Is our town a shithole..

[FroggletTowers]

Or is this happening anywhere else?

I have been discussing this with friends, family and colleagues recently so won't name our town for privacy reasons, but it is a regular, large town in England, UK.
Nothing particularly special or awful about it, previously.

Since the pandemic, the entire vibe has changed. Almost unrecognisable.
Yes, we have some heavy shop closures like many towns, but the council kept it looking decent as much as it could. Some nice buildings and nature areas, etc.

What stands out most, apart from the general vandalism and dog shit is the weird accumulation of male groups hanging around boozing in public.

So far they have taken over the local park, river walks and nature reserves. They often cluster beneath bridges or across paths where people like to run, cycle walk dogs or take children, making it less safe and filling these areas with waste. Off road bikes have ruined the nature reserves, so less people visit

Sadly the authorities don't seem to be doing much about it, it is as if these people don't have to abide by laws that the rest of us have to. Some buildings adjacent to these areas have windows put through on a regular basis, even in what you'd call 'nice' areas.
Many of them cluster at river bridges and block the path for others, most are very drunk or out of generally.
It isn't unusual to see a large man passed out across the pathway, blocking anyone getting past. If you had a pram or bike it would be really uncomfortable to have to rouse a large drunk at 2pm in the afternoon. Most are local men, with a growing amount of middle eastern men. The vast majority of them are unstable.

We see less women out cycling, walking or exercising now, and this encompasses both MC and WC areas. These people seem to have just multiplied and spread across the entire borough and have taken over all public space.
We live in a decent area that is now seeming to go downhill.
It isn't unusual to see day drinkers sat alone, surrounded by cans on a quiet residential street. And they won't move to let you past.

It's really depressing.

The type of high streets which are thriving are the ones which have destination specialist independent shops rather than generic chains which are all closing down. Which is possibly why my town is continuing to do ok, because it never had many chains to start with - it was always considered too remote.

Towns need to start encouraging these kind of businesses somehow though for many places I guess it's too late. Who wants to open an independent craft shop or specialist bakers if they have to step over crackheads every morning?

I can’t speak for the OP but I’m guessing they mean this : The phrase “Middle Eastern” refers to people of West Asian or North African descent. The term “Middle East” itself is rooted in Eurocentrism, as it references the region's location relative to Europe rather than its actual geographical location.

What is Northampton like these days?
Last time I drove through most of Kettering Road consisted of Middle European food shops, stores or take-aways.

Ours is lovely. Pro Cook, Rituals, Oliver Bonas have all opened this year, plus a little gallery. Waitrose, M&S are fab. Lovely little market in the square on Saturdays and a couple of week days.

All that irks are the banks of Deliveroo bikes. Excellent schools.

It doesn’t. It has a label saying it’s going to be the biggest and the bestest light ever, and you won’t have to worry about light again, plus, it’s going to be cheap light.

It may or may not be useless in the end, who knows? But it can’t be any worse than the light in the fitting that doesn’t turn on and is still costing you a fortune.

The problem is that you don’t like the manufacturer because they wanted to leave the EU.

The opposite is true in my market town which is thriving. The town planners have just done a great job with the layout. They've built a really lovely shopping arcade right off the high street with lots of chains...but higher end ones so there's lots of footfall encouraging more and more shops to come in. Started off with Hobbs, Crew Clothing and Seasalt etc Shops are coming in stages. We now have the White Company, Oliver Bonas, Hotel Choc etc. And an M&S with a food hall. Decent parking that isn't a hike. Its not too spread out so theres hustle and bustle.It's been done really well. Hats off to them.

We lived in Bethnal Green in the 00s, whenever the sun came out so did all the crackheads. OP, it does sound like a bit of a shithole, are you able to move?

It sounds lovely, but the kind of town/area which has money. Nothing will entice some of the chains you mention to our town, because it's seen as a poor relation to some of the posher Cornwall and Devon towns. Therefore we need to rely on ourselves. The low end chains we had all closed down - Peacocks is pretty much the only on remaining.

Of which the vast majority of those countries main religion is Muslim

I think all towns and cities are getting run down. Shops closing. Less police and less investment.

One of the issues in the towns near me is a lot of the shops/buildings are owned by companies in London who hate little interest in renting them out. I assume they are just held as assets.
2 localcouncils have refurbished small streets for independent shops - they are doing well. People do want to go shopping. My local out of town shopping place is actually insane with queues of cars trying to get in. It’s the main place between 2 towns for shopping now and cannot cope.

Ah that's called being Muslim when it suits them 😂

No but i can see NI from my window.

In Eastern Europe?

I really enjoyed York when I visited for the first time earlier this year. But, my god, the amount of vomit splattered on the pavements after Friday and Saturday nights really was something I hadn’t expected!

We live in Germany...
There's stuff to complain about here, too, but where we are seems like quite a nice place.

I can’t tell if you’re going to vote for them or not?

Either way, I will, next year in Wales.
Lord knows Labour have had enough time to prove themselves here and they are absolutely useless.

I think we’ve got worse problems than the op described in England - but at least you guys can see where you’re heading.

Loads of seaside towns have rivers, I didnt get that post

@Tabitha005 yeah that is really unpleasant and embarrassing for the city

My nearest large town is abysmal - dog shit, drunks, litter, increasing amounts of shitty houses being built, empty shops, gangs of gobby, violent kids everywhere who think they’re gangsters, dirty street furniture, broken-down and decaying landscaping, homeless people, chavs a-plenty in their nightwear nicking from Asda, crap town centre full of vape shops, nail bars, barbers and not much else. Ashford in Kent if anyone’s interested. Absolutely dire.

Eurostar pulling services from the ‘international’ station probably hasn’t helped Ashford’s chances of upping its status.

I’m glad I don’t actually live anywhere near Ashford but I’m currently having to work out of an office there. It’s fucking hideous.

We live in quite a wealthy town, cotswolds area and definitely doesn't have a vibe like this at all. Mainly still families or couples put and about, occasionally the odd drunk of an evening walking home from one of the pubs but otherwise no real day drunks, definitely nobody passed out. I walk the dog and see lots of women alone doing this too, or jogging, we all feel quite safe I think. We are a bit touristy so does make me think it's likely we get more money and attention than an average town though

I live in east Anglia, most of the seaside towns in Essex, Suffolk and Norfolk (excusing the more affluent towns such as Southwold and Aldeburgh) are now like this.

So sad as they were all part of my childhood and hold such great memories but now dumping grounds for those with social issues.

I feel for elderly and disabled people stuck in these hell-holes with no means of escaping.

Ok?

Is it Gloucester because that's always been a hell hole ?

I'm in a large town in Scotland. Shithole here too. Half the vacant shops on the high street are boarded up and covered in graffiti. So many vape shops, vietnamese nail salons and Turkish barbers. Drug addicts screaming and shouting. It's awful.