Question from an American - what are considered the roughest areas in Britain?

[JazMerkin]

In terms of being similar to US levels of crime, I'd say that Glasgow, Manchester & London are the only ones that are really comparable.

Glasgow is apparently stab-happy, haven't been there myself, but I hear they don't play up there. Moss Side & Longsight in Manchester are definitely bad.

As for London, there's bad bits all over, Tottenham & Hackney in the North/East bit of the city, Harlesden/Acton in the West & basically a big part of South London, which I live slap bang in the middle of. Brixton, Peckham & Lewisham (where I live) are the 3 worst areas.

We usually get a couple of shootings or stabbings in a week although fortunately more people wear bullet-proofs & stabproofs nowadays so there's less fatalities, even if occasionally a stray does hit someone like with that Polish nurse. There's a lot less that goes on in the street (as in drive-bys & that) than there used to be, largely because having permanent armed police units on patrol (in the boroughs of Lambeth, Southwark & Lewisham) has basically pushed the major gang warfare underground, meaning that the big incinerator nearby is basically becoming a giant crematorium.

[CFH]

In terms of being similar to US levels of crime, I'd say that Glasgow, Manchester & London are the only ones that are really comparable.

Glasgow is apparently stab-happy, haven't been there myself, but I hear they don't play up there. Moss Side & Longsight in Manchester are definitely bad.

As for London, there's bad bits all over, Tottenham & Hackney in the North/East bit of the city, Harlesden/Acton in the West & basically a big part of South London, which I live slap bang in the middle of. Brixton, Peckham & Lewisham (where I live) are the 3 worst areas.

We usually get a couple of shootings or stabbings in a week although fortunately more people wear bullet-proofs & stabproofs nowadays so there's less fatalities, even if occasionally a stray does hit someone like with that Polish nurse. There's a lot less that goes on in the street (as in drive-bys & that) than there used to be, largely because having permanent armed police units on patrol (in the boroughs of Lambeth, Southwark & Lewisham) has basically pushed the major gang warfare underground, meaning that the big incinerator nearby is basically becoming a giant crematorium.

You seem to have a decent amount of money, I know you travel for work and that you flew to the U.S. to see Pacquiao - Hatton, so why do you live where you do (if you don't mind me asking)?

[Gandalf]

In truth everywhere has bad areas, obviously the major citys have got bigger areas.

Manchester is pretty bad in certain area's Salfords not that bad really, depends on which area of Salford, South Manchester Gorton,Longsight there rough as bears arses.

To be fair I haven't lived up there in a fair few years. I was younger and a little more wide eyed then, so it certainly seemed very rough and you wouldn't want to hang out in the local pubs too much.

A friend of mine working in local government around there said that apparently the local government has spent a fair bit of cash trying to regenerate parts of Salford, but I haven no idea how accurate this is or what level of success it had.

In all my time living in Salford and Manchester I never got into a single confrontation and that was despite me being a typical student and spending a lot of time in bars. I've been punched on the nose more in Korea and had many more confrontations here. Despite that I still percieve Northern England as far more dangerous. I think perhaps my character has changed somewhat.

[Gandalf]

In terms of being similar to US levels of crime, I'd say that Glasgow, Manchester & London are the only ones that are really comparable.

Glasgow is apparently stab-happy, haven't been there myself, but I hear they don't play up there. Moss Side & Longsight in Manchester are definitely bad.

As for London, there's bad bits all over, Tottenham & Hackney in the North/East bit of the city, Harlesden/Acton in the West & basically a big part of South London, which I live slap bang in the middle of. Brixton, Peckham & Lewisham (where I live) are the 3 worst areas.

We usually get a couple of shootings or stabbings in a week although fortunately more people wear bullet-proofs & stabproofs nowadays so there's less fatalities, even if occasionally a stray does hit someone like with that Polish nurse. There's a lot less that goes on in the street (as in drive-bys & that) than there used to be, largely because having permanent armed police units on patrol (in the boroughs of Lambeth, Southwark & Lewisham) has basically pushed the major gang warfare underground, meaning that the big incinerator nearby is basically becoming a giant crematorium.

That name brings back memories! I used to do relief work in the bookies to supplement my meagre student resources and would get shipped out all over Manchester. Longsight was one, Ardwick was another, the Picaddily one was actually alright. I met a lot of very interesting people, but definitely some that you would want to be careful around.

