Why do Sutton and Croydon get so much negativity?

[Youwouldntlastandh0ur]

This is coming from an outside perspective - so bear with me. I lived in Wandsworth/Merton area. and when I was younger I used to hear so many people talk about Sutton and Croydon (and areas around there) and how bad it is. What's wrong with it? As far as I've known, I've pointed out differences:

Sutton

Primary aged kids, families with younger children, Christians, big open spaces, and feels like a village.

Croydon:

Younger people, young adults, big nightlife, lots of shops, chavvy, secondary aged kids and lots of cultures.

I live in Norbury.

It is scruffy, but it absolutely is not ‘utterly dreadful and rough’.

And does not have gangs.

It has people with not much money, a ratio of cheap housing with unregistered landlords, and a lot of litter in the streets.

It also has bigger areas of ‘genteel’ semis, housing bought by younger buyers priced out of Brixton and Streatham, a few ‘trendy’ cafes and restaurants, and a very active community doing good community things.

To be fair I’ve lived in South Norfolk for 13 years or so now so it may have changed, but it was exactly as I described it when I left.

yumyumyumy · Today 03:06
The whole tram journey from Wimbledon to Croydon town centre is so depressing. It's a tour of where not to live in London stop by stop

where would you say are the places to live in London? A place that is really exciting, interesting, vibrant, family friendly & relatively crime free? Because I’ve lived in London all my life and I honestly don’t know of a single London borough that fits that description.

Years ago Croydon was a brilliant shopping centre. Mum and I used to go on a Saturday afternoon. However once Allders left there was a gradual decline and as more shops closed it became the sad place it is today. My policewoman friend has told me that even the criminals are leaving Croydon to go to Sutton!

Used to love shopping in Croydon way way way back in the day when Allders was great and there was a lovely little tapas bar that I popped into for lunch from work often. Sadly, now the town is seriously degenerated, all the good shops are either closed or closing and there is too much thuggery going on to feel personally safe going about your own business. I generally avoid central Croydon these days - though will run the gauntlet to IKEA, Decathlon, Hobbycraft on the perimeter.

Sutton marginally better than Croydon.

What does "gang checked" mean exactly? Sounds positively scary.

It was a thriving shopping centre in the past. It seems criminal that shops were forcibly closed to make way for Westfield Croydon, which never happened. I do still go there sometimes, but know a lot of people who avoid it and go further afield to shop.

Croydon does have some rough parts, it's true. But I like it. It's more diverse than anywhere else I've spent time in greater London. And I always suspect there's a tiny bit of unconscious racism in the anti-Croydon debate... because these days there are lots of Caribean or African style shops and restaurants rather than the same stuff we see in other towns. I occassionally pass through Croydon and I always think it has a really lively vibe compared to other places.

Sutton isn't rough but it is deadly boring and dull. Sorry. It just is (and I live in Epsom currently which, quite frankly, isn't exactly a thriving metropolis of fun and excitement). I have in SW London and Epsom for 25 years and in that time I've had plenty of evenings out or reasons to go to Croydon, Kingston, Wimbledon, Surbiton, Esher etc but Sutton? Nope. And if I have, it's completely bland and boring. I had to kill a couple of hours there a few months ago while DD was at an event... honestly, I wandered around feeling totally safe and totally bored.

You ask why Croydon gets so much negativity and then go on to call it "chavvy"? 😂😂

When people talk about Croydon they are only really taking about the town centre. The town centre has suffered like most town centres and also because it was run down in preparation for the Westfield project which never happened.

Croydon has loads of green spaces including a lot of ancient woodland.

I was going to mention the racist smell but chickened out so thanks.

My 80 year old mum loves Croydon, particularly the market and the West Croydon shops. All her mates go to Reigate (and sneer at Croydon) but she loves going in all the different shops and buying different foods and asking people how to cook them. She learned Mandarin at one point and one of the market traders would practise with her. She's always been completely safe. Travels on the bus, on her own.

I grew up there, she lived there for decades. I think at one point it was the most multi-cultural London Borough. So the people saying there's no culture have missed that. I can't talk because I moved away, but I do have a soft spot for the Croydon Massive.

This. Croydon town centre seems to be used interchangeably with Croydon borough, and it's a much more mixed bag than people seem to think - much like Lewisham town centre and Lewisham borough (which contains Blackheath; worlds apart from the area which anecdotally has the UK's largest police station).

