Towns or Cities where you were born or lived that have declined or improved over the years

[Ivor]

Seeing so much crime & anti social behaviour across the UK nowadays I was curious to know how your birth towns/cities or where you lived for a long time have declined or improved.

I’ll kick off with two areas of London where I have seen big changes, both are in South London.

1) Balham where I was born & bred in the early 1950s although parts of the area were quite poor & in the main people were renting properties, mainly flats. There was still prefabs around too, yes I am that old. Commons & parks very close which were at that time respected.

Nowadays it’s very much an improved area with designer apartments, gastro pubs, the likes of Waitrose & you need a sizeable income to live no different to a lot of London & many other cities.

2) Croydon where I moved early 1970s & stayed for 32 years & at that time was great with many people drawn from other areas thanks to great transport links as there was a thriving shopping area including The Whitgift Centre now a shell of its former self, the market also is still there, The Fairfield Halls where many major acts came & some to this day still do.

Slowly like many London Boroughs decline set in, 2011 the Croydon riots & then 2015 following a few years of idiot neighbours, drug dealing in my road I moved to the Sussex coast.

It would be easy to waffle on re the positives & negatives but I think I’ve written enough, you get the picture.

 

[YorkshireBear]

Sheffield feels very much like it's gone down hill over last decade, city centre feels like it's had the life sucked out of it both in terms of shopping and nightlife.

 

[Old Yard Dog]

Bradford has seriously gone down hill since I left in 1976. The city has lost most of its pubs, Yorkshire cricket and its only decent formerly D1 football team is now in an over-glorified parks league. But the curries are nice as is haddock properly fried in beef dripping.

We're almost three months into City of Culture and Bradford Live, formerly the Odeon, has still to open as the council struggled to find someone to run it. Bradford's rail connections are appalling with no through services to Sheffield, Liverpool, Birmingham or Manchester Airport - and most GC trains to London take over 1.5 hrs just to reach Doncaster.

 

[75A]

I believe that my 'home' town of Bognor Regis has seriously declined in the past decades. Summed up by the remains of the Pier, in the 70's it was a good length and had the Ocean Bars nightclub on the end.
The adjacent theatre The Esplanade was pulled down and the major employer LEC has also gone, along with all the ancillary suppliers. Even the town football club is about to be relegated to Tier 8.

 

[steamybrian]

I was also born and brought up as a child in Croydon before moving to Kent. I fully agree with "Ivor" in the following points raised

2) Croydon where I moved early 1970s & stayed for 32 years & at that time was great with many people drawn from other areas thanks to great transport links as there was a thriving shopping area including The Whitgift Centre now a shell of its former self, the market also is still there, The Fairfield Halls where many major acts came & some to this day still do.

Slowly like many London Boroughs decline set in, 2011 the Croydon riots & then 2015 following a few years of idiot neighbours, drug dealing in my road I moved to the Sussex coast.

 

[telstarbox]

Seeing so much crime & anti social behaviour across the UK nowadays I was curious to know how your birth towns/cities or where you lived for a long time have declined or improved.

I’ll kick off with two areas of London where I have seen big changes, both are in South London.

1) Balham where I was born & bred in the early 1950s although parts of the area were quite poor & in the main people were renting properties, mainly flats. There was still prefabs around too, yes I am that old. Commons & parks very close which were at that time respected.

Nowadays it’s very much an improved area with designer apartments, gastro pubs, the likes of Waitrose & you need a sizeable income to live no different to a lot of London & many other cities.

2) Croydon where I moved early 1970s & stayed for 32 years & at that time was great with many people drawn from other areas thanks to great transport links as there was a thriving shopping area including The Whitgift Centre now a shell of its former self, the market also is still there, The Fairfield Halls where many major acts came & some to this day still do.

Slowly like many London Boroughs decline set in, 2011 the Croydon riots & then 2015 following a few years of idiot neighbours, drug dealing in my road I moved to the Sussex coast.

It would be easy to waffle on re the positives & negatives but I think I’ve written enough, you get the picture.

Staying in South London Deptford is an example of how 'improvements' are subjective. Some things like the DLR connection and the library would be seen as beneficial by lots of residents. However there has recently been aggressive gentrification - apartments and restaurants which are much more expensive than the older places in the area.
As an ex local it's interesting that Deptford and Peckham have taken off in the trendy race more than nearby Lewisham which is still quite 'everyday'.

 

[simonw]

Seeing so much crime & anti social behaviour across the UK nowadays I was curious to know how your birth towns/cities or where you lived for a long time have declined or improved.

I’ll kick off with two areas of London where I have seen big changes, both are in South London.

1) Balham where I was born & bred in the early 1950s although parts of the area were quite poor & in the main people were renting properties, mainly flats. There was still prefabs around too, yes I am that old. Commons & parks very close which were at that time respected.

