Is it just me or has Brighton gone downhill?

[Newmeagain]

I was there for a weekend about 15 or 16 years ago. I have memories of lots of interesting, independent shops and eating places, particularly in the lanes and around that area.

I went today and was really disappointed. No interesting shops, restaurants were mainly chains. Some nice independent coffee places but that’s about it.

Has it changed or are my memories clouded?

1. no ‘they’ dont
2. the irony of this comment is that London road has been massively cleaned up and redeveloped over the last decade - there are complaints of ‘gentrification’
3. it’s not an area visitors or tourist generally frequent. It’s like saying day trippers to Manchester head over th Moss Side or London visitors hop over to Tower Hamlets for shopping…

Exactly! Been decades in Brighton and have been to every kind of grp you can think of from sports to arts to school to music to LGBT stuff - I am a gay - and literally not once have I been asked for pronouns.
The only time I have EVER been asked for pronouns was in a corporate work meeting in London and I said ‘ the ones you probably think’ which went down well…

Yes "they" do. I live beside London road and work with people from there. It's my colleagues- who are from Brighton, and who have lived in Brighton for far longer than I have, who told me that the nickname for London Road is Skid row.

It's a bit strange that you seem to think that you can talk for everyone in Brighton!

Oh because it hasn't happened to you, it can't have happened to anyone else.

What strange logic!

My friend got groped on the train coming out of Brighton. That has never happened to me. So by your logic, it can't have happened to her, right?

You live beside London Road and someone else had to tell you the nickname? Mmm, yeah ok. I also live near there - hi neighbour! - and never EVER heard that but there you go.
But again, visitors aren’t very likely to be around there anyway on a day trip, unless getting up and down to the park at Pride.

That’s a very weird comparison.

It’s the same. You keep writing that it’s never happened to you which is being dismissive of my experience. As I wrote, if you don’t believe me, you can dm me, I’ll give you the names of the groups and you can go along and see!

yes my colleagues told me the nickname as they have lived in Brighton longer than I have.

hi neighbour too . Anyway there are also a lot of positives about Brighton. I’m just contributing to a thread that is talking about the negative side

I really enjoy Brighton and have been going there regularly my whole life (nearly 50 years) as my extended family all live there, or just outside.

A lot of improvements have been made at the seafront in particular. If anything it has been gentrified as others have said, and that’s not always good, but it’s never going to be not nice to visit.

You have some very strange nicknames for places in Brighton. South Lanes and Skid Row aren't really very commonly used. I'm absolutely fascinated where you are getting all this secret insider knowledge from!

If you read back, "Skid row" is not a nickname that I call London road. And I already wrote where I heard the nickname

It is a nickname that my various colleagues at work call London road. They said that it is a common nickname for the road. They are long term Brighton residents . I moved to Brighton two years ago.

I think they may be teasing you! London Road is not the prettiest but is in the heart of the student quarter so isn't anything like as run down as your friends are making it sound. If they are long term Brighton residents it may also be that they don't have experience of truly deprived areas to compare it too - I find that quite often people who have never lived anywhere else do seem to exaggerate how bad bits of Brighton are.

Yep and I always wonder when people go on about shithole what perfectly maintained places( of any size) they live in themselves - people say the same here in Bath and yes we do have some slightly grim areas that tourists probably don’t go to- but compared to most of what I see in UK ( of any size) looks pretty ok on the whole

What a shit hole !

I live part time in Brighton and part time in London. Bits of Brighton are rough as a badgers are rough as a badgers arse but it's still amazing. Loads of independent coffee shops and restaurants plus more of the popular chains. Clothes shopping is a bit hit and miss and we don't have a decent kitchen supply shop anymore but on the plus there are lots of good chemists/cosmetics stores and hairdressers and we are spoilt for choice when it comes to bars, yoga and Pilates studios. I love Brighton.

I’m from there and I’ve never heard anyone use those names either 🤷‍♀️

Oh wait, actually, it’s all true. All 5 miles of seafront is an overcrowded dump! Shops are awful, you can’t buy a coffee without someone demanding a pronoun to write on the cup, the Downs national park is full of addicts, every area has a nickname like ‘murderville’ or ‘skid row’ or ‘dustbowl’ everyone thinks they’re an artist or musician, all that re-generation of the Hove end of the seafront with its tennis courts, padel courts, gardens, skate areas, roller area is boring. And as for all the making it more expensive or tricky to drive in the centre and make it all more pedestrian friendly and kid friendly - well that is bloody outrageous.HOW are visitors supposed to get here?? Park & ride? Trains? Buses????
leave the city is awful now! Best just leave it to the people who are unfortunate enough to have to live here…

And don’t even get me started on the two beach volleyball sports venues, the 50m outdoor swimming pool on the beach and all those bloody beach saunas! They’re everywhere now. Tsk…

Ah yes ‘crack alley’ best avoided…

Brighton’s heyday was from the 1920s to 1950s, before most of us were born. That was when Captain Bertie MacLaren was Parks Superintendent and made the city famous for its beautiful landscaping, rockeries and water pools at Preston Park and the restoration of the Royal Pavillion Gardens and Seafront. If you look at old photos, it was immaculate.

Chill your boots love!

Too hots for boots, love. Me and my sea shoes have just had a lovely swim though 😜 will be back in again tonight with the kids for another cool off.