Your opinions on "progressive" towns in the UK

I can tell you what city is NOT "progressive" in terms of liberal, cultured, intellectual, activism oriented people is Preston despite there being a large university.   

But Preston's was a Polytechnic rather than a traditional university, and thet could be part of it

I makes me mad when I read about this place or that place being built with the con line such as, "this will bring about 500 jobs" when it is complete. This is a con game in my opinion.
Lets see if we knock down Windsor Castle we could build the largest Tesco store in Europe there and provide 200 jobs
My point is I would rather that the scenery not being destroyed.
I think that the UK must be littered with fairly new buildings that are empty because of changes in companies plans. It would be nice if they created jobs by knocking down these fairly new empty buildings and restoring the land.
Now if I was hungry and desperately needing work my eyes might light up if jobs were being created in my area. So OK use existing buildings and not go out and tear up the countryside.
I could go for a stiff tax on destroying farm land.
Man I had better go and get something to eat and simmer down

But Preston's was a Polytechnic rather than a traditional university, and thet could be part of it

Ahem, I know at least one very liberal, cultured, intellectual, etc. person who has come up through the old Poly system and went on teach in a Poly. Not Preston, mind you, but still ...

Denis,


I do not think it means what you think it means.

May I suggest Lancaster? Small, beautiful, old city with lots of history and plenty of access to fab countryside.  From a progressive standpoint, ymmv depending on, as others have said, your definition of "progress".  Lancaster was the first "fairtrade" town and is heavily investing in the locovore movement.  That's the kind of thing that gets my attention!

Hiya!

I have no idea what the pic means or could mean..  ?

Cheers - You do need to relax a bit! the site Sainsburys has opened up was derelict/unused/undeveloped since the Greyhound stadium finished and Co-op superstore that was there shut down quite a few years back. It was then being developed into something, but then the credit crunch really took hold and most building work there and in other places in town stopped around late 2007. It's within the last 2 months or so, I've seen some stirring going on again in these developments. The Sainsbury's one has been ultra rapid construction since it was announed a few months ago, they will have it open within the next 6-8 weeks I think. You are mistakenly assuming it's green belt land or sites of cultural or heritage importannce that's being used up - It's not. In fact with law and legislation about where to build being so tight here, not much green belt and countryside land gets used up from towns and cities that are already in existence.

You are also retired I believe? - with the worsening and likliehood of more job losses in the UK workforce to happen, then any investment by bigger businesses to create jobs, develop city/town centre building dead spots is welcome in order to 'progress' economically - not everyone is in your scenario in thinking 'creating X jobs' is a 'con'. There already is what amounts to a 'stiff tax' or taxes in green belt land, as mentioned its very closely controlled, if you want to buy land you have to pay the very very high land prices, then apply for planning and all the rest of it. Whilst 'Some' urban sprawl does occur, it's no where near the levels you are thinking - it's not like an area of 10 square miles is needed to bolt onto the side of Reading or Carlisle for instance.

Chary - I 'understand' that it'd be great for local businesses like Butchers, Bakeries, plumbers, post offices etc etc etc be in smaller villages and more rural areas. Those businesses need support and infrastructure, of that I have no doubt. However, as the vast majority of this forum are 'private' individuals, most simply do not realise just how much MORE expensive it is for businesses than it is for private/homes. I'll take the example of broadband provision to rural and semi rural areas for business. Ther'es much talk of how to solve this and some excellent ways put forward to do it, however with the amount of red tape involved, it pushes the pricing up in order to provide the infrastructure, then the businesses don't want to pay the inflated pricing for the service when still getting proportionally less bandwidth as the provider wants and looks to recoup it's expenses. And so it's been pretty much deadlocked for the last 7-8 years or so. Who's to blame? - so, is it any wonder businesses wind up or move (if they can) closer to larger towns/cities? - In it's simplest form, I guess businesses in rural areas that are tied in to what's available locally will do best, businesses that have less demand are likely to wither away.

Progressive does and can mean allsorts - however, pretty much everything stems from the fact you need some economic driver for an area, town or city - remove the economic driver and the place will not be for much except for looking at and taking scenic pictures of!  and it's not like the UK is lacking in green space! there's more than plenty of it !

