What is the most improved place in the UK?
Posted by Educational_Cow111@reddit | AskUK | View on Reddit | 244 comments
Which part, place or area in the UK has improved the most, whether it used to be dangerous/rough, boring/lifeless or used to be good but has gotten even better?
TheNorthernBorders@reddit
Whitechapel, since the mid Victorian period.
JubJubBouvier@reddit
The speed and level of gentrification in Leith (Edinburgh) has been pretty wild
DingoBingoWimbo@reddit
Went out in Leith last night and it's pretty lovely
OldGodsAndNew@reddit
Same thing for Dennistoun in Glasgow
NotoriousP_U_G@reddit
Depends on the time scale, you could argue for many places such as Manchester, however, Elephant & Castle has gone from being a place that is genuinely scary to be, to somewhere somewhat desirable to live due to gentrification.
oliviashrewtonbong@reddit
Most of inner London has seen similar progress. Camberwell was rough as fuck 25 years ago, now it has a Michelin star restaurant lol. When yanks say London is too dangerous now I'm scratching my head and wondering what the hell they're seeing that I'm not
CliveWynne-Candy@reddit
King’s Cross has improved beyond recognition from its grim seediness of the 80s. The rebuilding of the station itself is one of the best bits of public architecture in London in the last thirty years, and Coal Drops Yard and Granary Square are really nice.
bloodycontrary@reddit
King's Cross was grim even 20 years ago tbh
CliveWynne-Candy@reddit
True! I’ve got so used to its nice and clean new iteration that I slightly forgot when the changes were made, so I slightly hedged my bets. It’s amazing to think that they had that horrible portakabin style extension with WHSmith in it, covering up that beautiful frontage, for so long. Now if only someone could sort out Euston…
bill_end@reddit
I don't know how true this is but I heard that kings cross in the 80s was a sort of unofficial red light area for young teenage boys who had run away from home. There was an episode of the vice (90s TV drama about a police vice squad with Ken stott)
I guess nowadays it's not such an issue but I believe it was quite prevalent back then with poorer social services and safeguarding.
oliviashrewtonbong@reddit
Praed Street is still a bit grim but the Western and Eastern facades of Paddington have been improved enormously, and London is refreshing by large European city standards in that the rail termini are just...fine.
Compare to Paris, Brussels, Frankfurt or Rome which are total shitholes around the main stations.
mcevz@reddit
Completely agree with you! I was placed in a temporary council housing next to the Marlborough estate c. 2008 and I remember the Aylesbury & Heygate estate clear as day. Granted both estates can and were really run down and often really scary places but the majority of the residents there were truly salt of the earth type people that you rarely find easily around, especially in London.
I left around 2010 for uni and when I visited E&C around 2013ish, the area was completely unrecognisable so I totally agree with your sentiment! Always have conflicting feelings with the regenerations around London and pushing traditional residents out
NotoriousP_U_G@reddit
Yeah, 20 years ago areas like Hackney and E&C I felt unsafe heading into, now, I head there to buy decent sourdough
EveryChemistry9163@reddit
‘Now, I head there to buy decent sourdough’.
I just… oh, man 😬
NotoriousP_U_G@reddit
Elaborate
EveryChemistry9163@reddit
‘Heading’ anywhere is ponce language. Just ‘go’. It’s fine to just go.
SpareAdvice8716@reddit
Head off
NotoriousP_U_G@reddit
Oh so you have nothing to actually say, fair enough
EveryChemistry9163@reddit
I have. I said ‘heading’ anywhere is the language of ponces. Especially if it’s to buy decent sourdough. The bread of ponces.
NotoriousP_U_G@reddit
That isn’t adding anything to the conversation though. It is the pedantic points of someone that perpetually is online and heads nowhere, the ramblings of a friendless person
EveryChemistry9163@reddit
Chill out, Tarquin.
NotoriousP_U_G@reddit
No wonder you’re friendless
EveryChemistry9163@reddit
No wonder you like E&C.
NotoriousP_U_G@reddit
I don’t, I think it is shite, just less shite than it was. If you got invited to head out more, you might understand
Dense_Ad7115@reddit
I dont know man, when I go through Camberwell on the 35 I'd not be too happy to get off there if I didn't really have to.
jizzyjugsjohnson@reddit
Camberwell used to have the most robbed bank in London
EveryChemistry9163@reddit
It’s not all that different roughness-wise. It was never ‘rough as fuck’ except to provincials who are afraid of everything.
drakon99@reddit
Most areas of London I lived in gentrified rapidly once I moved out. Upper Clapton went from being the murder mile - a wasteland of derelict warehouses and burned-out cars - to expensive buy-to-let flats and people in coffee shops on their MacBooks. Try that when I lived there and you’d be robbed in seconds.
Then Elephant and Castle went from a thriving post-apocalyptic street market based out of rusty shipping containers, to a painfully dull hipster ‘market’ also based out of shipping containers, serving overpriced flat whites and burritos.
At the same time, central London went from being mostly clean and tidy, to being full of rubbish and the level of unhoused people increased massively as austerity hit hard.