Nowadays it’s very much an improved area with designer apartments, gastro pubs, the likes of Waitrose & you need a sizeable income to live no different to a lot of London & many other cities.

2) Croydon where I moved early 1970s & stayed for 32 years & at that time was great with many people drawn from other areas thanks to great transport links as there was a thriving shopping area including The Whitgift Centre now a shell of its former self, the market also is still there, The Fairfield Halls where many major acts came & some to this day still do.

Slowly like many London Boroughs decline set in, 2011 the Croydon riots & then 2015 following a few years of idiot neighbours, drug dealing in my road I moved to the Sussex coast.

It would be easy to waffle on re the positives & negatives but I think I’ve written enough, you get the picture.

Moved to Croydon in early 80s. Left 4 years later after 3rd burglary.

 

[Ivor]

Moved to Croydon in early 80s. Left 4 years later after 3rd burglary.

Wow I think I must have been lucky in some 32 years one break in but wasn’t the house it was an up & over the back gate & broke into the padlocked shed to take two mountain bikes.

 

[Puffing Devil]

Grimsby. That's the post.

 

[Cletus]

I would say Dover has gone down hill in my lifetime, and before.

It started at the beginning of WW2 when a lot of residents left due the invasion threat. 40000 down to 16000 at one point.

Then in my lifetime so many jobs have gone. The military all gone, the coal mines, the engineering works, the mills have gone. Very northern . Employment on the ferries has plummeted, P&O being the final ferry company to discard the locals.

 

[Peter Sarf]

Seeing so much crime & anti social behaviour across the UK nowadays I was curious to know how your birth towns/cities or where you lived for a long time have declined or improved.

I’ll kick off with two areas of London where I have seen big changes, both are in South London.

2) Croydon where I moved early 1970s & stayed for 32 years & at that time was great with many people drawn from other areas thanks to great transport links as there was a thriving shopping area including The Whitgift Centre now a shell of its former self, the market also is still there, The Fairfield Halls where many major acts came & some to this day still do.

Slowly like many London Boroughs decline set in, 2011 the Croydon riots & then 2015 following a few years of idiot neighbours, drug dealing in my road I moved to the Sussex coast.

Tempted to say the decline was visible before 2011 - turn of the century really.

There was also the Warehouse theatre which was nice for smaller shows.

I was also born and brought up as a child in Croydon before moving to Kent. I fully agree with "Ivor" in the following points raised

Croydon watching it decline since 1988. Badly run council letting the Whitgift development stumble along causing planning blight. They entertain ruining the Whitgift while the previous effort to re-develop St Georges Walk shopping centre is still 50% a pile of rubble and 50% shops seldom open.

 

[Ivor]

Tempted to say the decline was visible before 2011 - turn of the century really.

There was also the Warehouse theatre which was nice for smaller shows.

Croydon watching it decline since 1988. Badly run council letting the Whitgift development stumble along causing planning blight. They entertain ruining the Whitgift while the previous effort to re-develop St Georges Walk shopping centre is still 50% a pile of rubble and 50% shops seldom open.

Yes you’re right, The Warehouse, St George’s Walk, nearby Grants Department Store & Allders at the time the third largest Department Store in Europe.

Quite a business hub too with Nestle Head Office & a large BT presence alongside many other companies but this could turn into a Croydon thread so I’ll put the kettle on & check back later re other UK towns & cities

 

[dangie]

Whenever I pay a fleeting visit back to Stoke-on-Trent I’m pleased to say it hasn’t declined in any way. However it hasn’t improved either. It was always a bit of a dump. However Stokies are great.

 

[Pit_buzzer]

Doncaster, once a proud and prosperous industrial town and now a joke of a city, terrible place. Makes me very sad

 

[DannyMich2018]

Nuneaton-apart from a lovely station, the town is a right dump, I'm not kidding but literally 1 in 3 town centre business are closed. Walking from the station to town you pass 2 long closed pubs, the part near the old Wilkos/ Post office is very depressing with at least 8 closed business together.

 

[Killingworth]

Sheffield feels very much like it's gone down hill over last decade, city centre feels like it's had the life sucked out of it both in terms of shopping and nightlife.

Which may help to explain the busy trains to Manchester! Sadly, I'd tend to agree.

Staying in South London Deptford is an example of how 'improvements' are subjective. Some things like the DLR connection and the library would be seen as beneficial by lots of residents. However there has recently been aggressive gentrification - apartments and restaurants which are much more expensive than the older places in the area.
As an ex local it's interesting that Deptford and Peckham have taken off in the trendy race more than nearby Lewisham which is still quite 'everyday'.

