What do you most dislike about the town where you live?

[Dieu]

Edinburgh. I'm sitting in bed listening to a mouse scurrying around underneath. They'll be wanting to nest inside, now that the weather's turning colder. And I also have the horror of hearing them inside the walls.
All very normal here in the New Town.

What are your bugbears where you live?

@chicaguapa do you live near me?! Lol bet they all work for the same large employer too (or one of the three big employers anyway).

Where I live is right on the edge of a beautiful part of the UK but it's so far removed from anywhere (an hour to the nearest motorway, 2-3hrs to the nearest major city) that the people are very very insular and live in a bubble.

A lot of people rarely leave the county, especially the older generations, and if they do it's your typical UK seaside holiday or the more adventurous chose your typical brits abroad type package holiday to Spain.

They haven't been exposed to diversity and different cultures, so it's very racist and xenophobic (which is surprising because it's very Labour dominated, with only a few small areas being Tory!) - the problem is that people don't think they are racist or xenophobic, it's "just not what we're used to".

One person once told me they are "scared" of people from different cultures or religions because "they're different and everyone is scared of the unknown". FFS I could've slapped her.

Anyone who leaves school with decent qualifications and heads off to Uni doesn't come back, which I think just exacerbates the problem!

@Hidingtonothing @Gingernaut I'm near to you both, I'm in Cannock, and it's pretty much the same here.
The only positive on the horizon is the big outlet village we're getting next year.

I just visited Korea @WatchingTheMoon, and I really sympathise. We were only there a week and being stared at constantly is exhausting. As is never being able to get a taxi because the drivers won’t take foreigners (really drunk Koreans are clear preferable to sober foreigners).

It was a great place to visit and really lovely in lots of ways. But the attitude towards foreigners is very obvious.

Market Town in a well thought of county. Lived here nearly 2 years, depressing hate it.
Very parochial nothing in the way of culture

Hardly any bus services and therefore taxi companies with a monopoly who charge a fortune and often no show. Consistently rude public services and backwater attitudes.

Locals consider it posh because it's a bit more upmarket than the next town over that looks like a nuclear bomb hit in the 1970s but the serious drug, alcohol and antisocial behaviour issues aren't even like a "hidden underbelly" you just have to walk down the street

Nothing and I mean nothing for children or young people so they all congregate on bikes in black and grey tracksuits outside Macdonalds

Everyone looks like they just left a recording of Jeremy Kyle

Trying to leave

In my mind Cannock is still better than Walsall DH is anxiously watching for announcements on what shops will be at the new outlet place, I hate shopping and am just as happy with primark/supermarket clothes so I'm just wincing at how much money he's likely to spend

Just outside Edinburgh.
The 60's built town centre is hideous.
We're the fastest growing local authority area in Scotland but the council forgot to account for all the new building in terms of infrastructure, so schools and GP surgeries are struggling.
However, it's lovely and green and has a real sense of community. Lots of nice restaurants.
Far enough outside the city that you can take refuge from the festival but near enough to be able to work and play there.

Large town in SE. The drug users that the police don't do anything about and the crime rate rising. Housing is too expensive as it's very commutable to London, and more and more flats are being built. Lack of independent shops, restaurants, no culture in terms of art and events etc.
I like being able to get to London and close to the coast and countryside relatively easily. It has really good public transport and the town has everything I need.

I don't actually dislike anything about my local town, and I've been living here for 2 years now. Its a beautiful looking small English town which is nicely kept, theres hardly any litter as there is a team of gardeners and litter pickers who go around keeping it perfect. Being picky, there could be more pedestrian crossings and cycle provision (there isn't any), its a bit car-centric and theres lots of free parking.

The 2 cities I lived in before were horrible really. The worst thing about them was the fact you used to get abuse shouted at you when doing perfectly innocuous things like walking down the street. e.g. out walking at lunchtime with a friend from work, 3 men in suits in their twenties passed us and looked us up and down and said "how much?" and started sniggering. Or coming back to my parked car at Tesco, found some man underneath it and he took exception to my objection to this and started swearing at and threatening me. I would literally meet rude, abusive people every few days. So many incidents. Both cities were really horrible, with poor infrastructure too.