DameKumquat@reddit
And Bermondsey. I remember going to South Bermondsey station for work (only got threatened with a knife twice on the Abbeyfield Estate), usually the ticket machines had been stolen for scrap, the PerTIS machines vandalised, and once time I missed my stop (old slam-door trains) because the signs saying South Bermondsey had been stolen.
30 years later it's got some averagely rough areas but lots of it is incredibly gentrified.
Similar in Brixton, the Clapham Part Estate, most of south London, really.
FletchLives99@reddit
Yh, I was going to say SE London. In the last 20 years my street has gone from a good place buy rock to somewhere millionaires want to live.
serious_sleep_issues@reddit
My husband was after a council flat in the Barbican at one time, he was entitled to apply in that area. None were available at the time but he was offered one in Southwark. That area at the time in his words 'wasn't safe in a Belfast land rover', and he grew up in Hackney. He turned the flat down... he would have got the right to buy and it would have ended up being worth a fortune in a relatively short amount of time due to the changes in that area. Spitalfields too has had a tremendous change.
cheeseley6@reddit
They're seeing Fox News and Twitter 👍
MrReadilyUnready@reddit
I've been to E&C a couple of times in the past couple of years and it honestly seems like such a shithole. I cannot imagine what it was like in the past if its current state is considered desirable. I've never seen so many crackheads in a built up area in my life.
NotoriousP_U_G@reddit
You didn’t want to go there 20 years ago then.
Natural_Trick4934@reddit
Oh come on. Elephant went from a place that was a little edgy and vibrant to completely soulless. Towers full of foreign money replacing local markets and community ownership is not a good time.
NotoriousP_U_G@reddit
It was more than a little edgy, I come from Luton originally, which feels unsafe a lot of the time, so I’m not a wallflower, Elephant was much worse. I would say being safe is certainly an improvement, the way that safety came about is up for debate, but, safety is most certainly an improvement
Natural_Trick4934@reddit
Meh. We can disagree. Elephant always felt safe to me as I come from somewhere worse.
The Elephant development has resulted in a cultural wasteland.
My friends bought an apartment there. They sold inside 2 years. It’s fucking awful.
NotoriousP_U_G@reddit
We can agree to disagree, it is unquestionably a much safer place to be, which is an improvement by any measure.
What culture would you say was there prior to gentrification, that no longer exists?
Or was it an unsafe cultural wasteland, that is now a safer cultural wasteland?
Natural_Trick4934@reddit
You’re not serious? ‘Safety’ is not an improvement by any measure.
And you surely can’t be suggesting that the heart of Elephant hasn’t been ripped out?
Elephant was a great place to be. It’s now a place to avoid.
NotoriousP_U_G@reddit
What is the heart that has been ripped out?
How isn’t safety an improvement?
How was it great when unsafer? But less great now it safer?
Natural_Trick4934@reddit
Have you been there? Both a decade ago, and now? I suspect not.
Safety is an improvement. I’ve qualified above.
Safety isn’t an end point. Some of the best nights I’ve ever had have been in areas that people have been stabbed or shot. They weren’t great nights because of that. But I’d still rather understand and wear that knowledge, than see everywhere turn into Knightsbridge.
NotoriousP_U_G@reddit
I have been there many times over the last 30 years.
You literally said safety isn’t an improvement by any measure.
No one said it was, but it is in an improvement which is what the question is about
You literally wasted your time typing this as it says nothing.
Natural_Trick4934@reddit
Read! ‘I qualified’ means that I added to my point after someone pointed out the spaces in my original statement. Qualified = added colour to my original statement as I saw that it read stupidly.
If you can’t understand the part that says nothing, cool. You can be black and white. But those words definitely say something clear that most people can understand.
NotoriousP_U_G@reddit
In the conversation I am in with you, you certainly didn’t qualify. I am not perpetually online enough to read through all of your comments. I guess it is difficult being wrong and friendless
Natural_Trick4934@reddit
‘I’ve QUALIFIED… ABOVE”
That means… I’ve added more to my point. You have to read the qualifier.
Jesus Christ half the internet is thick as mince.
NotoriousP_U_G@reddit
You’re thick if you think you have qualified in this conversation thread, not to someone else. If you believe you have link the comment
Natural_Trick4934@reddit
https://www.reddit.com/r/AskUK/s/z6KDKqOGYU
NotoriousP_U_G@reddit
That’s not in conversation with me, but also, doesn’t qualify anything
DL3432@reddit
E&C wasn't just unsafe, its appearance was like a dystopian hellscape. It looked different to anywhere else in London. I first went there when we travelled from work in Central London to go to the bowling alley there around 2002. Couldn't believe what I was seeing. The regeneration isn't the greatest and some of the genuinely soulful bits have gone, but you're looking back at it with some of the rosiest tinted glasses I've ever seen.
NotoriousP_U_G@reddit
You’re one of a few people that said, some soul has been removed without saying what that means. I genuinely think it went from a dangerous, soulless place, to a relative safe soulless place.
