To think our towns and cities are just so run down lately, and our standard of living has decreased significantly?

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I don't know if I'm just feeling a bit down and bitter lately but I just feel like lately our country seems to have gotten very run down. I went out into town today and couldn't help but notice how grotty and rundown everything looks. Litter everywhere, security guards everywhere - in nearly every clothing shop there is security on the door now, security wandering up and down the high street. It makes you feel really unsafe but they must be there for a reason now? Shops are dirty; filthy floors and used Starbucks cups just left off the shelf for some poor worker to clean up. Clothes for sale that are covered in makeup stains. I just found it really depressing. It's just not one town either, I've noticed it nearly everywhere I've been. I'm in my late 20s so it's not like I've had decades of life experience to draw from and I have a rose-tinted view of yesteryear, but it seems that in the last 5ish years things have really declined.

1. It isn't.

2. Migrants aren't responsible for the growth in internet shopping or Tory austerity.

Not just the internet - the out of town supermarkets and retail parks started the demise about 30 years ago. Ironically, the internet is now affected the out of town shopping areas with more and more huge "sheds" now lying empty in previously busy retail parks.

My priority housing wise is always to live close to a good high street so I take the smaller house/garden etc. So many seem very happy to live away from amenities though.

They are to blame for the unnaturally high property prices though, which is the one big force preventing people spending on anything else besides their basics. All so that those with investments see continuous growth year after year. What is the end game though? We're at a point now where our young people can't afford to start families. Is the aim to just import our population and watch British culture vanish?

I can’t think of any West Midlands town that doesn’t look neglected and unloved. The high streets are just vape shops, barbers, fast food shops and charity shops, litter everywhere and no one seems to care. I really don’t like living here anymore.

Exactly. There’s no point urging people to support local businesses if they don’t exist! We may have done this to ourselves but that doesn’t necessarily mean we can bring it back!

They are to blame for the unnaturally high property prices though, which is the one big force preventing people spending on anything else besides their basics.

How many immigrants are buying houses?

QE caused house price inflation and we also have an ageing population plus we sold off a lot of social housing and do not build enough homes.

The country is not full to bursting by the way

My boss saw an actual human shitting out a bag of drugs in a retail park in Luton. That's how bad it is there. 11am right near Luton airport.

What is the end game though? We're at a point now where our young people can't afford to start families.

We haven't invested in young people or young families though. We have no choice but to rely on immigration as demographically wise we are screwed.

I was in Sunderland recently. In the 70's, 80's, 90's, it was a bustling town, then city, centre. Days and nights. It's very depressing now.

Nail on the head. Especially the mobile phone accessory shops full of cheap Chinese crap that no one would want. That's the thing with the money launderers - they need to make the shops look full and prosperous so buy loads of cheap crap to give the illusion that it's busy and prosperous. As you say, if you go in and actually ask them to do something technical, they've not got a clue. It's all nothing but a front for money laundering. Same with a lot of ethnic food shops - likewise shops full to bursting with cheap foodstuffs, but never any customers.

Sandwich bars and kebab takeaways can sometimes be similar - again, cheap "purchases" of core foodstuffs often cheap crap from supermarket value ranges so they don't lose much money when it goes past it's sell by date and has to be dumped - some of them are really poor in terms of food quality - I mistakenly went into a sandwich bar once and all the sandwich fillings etc were laid out in the counter fridge display but when I asked for a sandwich the guy behind the counter just shrugged and said they'd run out of bread and rolls! Yeah right!

Pile it high with cheap crap shops and "labour" only like nail bars and turkish barbers are very commonly used for money laundering, and modern slavery too.

Hardly any, they are largely being housed by local councils who now pay private landlords extortionate fees. Yes, because a lot of the social housing stock was sold off. Now it's a business to let out substandard housing to the highest bidder- which is often councils who are lumped with paying the rent on their behalf. All from our taxes, yay!

May or may not, but we don't have the infrastructure for ever increasing population, i.e. housing, schools, GP surgeries, hospitals, etc etc. In lots of places the utility supplies are also creaking as ever more houses are built without the infrastructure being improved to accommodate.

If house prices weren't skyrocketing due to the demand from immigration, they would have a fighting chance. Not everyone can be in the top 10% of earners, our young people deserve to live in dignity but now they're left fighting for the crumbs while people who turn up in the country without documentation are handed everything for free. It's a fucking joke.

I went into my city,recently for a medical appointment. Was shocked how badly broken it was. So many empty shops, graffiti, so many poor homeless people sleeping in doorways 😢 when I was a student here 40 years ago it was vibrant and thriving 🤷‍♀️ no longer

For me it’s the state of the roads as well.

I’ve had at least one blown tyre a year for the last 3 years as the roads are in a dreadful state and nothing seems to be done about them.

This is the price of austerity I guess.

If house prices weren't skyrocketing due to the demand from immigration, they would have a fighting chance.

they haven't skyrocketed because of immigration although that hasn't helped

It's the litter everywhere. The roadsides are disgusting. People just chuck stuff out as they drive past or drop it as the walk along. I litter pick in my village. We have a rat run through from the nearest town to a major trunk road. It's full of KFC and McDonalds rubbish, Red Bull / Monster, beer and cider cans and oddly enough wine bottles. Every time we pick it, we know there'll be just as much again next week.

Litter encourages the decline as it makes everywhere look run down and uncared for. No one takes any pride in their environment. It's always someone else's responsibility.

I've just posted how shite Bristol is these days...I'm in my 50s.

Reasons: poor policing. Hell of a lot of money spent on police commissioner...nothing on police officers.
Plus police not allowed to police anymore. Criminals claiming assault and woolie liberal lawyers prepared to act for free costing money
Council spunking money on ridiculous ideas like a clean air zone, which only effects 30% of cars (less now) but puts everyone off coming. Bus lanes, completely different road systems, 20mph signs. A bridge for a bendy bus...too small for a bus
Council ran by outsiders...partly our fault, but very few local accents in the council chamber, used as a stepping stone...recently arrested mps anyone
High expenses claimed by councillors.
Councils spending money outsourcing, consultants and ridiculous ideals

What's the cause then? Because I'm pretty sure people aren't having enough children to fill the houses once they're available. Are people tekeporting here from another dimension?

YANBU, our town is just so depressing. I hate to sound so ‘Waitrose’ but the people are the worst part - parents sucking on vapes as they push tablet-holding toddlers in buggies, morbidly obese children in Fortnite blanket hoodies, people openly smoking weed, weirdos shouting aggressively at nothing at all.

@Veronay I have already set the main causes. Not building enough houses, lack of social housing, QE which inflated housing and turned it into an asset. Do you think without immigrants we wouldn't have any landlords? Which immigrants would you get rid of?

It's a vicious circle. People don't want to visit scruffy, rundown areas to shop, so order online, and then that means more shops closing.