My town has really changed

[CatbellsOnTheSeashore]

In a confusing and not very pleasant way.

It was gradually changing for the worse before covid, but the pandemic seemed to accelerate it, and I am wondering if anyone else has noticed anything like this.

It became more insular whilst more populated, the population increased quite a bit over the past 5 yrs. More and more dereliction, low council maintenance and an influx of troubled people housed around the town centre, which is now a no-go zone. Areas surrounding have steadily grown worse also, as it seems to be spilling out.

What does feel really different is that there are now lots of groups of men, hanging around drinking or sat on pavements together (not begging). Drugs took over the local nature paths and canal walks so now there are large groups of people out of their heads lying on old sofas at the locks, it's really grim. Women who used to cycle and run in these areas have more or less moved elsewhere or stopped.

More and more standard sized houses in low to middle income areas are becoming HMO's, yet with poor refuse organisation and not enough parking. I'm not exaggerating when I say there are literally trails of dog shit in the streets in many areas, too, which pretty much hangs in the air and the place stinks. That, and skunk.

We live in a decent part of town but it is coming closer, and I only have that perk due to inheriting my parents bungalow. More and more people are moving out.

On a walk to Sainsbury's yesterday two guys were holding onto a sign pole hovering over a bin. As I passed by one of them vomited into the bin and then spat/gobbed an inch from my feet - he didn't notice me particularly, but it was quite sudden or I'd have given them a wide berth.
This isn't unusual now.

I know people usually blame the cost of living and covid, etc, but this was definitely on the rise before. There is far more noise pollution as more buildings go up, usually industrial, and the roads are a nightmare. Infrastructure for actual people is decreasing.
That said, I don't think most of these people were thriving before, so it isn't a sudden change. It is as if a new kind of culture is growing, that doesn't care a damn about anything. Everything is vandalised or shat on. More and more windows are broken in properties close to the town centre, and I doubt most of these people were thriving before the pandemic hit.

Is this bad luck or is anything like it happening elsewhere?
We are definitely looking to move away.

My local town isn't as bad as what you describe, but it has certainly deteriorated since covid. I think what you are noticing is the general decline in wealth in this country. This is how it manifests unfortunately.

What's the town? Sounds like you might be exaggerating a bit.......

I wonder what is causing this change. Could it be that county lines organisation has led to an influx of cheap drugs to your area? The characters you describe sound drug addicted rather than simply in poverty.

I live somewhere not dissimilar to the description in the OP and I travel the UK for work, it seems quite normal for many large towns and cities to be turning this way.

Mine is the same. Definite decline.

No, I'm really not exaggerating. The town is Wigan. I have searched MN and Reddit for similar posts about our town and there are definitely a few stating the same.
People vomiting in the street is not remotely uncommon in many parts now. Dog shit is everywhere and no one worries if you see them leave it. The Leeds to Liverpool canal is disgusting now and used to be a very nice walk.

We have a midlands Northern rust belt evolving, I think. Hull through Chesterfield to Stoke on Trent, down as far as Derby.

Also worth noting: If I haven't experienced something traumatic when someone else has, I don't presume they are exaggerating. We all have different experiences.

Yes, this is the price of inequality. But rich men must have another yacht!

This is grim OP. I sympathise

Very similar here, zone 3 south west London, previously mixed but affluent area.

Makes me really sad, and I know MN hates moaning about the Tories, but I can only assume related to long term austerity.

I live near a 'posh' southern town. Walking through the town centre one day there was a crowd of loud drunk abusive youngsters so I dipped into a shop. I wasn't interested in buying anything but I was hiding out the way. The shopkeeper asked if I minded if he locked the door for a few minutes until the drunks moved on as he was clearly as worried as I was. He said it was now such a regular occurence that the shop (selling handbags and luggage) couldn't keep female staff. I think our country needs to do something to seriously tackle the drink and drug culture that seem rife all across the country, not just in the Midlands/north.

But Lisa Nandy says Wigan is lovely ...

My local city centre is the same. I don’t go in at all now, and would definitely not take my children. It feels really menacing.

I'm a close ( ish ) neighbour in Bolton ,and Bolton is a shit hole too I think onnline shopping has a lot to do with it Bolton town centre is an absolute disgrace.

Happening here in the east midlands. People off their heads on spice. Stabbings on a regular basis in broad daylight, most teenagers carry knives.

sea of tents in the city centre every morning from the homeless people, you'd think it was calais but they're all white English men.

people flytipping everywhere.

pop up soup stands of random evenings with huge queues.

walked past a homeless man today, sleeping bag on the cold concrete floor, watching netflix on his ipad.

i used to happily walk home at 2am on my own without thinking twice, now i walk out of my house on a saturday morning and there's drug dealers on the corner not even trying to hide it.

world's gone mad.

I feel the same when I visit my hometown in the north of England. Used to be a buzzing high street, now it's charity shops and people loitering around. A couple of years ago pawn shops popped up everywhere but even they seem to have gone out of business now.

And little things like the pavements as you go out of town being all overgrown with weeds, that I don't remember being like that when I grew up there.

I too hate the tories, but I also feel this is a new sort of culture, or attitude, not just political/economical. I find it hard to describe what I mean

There's a very angry feel here. I spend a good bit of time in another county due to work and the difference is obvious. The places where I haven't seen this are generally quite a bit smaller, even if they contain people who are struggling.
Maybe it is more common in ex industrial areas? I don't know.

What bothers me the most is that even in a decent part of the town our communities are changing - a sense that no one trusts anyone and the over all ambience is kind of shitty. If I go back 10 yrs this wasn't happening.

This. So many areas have become run down in the UK in the last, oh, 14 years. I cannot think what might have caused that.

I live in a seaside town and it’s become the same as what you describe.

Bury is nice though, the centre is so much nicer than Bolton .

The town that I live in has changed. Perhaps forty years ago, it was a small market town with a large river. It served the local, rural community and was an inland port. Then coal was discovered close to the town, and another industry opened up.

When the coal industry died, I town began to deteriorate. Local large cities took away the commerce and most of the retail businesses. People who could not commute to work, were a bit stuck with respect to what they could do.

The local authority invested in large building schemes. These generated council tax and served the commuting population. However, people were rehoused from the local cities, especially if they were struggling for housing.

Now, the town does not really have an identity. It has a lot of minor social problems, perhaps not as many as Wigan, but similar problems related to disillusion, substance abuse and a lack of real investment over generations.

I think there are many, many towns like the one I live in. Indeed, many small towns within and outside the area in which I live, are almost identical to my town. They are characterised by hopelessness, gloom and slow but undeniable deterioration.

I would want to know though, how does a group who never cared for politics in the first place suddenly become more aggressive, anti social and happy to spread dog shit?
I wonder how 14 yrs of the tories actually created that specific kind of change, although I can obviously perceive the changes regarding infrastructure, services and wealth.
I really do think that in this particular demographic (usually working class or not working) the problem was already growing. It 'feels' more than just political.

Is this a small town thing? I’m in a Liverpool suburb and it’s no worse here than it was years ago- and the city centre is better in many ways than it was 20 years ago.

I also think that perhaps in many large ex industrial areas, people became stranded when the industries died. Instead of moving around to locate new work, people just stagnated.
The town has become far more insular too, when it used to be quite lively.