[JazMerkin]

You seem to have a decent amount of money, I know you travel for work and that you flew to the U.S. to see Pacquiao - Hatton, so why do you live where you do (if you don't mind me asking)?

I think how I live probably gives you the impression there's more than there is. The travel was for a work placement in Europe, so they covered my travel & living costs. The money that went on Hatton-Pacquiao, (which when taking hotel, flight, fight ticket, spending dough into account was about £2000) was money both me & my girlfriend had saved up together over the previous year for a holiday. I mean, by the standards of where I live, my family is pretty well-off, but I think if you compared us to most people in Britain, we'd be considered 'poor' by some.

I still live here, because it's where I grew up & even with everything wrong with it, it's the place I feel comfortable & all my friends & family are still here. I probably would have been just like most of my friends growing up headed either to jail or an early death, if it hadn't been for 2 teachers I had in my community college, who basically changed my life & because of them I've now got 2 degrees & at least some possibilities at 23. I know that the area isn't going to get better whilst the only role models are drug dealers & sports stars long gone, so I feel like if I just leave than I'd basically be selling out. I might feel different once I have kids as I don't know if I'd want them growing up here as it is now, but until then I want to actually at least try to do something positive for my community & leaving it behind won't do that.

[sonny78]

I am from Manchester and have lived about 3 doors down from Ricky Hatton from a kid to my early twenties, it has always made me laugh when I have read stories of Ricky fighting his way up from the mean streets of Manchester its really nice round here

I play rugby and work in Salford there are some rough as f**k places round there but as everywhere some nice places and some good people too

[Fenster]

You seem to have a decent amount of money, I know you travel for work and that you flew to the U.S. to see Pacquiao - Hatton, so why do you live where you do (if you don't mind me asking)?

I think how I live probably gives you the impression there's more than there is. The travel was for a work placement in Europe, so they covered my travel & living costs. The money that went on Hatton-Pacquiao, (which when taking hotel, flight, fight ticket, spending dough into account was about £2000) was money both me & my girlfriend had saved up together over the previous year for a holiday. I mean, by the standards of where I live, my family is pretty well-off, but I think if you compared us to most people in Britain, we'd be considered 'poor' by some.

I still live here, because it's where I grew up & even with everything wrong with it, it's the place I feel comfortable & all my friends & family are still here. I probably would have been just like most of my friends growing up headed either to jail or an early death, if it hadn't been for 2 teachers I had in my community college, who basically changed my life & because of them I've now got 2 degrees & at least some possibilities at 23. I know that the area isn't going to get better whilst the only role models are drug dealers & sports stars long gone, so I feel like if I just leave than I'd basically be selling out. I might feel different once I have kids as I don't know if I'd want them growing up here as it is now, but until then I want to actually at least try to do something positive for my community & leaving it behind won't do that.

You make me laugh the way you describe south London - it sounds like Boys in the Hood

In 33 years i've never seen anyone shot, shot at or stabbed to death (know of it but not actually seen it).

Where is the estate you live on in Lewisham?

[jamiebhoy]

I am from Glasgow and it gets a bad rep some times. Many parts of it deserve the name but it's a good City to visit for museums and parks and the nightlife is good in the centre.

Go to a housing estate at you own peril though, as someone said it's stab happy. I have had friends involved in some real nsty shit and my cousin was killed a few years back in a stabbing incident because he had an argument about someone switching channels on the TV in the pub

I have been chased by people with knives and hammers and axes , was all a bit mental growing up at times. I used to watch running battles with gangs from my Grans 4th floor window at weekends.

I tend to not notice things in other cities at times becasue I got a bit immune to it , can be a bit dangerous as I tend to take things for granted and don't take much shit from local upstarts

[BIG H]

I am from Glasgow and it gets a bad rep some times. Many parts of it deserve the name but it's a good City to visit for museums and parks and the nightlife is good in the centre.

Go to a housing estate at you own peril though, as someone said it's stab happy. I have had friends involved in some real nsty shit and my cousin was killed a few years back in a stabbing incident because he had an argument about someone switching channels on the TV in the pub

I have been chased by people with knives and hammers and axes , was all a bit mental growing up at times. I used to watch running battles with gangs from my Grans 4th floor window at weekends.

