Top 20 Worst places to live in the UK....

I dont hold a lot of stock in these lists.

I've lived in a place that's come out in the tops of these lists many times and for us it was anywhere but.

It's all about what's important to you and often enough, the size of your budget.

I agree.  Where the heck else in the UK could we pay £500pcm for a 3br semi with a dining room AND a garden?  Admittedly, we rent, but still.  

Hmmmmm... moving to the SW appears to be the answer according to Location, Location, Location.  Dh appears enthused by this idea!   

A friend of mine moved out of Manchester to Sheffield because of the gun crime. 
What kind of job are you looking for anyway Dar?   

A job in Regulatory Affairs in Biotech.  Or something doing Project Management. 

Much of this comes to a question of worst in what respect -- Crime, expensive to live, congested?   Some people consider a place to be "bad" if they don't have 24-hour shops, pubs, and nightclubs right on their doorstep.   To others, that's a positive benefit.

And we keep telling ya Yorkshire is the place to be!  Well, except for maybe Doncaster...

I can't say I was impressed with Bradford the one time I visited it either.   The film, photography and TV museum was the only thing worth stopping there for.

Islington ? ? ? ? ?

I can't figure that one out?  A fairly nice part of town

I haven't been through Islington for a long time, but 15 to 20 years ago it was an absolute dump of a place.  Just getting off the northern line at Angel station was enough to give a taste of what was above.   Maybe it's one of those areas like Docklands which has been "done up" and is now supposedly a nice area. 

Places certainly change over time, and I think this might influence some of the results in these surveys, because people will vote for somewhere (good or bad) as they knew it some years earlier when they lived or visited there.

Go Haringey No. 18! at least we beat Islington, which I know has some dodgy bits but seventh? beats me why.

Some bits of Islington are great...the shops and bars on Upper Street, around the old Arsenal Stadium, absolutely lovely.  But there are a lot of council estates and a lot of scuzzy areas which are not pleasant.  I think 'rich' Islington is probably great to live in, but 'poor' Islington can be a hole.  Same as Harringey really.  Remember that Haringey takes in the nice bits of Crouch End and Highgate as well as Wood Green and Turnpike Lane.

Vicky

I can't say I was impressed with Bradford the one time I visited it either.   The film, photography and TV museum was the only thing worth stopping there for.

But if you've only been to Bradford, you've been to just one city!  You haven't really been to Yorkshire.

And if you were in Bradford and you didn't go for a curry, then shame on you!

Remember that Haringey takes in the nice bits of Crouch End and Highgate as well as Wood Green and Turnpike Lane.

Last time I went back through Wood Green, I was glad to get out of the place.  I used to visit what was then the new shopping mall there as a kid.  People used to consider Wood Green a reasonable place to live then -- Nothing special, but not bad either.

Do you know what Bowes Park is like these days?

But if you've only been to Bradford, you've been to just one city!  You haven't really been to Yorkshire.

I meant I've only been to Bradford once.   I visited Scarborough once, which I found much more pleasant.   

I meant I've only been to Bradford once.   I visited Scarborough once, which I found much more pleasant.   

Not knowing how long ago was your visit?  Leeds itself has had a complete & total makeover in the last 20 years - certainly considered to be one of the most dramatic & unexpected turnarounds that has taken place in the 'grim north'.  Although some (HME -- hee hee!) might say something valuable was lost in the process of making downtown Leeds the upscale shopping mecca it now is.  (Although we've still got pockets of scruffy, low rent too if you know where to look... )

Bradford is like the scruffier, grittier, more working class sibling to Leeds -- but it's great for different things:  the museum that you mention, curries, and a real multi-cultural melting pot both with the Asian immigrations in the mid-20th century and new Eastern European ones.

But again, this is just one small part of the whole of Yorkshire - the biggest & bestest county in England!

Last time I went back through Wood Green, I was glad to get out of the place.  I used to visit what was then the new shopping mall there as a kid.  People used to consider Wood Green a reasonable place to live then -- Nothing special, but not bad either.

Do you know what Bowes Park is like these days?
I meant I've only been to Bradford once.   I visited Scarborough once, which I found much more pleasant. 

Wood Green is not so bad -- though there are lots of large groups of loud kids hanging about, which can be intimidating.

Bowes Park is being touted as the next Muswell Hill by the estate agents. I'll believe it when I see it.

Wood Green is not so bad -- though there are lots of large groups of loud kids hanging about, which can be intimidating.

Bowes Park is being touted as the next Muswell Hill by the estate agents. I'll believe it when I see it.

Oooh, I disagree.  Wood Green is a sh1thole, and certainly nothing like how Paul and I remember it from 25 years ago (my mum can talk at length on the matter!).  A friend of mine was considering moving there...I begged him not to.  I occasionally go to the cinema there, and even with my strapping boyfriend alongside me I feel intimidated (and I'm fairly street wise).  I would never drink around there...not that there are any nice pubs anyway.

Bowes Park is okay.  Not quite the next Muzzie though.


Vicky

Oooh, I disagree.  Wood Green is a sh1thole, and certainly nothing like how Paul and I remember it from 25 years ago (my mum can talk at length on the matter!).  A friend of mine was considering moving there...I begged him not to.  I occasionally go to the cinema there, and even with my strapping boyfriend alongside me I feel intimidated (and I'm fairly street wise).  I would never drink around there...not that there are any nice pubs anyway.

Bowes Park is okay.  Not quite the next Muzzie though.

Vicky

Being the newcomer, I was trying to be nice Nothing beats the opinion of a native!
I mostly use the cinema as well -- I'm curious, when was the mall/housing block built?
I find the complex a bit bizarre -- like some sorty of alien craft deposited on the high street.

Oooh, I disagree.  Wood Green is a sh1thole, and certainly nothing like how Paul and I remember it from 25 years ago (my mum can talk at length on the matter!).  A friend of mine was considering moving there...I begged him not to.  I occasionally go to the cinema there, and even with my strapping boyfriend alongside me I feel intimidated (and I'm fairly street wise).  I would never drink around there...not that there are any nice pubs anyway.

Bowes Park is okay.  Not quite the next Muzzie though.


Vicky

I used to live in that other lovely area, not far from Wood Green, Palmer's Green. Oh, taking the night bus was never fun.

I'm curious, when was the mall/housing block built?

The original part was built during the 1970s.   I used to go there quite often around 1976-78, mostly because I discovered a little bookstore which carried an interesting range of technical books.   As I recall, it was really only just about getting going then, with just a few stores and a lot of empty spaces waiting to be occupied.   My grandparents lived at Arnos Grove, so it was only a couple of stops away on the Piccadilly line during weekend visits (and as I loved riding the Underground then, if I had time and pocket-money to spare I'd go to Turnpike Lane instead and walk back!).

The area on the east side of the High Road now occupied by the center had formerly been the Noel Park & Wood Green railway station:

http://www.subbrit.org.uk/sb-sites/stations/n/noel_park_and_wood_green/index.shtml

I used to live in that other lovely area, not far from Wood Green, Palmer's Green.

Again from the era I remember (no doubt Vicky too), it was another reasonable enough area.  It's sad to see how things have gone downhill so much around there.   Edmonton has deteriorated badly.  Even Winchmore Hill where I lived when I was very young isn't what it was.