It's official.

[geosname]

So, what makes Stoke-on-Trent such a bad place to live? Serious question. I'm interested to find out what folk think on this subject.

 

I think its horses for courses Caz... some people are content to do the same thing until something stops them... others just cant.

When there was some industry in the area there was money to pass around... even though the industries were not the best places to work... pot banks/brick yards/pits/shelton bar etc... sadly, however bad they were, they no longer exist and nothing has come into the area to replace them... when the decline took a grip the city lost hope and interest.

This spend a fiver in burslem scheme... are there any independent retailers in burslem to spend a fiver with?... I can remember burslem market [before the roof collapsed] offering free stalls to fruit and veg sellers and butchers... no one was interested, are there any butchers in burslem? or fruit and veg sellers?... there were several butchers in hanley but they have gone, except the market, although they have declined rapidly... the butchers end of hanley market is now disability aids and cafes.

I think there are three types of people in SoT... and probably most places... the ones that are stuck... the ones that wouldnt dream of moving... and the ones that have already gone... the first and third I fear are a growing number in SoT.

[cheeky]

I think the biggest problem Stoke and the surrounding area has is the lack of well paid employment, which has lead to people moving out of the area or commuting out of the area. Yes these people are now earning a decent wage on the whole, but it's not being put back into the local economy which has a knock on effect. I've been commutting for 6 years now (cue train comments) and when I first started you could get a seat on a train to Manchester with 3 standard coaches, no problem. Now, the commutter train is an 11 coach train, and you struggle to find a seat. And it's the same south bound. Furthermore, with the advent of technology, a lot of bigger companies offer remote working opportunities so you can have a job in Manchester/Birmingham/London (and benefit from the salary) and still work in your pants one or two days a week.

 

For Stoke to improve, jobs need to be created that are well paid so that people put money back into the local economy (lunch time, shoping, food and drink after work) but I think the point of no return has been reached in that respect. I'd love to work locally, but I've resigned myself to the fact that it will never happen now. There is no viable employment for me in Stoke.

[fairportnick]

Iyou can have a job in Manchester/Birmingham/London (and benefit from the salary) and still work in your pants one or two days a week.

 

 

Andy would love that but he'd probably get locked up.

[JOHNNYAITCH]

So, what makes Stoke-on-Trent such a bad place to live? Serious question. I'm interested to find out what folk think on this subject.

 

Not for me to say as I haven't lived in Sot for many years...I just hear a lot of negative things form family and friends still in SoT

[Valiant in Brum]

Stoke is a bad place to live because it is an eyesore first of all. Then there is nothing to do it is the most dull and depressing place in the country which seems stuck in the past, infact it is just that a wasteland of times gone by. Which the people of the potteries can never get over which stops it moving forward. Most places are light years ahead of stoke. It is by far the worst place to live.

[JOHNNYAITCH]

Having grown up on Norton council estate there was never much money around, few well paid jobs. But there were a lot of jobs..if you wanted to work then there were jobs on the pots, Shelton, the mines, retail, council..even farther afield at Radway Green. Kids walked out of school straight into paid employment and people moved jobs fairly regularly

 

There was (partly as a result of this) much social cohesion, proper communities, a sense that we're all in the same boat and despite people knowing they could change jobs relatively easily the exsiatnce of so many jobs gave stability and security to people..that cohesion thing again..people could look to the future with some certainty

 

That's gone now to a great extent

 

But I believe this also led to some complacency..that people came to ask very little of the place cos they had work, a roof over their head, beer money etc etc..people weren't very aspirational. I' sure this was/is the case in many similar areas

 

That's not meant as a criticism..life was a vast improvement on what it had been 50 or even a 100 years earlier..my own parents moved from real slum housing when they arrived at Norton in the late 50s..71 Smithyfield Road was a palace, life was good

 

I still belive there is this lack of aspiration and many of those that have aspiration move away..again that's not meant as a criticism of those that stay in SoT

 

Major employers will look at this when deciding on where to locate, the people will look at this when it comes to geting skill and training and so on

 

The people of Sot are a wonderful warm simple lot..but at times I think that is one of the great weaknesses of the area..demand more, expect more, don't settle for your lot, be less parochial

 

But then as i said..not having lived in SoT for many years, what do I know ???!!???!

[Shropshire_Valiant]

The job market/pay was the reason my family left in the 80s too(a spell abroad before Hereford, Malvern and now Shropshire) as did a number of our cousins families around the same time(late 70s into 80s) as I'd imagine a lot did for similar reasons. A couple have since moved back but most are now spread around the UK from North Wales to Sussex/Hampshire for example.

 

JA has it spot on imo, the people of Sot are some of the friendliest you'll find, certainly compared to where I live now. The people are OK but strange in other ways and they won't go out of their way to speak to/help others in general. But that's another issue

 

Despite this I'm not sure I could live in Stoke for reasons mentioned on this thread. I love my visits back at times and in the past to see relatives(many of whom have now sadly passed away) and following Vale but after a while you start to lose connection with a place!?

