Blackpool - has it always been like this or do I have rose-tinted specs?

[AbsolutelyZero]

When we were kids in the 80s we visited Blackpool several times for day trips and had one week long holiday there. We stayed in one of the Guesthouses, which was well kept, and I have really good memories of how amazing the town seemed (to a kid).

I also visited as an adult for a work-related event in 2002, stayed for a couple of days and from what I remember it all seemed the same - a bit faded but great fish and chips, nice people. Less impressive as an adult but that’s inevitable.

I visited again recently on a bit of a whim and I was speechless. There’s clearly been some money spent on the promenade and that looks good but go one street back and I’ve honestly never seen anything like it - every house looks like the apocalypse just happened, literally falling to bits, rubbish and mess everywhere. All the Guesthouses seem to have gone, taken over by what look like horrible, run down HMOs. The walk from the car park to the front was unnerving, to put it mildly. Saw a fairly blatant drug deal en route too. The worst deprivation I’ve seen in the UK.

I’m assuming it hasn’t always been like this and I’ve just been oblivious - the last two decades must have hit really hard.

Anyone had the same experience?

It's sad. I took my ds for a couple of weekends there about 10 years ago and we've had days out there. Always fun but sadly, it's always been like that a few rows back from the prom. It has got worse. I read recently that Blackpool has something like twice as many deaths from alcohol addiction and drug addiction as the national average, 3 times as many from smoking. The average age of death was quite low, early 70s and they have more children in care than an ANY other borough in the Uk. Seaside towns always have a lot of disadvantaged people, poverty and a homelessness issue alongside the flashing lights and the beach.

The root cause needs tackling and that is the people.
People need jobs and decent transport to get to jobs. Addicts need support and re-hab. Landlords need challenging over the grim state of their properties. My town isn’t rich but people take pride in the little they have. Building a new leisure centre or whatever won’t do anything unless help is given to the people first.

8 out of the top 10 most deprived areas in the UK are in Blackpool. I suppose now it's cheap and easy to get somewhere with everything Blackpool has, but without the freezing, sideways rain, it's not doing so well.

Morecambe is much closer to other desirable areas though and benefits from this. (E.g Russell group university with Lancaster locally, the Lakes are just 20 mins away and the bay gateway itself (making both of those accessible) plus you can see other areas from the morecambe prom itself (that are wealthier) e.g Arnside and Silverdale.

Morecambe is also smaller and easier to invest in and it’s never been scary like Blackpool is.

My DH loved it as a kid, and as I've never been, decided we'd go for a few days.
Never again. I couldn't wait to come home.

@Goodadvice1980 We went to Albert & Lion.

Went there for the first time ever - despite passing close to it probably 5 or 6 times a year - last year as we were at Party in the Park in Preston. My DH had looked dubious but said something like ' I suppose you've got to see it to believe it' and we got the train in about 6pm. I've travelled a lot in my life to some very dodgy places - and the area round the train station was up there with Lima Bus Station and a border crossing in the Golden Triangle.

Open drug taking, full on vomitty passed out drunks, very unsafe feeling - we walked down to the prom - which was fine-ish (a weird mix of off their head drunks and kids on little stabiliser bikes) - and then got the train back.

It was awful.

Has gone very downhill, sadly.

We visited with our DDs a few years ago, and I absolutely hated it. The beach area was good fun, but the place itself was absolutely awful. Such a shame. We won’t be going back.

I'm the same.

Used to have day trips to Blackpool at least once a year as a child (80s/90s). It used to feel so exciting and we used to have a great time.

My Grandparents used to go every year for a holiday.

Now it just feels dirty and depressing.

I used to love Blackpool. It's never been an elegant place, but it was always good down-to-earth fun.

We actually had a week of our honeymoon there in the last millennium!!

I'd still like to go back again, in spite of the many, many reports of how bad it's got; as those strong memories of all the good times are still firmly lodged in my head. Possibly just the once, though...

Oh, I've never been, but have just booked a weekend, expecting it to be cheesy and tacky fun, but I didn't realise it was like this.

I've not been for a night/weekend for a while but if you go on a weekend in season it'll still have that vibe. Social problems are everywhere now anyway in UK.

I think a lot of the clubs have gone though so it won't have the variety of a night in Liverpool/Manchester that it used to, but it'll.still be a good night out in season.

Absolutely hated it. The drugs, the people, the busyness, the lack of parking, the awful phone signal, the horrible dated b&bs with inexplicably high ratings, the inability to serve any food that isn’t deep fried, the horrible atmosphere in pubs and restaurants. No no no no no.

I remember going there many years ago and under the pier stank of wee
grotty dump of a place then

Here's a video from Blackpool from a fella who travels around the country talking to people:

There is lots of videos on you tube about Blackpool. You can watch Blackpool in the sixties and seventies and see how bustling and popular it was. Guesthouses were all well maintained and nice to stay in.

You can also see lots of videos on how it is now.

It's vastly different. Very sad

I was actually surprised how nice it looks round there!

Went often to the seafront and fair as a kid in the 90s, so I knew it wasn't exactly upmarket, but then didn't go again for a couple of decades until visiting the zoo quite recently.

Saturated with cheap flats and HMOs for the people seeking asylum. The beach is fabulous and the prom is great. A great shame.

Oh heck. I was planning on visiting Blackpool for a day with DP. We went to Southport last week and thought that was bad enough!

Its Cheesy and Tacky but without the fun these days I am afraid.

It’s an absolute shithole. I have been there a couple of times recently for events and you can’t even find somewhere decent for a coffee - even the Costa is 100 times shitter than a normal Costa Coffee.

The illuminations are alright if you don’t get out of your car 😁 The front is ok - plenty to do, but one street back is like the zombie apocalypse. It is a shame as I remember going to Blackpool being a massive treat when I was young. We go to St Anne’s for the beach and Lytham for something to eat instead - it’s a completely different experience considering you can see Blackpool from St Anne’s beach.

I last went 15 years ago and it was an absolute shit hole then, haven’t been since

Awful place sadly. It’s fairly close to us so we pop by on a sunny day for the kids in the summer holidays to enjoy some fish and chips and doughnuts, and probably during the time when the lights are on but its so sad to see the drug taking, the disregarded houses, the homelessness and the unruly groups heading around the town. It has definitely gotten worse over the years.

I once read an article that the rate of homelessness is so high because many people come to Blackpool once they have hit rock bottom and want a new/fresh start and so as they associate Blackpool with fond memories from their childhoods, they decide to come there with this hope things will be better.