What soul would you say was removed?
DL3432@reddit
The shopping centre had some cool independents that won't find their way into any new commercial developments. I could buy plantains from the market there. Mercato Metropolitano is great and may not survive much longer. That was some genuine soul in amongst the grime. At best, they will manufacture something similar in the new E&C that just won't feel authentic.
NotoriousP_U_G@reddit
So, a couple of shops is soul? But the new shops aren’t?
ishamm@reddit
Safety is not an improvement?
What a bonkers argument...
Natural_Trick4934@reddit
Think I’m talking at cross purposes against you. My fault.
Safety is always better in isolation.
But I’ll tolerate some tear ups in the street as part of a better time for all not involved in it.
Obviously that doesn’t extend to genuine violence / death.
fredfoooooo@reddit
In the last century I worked near Elephant. A friend did social work and when visiting Elephant was in genuine fear. And they visited lots of rough places. The nearest to a no go you could find. An atrocious hole. It’s not culture to be threatened and spat on as you walk through somewhere, it’s rule of scrotes. Good riddance.
cookiesandginge@reddit
Currently writing this from my grandmas high rise council flat in E&C and couldn’t agree more
EveryChemistry9163@reddit
FFS E&C was never that scary. And now it’s Pret-upon-Traffic. Whoopdi-fucking-doo.
NotoriousP_U_G@reddit
It was a soulless crime ridden shithole, now it is a soulless, much safer place, I see that as an improvement
EveryChemistry9163@reddit
Are you a property developer or something?
NotoriousP_U_G@reddit
Not at all, just someone that prefers a safer soulless place to a less safe soulless place
One-Effective1082@reddit
Liverpool , I love the place but honestly it’s town centre was a dump 20 odd years ago and now it’s got a lot going on. From the arena , to Liverpool one , it’s modernised it’s self.
No-Feedback2220@reddit
I think Southend is a lot nicer now. I remember going as a kid and the sea was always very dirty and it looked a lot more run down. It is still not perfect, but it is a lot better now
Fuzzy_Scrump@reddit
Belfast 😅
wrdsjstwrds@reddit
I and mates have been thinking of taking a trip for so long. How is Belfast’s nightlife?
For context: we are based in Liverpool, whose nightlife has a category of its own.
Sparkyninja_@reddit
Nightlife in Belfast is good, closer to Manchester prices than Liverpool. What most don't realise is most bars in NI shut by 1, clubs by 2, just a quirk of the place, get out early and slam them rounds in ye, weep for you bank account the morning after.
Some people have asked if they should avoid places for being English (or Scouse) and no I'd really say don't worry, the place appreciates the tourist more. Just don't be a dick and people are friendly and happy to chat (and have your business).
Fun thing most don't realise is you don't need a passport to fly to Northern Ireland from GB, it's an internal flight, just some form of ID. What I suggest then from there if you don't have a passport, don't want one for your own reasons, and you want to visit the Republic, is to fly to Belfast and hop on the train or bus to the South, there are no border checks. That part has actually helped a couple people who asked me about visiting Dublin.
Last thing. Belfast international airport isn't in Belfast, it's like 20-40 minutes away, Belfast city airport is in the city.
My credentials: Norn Irish, not Belfast, lived in Liverpool for 8 years now.
wrdsjstwrds@reddit
This is the best reply to a an activity suggestion comment I’ve ever read. You’ve won the day, my good sir. 🫡
DisconcertedLiberal@reddit
Just got back from Belfast, loved it.
The_2nd_Coming@reddit
Yeah went in 2022? Was great and the food was lovely as well. The town centre food market was excellent.
blurdyblurb@reddit
I was there a few weeks ago, I'd wanted to visit for years, what a great place! Definitely going back.
Pearsepicoetc@reddit
As a child we walked past the army on patrol on our way to school. We were drilled on how to act around them, keeping enough distance so they couldn't use you as a human shield but also being polite to them if you were up close and we all did the "can I look down the sight of your gun" thing.
My school and our church were both destroyed by a bomb when I was in P2.
When I first started working in Belfast, long after the end of the troubles, we would have had security alerts weekly. Was once evacuated from work twice in one afternoon and I worked at the top of the then tallest building in Belfast, took ages. We realised that even if it was immediately declared safe you could go to the pub and sink two pints and still be able to join the queue to get back in to the building.
That's all just not stuff anyone has to worry about / take advantage of anymore.
MazerTanksYou@reddit
Could you imagine telling someone outside city hall in the early 90s that within 20 years hundreds of thousands of tourists would visit the city annually?
"why the feck would they ever come here?!"
Belfast 2026.. "Yeoooo!"
Fuzzy_Scrump@reddit
Even when I moved here in 2007 older people, even lecturers asked me the same! Early 90s still had security barrier checkpoints into city centre but at least they had stopped padlocking playparks closed on a sunday!
RayaQueen@reddit
Got to be this. Checkpoints in the walk to school. None of the rest of us had to deal with that. Bomb scares yes, but army in the local streets no.
