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.

I think anyone who has lived or spent time in Boston can see exactly what has happened over the years its a shame as it use to be a nice safe place.

@Luddite26 Exactly. So the properties became redundant for holidays. A combination of things but people move into spaces vacated.

The rot set in when there were loads of Eastern Europeans coming over to work in the fields. The Gangmasters put them in HMOs or in caravans on fields.
At night they had nothing to do so went around making a nuisance of themselves.
Some started an illegal 'still' and managed to blow themselves up.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-lincolnshire-18154900

Yeah i remember that happening

The point is that it was councils who facilitated/encouraged such people to move in, but didn't put anything at all in place to support them, no employment, no additional healthcare/education/social services support, no funding for anything at all. It was entirely obvious and foreseeable what would happen, but the council just ignored it and we ended up with crime (minor and serious), drugs, vandalism, shoplifting, etc etc., all of which just dragged the town down and ruined what was left of the tourism industry as even day trippers and short stay/weekenders stopped coming. A vicious downward spiral!

@alikelylass thing is though Brits were not up to the job or interested in doing it - so what was the alternative? Similar issues too in many other wealthier countries

The Brits won’t do the jobs narrative I think can be a bit misleading, implying that British people are lazy, but often because you’ve got single men coming to do some of these jobs, and probably to a lesser extent women, they are able to work hours and live in conditions that aren’t compatible with family life. It feels like the unions fought for years for decent hours, flexible working, time off and all sorts of things and it’s fair enough for workers to say no I don’t want to live in a caravan or an HMO with lots of other men, no I can’t get childcare out of hours, no I’m not going waive my right to decent working hours, no, I can’t be constantly available just in case I get called in et cetera. The whole system for a lot of these jobs is broken, with people having to claim top up benefits even while working full-time or more than full-time, while employers benefit (although clearly a lot of employers are struggling as well).

In relation to councils housing people, in many towns and rural areas, that sits with district councils and the other support services with county councils. There’s local government reorganisation happening at the moment to bring all the services into unitaries, but district councils have obligations around housing but cannot make completely separate authorities provide other services, even if there was the funding to provide them.

@alikelylass The rot set in when the locals no longer wanted to work for the farmers and others had to be recruited. It’s very difficult when it’s a farming area. What did you expect the farmers to do? Give up and just allow the land to be fallow?

When I was a child (age 10 or 11 onwards. Sometimes younger) loads of us would pick fruit on the farms in Kent for extra pocket money. Such a useful thing for a child to be able to do if they want. It's a shame that isn't allowed any more.

We used to do potato picking, huge fields of it. All the local children working in a line. We’d go to the fair as it, coincidentally!, was in the village at the same time. Back breaking work, filling up those sacks. No going round bullying people going about their business.

So, instead of cheap labour from abroad, farmers used to underpay children to do the same work?

We weren’t underpaid. We enjoyed it and there was a sense of community. Gave us a good work ethic too.

Did you get the same wages as adult pickers?

Yes, we all attended the union meetings too,

Did you do a paper round as a child?

Yes, and I didn’t get a fair wage for it. I was also a Saturday girl when I was 15 and made significantly less per hour than my colleagues, but did the same job. Wage differentials based on age are deeply unfair and exploitative.

Reliance on cheap labour is what got us into this mess in the first place. Employers paying fair wages would go a long way toward boosting local economies.

The farmer was lenient with his whip though, so…

But you did the job anyway, as did I at Chelsea girl on Saturdays at the same age.

We used to get £1 an hour for potato picking, this was late 70s / early 80s though, when I started work in a factory few years later, it was still only £2 an hour. I still remember the feeling of putting your finger into a mouldy potato, yuck!

😁 Yeah, there was that!

Where in Kent was this? My family farmed in Kent the seasonal picking work was done by local people, often farm labourers wives and family (older teenagers), students and travellers. Children usually joined in later, at the gleaning stage. I have no recollection whatsoever of children of 10 years old being used as pickers - they were at school in accordance with statutory obligations. 1960s/70s. The farm went in the early 80s to pay death duties at a stinging rate.

It’s still a fact that local workers worked on the farms. I think potatoes are dug by machines now. We all want cheap food - thst means keeping costs down. If we don’t want British food, then import it. You cannot have it both ways. Neither can Boston. You reap what you sow.

That's not completely correct.

Years ago some of the work was done by people with SEN. Their houseparents would transport them to the area (usually in a minibus) to do a shift with minimal supervision. They were provided with a packed lunch, suitable clothing and had support if needed.
It gave them the opportunity to get out in the fresh air, get some exercise and earn some money for themselves. They could be proud to say "I go to work" - so it was win/win all round.
Unfortunately the costs of employing these people were undercut by the gangmasters who provided the farmers with cheaper labour.

At one time (70s) the work was done by students, but that seems to be "not cool" any more. Now students would rather stay in their rooms, rack up huge student debts, and play x-box rather that do any manual work.

Corporations need to pay a decent wage. Eliminate housing benefit is the first step. People would need to work and would take on the jobs.

If jobs don’t support family and community life though @Pistachioitaliano then you get the breakdown in cohesion that people are describing.