Bedford. Lots of lovely buildings, market town but it has absolutely nothing about it. The high street is failing with lots of shops closing and it has quite a depressing vibe to it, like no real identity and it has a lot of homeless people which upsets me (upset for them not me before anyone jumps down my neck).

Other humans - London . It’s fine during holidays .

@BalloonDinosaur Are you from Chester? I used to live there and I dreaded going into town when the races were on.

@StatisticallyChallenged

Ah yes, the festival. I was delighted when it came to an end!

Frangipan I did wonder as we live on the edge of a lovely area but we are not miles from anywhere. However I did use to live somewhere just like you describe (where I was known as an offcomer). Surprisingly their parochialism annoyed me less as it was easier to understand when you're stuck out in the middle of nowhere. Though I did find it stifling.

I love the housing development I live on as a lot of thought went into it's design and it is kept in immaculate condition. Huge focus on greenery and it includes play areas and a kitchen garden where I can grow lots of fruit and veg. We do pay an estate charge every year for this.

The actual city is not nice. Ugly and incredibly deprived with the common behavioural problems which go with deprivation. Enabled us to get on the housing ladder though and we intend to move somewhere nicer in a few years.

@Thurmanmurman Have you ever listened to Mark Steels in Town for Bedford? Very funny. We visit and its a dreary place with a sad town centre slowly being encircled by dull expensive houses.

Building new houses without new schools, GP's, Dentists and turning a lovely small town into a big impersonal town

Bit too Brexity - and too flipping far from the coast (at least 2 hours).
On the edge of deprivation - could go massively down hill if there's a recession.

The petty vandalism, the sheer squalor of the drunks and addicts, the thoughtless littering and lack of upkeep.

Newly cleaned or painted surfaces have paint, vomit or worse (shitting in the phone boxes, anyone?) covering them before the week is out.

Incompetence. We've got diddy, little paving stones covering pedestrianised areas and pavements.

They looked good for a couple of months, but they simply aren't meant for 'industrial' use and certainly not for the heavy vehicles which still go up and down the areas.

Delivery trucks, fire engines, ambulances, police cars, police vans, the 4x4s and vans for the markets, taxis parking up and so forth.

In the gap between Christmas and New Year, workmen were sent round to give the place a good clean to see in the New Year.

Instead of some roller style cleaner, the men attacked the paving with a jet washer, blowing out the bedding mix and not brushing in any more.

Now, everywhere we walked, slabs are wobbling underfoot, making popping noises like we're wearing clogs.

They are a serious trip hazard and many have broken, making a bad situation worse.

Very attractive small town, rather prosperous compared to the rest of the county but is dominated by a large renowned independent school, lovely if you can afford to send your kids there but it can make you feel resentful when you are surrounded by kids with access to facilities and activities not available to your kids despite living next door. The two groups of kids don't mix much either and the parents cause major parking issues. Not allowed to moan though because it brings so much money in...

Disfordarkchocolate. I’ll have a listen!

The tourists.

And it's really unnecessarily sprawled out which creates a lot more traffic than there should be if it had been planned better. Mind you, there is a horrible car culture here and a lot of people who drive really short distances for no good reason so it's a combination of factors.

Hi @MadisonAvenue! Morning! @Hidingtonothing

I prefer Stafford to Cannock or Wolvo, although that's got a series of newly built shops down by the river although they form a very bleak series of wind tunnels and are mainly empty during weekday afternoons......

I love where I live, a small village in south west Scotland. My only gripe is the holiday home situation. Too many decent sized family homes being bought up by older couples who maybe visit a few times a year? Makes it almost impossible for families who already live here to buy a bigger house if needed. Also 2 of the biggest properties are holiday rentals, and guaranteed, every weekend, at least one of them will have a loud screeching hen party, singing Proud Mary loudly and out of tune 🙄

I like Stafford too Ginger, would move over that way like a shot

Sherborne or Uppingham @wigglybeezer ?