NotoriousP_U_G@reddit
I first went to Belfast in 1995, went again in January, the difference is mad.
Even outside of the city centre the difference is palpable
Specialist-Top-406@reddit
I was literally about to say this- 100%
Automatic_Union8147@reddit
As someone not from there, I’d say Manchester. The city centre is a great place to visit. I’m sure Andy Burnham deserves some credit for its transformation
sokorsognarf@reddit
He deserves precisely no credit for its transformation. Most of the credit should go to Richard Leese, Howard Bernstein, Urban Splash and, if I’m being mischievous, the IRA
Automatic_Union8147@reddit
Interesting. As I said, I’m not from there so it’s only an outsider’s observation.
abandonship4@reddit
Was going to say this. The city centre at least is like a completely different place compared to 5 years ago.
Consistent-Pirate-23@reddit
Is it?
Same places have been no go areas for decades, cough the gardens
El_John_Nada@reddit
15 years in Manchester and I think calling Piccadilly gardens a no go zone is a complete exaggeration. Is it sketchy? Absolutely. But you can walk there at pretty much any time and not get in trouble if you just keep to yourself. If anything, if I avoid it, it's because of the amount of people there making crossing it a nightmare.
Consistent-Pirate-23@reddit
Andy Burnham is very marmite here, people either worship the ground he walks on or see him as a photo opportunity chaser.
A lot depends on postcodes and if yours isn’t a lucky one it’s a lot of mayoral precept for not a lot of results, I speak as someone who is not a lucky one
ZaphodG@reddit
Can someone explain the improvements when real wages in the UK have been flat since 2008? Vibrant places typically have people spending money.
LowAioli3870@reddit
Liverpool and Manchester have changed beyond recognition over the last 30 years.
flyingteapott@reddit
Liverpool was an absolute shithole when I was a kid visiting in the 80s and 90s, and now its somewhere I am happy to take my own kids. Its seen huge investment over the years and has massively improved. But I dont live there and living somewhere is different to visiting, no matter how often. Residents might see things differently.
Isgortio@reddit
Liverpool has some nicer looking areas and they're making changes to the roads to be more bicycle friendly which is nice.
The stretch along the docks, going north from Costco, that bit looks like a dump full of abandoned old factory buildings. If that bit was renovated I think it'd be a huge deal.
ludicrous_socks@reddit
Big plans for that particular area between Costco and the new Everton stadium.
I hope you like glass high rises...
Isgortio@reddit
Could be nicer than buildings that are falling down, I guess.
ludicrous_socks@reddit
Undoubtedly, I just hope whatever comes forward has a bit more character than a lot of the tower that have gone up in Manchester
There's nothing wrong with them really, but they all look the same- giant glass monoliths
Diligent-Sea-900@reddit
Might change with the new Everton stadium but it’s most certainly a dump at the moment.
nosignalnocomplaints@reddit
I live in South Liverpool and it's absolutely brilliant.
Ashamed_Length_2436@reddit
I kinda hate what they did with Manchester
Mike_Huntburns@reddit
for the worst IMO
Lego-105@reddit
I'd rather be gentrified than unsafe and dilapidated. Where are you choosing to live, Milton Keynes or Rotherham? You can say it's not good, but it's so far from worse.
And at least for Manchester, you have the glass highrises sure, but it still has a lot of old renovated buildings with the industrial aesthetic that give it personality so there is a lot to like about it. There's a reason it's the fastest growing UK city.
Perfect-Ad-1774@reddit
Thats not answering the qeastion...
Sea_Appointment8408@reddit
When I first moved to Norwich 20 or so years ago I found it a really rundown, grubby place.
I think it's fantastic now.
Mean-Common-3320@reddit
Is there anywhere genuinely scary any more? The likes of Longsight and Whalley Range around 1990 seem to be long gone
Anlizu2@reddit
Nope! I bought my first house in Moss Side a few years back and it's fine. Obviously not the nicest area but not dangerous and house prices have gone mental. Most people can't believe the house prices given the reputation from the 90s.
OldGodsAndNew@reddit
Certain areas of Glasgow & surrounding towns are still very rough. Much fewer and far between than 40 years ago, but they still exist
tdrules@reddit
The scariest part of Longsight is the traffic, but that’ll change in a couple of years thankfully.
strattad@reddit
Why will it change? Is there a plan I haven't heard about?
El_John_Nada@reddit
When I lived in Whalley Range a decade ago, someone got attacked with a machete in my street and I thought how nice it was to bring back old traditions. Joke aside, it i's not really gentrified (yet?) but it is definitely not as rough as some of the stories I've heard about the place. Even Chorlton was apparently not exactly a desirable place back in those days.
Educational_Cow111@reddit (OP)
I’ve only ever felt scared in Luton and Middlesbrough. Generally I feel safe anywhere in the UK
Barmcake@reddit
Boro is a stabby shithole.
Typical_Ad_210@reddit
There are some coastal towns in Scotland that are a bit scary as an outsider. New Cumnock is a good example of this sort of bammy, insular, socially and economically deprived, disenfranchised youth with not much else to do but race each other in cars sort of place.