I visited Deptford in the late 1980s and spoke to a young architect who had big plans for rejuvenating that area. I'd have called it rough at that time. When I subsequently visited with my wife she refused to get out of the car. I must still have a copy of the plans somewhere. I'm pleased to hear his forecasts have turned out positively. Back then it seemed a true dive!

However the advent of retail centres, online shopping, banking, almost everything has torn the heart out of very many traditional shopping areas be they in small villages, suburbs or large city centres.

 

[Falcon1200]

Paisley is now a sad place to visit; The Paisley Centre is practically empty and we don't even have a McDonalds now! But it's not surprising when places like Braehead and Silverburn are a short drive away, with free parking and (once you are inside) everything under cover. Not to mention on-line shopping, either.

 

[Peter Sarf]

Paisley is now a sad place to visit; The Paisley Centre is practically empty and we don't even have a McDonalds now! But it's not surprising when places like Braehead and Silverburn are a short drive away, with free parking and (once you are inside) everything under cover. Not to mention on-line shopping, either.

The march of online shopping, out of town shopping and home entertainment has taken its toll everywhere. But Some places have really demised more than others.

For Croydon (and undoubtedly some other places) it is how it is handled or exacerbated by the council - the planning blight over Croydon is amazing. Area after area given notice to quit. The high street itself (which has fared less badly) has a landlord demanding expensive leases - more and more conversions to flats.

 

[stuart81]

I've lived in Ipswich for 30+ years and the decline is shocking.

The town centre is a shadow of it's former self, any available space seems to be a corner shop / barber / nail salon. I'm trying to get back to work after being off sick long term and there are simply no jobs about, all the economic activity seems to have shifted to Colchester and Bury St Edmunds in particular.

 

[Ivor]

I've lived in Ipswich for 30+ years and the decline is shocking.

The town centre is a shadow of it's former self, any available space seems to be a corner shop / barber / nail salon. I'm trying to get back to work after being off sick long term and there are simply no jobs about, all the economic activity seems to have shifted to Colchester and Bury St Edmunds in particular.

Yes barber shops on their own we could easily start a separate thread, I bet there isn’t many of us where we live or not to far away where they are surfacing at quite a rate & often not that far apart from each other, got to feel sorry for the barbers that have been there for years if not decades.

Back on topic I used to travel every couple of months to East Anglia but haven’t for the last 15 years but Ipswich & further across the map Norwich were quite thriving shopping areas as was Colchester which from what you’ve said is still doing ok.

 

[350401]

Manchester as a city has improved hugely in the last 20 years or so, it’s now a real boom city with tonnes of new apartments and office blocks being built, an extensive tram network, and a really good nightlife scene. It really feels like a proper second city, and in some ways actually better than London (eg having lots of central bars that open after 11pm).

In London, in the 5 year years I’ve lived here, Bromley seems to have got better. A lot less empty units in the Glades shopping centre than just before the pandemic, and a lot of new coffee shops. I think it’s a place where the advent of WFH has helped - e.g. on my WFH days I often go for a quick lunch at a local cafe and people watch for half an hour. Judging by how busy the restaurants and cafes are, a lot of other people do the same.

 

[Oxfordblues]

Cardiff where I was born in 1952 only became the capital of Wales three years later. It was an atmospheric place with the aroma of Brains and Hancocks breweries wafting over the city, blending with steam and smoke from Canton loco sheds. But we lived in posh Rhiwbina Garden Village, well away from the pollution. Cardiff was a prosperous city with a bustling centre, especially on match days. I loved the old arcades which linked the city streets.

Today, despite the inevitable social problems of our age, it's still a great city. The Welsh language has become trendy again, there's lots of excellent entertainment and some fantastic pubs. Even the once run-down docks have been transformed.

So I can proudly proclaim the city of my birth!

 

[Killingworth]

Yes barber shops on their own we could easily start a separate thread, I bet there isn’t many of us where we live or not to far away where they are surfacing at quite a rate & often not that far apart from each other, got to feel sorry for the barbers that have been there for years if not decades.

Back on topic I used to travel every couple of months to East Anglia but haven’t for the last 15 years but Ipswich & further across the map Norwich were quite thriving shopping areas as was Colchester which from what you’ve said is still doing ok.

I note Colchester still has a department store, Fenwicks. 40 years ago somewhat larger Sheffield had several but now has only one, Atkinsons. On the other hand Meadowhall is still looking busy.

 

[Peter Sarf]

Cardiff where I was born in 1952 only became the capital of Wales three years later. It was an atmospheric place with the aroma of Brains and Hancocks breweries wafting over the city, blending with steam and smoke from Canton loco sheds. But we lived in posh Rhiwbina Garden Village, well away from the pollution. Cardiff was a prosperous city with a bustling centre, especially on match days. I loved the old arcades which linked the city streets.

