Is Glasgow a safe place to live?

[GoodnessGraciousMeh]

My DD has recently moved to Glasgow for a job. She is shocked at how rough it seems, and there is a programme on iplayer which is on later tonight on player about Glasgow which was filmed recently. It's really shocking. She is living alone in a not particularly nice area and I am really worried. For people who have experience of Glasgow, please tell me your thoughts.

I haven’t seen the documentary yet but it looks like a bit of a hatchet job on Glasgow. I was born and brought up in the schemes there and never felt unsafe even getting the bus home at 3am. The last time I went home to visit though I went to get a bus back to my parents from union street and shit myself and jumped in a taxi. That part of the city centre has definitely changed for the worse. It’s always been edgy (pissed myself at the horror of a PP on seeing an Iceland and a betting shop in the naice west end) but used to be mainly a risk of drunken bams trying to engage you in conversation. Now though there’s a real air of menace that wasn’t there before. In saying that OP avoid those bits and it’s still a fantastic, vibrant, friendly city that I really miss.

'very dangerous' Don't be daft.

I'm glad some people only remember Glasgow as a 'bit edgy' but really statistically speaking it was incredibly violent before. It's probably less so now.

And I used to have a very multi-cultural group of friends and more than one person had what they called 'bams' hurling racist abuse at them, so it wasn't just about drunken chats.

I had a junkie threaten me for not wanting to buy their clearly stolen mobile phone of them. Those people could be very unpleasant. Nothing is new apart from the wrong uns come in more than one colour now.

To the OP, tollcross is not 'very dangerous' afaik. I am cool with the east end and doubt your daughter will be bothered by anyone but just like anywhere you need to keep your wits about you as there's always a risk.

Personally I like Tollcross and also Parkhead and Dennistoun. But depending on where your daughter lives in tollcross she may want to see if she can find a bargain in another area. She may feel more comfortable in the west end, i know many english students used to prefer that part.

Muting this thread now because it's very evident people are bringing this right wing Elon Musk/Farage type agenda to a discussion of the safety of Glasgow which is laughable considering how this previously almost all-white city was considered very dangerous and steeped in sectarian violence for decades way before any great number of POC arrived.

I love Glasgow. I’ve been gone 16 years and would never move back, every time i go back to visit I’m shocked at the state of the place.

where is she living?

I havent seen this and know nothing about Glasgow.however previous years programmes have been shown with the worst of an area ,I think as its fairly cheap to make and its Summer so less to watch!

I live here. Well in an adjacent council area but which is still part of the Glasgow urban sprawl.

I saw the documentary. Glasgow is like any big city and has social problems. Yes there's drug dealing as there is in Bristol, Birmingham, Manchester, London... There are nice areas and not so nice areas, again just like any other city. We feel prefectly safe here, I have three kids in their late teens / early twenties, they are regularly out and about in the city centre at pubs or clubs, getting late buses, taxis or trains home, they have never had any problems at all.

I also lived in Dennistoun - east end - for 2 years as a student and never had any problems.

Visiting back in Scotland atm, and talked to a friend whose brother is a paramedic in Glasgow. He says that it’s awful just now, much worse than in the past, and that documentary is spot on. Knife crime / stabbing, drugs and overdoses, assaults, drug related crime off the charts, rapes and sexual assault. His understanding is that a lot of the increased violence is driven by immigrant gangs, fighting amongst themselves and with locals.

That's hilarious, or would be if it wasn't so ill-informed. Have you or your mate never heard of the razor gangs? The ice cream wars? Violence has always existed in Glasgow (just as in any city); it is certainly not a new phenomenon that you can pin on 'immigrant gangs'.

I never felt unsafe as a student 20 odd years ago or even working/going out in the city centre 5 or so years ago.

It’s awful now. It’s gone really downhill in the last few years. We’re hoping my DD won’t choose to go to Glasgow Uni but go elsewhere as concerned about safety.

my DH works near St Enoch and says the violence/gangs of men there on an almost daily basis is terrifying.