Cakeo@reddit
Oh no kids driving cars fast
We have different opinions on what the question is.
Typical_Ad_210@reddit
Well firstly, as a parent, pedestrian and road user, I would actually say that people driving at excessive speeds, particularly in residential areas, is in fact intimidating and can be frightening, when you don’t know if they are going to actually hit someone. But actually by my reference to the people driving up and down, I was trying to paint a picture of the sort of place it is - somewhere with no investment in the community and nothing for people to do. The thing that makes it frightening, aside from the aforementioned people driving like dangerous idiots, is the neddiness of the place, coupled with the inbred, village of the damned vibe.
djdjjdjdjdjskdksk@reddit
New Cumnock isn’t anywhere near the coast
Typical_Ad_210@reddit
Oh. Well that was the one thing I thought it had going for it as well. Well for coastal I would say that Girvan and Ayr are nice during the day and quite bammy at night, IMO.
drivingagermanwhip@reddit
primark
No-Butterscotch-1385@reddit
Manchester.....there was joke that used to do the rounds along the lines of the best thing that happened to the city was when the IRA blew it up
Historical-Pea-5846@reddit
Ian Watkins and Ian Huntley's jail cells.
GeggingIn@reddit
Govanhill, Glasgow.
Pattatilla@reddit
Was by Central last week and it was cracky as feck
OldGodsAndNew@reddit
The immediate area around central is a dump, but tbf that's the case for most big central stations around Europe
Most unsafe I've felt on the continent was Munich HBF
GeggingIn@reddit
That vanilla. And it is heroin, thank you very much
Still-Process-2527@reddit
Most places in Glasgow have improved a lot. When I was a toddler/young child in the early 90’s my grandparents lived in wishaw and they just wouldn’t let us go to Glasgow apart from once or twice to the st Enoch shopping centre (which didn’t say mic do the city). Massive investment in 90’s and 2000’s and it is unrecognisable now to them. I like as well how you can go to parts of the city where you have a Michelin star restaurant next to a kebab shop 🤣
Pattatilla@reddit
Glad they've seen a good change in it! Glasgow is a bit mad like that I agree, we went to the nicest Chinese restaurant, v classy & someone tried to do the the ole 'invade your personal space/nick yer bag' thing not ten minutes before we got there. Absolutely mad!!
GeggingIn@reddit
It is the speed of it round there. Writhing three years the house prices doubled and suddenly there was fancy coffee shops.
CardiologistAny2161@reddit
You used to be able to pop into the town centre in Liverpool, pay a £1 for parking and walk around most of the town centre in an hour, now city centre in massive and Albert dock transformed
CardiologistAny2161@reddit
Very impressed by Newcastle City Centre and shopping centre relative to other UK centres
Curious_Remove2648@reddit
Kings cross
Wiggles_21@reddit
Barnsley town centre
StellaStendel@reddit
Yep massively improved over past 10 years, however, I predict a change of council on the upcoming elections and hope it doesn't undo any of the good work
Left_Set_5916@reddit
Yeap there going to be a lot of leapard eat my face voters
StellaStendel@reddit
100%
carmillamircalla@reddit
100%. Now used as an example for how to regenerate a town centre.
Civil-Fan-3586@reddit
I was going to say that. I was doing deliveries in Barnsley for 10 years. The centre has grown from ugly duckling to quite pretty swan 😁.
Aggravating-Joke-550@reddit
Dundee.
RhubarbImmediate7007@reddit
Hull was the first place I wore a stab vest for work. Went recently and it was really nice!
exoskeletion@reddit
What were you working as?
selffulfilment@reddit
Stab vest tester, but that’s besides the point
Patch86UK@reddit
Stab vest tester.
oli_ramsay@reddit
Lollipop lady
retniap@reddit
Dinner lady
PullUpAPew@reddit
Nursery worker
RhubarbImmediate7007@reddit
Paramedic
theevildjinn@reddit
Hull is my nearest city (~10 miles away, less than 15 mins by train). I'm not from round here originally, and I was expecting Hull to be awful. A works pub crawl round the old town and marina set me straight, Hull is great.
El_John_Nada@reddit
Yeah, my wife studied there ages ago and I almost ended up there myself, so it always was a bit of a joke. Went there a few times recently and it was actually more than decent.
NotoriousP_U_G@reddit
What do you do for work?
ClimoCustomGuitars@reddit
Stabproof vest tester
NotoriousP_U_G@reddit
Sounds like they are shit at their job if they only wore it in one place.
Adam_the_Penguin@reddit
They were usually the control group.
VodkaMargarine@reddit
Maybe it failed the test
unalivexmastree@reddit
PSML
eggmayonnaise@reddit
Pissed symelf laughing
Tiocfaidh__Ar__La@reddit
Pissed self mega laughing
meestah_meelah@reddit
Glasgow.