[bookworm]

I think the biggest problem Stoke and the surrounding area has is the lack of well paid employment, which has lead to people moving out of the area or commuting out of the area. Yes these people are now earning a decent wage on the whole, but it's not being put back into the local economy which has a knock on effect. I've been commutting for 6 years now (cue train comments) and when I first started you could get a seat on a train to Manchester with 3 standard coaches, no problem. Now, the commutter train is an 11 coach train, and you struggle to find a seat. And it's the same south bound. Furthermore, with the advent of technology, a lot of bigger companies offer remote working opportunities so you can have a job in Manchester/Birmingham/London (and benefit from the salary) and still work in your pants one or two days a week.

 

For Stoke to improve, jobs need to be created that are well paid so that people put money back into the local economy (lunch time, shoping, food and drink after work) but I think the point of no return has been reached in that respect. I'd love to work locally, but I've resigned myself to the fact that it will never happen now. There is no viable employment for me in Stoke.

 

Perhaps it's because no one likes you but what you've said is true, little or no work full stop, it's heavy traffic east bound up the a50 early doors heading towards toyota and burton plus a sizable few to derby.:(

[For Us All]

Stoke is a bad place to live because it is an eyesore first of all. Then there is nothing to do it is the most dull and depressing place in the country which seems stuck in the past, infact it is just that a wasteland of times gone by. Which the people of the potteries can never get over which stops it moving forward. Most places are light years ahead of stoke. It is by far the worst place to live.

 

Worse than Wolverhampton?

[geosname]

I think one of the worst things in SoT is the general attitude of the residents... it could be worse... its better than it was... I would rather live here than XYZ?... you wouldnt say that if you lived in ABC? etc.

Comparing anything to something that is worse doesnt make it better... its better than DR Congo but that doesnt make SoT a good place to be.

The general acceptance of the people of any area defines its ability to change.

[Robbie Earle's Perm]

I think one of the worst things in SoT is the general attitude of the residents... it could be worse... its better than it was... I would rather live here than XYZ?... you wouldnt say that if you lived in ABC? etc.

Comparing anything to something that is worse doesnt make it better... its better than DR Congo but that doesnt make SoT a good place to be.

The general acceptance of the people of any area defines its ability to change.

 

Spot on and for me one of the biggest criticisms of people generally in S-O-T is the reluctance to accept change, progress and aspire for better.

[philpvfc]

I lived away from Stoke for 5 years and moved back, it's then I realised what a **** hole it is. I didn't realise until I lived in a far nicer place. I have since moved away again and will never move back. The only reason I return is because of the Vale.

[Wereskintandweknowweare]

I lived away from Stoke for 5 years and moved back, it's then I realised what a **** hole it is. I didn't realise until I lived in a far nicer place. I have since moved away again and will never move back. The only reason I return is because of the Vale.

 

I have unfortunately been away from stoke for five years and totally disagree. Yes it makes me totally sick to my stomach when I drive up through middleport with it's once thriving community to see flattened streets a boarded up club etc. I then walk around my beloved mother town to see empty shops galore. I look back on the last thirty years with disbelief we voted for councils who's only interest was Hanley whoops sorry the "city centre" who convinced us to flatten terraced housing instead of re generating them.

For all the folk complaining about stoke on Trent try living outside of it for a year. Then come back and walk around and talk to people in shops in bars in cafés stoke on Trent may have been voted tenth worst which IMO is absolute garbage but the people are number one the friendliest bunch in the uk. Try living in a town with no oat cakes only orange garbage chips steak and kidney pudding is impossible to buy but worst of all no stoke on Trent folk.

Stoke on Trent for me will always remain the best place in the world to live. I was in a meeting last week wiith the usual garbage energiser. So let's go around the table and tell us where's the best place you have ever been.

My reply burslem stoke on Trent.

They all knew I had visited every corner of the globe

I justified it by talking about its fine friendly warm people

They knew I genuinely meant it

Tenth worst my back side

[Caz or caz123]

On first glance some interesting replies there. I'll take a more in depth look when I've more time tomorrow. Thanks for all your thoughts folks! :)

[Valiant in Brum]

I have unfortunately been away from stoke for five years and totally disagree. Yes it makes me totally sick to my stomach when I drive up through middleport with it's once thriving community to see flattened streets a boarded up club etc. I then walk around my beloved mother town to see empty shops galore. I look back on the last thirty years with disbelief we voted for councils who's only interest was Hanley whoops sorry the "city centre" who convinced us to flatten terraced housing instead of re generating them.

For all the folk complaining about stoke on Trent try living outside of it for a year. Then come back and walk around and talk to people in shops in bars in cafés stoke on Trent may have been voted tenth worst which IMO is absolute garbage but the people are number one the friendliest bunch in the uk. Try living in a town with no oat cakes only orange garbage chips steak and kidney pudding is impossible to buy but worst of all no stoke on Trent folk.

Stoke on Trent for me will always remain the best place in the world to live. I was in a meeting last week wiith the usual garbage energiser. So let's go around the table and tell us where's the best place you have ever been.

My reply burslem stoke on Trent.

They all knew I had visited every corner of the globe

I justified it by talking about its fine friendly warm people

They knew I genuinely meant it

Tenth worst my back side

 

 

I am sorry but it is not a place i'd go back too.