I tend to not notice things in other cities at times becasue I got a bit immune to it , can be a bit dangerous as I tend to take things for granted and don't take much shit from local upstarts

I've never been to Galsgow, but it scares the sh1t out of me When I was at school we had a lad move into town that was from Easter house, he was an absolute loon lol

[jamiebhoy]

I am from Glasgow and it gets a bad rep some times. Many parts of it deserve the name but it's a good City to visit for museums and parks and the nightlife is good in the centre.

Go to a housing estate at you own peril though, as someone said it's stab happy. I have had friends involved in some real nsty shit and my cousin was killed a few years back in a stabbing incident because he had an argument about someone switching channels on the TV in the pub

I have been chased by people with knives and hammers and axes , was all a bit mental growing up at times. I used to watch running battles with gangs from my Grans 4th floor window at weekends.

I tend to not notice things in other cities at times becasue I got a bit immune to it , can be a bit dangerous as I tend to take things for granted and don't take much shit from local upstarts

I've never been to Galsgow, but it scares the sh1t out of me When I was at school we had a lad move into town that was from Easter house, he was an absolute loon lol

Bet he was mate, that's the next estate across from where lived, got picked up by the cops one night and they took me to the station in Easterhouse, told me it was more fun letting me walk home than taking me inside to charge me. That was a long night walking in the shadows to avoid being seen !!

[JazMerkin]

You make me laugh the way you describe south London - it sounds like Boys in the Hood

In 33 years i've never seen anyone shot, shot at or stabbed to death (know of it but not actually seen it).

Where is the estate you live on in Lewisham?

I live on Lethbridge. Which bit of South were you from?

I don't find it funny or cool watching people I grew up with going to jail or becoming drug addicts. One of my friends was shot dead in his car just 3 months ago over some stupid shit, so I certainly don't find it at all amusing. I'm not Lefty, I don't think this hard man shit is cool, I think most of the people doing it are just looking for some small, pathetic way to feel important. The problem is these dickheads have taken over as the idols for most of the young boys in the bits, even me when I was 14 & stupid. They have all the nice shit, everyone acts like they're really somebody. There's a lot more decent hard-working people in the area than these fuckers, but we've yet to make someone getting up & working as a postman or a bus driver a desirable job, so kids won't see it that way.

It isn't like Compton or West Baltimore, I certainly don't want to give that impression, I should probably be more specific in some stuff I say, we don't have loads of people just walking along the street shooting each other or pulling drive-bys in broad daylight. The murder rate is barely comparable here to the US thankfully. But, people are still getting killed & it's getting worse. The big problem is drugs, which many people see as the easiest way to money. I'd say 95% of shootings are over drugs or gang wars over drugs. The stabbings are the thing that tend to be over minor issues, like somebody looking at someone wrong or moving to the wrong girl. It's also not like Glasgow where I heard people get stabbed like 85 times.

[JazMerkin]

I am from Glasgow and it gets a bad rep some times. Many parts of it deserve the name but it's a good City to visit for museums and parks and the nightlife is good in the centre.

Go to a housing estate at you own peril though, as someone said it's stab happy. I have had friends involved in some real nsty shit and my cousin was killed a few years back in a stabbing incident because he had an argument about someone switching channels on the TV in the pub

I have been chased by people with knives and hammers and axes , was all a bit mental growing up at times. I used to watch running battles with gangs from my Grans 4th floor window at weekends.

I tend to not notice things in other cities at times becasue I got a bit immune to it , can be a bit dangerous as I tend to take things for granted and don't take much shit from local upstarts

Your guys up there are mad. I remember seeing one Glaswegian guy fighting 7 armed Cypriot police in Ayia Napa, with blood pouring down his face, & the lil fucker (he was about 5'7) was actually winning until one clubbed him over the back of the head with a rifle butt. Actually come to think of it, most Glaswegians I've met have either been frightening lunatics or crackheads. Guess we won't be meeting up for a pint anytime mate

[jamiebhoy]

I am from Glasgow and it gets a bad rep some times. Many parts of it deserve the name but it's a good City to visit for museums and parks and the nightlife is good in the centre.

Go to a housing estate at you own peril though, as someone said it's stab happy. I have had friends involved in some real nsty shit and my cousin was killed a few years back in a stabbing incident because he had an argument about someone switching channels on the TV in the pub

I have been chased by people with knives and hammers and axes , was all a bit mental growing up at times. I used to watch running battles with gangs from my Grans 4th floor window at weekends.