El_John_Nada@reddit
I used to work in Stockport 15 years ago and it was so shite that even stopping for a pint afterwards seemed like a bad call. Fast forward to today and it's a trendy and lovely place to live, with loads of things going on.
Overall, it really benefited from the Manchester economy having a boom, but I think it managed to develop its own thing a bit better than other GM towns.
MomIamsorry@reddit
Cardiff
AdDisastrous6356@reddit
Hull
Haeenki@reddit
Definately not Teesside, I visited family there last year and the very first thing I saw was a woman being arrested in the high street. I don't think I'd ever seen anybody get arrested before then.
Soukchai2012@reddit
Depends where you go. Middlesbrough has been in decline for 30 years, and wasn’t great to start with, but Hartlepool has had huge investment, with the Marina, National maritime museum, Church St, Seaton Carew. There are social problems for sure, but none that can’t be seen in any other town.
SilyLavage@reddit
I've seen someone getting arrested in Durham. People commit crimes all over.
Haeenki@reddit
It was the first time I ever saw anybody get arrested and I found it funny that it really was the very first thing I saw when we arrived there. The rest is also still just as much a dump as it was 30 years ago. The countryside around is nice though.
Nice_Raspberry_8757@reddit
SHEFFIELD IMFG I LOVE SHEFFIELD I WANNA SHAG ITTTTT
Sorry.
MoustyM@reddit
Brentford
Boris-the-liar@reddit
Manchester…all we had was music, great nights out and the best football teams ..now we’ve got direction…it’s to the sky, but hell, up we go..
Oldham_athletic@reddit
Oldham it's beautiful
OldForgeTechnologies@reddit
Felixstowe
Ashamed_Length_2436@reddit
Blackpool. It's still a bit rough in parts, but it's safer than it's ever been and it's not gentrified in the slightest.
Nandor1262@reddit
Hull
arfski@reddit
That Travelodge in the centre needs air con, spent a very sweaty airless night listening to big bore cherry bomb exhausts roaring away from the junction through the 20mm gap in the window.
Nandor1262@reddit
Travelodge is where you went wrong. There are tonnes of cheap Air BnB’s in Old Town you’d have a much nicer night
yesthenshaggers@reddit
Shh we don't want everyone to know and drive up house prices, we got a sweet thing going here
Nandor1262@reddit
I mean if you own a house and they get driven up you’re in luck 🤷🏼♂️ can always move to Grimsby or Scunny and wait for gentrification to start there
ignatiusjreillyXM@reddit
I could just about see that happening in Grimsby given some good economic planning and a bit of luck... But Scunny? I can't even imagine what would have to happen to make that possible..maybe being no 1 target in a nuclear war?
GrimsbCalling@reddit
As someone who lives over the river it does pain me to say this, but I agree with this.
skibbin@reddit
Kings cross used to be sketchy and shit. Now it's an international transport and technology hub.
Appropriate-Storm974@reddit
And it all.moved to Streatham/ Brixton Hill instead. Fun, fun, fun!!
blurdyblurb@reddit
Halifax
robbodagreat@reddit
All thanks to Howard
Capable-Ad-2172@reddit
Halifax town centre is fucking grim.
gotmunchiez@reddit
Obviously biased because I live here but it's amazing how much the town has transformed since I moved here 15 years ago.
PanNationalistFront@reddit
Belfast
Euphoric_Rough_5245@reddit
I keep hearing Margate has improved I went in 2019 when I was staying in Ramsgate and I lasted an hour if that. So fingers crossed as I would like to go back some day.
PrincessWithNeeds@reddit
bristol, definitely worth a visit
PresidentPopcorn@reddit
London improved in many ways after it burned down.
wise_groan@reddit
Rochdale
Dense_Ad7115@reddit
Brixton. It's still a little sketchy, but overall it's a shadow if what it used to be.
greytidalwave@reddit
So rough The Clash made a song about it.
TomorrowFinancial468@reddit
I read this and was like what!? That seaside town has never had any problems! Imma give this guy a talking to
Brixham. I was thinking of Brixham 😂😂
Dense_Ad7115@reddit
I will assure the residents of Brixham that I have no strong opinions of their seaside town 😂😂
pirface78@reddit
What sort of impoverished? Buildings falling down? New estates with zero facilities? Local population have no aspirations and are generationally 'on the dole' and/ or unwilling to work? Potholes? Drugs being sold and used on the streets?
Educational_Cow111@reddit (OP)
Improved *
PolarLocalCallingSvc@reddit
Bude, ever since they made the tunnel.
Objective_Result2530@reddit
Travelled down to see it on my holidays last year. A masterpiece.
BerlinSam@reddit
Birmingham city centre...
Vaxtez@reddit
Birmingham. It's come on a long way from the reputation it's seemingly stuck with. The City Centre feels far nicer than Bristol's & is a nice to place to be, it gets big acts performing there, is continuously being developed for the better.