The north of the borough is very urban, and not wealthy, so has everything you'd expect for that - and it does get a bad reputation (worse than is deserved, in my opinion, as someone who lives and works locally and has actually visited the area in the past twenty years 🙄). The south of the borough has independent restaurants and bars, excellent schools and a lot of green space. If anything, it's a bit boring.

According to the new Mayor Westfield are now back on board for a Central Croydon development, which should help a lot.

Croydon Town Centre still has a massive and excellent M&S with the full range of departments. It has the Box Park, Fairfield Halls is coming back to life, it’s just a shame that so much of the Town Centre is derelict and the other shopping centres emptied out…. ALL due to the Westfield broken promises.

It’s never going to be an attractive market town, the road system and the tower blocks put paid to that. But as pp have pointed out, it has excellent and fast transport connections and very easy access to some lovely woodland and down land. In fact if you are one of those people who just sneers at Croydon, you’re right, it’s awful, please never come to Farthing Down and Happy Valley, you’ll hate it and be terrified etc. And the car park already gets full on nice days, even if it is within spitting distance of S Coulsdon Station

My cousin moved to Croydon recently having grown up in Harlesden (which also has a rough reputation but somewhat unfounded)
She's loving it there. Transport links are great and there's plenty of green space as she has a horse, and can keep it nearby. They couldn't really afford anywhere more central but are now looking to first time buy there. These are a couple in their late 20s.
I think sutton is much more subdued and less dynamic, in that it's not changing at the pace of Croydon. But for family homes I don't think there's much wrong there. I guess it's not exactly rock and roll. But it could be if younger creatives move there.

The vast majority of people haven’t been there or think West Croydon is an example of the entire borough. I know people in Carshalton Beeches, Cheam, Worcester Park, Crystal Palace, Purley in nice areas. I do think Sutton has a better rap but people think it’s uncool, boring whereas people think Croydon is dangerous.

Loads of Hong Kongers have moved to the Sutton borough because of schools, green spaces etc

I grew up in Wandsworth and it was very different in parts to now.

Can't comment on Sutton....drove through it once I think and thought it seemed incredibly dull.

You drove through the entire borough?

Sutton is as pp said one of the safest boroughs. Thornton Heath has some dodgy bits. I remember when Mayday hospital used to be called Maydie 😆

One thing I've noticed is there are lots more 'white working class' families in Sutton croydon than there are in inner London these days - the scaffolders. Hairdressers, tradies etc . Different demographic than zone 2. Sutton was only London brexit borough I think!

I grew up in inner London, everyone on my road was 1/2nd gen immigrant. It’s completely changed now with mainly white people living there, you can see it in Brixton, Tooting etc. Sutton has quite a mix of ethnicities due to the schools.

Sutton isn't rough but it is deadly boring and dull. Sorry. It just is (and I live in Epsom currently which, quite frankly, isn't exactly a thriving metropolis of fun and excitement).

Do you mean Sutton high street? Admittedly not been there in years but I’ve had good meals out in Cheam & WP. There’s plenty of inner London areas where you dint have much on time doorstep and need to travel to somewhere else for a buzz.

I loved the Blue Orchid....and the moonshine bar next door, many happy mid 90s memories there!

The town centre is run down, and it's very grubby. But it also has great open spaces in the south of the borough. I offer you a nicer vision of Croydon!

Croydon Town centre definitely has an edge. But if you grew up here or in other "rough" parts of London like I did, you're unlikely to be fazed. We live in the "naice" outer part of Croydon Borough and it's great. Good transport links, easy access to the M25, good shops (yes, even in Croydon Town centre) and loads of green space (a lot of which is owned by the Corporation of London). If I didn't have to live near to London for work, I probably wouldn't choose it, but it's really not that bad. House prices around here are ridiculous, so some people must want to live here!

I did mean central Sutton mostly, yes. So perhaps a bit of a generalisation. Cheam is nice enough, and I do like the border area between cheam/ewell but it's all a bit dull even so.

I didn't actually realise worcester park was part of Sutton. Not great for schools but a nice enough area.

I think it depends which part of Worcester Park. There are roads that come under Kingston Borough and others that fall under Epsom and Ewell I believe!