What do you think is the worst city centre in the UK and why?

[OneLilacHedgehog]

So many cities have gone downhill since COVID. But which is the worst?

It looked nice in the 60s film billy liar

Its already been redrawn as it used to be Surrey when I lived there as a kid.

🤣🤣🤣

It's full of cokeheads, who don't tend to be relaxed.

The drugs industry trade has ruined the vibe, the sense of humour, the camaraderie, the musical identity. Too many idiots making money illegally and flaunting the proceeds of crime.

Everyone's hating on Birmingham, but..... Wolverhampton is literally the boil on Birminghams arse. I'm so ashamed to say I come from here.

Went to Blackpool the other day, there has been some new building work done but I couldn't help get the feeling as a place it is dying, walked down the promenade god it's bad....

Birmingham - I’m quite happy around Brindley Place where there are a lot of restaurants/ bars. The town centre around where the council house is I am fine with in the day time, but so many places I wouldn’t want to be at night, both in the centre and the central suburbs. But then again, I wouldn’t particularly want to be in my home town centre at night either.

On the whole I would agree with this about Birmingham.

I know it’s not a city but Dagenham is a bit grim.

Can we ask Surrey to take it back? They already have Staines.

I mentioned Bournemouth earlier on (yes, we all know it is not a city, for those pesky pedants) in this thread as it is totally shocking how far it has fallen. Yes it was scary when I visited this summer, and I'm from London, often travel at night as I work events and have been through many a dodgy area...

Whoever thought turning Bournemouth in a Drugs Rehab UK Mecca (Boscombe apparently has 60 of them!) will have totally ruined the tourism. It used to be such a lovely seaside town. Unless you are a druggie with addiction issues and hoping to meet fellow druggies with addiction issues, I can't possibly see why anyone would possibly want to go there.

The place in Pembrokeshire? Thats the UK’s smallest city I think.

Yes, apparently druggies from all over the UK tip up there is the summer as you can claim benefits anywhere, or be seeking work (not) there.

The lovely chines (sort of steep cuttings) down to the beach are now dangerous (several rapes/assaults) and women have been assaulted in the sea!

My parents and the pil honeymooned in Bournemouth as it was the destination in the 40s. Not any more.

And you are accusing other posters of pedantry? 🤣

Going downhill during Covid and never recovering fully probably reflects most of the UK!

They don’t want it thanks 🤣

Be careful with trying to give the whole of the London Borough of Croydon back to Surrey Londoners. The city centre has been left to rot and degenerate by the corrupt Labour local government in cahoots with Brick by Brick and other corrupt property developers (many representing both within individual husband-wife teams) and is now pretty grim, around West Croydon and the almost abandoned shopping centres in particular. But remember, this was a deliberate policy and many are sitting on very valuable land and retail space with excellent transport connections, and at some point the deliberate suppression will be addressed with new investment.

Also, much of the rest of the borough is very nice and it is one of the greenest. South Croydon, Shirley, Sanderstead, Happy Valley, Coulsdon etc are very nice residential areas.

But yes, central Croydon and the shops are a warzone (still some nice restaurants around though and lots of new build around the station).

It is by population - only 1,751 in 2021. Reading is a town and has a population of 203,795 (2021).

And South Croydon between the station and Selsdon.

I think Aberystwyth is somewhere that particularly suffered from extended closures during lockdown. I admit that I haven’t visited since the summer of 2020, but at that time, when things were trying to open up again (sadly for a short time), where I live, practically every restaurant or tourist place remained closed there. I’m guessing it’s never recovered.

If we can nomonate Croyden may I suggest Crawley it's uglier little brother.

I thought Durham was meant to be nice? Somewhere people visit on UK city breaks like York or Chester?

I'd thought that as well, so decided to break up a journey to Scotland with a night in Durham. I was so disappointed, it was like a ghost town. It was out of term time, but I still expected it to be reasonably lively!

I agree.
Even when I lived there as a child it was very segregated. We all mingled well at school but literally walked in opposite directions at the school gates and went back to our very homogeneous neighbourhoods. I get the sense it's much worse nowadays.

Back then, there were serious issues with Black-Asian tension in areas where Black and Asian neighbourhoods rubbed against each other. I went to a girls school so we didn't really go along with such nonsense but it was bubbling under the surface, and was definitely a "thing" among teenage boys.

I'm desperately trying to convince my mom to move out of Birmingham.

Given you can already get from Birmingham to London in just over an hour and a quarter - I can’t see any huge benefit, even if it hadn’t cost such a huge amount of money.