It’s not racist for women to be concerned at the combination of an influx of males from cultures that have medieval attitudes to women and inadequate policing! The (sex) crime figures speak for themselves.

I was a student in Glasgow back in the day and felt very safe then. On revisiting, I have been depressed and alarmed at the general vibe late at night.

Generally it’s a safe city and I’d have few concerns about the main shopping street areas BuchananStreet, Merchant city, even Queen St station during daylight / early evening. Some parts of the city - even the city centre - feel less safe late at night and caution will be required.

The most important thing is that she lives somewhere she feels safe, so perhaps a relocation may be advisable when possible. Check out safer areas. Most are.

How old is your daughter, and where did she live prior to the move?

I was approached by two blokes together asking me for money and sex, they followed me form outside the Ivy to Frasers asking me to join them or give them money.. I am nearly a pensioner but have no qualms in telling them to fuck off and giving them a hard time and a smack with my walking stick.

There have always been issues yes. Bad enough without importing more.

Awful lot of suicidal empathy going on these days. Maybe we should ask ourselves why men from other countries matter more than women from our own. Clue, it starts with M and ends with Y and there’s a ysogin in the middle. ALL men are a potential threat. But it’s not generally the natives that are dragging women off down alleys in the city.

That being said, drugs, the decline of pubs/nightclub culture and the mess in certain areas are all also having implications for public safety. Rough looking places attract rough characters.

And I would be interested to know how many of those sexual assault statistics were from people women knew as opposed to random attacks.

Best thing you can do for your daughter is make sure she knows how to spot domestic abuse. Becuase the real dangers are usually from people we know.

That was almost 50yrs ago 🥴

If you read my post more carefully you’ll note that neither my ‘mate’ nor I said anything about immigrant gangs. This came from an emergency service worker who been working directly with the victims, perpetrators and police in Glasgow city centre for 15+ years. He has seen the levels and nature of the violence change over recent years, and knows which groups are implicated in this. No one said gang violence isn’t a long standing problem in Glasgow- on the contrary, it’s famous for it and it’s nothing to boast about. But what’s happening now is new, and it’s worse, and perpetrated by different gangs.

I HATED it. Was there for 4 years and cried often. Rough scary place and I was in a “nice area”

Don't I know it!

ETA I should add that I do still visit.

Dear God. Good for you!

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She lived in Birmingham before and thought that was rough , but she finds Glasgow much worse. I must say I agree from what I have seen.

Rough enough to make you cry? Where were you living? Barlinnie??

I watched the programme - it was actually far more nuanced than some posters suggest. The documentarian did seem to big up any incidents on nights that were pretty quiet, however.

The area of Glasgow focused on has always been avoided. You knew which exit to use form Central Station. I never went near the Heilanman's Umbrella.

It was troubling but not surprising. A fair amount - but not all- of the programme was about racial tension. The women filmed are generally very cynical about their 'protectors'.

It was interesting to me that the filmmaker ignored the obvious underlying and deep seated sectarian issues now masquerading as Scottish patriotism.

These issues are not new to Glasgow but they are confined within pockets that the OP's DD is less likely to go near. If she lived in Birmingham it will be very similar. I like Birmingham but last time I went there it stank of weed (as did Liverpool) and , like Glasgow and other places, visible homelessness, alcoholism and drug use. I can't see how Glasgow would be a culture shock after Brum.

I read it properly and I know who said it. You reported the emergency service worker's words and I was responding to your reporting of them.
This person is on the front line and so obviously sees the worst of the place. People always think the world is going to pot 'these days'. Statistics show that most places (including Glasgow) are safer now than in the past.

I am also boggling that Birmingham and Glasgow would be so markedly diffferent and that your daughter wouldn’t be able to negotiate riskier areas in the latter having lived in the former?