Cheers, DtM! West London & Slough - which is 'prgressive' in that you drive 3 minutes and you're in lovely picturesque countryside and small local villages with that lovely quieter and cosy feel, and within 22 minutes you can be in Paddington Central London!

A while back, neo cons discovered that their positions were being labeled regressive - and they hatched this idea to try and take ownership of the word "progressive". Much the same as Gingrich and crew began trying to position the right as the party of morality. These are distortions. You can hold a march and stand in front of the Lincoln memorial and claim the legacy of MLK all you want but it simply isn't true.

And tax cuts that hit the poor and children and the sick are not progressive.

There are plenty of towns in the US that probably couldn't be characterized as progressive, despite having a large university presence there.

I spent 8 dreadfully long years in College Station, TX (no offense to any Aggies out there) and it was the most conservative place I had ever experienced. Despite having nearly 40,000 students, the town was fueled by a very narrow-minded, extremely conservative population.

While I won't completely label the area as "progressive" (as others have said, you'll find the asbos/yobs/etc everywhere), I'm finding my time in Norwich so far to be a very refreshing contrast to my previous living situations , and it's the little things here that help. There's some decent markets with locally sourced produce and meats, very politically active neighborhood associations, parks, a very comprehensive recycling program (one that tops anything that I had experience with in the States), fairly friendly people.

I'm sure my experience is filtered a bit based on the particular neighborhood we live in---Those traits are what make it so attractive (not to mention $$)to people. The rest of Norwich probably has its fair share of what you may consider to be just as bad as your experiences in Newcastle.

Hmm.. I'm confused by the suggestions of Brighton.  Just because it's is a bit funky in places and gay-friendly, doesnt make it "progressive", IMO (and I have been there many times).  You are more likely to see drunken stag dos and bunny eared hen dos than any real social or political reform.

Dennis, dont tell anyone, but I could hardly control my excitement when a big beautiful Sainsbury's opened near me  

But Brighton did elect the first Green MP.

But Brighton did elect the first Green MP.

...and to me gay-friendly and funky *is* progressive. 

I'm not sure if Bristol itself is progressive (in a governmental way), but I really felt the people I worked with were very progressive, liberal, open-minded, cultured, and well-traveled. I'm sure they moved in similar circles.

Hey M, just wanted to say, from the conversations you and I have had before about Newcastle, it seems you would be happy in a bigger city (you said before that Newcastle was a bit too small for your taste after living in London) and less stag dos and drunkenness than you get there in the toon. So what about Manchester or Leeds? You lived in London and enjoyed it, so obviously there are plenty of places to live around there, but if you want something different, and something bigger and busier than Newcastle, then it seems those are some pretty good options, unless you also want to consider some of the other larger cities in UK, which may not all be in England like Edinburgh (definitely my fave city in UK by far of the ones I've been to) or Cardiff. Good luck, wherever you end up. 

I spent 8 dreadfully long years in College Station, TX (no offense to any Aggies out there) and it was the most conservative place I had ever experienced. Despite having nearly 40,000 students, the town was fueled by a very narrow-minded, extremely conservative population.

LOL! No kidding! I went there once in the late 90's and got into an argument with some jock at standing in line at McDonald's who called me a freak because I have a tattoo. Definitely not a very open-minded place! 

Hey M, just wanted to say, from the conversations you and I have had before abo
LOL! No kidding! I went there once in the late 90's and got into an argument with some jock at standing in line at McDonald's who called me a freak because I have a tattoo. Definitely not a very open-minded place! 

We had a neighbor in College Station who proclaimed that her favorite part about living there was the fact that her child could walk down the street and not be "exposed" to undesirable people---you know, people with piercings and tattoos and such.  OMG.  Soooo glad to be outta there!

I think of Manchester as quite a progressive place, although we do have our fair share of total idiots (which, obviously, multiplies during sporting events).  There is a thriving LGBT community, tons of art, music and other cultural stuff, and two universities, so all the benefits that comes with that.  That said, it is once again the circles of friends you have and where in the area you live.  We live in Victoria Park, but a few miles down to road is student-centric Fallowfield, and while I love the students I work with, there are very few I would want to live right next to, partially because I'm sure if they could hear my alarm going off at the "early" hour of 7:30am, it would drive some of them batty!