Today, despite the inevitable social problems of our age, it's still a great city. The Welsh language has become trendy again, there's lots of excellent entertainment and some fantastic pubs. Even the once run-down docks have been transformed.

So I can proudly proclaim the city of my birth!

I can endorse Cardiff. I visit quite often (granddaughter etc). It is far far better than Croydon. I would say Cardiff is big enough without being too big. But also it still has most of its shops. The St Davids centre in Cardiff barely has any empty units - for Croydon the Whitgift centre is beginning to look like it is vying to have only as many units in use as Cardiff St Davids has empty !. Also Cardiff is not such a threatening and noisy environment.

 

[Ivor]

I note Colchester still has a department store, Fenwicks. 40 years ago somewhat larger Sheffield had several but now has only one, Atkinsons. On the other hand Meadowhall is still looking busy.

Yes my closest bigger town is Worthing & both big Department Stores have gone the last few years, Beales & Debenhams. Along side other smaller units closing town centres now have a totally different look, the demise of The High Street.

 

[Bevan Price]

St. Helens has declined since I was young. Many of the best town centre shops have closed, some having moved to out of town shopping centres. The once tired-looking, but busy market was replaced in about the 1960s by a new market that is now fairly quiet and half empty -- possibly because traders could not afford to pay higher rents. The bus services have got progressively worse with the transition from St. Helens Corporation via Merseyside PTE to now (mostly Arriva). Traffic mismanagement plus too many traffic lights make it slow and hard to navigate across the town centre.

I suppose in those ways, it has much in common with any other towns in Northern England and the Midlands.
Fortunately, unlike many other towns, there are no ugly skyscapers to ruin the skyline; another improvement was electrification of the local railway - although reliability could be much better.

 

[iknowyeah]

Manchester as a city has improved hugely in the last 20 years or so, it’s now a real boom city with tonnes of new apartments and office blocks being built, an extensive tram network, and a really good nightlife scene. It really feels like a proper second city, and in some ways actually better than London (eg having lots of central bars that open after 11pm).

In London, in the 5 year years I’ve lived here, Bromley seems to have got better. A lot less empty units in the Glades shopping centre than just before the pandemic, and a lot of new coffee shops. I think it’s a place where the advent of WFH has helped - e.g. on my WFH days I often go for a quick lunch at a local cafe and people watch for half an hour. Judging by how busy the restaurants and cafes are, a lot of other people do the same.

However the character and charm of Manchester is disappearing. I'm only in my thirties and a lot of my favourite pubs and bars have gone, replaced by gimmicky theme bars, massive turnover of restaurants and soulless apartments. I understand the need for the apartments and offices for tax income but there needs to be a balance to keep the character of the city, which I think they're getting wrong

 

[Bevan Price]

Manchester as a city has improved hugely in the last 20 years or so, it’s now a real boom city with tonnes of new apartments and office blocks being built, an extensive tram network, and a really good nightlife scene. It really feels like a proper second city, and in some ways actually better than London (eg having lots of central bars that open after 11pm).

In London, in the 5 year years I’ve lived here, Bromley seems to have got better. A lot less empty units in the Glades shopping centre than just before the pandemic, and a lot of new coffee shops. I think it’s a place where the advent of WFH has helped - e.g. on my WFH days I often go for a quick lunch at a local cafe and people watch for half an hour. Judging by how busy the restaurants and cafes are, a lot of other people do the same.

As a former Manchester student (although I never lived there), I think all those skyscrapers have turned the Manchester skyline into a ghastly mess. But, most of all, the wrecking of Piccadilly Gardens was unforgiveable.

 

[Halwynd]

I preferred Manchester the way it was before the IRA bomb - there's just something about Manchester today that doesn't attract me and I prefer Liverpool now.

 

[Tracked]

Doncaster, once a proud and prosperous industrial town and now a joke of a city, terrible place. Makes me very sad

Certainly been smartened up in the past few years, unfortunately the numbers of homeless/druggies has increased over the same period, it'd be quite decent otherwise - I wonder how much busier it'd be if the issue was dealt with properly, rather than what I've seen in recent years where they get driven to the edges of town during Leger week. Economy wise it's a shell of its former self since the pits closed (and now the Plant's going, although knowing a few people who work there, I've been expecting that for several years), but most places have been hit in the last decade or so, last time I went to York I was surprised at the number of closed shops in the centre (obviously, not as bad, but noticeable).

Haven't lived in either Manchester or Sheffield though I've spent a lot of time in borth, but the increasing numbers of big apartment/office blocks kind of ruin the atmosphere for me.

Never fussed by London, the area round Kings Cross is a lot nicer now than the hole it was 20 years ago, some nice bits away from the centre too