To think a lot of the Uk looks like a state

[Novembermummy88]

Not sure if I am being dramatic or if years of austerity are really starting to show…? Lately I’ve really started to notice how filthy, run down and falling apart everywhere looks! I live in a town in the south east on the borders of the M25. Every where there are gapping pot holes (can hardly avoid the volume there are now and genuinely concerned I will lose a wheel at some point!), broken lamp posts, the volume of litter / filth on the roads seems very high and can’t remember the last time I saw a road sweeper, and things like pathways are a state, road markings worn out, SO many closed/dilapidated shops….the town just looks awful as do many of the nearby towns! Is it just the South East looking like this? Aibu?! Or have I watched too much Selling Sunsets and setting my expectations too high…???

YANBU @Novembermummy88. As I was walking to the shop tonight I noticed the pavement was kind of greasy? Grimey?😒 And there are more weeds growing on them and our roads.

We used to have a street cleaner come round every fortnight after the bins were collected but due to council cuts, it seems a 3-4 monthly service now. I live in the inner city so it's really minging.🤢

I had this very conversation with my teenage son today , he was commenting how dirty our city was and asked if it had always looked like this . It looks so run down now, monotonous retail parks and not very much in terms of entertainment.

I'm feeling really quite miserable about it I must say

We are lucky we have some decent parks here (my kids are young) which are the only decent thing left in my town. However, for the older kids there is literally no entertainment. They can’t even go shopping/mooching with their friends as there are hardly any shops left open on our high street! I fear it’s got so dangerous too lately (many stabbings etc despite this being an “affluent” area) that I can’t see it even being safe to allow older kids out on their own even if there was some form of entertainment for them. The lack of investment in the roads, standards of cleaning / litter collection, and nice areas for older children is really quite depressing!

Completely agree. County town used to be gorgeous, it's now bleak, depressing and littered with used needles. Moved back to the countryside to a tiny rural village a few months ago, and much happier. It's very sad indeed, but I am very fortunate to be able to live where I do.

Glad I’m not the only one feeling this way at least! I had really started to worry I had blinkers on and am turning into a middle aged moaner! But it seems many areas are exactly the same and no investment etc!

Agree.
The roads where I live are absolutely dreadful, and getting worse.

Totally agree OP and I live in a wealthy London borough. There’s a potentially lovely little park near me which looks awful due to no maintenance. Also agree with the disappearing high streets and lack of entertainment for older kids and the elderly especially. No spontaneity, everything booked and done online. Really awful. Looking forward to the economy recovering eventually.

I never used to agree on the immigration topic - but over the past couple of years I really feel the tide has turned and everywhere I look there are people hanging around, who have no care for this country or homes they live in and in turn the “pride” this country used to have really seems to be disappearing and is becoming a little unrecognisable in some areas. I fear it is getting to a point of no return on all aspects…!!

There is a fairly new food retail park opened by us, the litter is absolutely awful there must be rats thriving there. I can’t believe the outlets don’t clean the area, such a shame as there was some nice planting areas. I feel sorry for teenagers there’s hardly anything for them to do where we live . Seriously contemplating moving abroad 😂

OP sorry if this is annoying
I just said on another thread about a chat I had with some people who didn't seem to know what was available for teens in the area, said there was nowt when there was loads...have you looked? Because sometimes people just don't ....like people who tell me "no sense of community" when there really is one here.

Wow, the levels of bigotry and snobbishness on this thread. Just wow.

This is why I wonder if other countries are in the same state? I look at places like Australia etc on travel shows and surely it’s a case of the grass isn’t always greener? Or are we all just silly for riding it out here 👀

There are a lot of clubs in this area to join tbf. But nothing “free” if that makes sense. No nice high street to hang out in (if anything it’s got quite dangerous..!), no cinema for a cheap Saturday morning movie etc. But, yes, you are right, there are a lot of clubs to join, many of which I am told have good coaches etc, so that is a positive for sure.

@Zanzhimmer not my teenagers ! I have seen people of all ages openly throwing rubbish on the floor and out of their car windows 😞

I would never have thought of myself as “snobby” or to judge other people - which is why I started this thread - am I imagining how run down things are getting - and I am worried how bad things are getting in this country that even people like me (I genuinely don’t like to judge people) have started to turn on others/more fed up/resentful of it all etc!!

I'm in Western Australia and it's fine here. Prices have increased in the shops and interest rates are going up, but the infrastructure is fine. We both got decent payrises though so pretty unaffected so far anyway. My husband had to go back to the UK a few months ago for a funeral and was shocked at how run down it was, compared with when we left. Also my mum tells me how shit it has got, especially the diabolical state of the NHS. It all sounds like a shocking bloody mess to me.

A lack of commitment to investment in public infrastructure for the last 12 years.
Only to look at the US to see how well that pans out for things like clean water.

The blaming of "new" groups, like teens or migrants on this thread is weird. When places are well kept, people keep them well. Teenagers and migrants are necessary to the country's wellbeing.😁

Our streets are dirty and degraded because our government doesn't care.

Interesting! Do you feel like your area is well maintained / presentable? Is there much trouble in the area?

There is nothing for teens to do!! This country has no community anymore no where for people to hang out, young and old. Everything available is ££ and has to be booked online. So many bored teens hanging about on the streets because there is nothing for them to do.
I live in the southeast and despite being a dump it’s unaffordable for most ppl to even buy/rent property here. I feel sorry for the younger generation who will probably never have a chance of getting on the housing ladder unless they get substantial help from family. Sorry state of affairs.

We’re now a shitty little irrelevant island where the population are seemingly happy enough to let it all go to ruin. Such a shame but what else do people expect?

On a positive note several litter picking groups have sprung up recently . It’s amazing to see shopping trolleys etc taken out of the local canals by volunteers.