InEachHomeAHeartache@reddit
My friend says he thinks that it's because of Crossrail - a lot of people feel priced out of London but will be able to commute to London from Brum much faster so have brought London money up with them.
macca191@reddit
Birmingham's one thing - I lived and worked there from 1996 to 2000, and it was definitely in transition with the Broad Street and NIA being built. The problem was the Black Country being left to fall in decline after the collapse of heavy industry. West Bromwich, Handsworth, Dudley, Tipton, Great Bridge and Walsall (where I also lived) have been left behind. Much more investment is needed in these areas, particularly after the tram system expanded.
loperaja@reddit
Most of the UK, as much as people like to say everything is shit (apart from Scunthorpe)
mind_thegap1@reddit
Most of Northern Ireland
SubTeamLeader@reddit
Byker. Got semi gentrified by mistake.
simplytom_1@reddit
Certainly not Shields Road
Bjornhattan@reddit
Not so much a place but a group of them - coastal North Tyneside. There has always been affluence particularly in Tynemouth village, but Whitley Bay has gone from a cheap and cheerful seaside resort into a very desirable place to live. North Shields is seeing a lot of independent shops and the like opening up and while there's still a sense of the "old" North Shields there are lots of improvements around the town centre. There are even signs Blyth is starting to spruce itself up a bit - particularly South Beach which again is quite a big visitor draw.
Another answer (albeit too early to say really) might be Sunderland. The city feels like it has some of its confidence back and there are major redevelopments on the former Vaux Brewery site as well as the bridge across to the Stadium of Light. There's some concern locally that the investment has been too focused on Sunderland city centre and the outlying parts of town (as well as Sunderland's satellite towns that fall within the council area) haven't seen much of an improvement - though across in Durham, Seaham is now pretty pleasant as well.
simplytom_1@reddit
Its funny with North Shields. On one street its all nice with a fancy new independent coffee shop, and then on the next street along your hackles are up.
All started with the quayside though which is lovely, then along Albion Road and now the town centre itself, which will be lot better when some of the shopping centre is knocked back down into open space
Still-Process-2527@reddit
I went for work to Sunderland recently and thought it looked good. However some of the local suburbs have fallen behind th city. South hylton for example I thought was a bit of a surreal place
Bjornhattan@reddit
South Hylton feels weirdly cut off (despite the metro). There's only really one road in or out and the next area south from it (Pennywell) has seen a lot of demolitions with them doing up the housing stock.
There are a few nicer suburbs - especially the Roker/Seaburn/Fulwell area which benefits from Metro access and some gorgeous beaches. But Sunderland is slightly unusual in that most of the more affluent areas are relatively central, and the worst parts of town tend to be way out west (both sides of the river). Some of the Washington and Houghton suburbs can be pretty dodgy too - the former seems to specialise in weird and rather unpleasant looking housing - Barmston and Sulgrave are probably the worst areas for it.
SubTeamLeader@reddit
Whitley's always been two towns in one. The place people visited and the one people lived in. The one that got visited was cheap thrills but that's been diminished meaning the other half is now more dominant, which was always more focussed on the positives of the place, and that's influencing the stuff that people visit for as well now. If that makes sense, felt a bit rambling but I can't be bothered to rewrite.
Lost-Actuary-2395@reddit
Leeds
Odd-Paramedic-3826@reddit
Jaywick. Population 5000, just to the south of clacton-on-sea. It was built as a seaside resort town with cheap housing for londoners to buy as second homes, but that didn't really materialise and the houses ended up all being bought by already impoverished families.
So nowadays it's a completely falling apart village with a historically poor community. The high street is just empty lots and the roads have potholes deep enough to expose wires and pipes.
The people seem to be content there though. Apparently a lot of the residents work as sole traders because all the houses constantly need fixing, so there's work to be done.
alacklustrehindu@reddit
I was questioning my sanity reading this reply till the edit lmao
No-Garbage9500@reddit
I'm sure their MP is highly active in Parliament fighting to improve the area.
Odd-Paramedic-3826@reddit
even if they got an MP who actually cared about local matters i don't think there's much you could do to improve jaywick specifically short of bulldozing it. The houses there are barely a step above static caravans and they're approaching 100 years old, its a village on borrowed time
Mothmanrmj@reddit
Brixton, I grew up nearby and it was a place you would not go about at night without being offered all kinds of drugs or fear that you will be mugged. Now its absolutely gentrified and I feel so safe walking about on a Friday night.
SilyLavage@reddit
Bishop Auckland is right up there. A little over a decade ago it was a historic but pretty run-down place whose main attraction was the rather decrepit bishop's palace, but since the Auckland Project got involved with the place it's gone from strength to strength. They've taken over the palace and restored it and its gardens, opened several museums, organise the Kynren theatrical spectacular, invested in the local heritage railway, and opened a new hotel. It's really helping to turn the town around.
Also, the fact the initial backing for the whole thing came from a millionaire wanting to do some good really makes you wonder why some of them seem so eager to hoard their wealth...
ishamm@reddit
I moved out of London when I was two (hackney, early 90s, someone was stabbed and fell into my parents front yard bit, I think that was the last straw 😄), so don't really have much of a frame of reference - BUT I never heard anything good about E&C until recently
I cannot imagine a way in which improved safety doesn't improve a place...
