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

[X]

I've lived in lots of places, and in rough order of getting, robbed shot and killed:

Durban, South Africa
Detroit, US
Kuwait

Then, in decreasing likelihood of getting chellenged for being in the wrong place, stabbed and seriously maimed:

Chicago, US
Croydon, UK
Dagenham, UK

But oddly enough ....... the places where you are absolutely guaranteed to get into a fight (usually fists) EVERY SINGLE NIGHT

Ripley, Derbyshire, UK
Shrewsbury, Shropshire UK

Nowhere else is as full of aggressive drunk and violent people who have no thought of consequence - possibly because they are less likely to get killed if they start.

[RozzySean]

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 have some very good friends from Glasgow and spent a bit of time there. I stayed on the west side and it's pretty nice in that part of town, but my friends from there warned me about the rough spots and reminded me of of the old joke "what do you call a knife fight between two Weegies? A square go!"

[JazMerkin]

I've always wondered. What are the top three? Are they breeding grounds for famous British boxers?

compared to places in America, this question is akin to asking "What are the roughest places in Nebraska, Iowa, Canada, and France?"

I KNOW this will spark a lot of banter, but consider this: in the place you live, when was the last time there was an AK-47 shoot out in the middle of a public place?

There are places in Arkansas that reminded me a lot of Iraq, (or rather I was reminded of places in Arkansas when I was in Iraq).

Of course, people in Africa and South America can trump us all.

You'd be surprised. You do get 'shoot-outs' in London & Manchester although your average guy tends to use revolvers because they're more easily accessible & because they & their ammo are cheaper. Guns aren't legal here, so there's a higher price on machine guns, plus they are also not to convenient to stick down the back of your trousers as you walk down the high street.

Oh & don't end up in the wrong part of Paris or Marseille & think France is a joke. They've got areas on the outskirts of their big cities that are basically like Newark. Constant riots, tower blocks on fire.

[hfahrenheit]

I've always wondered. What are the top three? Are they breeding grounds for famous British boxers?

compared to places in America, this question is akin to asking "What are the roughest places in Nebraska, Iowa, Canada, and France?"

I KNOW this will spark a lot of banter, but consider this: in the place you live, when was the last time there was an AK-47 shoot out in the middle of a public place?

There are places in Arkansas that reminded me a lot of Iraq, (or rather I was reminded of places in Arkansas when I was in Iraq).

Of course, people in Africa and South America can trump us all.

You'd be surprised. You do get 'shoot-outs' in London & Manchester although your average guy tends to use revolvers because they're more easily accessible & because they & their ammo are cheaper. Guns aren't legal here, so there's a higher price on machine guns, plus they are also not to convenient to stick down the back of your trousers as you walk down the high street.

Oh & don't end up in the wrong part of Paris or Marseille & think France is a joke. They've got areas on the outskirts of their big cities that are basically like Newark. Constant riots, tower blocks on fire.

I went to Paris and Normandy back in 2006, and actually saw a couple of fist fights on the street in the middle of the day (in Paris), they were actually really funny. There didn't seem to be such a concentrated and severe sense of desperation or despondency, so the areas didn't feel as dangerous. In Paris, you have to go to Montmartre and St-Denis to find trouble, but in America, the drug dealers come to white suburban areas to fucking kill each other.

[JazMerkin]

You'd be surprised. You do get 'shoot-outs' in London & Manchester although your average guy tends to use revolvers because they're more easily accessible & because they & their ammo are cheaper. Guns aren't legal here, so there's a higher price on machine guns, plus they are also not to convenient to stick down the back of your trousers as you walk down the high street.

Oh & don't end up in the wrong part of Paris or Marseille & think France is a joke. They've got areas on the outskirts of their big cities that are basically like Newark. Constant riots, tower blocks on fire.

I went to Paris and Normandy back in 2006, and actually saw a couple of fist fights on the street in the middle of the day (in Paris), they were actually really funny. There didn't seem to be such a concentrated and severe sense of desperation or despondency, so the areas didn't feel as dangerous. In Paris, you have to go to Montmartre and St-Denis to find trouble, but in America, the drug dealers come to white suburban areas to fucking kill each other.

What so no drug dealers in America are white?

In Paris, the way things are situated is that the poorest areas are ghettoized in the suburbs such as Clichy-sous-Bois. French housing policy is also heavily criticized for creating an 'apartheid' atmosphere in many of the poorest areas & effectively isolating communities in a way not even seen in the UK or US.

[hfahrenheit]

You'd be surprised. You do get 'shoot-outs' in London & Manchester although your average guy tends to use revolvers because they're more easily accessible & because they & their ammo are cheaper. Guns aren't legal here, so there's a higher price on machine guns, plus they are also not to convenient to stick down the back of your trousers as you walk down the high street.

Oh & don't end up in the wrong part of Paris or Marseille & think France is a joke. They've got areas on the outskirts of their big cities that are basically like Newark. Constant riots, tower blocks on fire.

I went to Paris and Normandy back in 2006, and actually saw a couple of fist fights on the street in the middle of the day (in Paris), they were actually really funny. There didn't seem to be such a concentrated and severe sense of desperation or despondency, so the areas didn't feel as dangerous. In Paris, you have to go to Montmartre and St-Denis to find trouble, but in America, the drug dealers come to white suburban areas to fucking kill each other.

What so no drug dealers in America are white?

In Paris, the way things are situated is that the poorest areas are ghettoized in the suburbs such as Clichy-sous-Bois. French housing policy is also heavily criticized for creating an 'apartheid' atmosphere in many of the poorest areas & effectively isolating communities in a way not even seen in the UK or US.

Sure, a lot even. The Hell's Angels just don't come to the fucking Mall to shoot one another. The predominate drive behind drug violence certainly doesn't stem from white communities, either.

And if people don't want to live around the poor (read: those most likely to commit violent crime), then more power to them.

[JazMerkin]

I went to Paris and Normandy back in 2006, and actually saw a couple of fist fights on the street in the middle of the day (in Paris), they were actually really funny. There didn't seem to be such a concentrated and severe sense of desperation or despondency, so the areas didn't feel as dangerous. In Paris, you have to go to Montmartre and St-Denis to find trouble, but in America, the drug dealers come to white suburban areas to fucking kill each other.

What so no drug dealers in America are white?

In Paris, the way things are situated is that the poorest areas are ghettoized in the suburbs such as Clichy-sous-Bois. French housing policy is also heavily criticized for creating an 'apartheid' atmosphere in many of the poorest areas & effectively isolating communities in a way not even seen in the UK or US.

Sure, a lot even. The Hell's Angels just don't come to the fucking Mall to shoot one another. The predominate drive behind drug violence certainly doesn't stem from white communities, either.

And if people don't want to live around the poor (read: those most likely to commit violent crime), then more power to them.

Right, so there's no white gang violence in the States. So what do you make of La Cosa Nostra, the Irish Mob & the Russian Mafia? Then there's groups like Aryan Brotherhood, Nazi Low-Riders or the Volksfront.

Oh & if you're referring to the French system in the second part, you will find that ghettoizing people & isolating them in sub-standard conditions is far likelier to lead to increases in crime. The fact their approach has been compared to apartheid South Africa by many really says it all.

You are right though, poverty does breed crime, although it is regardless of colour. Most black people whether they live in the inner-cities or suburban communities also don't like people shooting up their neighbourhood. I live in one of these places & believe me no one is sitting here admiring the fine work when someone gets killed.