I went to an event at one of the local Childrens Centres this week. It's right in the middle of what could be described as the roughest estate in town, with a bad reputation going back decades. The sort of place you might think twice about venturing into alone at night.
It was a beautiful sunny day. The roads were all well maintained and clean, with plenty of free parking. There were open, grassy areas - not just designated play areas but also amongst the houses and flats, although there were at least three playparks with modern equipment, nicely fenced and clean, and large open areas for football etc. There was even a skate ramp. There was a small row of shops and take-aways, including a post office (rare these days), and beautiful mature trees dotted all over the place. Yes the housing was very plain and basic looking, but someone had put in a bit of an effort to make the blocks of flats look a bit less bleak. Most of the gardens were colourful and well looked after. The only downside was the derelict pub, but even that was in the process of being refurbished.
Compared to modern private estates with their tiny houses crammed in and very little on-street parking, and older Victorian terraces with no communal outside space, I was surprised to find myself appreciating how lovely this supposedly awful housing area was (in the daytime anyway).