the worst in the country. That is partly due to roadworks arrive the centre but also the weird closing of Bristol Bridge etc. It means there's much more traffic on fewer roads

It's always been like that but it's the people that make it great. If you want pretty go to Bath.

It is symptomatic of the decline of the West.

I think Broadmead and Cabot have really gone down hill. All the shops shut, loads of anti social behaviour and people off their tits all over the place. Stabbing in castle park, I genuinely think it's got worse post pandemic.

I live in Bristol & I agree it's depressing.
On the whole, Bristolians are not particularly friendly either, nowhere in the south west is.
I'd to move, but where to? We'd need good primary & secondary schools. It's hard to move area during secondary without going private. We've considered Birmingham, Manchester & Belfast so far.

I love Bristol but hadn't been for a couple of years due to lockdown. Visited recently and agree, the centre in particular feels really scruffy. Road closures and crazy traffic diversions didn't help! But I think it's symptomatic of a lot of places in the UK right now.

Yes, Broadmead is awful at the moment - losing M&S and Debenhams was very sad. There are still some lovely bits though - Ashton Court, Leigh Woods, the Downs, harbourside.

Nottingham is the same. Tatty, with crappy nail bars and fried chicken places where you'd expect to find proper shops. Litter everywhere.

Bristol has a lot going for it but it has always been rough in places. I think it is quite grubby and as with all the main cities in the South West you can see the effects of a decade of austerity and cuts to public services. Masses of homeless, lots of drug abuse, poverty, shops closing, grim car parks etc. It's the same in Exeter and Plymouth. I imagine it's a similar story everywhere outside of the South East.

The shopping area is dire and the bit by the Harbour hotel is very grubby, especially when the market spills out onto the street there. But the waterside is great.

York is also very run down. It’s sad.

Bristolian here and I love it but it has never been "pretty"; it isn't, architecturally, an attractive city.

There's building sites and cranes galore though. The focus of course look like docks, the 60's estates look like estates. Mostly it's one large traffic jam

I'm the same with my city. I really don't want to be here anymore.

I agree.
I lived in Bristol from my late teens till I was 30ish and loved it. The festivals and nightlife were amazing.
I moved 'up north' when I got married and now I have a family,I really wouldn't want to live there again.
When I visit to see friends and family there it does feel depressing for a reason I can't quite explain.

I feel like that's the UK in general. Grey, grubby, very unpretty in many places.

I live out at the coast, means we have the advantages but none of the disadvantages