I tend to not notice things in other cities at times becasue I got a bit immune to it , can be a bit dangerous as I tend to take things for granted and don't take much shit from local upstarts

Your guys up there are mad. I remember seeing one Glaswegian guy fighting 7 armed Cypriot police in Ayia Napa, with blood pouring down his face, & the lil fucker (he was about 5'7) was actually winning until one clubbed him over the back of the head with a rifle butt. Actually come to think of it, most Glaswegians I've met have either been frightening lunatics or crackheads. Guess we won't be meeting up for a pint anytime mate

Here was me looking forward to a nice game of dominoes down the pub too

I hear what you are saying about shit going down though, it's usually some little toss pot starting shit for nothing at all. It's always been the teaming up against one person that gets me in some places.

The worst Glaswegian is a mix of your experiences , the loony crackhead who also happens to be drunk and in a bad mood.I will say one thing for us though, we do like to stand our corner if we're in the right (or at least our version of right)

[Rantcatrat]

In truth everywhere has bad areas, obviously the major citys have got bigger areas.

Manchester is pretty bad in certain area's Salfords not that bad really, depends on which area of Salford, South Manchester Gorton,Longsight there rough as bears arses.

To be fair I haven't lived up there in a fair few years. I was younger and a little more wide eyed then, so it certainly seemed very rough and you wouldn't want to hang out in the local pubs too much.

A friend of mine working in local government around there said that apparently the local government has spent a fair bit of cash trying to regenerate parts of Salford, but I haven no idea how accurate this is or what level of success it had.

In all my time living in Salford and Manchester I never got into a single confrontation and that was despite me being a typical student and spending a lot of time in bars. I've been punched on the nose more in Korea and had many more confrontations here. Despite that I still percieve Northern England as far more dangerous. I think perhaps my character has changed somewhat.

What are you doing in Korea? Seoul? My best friend lives in Seoul. I'm a big fan of the city.

Are the areas described - South London, parts of Manchester, and Glasgow (is that Scotland?) - comparable to US tough? The last time I was in London I was under the impression the more destitute areas were bad in the sense there were crackheads and fistfights, but they weren't horrible. Also, in the states, most of the bad areas in the major west coast and east coast cities although not all (Youngstown, Ohio where KP is from is pretty hard from what I gather), are predominately african american or latino, are the bad areas in the UK predominately one racial group? Mixed? Russian (JOKE - like in Eastern Promises)?

Growing up in LA, I was jumped a dozen or so times, and I lived in a good area, but it was in the middle of the city. It kind of came with the territory that would happen if you know what I mean.

[Fenster]

You make me laugh the way you describe south London - it sounds like Boys in the Hood

In 33 years i've never seen anyone shot, shot at or stabbed to death (know of it but not actually seen it).

Where is the estate you live on in Lewisham?

I live on Lethbridge. Which bit of South were you from?

I don't find it funny or cool watching people I grew up with going to jail or becoming drug addicts. One of my friends was shot dead in his car just 3 months ago over some stupid shit, so I certainly don't find it at all amusing. I'm not Lefty, I don't think this hard man shit is cool, I think most of the people doing it are just looking for some small, pathetic way to feel important. The problem is these dickheads have taken over as the idols for most of the young boys in the bits, even me when I was 14 & stupid. They have all the nice shit, everyone acts like they're really somebody. There's a lot more decent hard-working people in the area than these fuckers, but we've yet to make someone getting up & working as a postman or a bus driver a desirable job, so kids won't see it that way.

It isn't like Compton or West Baltimore, I certainly don't want to give that impression, I should probably be more specific in some stuff I say, we don't have loads of people just walking along the street shooting each other or pulling drive-bys in broad daylight. The murder rate is barely comparable here to the US thankfully. But, people are still getting killed & it's getting worse. The big problem is drugs, which many people see as the easiest way to money. I'd say 95% of shootings are over drugs or gang wars over drugs. The stabbings are the thing that tend to be over minor issues, like somebody looking at someone wrong or moving to the wrong girl. It's also not like Glasgow where I heard people get stabbed like 85 times.

Ah right, I know where you mean, big estate. I've just moved after living for ten years up the other end of Lewisham high street near the hospital. I've lived in quite a few different places in London, I'm from Bermondsey.

I don't think you're a bullshitter, gloryfying or a fantasist mate. It's funny how we live in the same place but experience things differently. I don't really know about these youth gangs. The only dealings i've had with them was when they robbed a bar/club I was working in a few years ago (3 times). Thankfully they didn't shoot me or carve me up ().