Lukeautograff@reddit
Sheffield has been steadily improving over the past couple of decades
luke-uk@reddit
Porthleven in Cornwall. When I left it was a scruffy coastal town, kids there used to be bullied a bit. Now it’s cool seaside spot with independent shops , great pubs and fancy restaurants. Of course locals may not see it this way…
HowUtterlyGhastly@reddit
Tower Hamlets has become really nice....
Remote_Development13@reddit
Every time I go to Coventry I feel as though the centre has improved massively, still lots of development going on as well
Ill_Refrigerator_593@reddit
The place has always had a bad reputation with my family since my dad & aunt were evacuated there during the war.
Mog_X34@reddit
I guess that was after 1940, otherwise it would have been an 'out of the frying pan, into the fire' scenario.
Ill_Refrigerator_593@reddit
It was before.
After that my gran decided to return to London with the kids. If she was going to be bombed it would at least be the comfort of her own home.
Sure-Junket-6110@reddit
People will say Manchester, but Stockport.
Ill_Refrigerator_593@reddit
It's the new Berlin...
External-Piccolo-626@reddit
Cardiff will be up there. It’s been completely transformed, especially the Bay Area.
greenclause@reddit
Gas Street Basin, Birmingham. It was a drop of point for coal haulage and now it's a gentrified hang out spot.
Dazzling_One_4335@reddit
I had never been to Birmingham until last year and I found what I saw (admittedly only the city centre) to be really lovely! Gorgeous building, really clean, friendly locals. Going back in July.
Rho-Mu13@reddit
Dont explore too much then. City centre is nice, but the bin strike will be 18 months in by then! Whiles the collections happen as usual, there is an epidemic of fly tipping and some areas are downright gross
Dazzling_One_4335@reddit
Yikes
Terrible-Group-9602@reddit
Margate?
teachbirds2fly@reddit
Kings cross is unrecognisable from 15 years ago.
Murder mile aka hackney road as well in 1990s, then cool, then hipsters, and now boringly gentrified.
Agitated_Ad_6774@reddit
Not a physical place on a map, but working a trade in general used to be seen as the idiots place to go in life when higher education was being rammed down everybody's throats. Looking back, my 3 years of studying for an undergraduate degree has proved worthless. Students loans company are the only ones laughing.
I think trades in general are looked upon much more favourably now everybody is starting to realise that there will always be a supply of jobs available. Also the job market is completely saturated with "undergraduates" so having a degree means fk all nowadays anyway.
GloopyHole@reddit
Sunderland
They’re doing a LOT of work to it currently.
TheRadishBros@reddit
Hull is genuinely quite a nice city now (in parts!)
Odd-Accident-3287@reddit
Do u not just think areas change with age , Like when your younger you just seem to be in dodgy places but every dodgy place has nice areas so when u go back it’s not that a certain street has changed or u no longer have to wear a bullet proof vest , it’s just your mindset has changed so ur looking more at the bigger picture
Sea-Still5427@reddit
Central London. In the 70s and even early 80s it was a very different place.
No-Garbage9500@reddit
In 5 years time, Sunderland.
Once they've walled off the old bit so people can't get in or more importantly out (an "accidental" fire might help too), then all you've got is the fantastic redeveloped areas along both sides of the river.
Right now though... There's some lovely new developments. It's just a shame about the rest.
DeadBallDescendant@reddit
Stockport is an entirety different place to what it was.
LadyInAllPower@reddit
I doubt it’s the most, but Balham, south London has come a long way
Bossman_Mike@reddit
Back in the 1990s Clapham was on Crimewatch every month and you didn't go out after dark. It has really improved.
mskubelik@reddit
My mum worked in a bank on Balham High Road in the 80s before we moved to the Westcountry. She was held up at gun point, twice. I eventually moved back to London years later after uni and she couldn’t believe it when I said I couldn’t afford Balham because of how gentrified it had become.
serious_sleep_issues@reddit
A fair few parts of London have become gentrified. I remember drinking in a pub in Broadway market in Hackney through the 90s. The change in the area could be told by the change in the beers they started selling!
Natural_Trick4934@reddit
Manchester / Belfast
Odd-Paramedic-3826@reddit
Definitely not manchester these days. not moreso than any of the other cities.
Natural_Trick4934@reddit
lol! Manchester is tepidly becoming the most exciting British City. I only visit the good bits, but its seems to have far more social equity and opportunity than London. It’s
Odd-Paramedic-3826@reddit
i lived there for 3 years in uni, would like to move back but the job market is terrible and the rent is so high :(
Current_Thing2244@reddit
Probably anywhere in Northern Ireland.
GL510EX@reddit
The seafront at Skegness has improved quite a lot over the last few years; the town is still a bit of a dump but they're refreshed a lot of the arcades along the front, have a nice pedestrianised area joining the main car park to town, and a few nicer kiosks and cafés in that area too.
MamaMiaow@reddit
Birmingham
Separate-Frame-7038@reddit
Jaywick
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