Is the City of Leicester a dump?

[Livid]

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c20p7qdev93o
 

So we’ve demolished the Parcel Yard etc and they don’t actually have a contractor lined up to do the refurbishment of the station! 

[davieG]

24 minutes ago, Livid said:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c20p7qdev93o
 

So we’ve demolished the Parcel Yard etc and they don’t actually have a contractor lined up to do the refurbishment of the station! 

Maybe why the KP extension has not moved forward, well we can hope.

[RoboFox]

I was browsing Reddit yesterday, and on r/AskUK, someone had posed the question about the biggest dump of a city in the country. 

 

Leicester was up there with Stoke as the city that came up the most. 

 

As someone with family from Stoke, I can attest to it being a dump - but is Leicester's reputation that bad across the rest of the country? I've lived away from the city for 20 years and I can't say I've really heard that opinion that often.

 

...Maybe people are just being polite. 

[Chiltern Fox]

On 12/01/2025 at 10:05, Livid said:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c20p7qdev93o
 

So we’ve demolished the Parcel Yard etc and they don’t actually have a contractor lined up to do the refurbishment of the station! 

F'ing joke. Parcel yard was my pre match pub.

[Lako42]

2 minutes ago, Chiltern Fox said:

F'ing joke. Parcel yard was my pre match pub.

Just take some tinnies and sit outside 

[Stuntman_Mike]

42 minutes ago, RoboFox said:

I was browsing Reddit yesterday, and on r/AskUK, someone had posed the question about the biggest dump of a city in the country. 

 

Leicester was up there with Stoke as the city that came up the most. 

 

As someone with family from Stoke, I can attest to it being a dump - but is Leicester's reputation that bad across the rest of the country? I've lived away from the city for 20 years and I can't say I've really heard that opinion that often.

 

...Maybe people are just being polite. 

Seeing as a lot of people's first impression of the city is either Narborough Road or Granby Street, it's pretty understandable. 

 

I'd imagine most people don't see the better parts so there isn't a good lasting impression. Harsh to be labelled as bad as Stoke though.

[bovril]

As a non Leicesterian I would say it's far from the worst place I've been in Britain. Some of the suburbs are quite nice and the town centre is ok-ish compared to some places. Then the walk to the ground from the town centre is not as dystopian as some grounds I've been to.

I don't get the best introduction coming in from the east on the A47. The preceding villages are very nice and then suddenly you arrive at Humberstone Park and the surrounding area which looks increasingly squalid, rubbish everywhere.

[pkonline]

Leicester is just like most UK cities - has some nice bits and some bad bits. I live in Nottingham now, and in comparison, the pubs, restaurant and shops in Leicester centre are much better. There's also the brilliant Comedy Festival, Curve Theatre, Space Centre and Golden Mile.

 

Leicestershire has some lovely small towns and villages.

 

Most people who criticise places have either never been there, or themselves don't shop/eat/drink to see for themselves.

[davieG]

On 31/07/2005 at 12:01, davieG said:

Just been up/down town, not something I do too much these days; now I know there is a lot of building going on but it just struck me that it looks a rundown, dirty, litter ridden dump, for example the expensive paving in Humberstone Gate/Clock Tower is all uneven.

I can't believe we had the nerve to enter the Britain in Bloom competition as a few flower baskets don't disguise the general decay of the City infrastructure.

Are all Cities like this - I think not.

We used to be known as the cleanest City in England and the second most prosperous City in Europe - What's gone wrong?

I started this thread in 2005 and I still think it's a dump, I don't care if other cities are worse that's the same argument some fans use re LCFC's treatment of fans with other clubs are worse.

[Lionator]

12 minutes ago, pkonline said:

Leicester is just like most UK cities - has some nice bits and some bad bits. I live in Nottingham now, and in comparison, the pubs, restaurant and shops in Leicester centre are much better. There's also the brilliant Comedy Festival, Curve Theatre, Space Centre and Golden Mile.

 

Leicestershire has some lovely small towns and villages.

 

Most people who criticise places have either never been there, or themselves don't shop/eat/drink to see for themselves.

Lived in notts for 10 years (with a couple of years abroad between) and the decline of Notts and improvement of Leicester has been pretty stark. If you’d have asked me in 2015 then Nottingham was comfortably better but now I think the only thing Notts has over Leicester is the music scene, the gig venues are better there. In terms of everything else (pubs, restaurants, things to do), Leicester has improved a lot and is often bustling. 
 

In the midlands alone I’d put Leicester above Derby, Stoke, Cov, Wolverhampton, most of Birmingham and on a par with Nottingham. It’s really not that bad. 

[CosbehFox]

On 12/01/2025 at 10:05, Livid said:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c20p7qdev93o
 

So we’ve demolished the Parcel Yard etc and they don’t actually have a contractor lined up to do the refurbishment of the station! 

Hearing the Market demolition is full of such wisdom as well speaking to someone whose about to join the project team. 

[pkonline]

9 minutes ago, Lionator said:

Lived in notts for 10 years (with a couple of years abroad between) and the decline of Notts and improvement of Leicester has been pretty stark. If you’d have asked me in 2015 then Nottingham was comfortably better but now I think the only thing Notts has over Leicester is the music scene, the gig venues are better there. In terms of everything else (pubs, restaurants, things to do), Leicester has improved a lot and is often bustling. 
 

In the midlands alone I’d put Leicester above Derby, Stoke, Cov, Wolverhampton, most of Birmingham and on a par with Nottingham. It’s really not that bad. 

Fully agree. When I was young and grew up in Leicester, family and many others would prefer to go to Nottingham as they had better shops, shopping centres etc. Now it's the reverse. A night out in Nottingham is dead, and what is left is a mixture of identity crisis and dereliction. I live in the suburbs of Notts, and can count maybe twice i've gone into Nottingham centre. 

 

Been to Derby once and that was more than enough - terrible geography, no real "centre", and aside from generic shops and chains, offers very little.

[Dr The Singh]

4 hours ago, Lionator said:

Lived in notts for 10 years (with a couple of years abroad between) and the decline of Notts and improvement of Leicester has been pretty stark. If you’d have asked me in 2015 then Nottingham was comfortably better but now I think the only thing Notts has over Leicester is the music scene, the gig venues are better there. In terms of everything else (pubs, restaurants, things to do), Leicester has improved a lot and is often bustling. 
 

In the midlands alone I’d put Leicester above Derby, Stoke, Cov, Wolverhampton, most of Birmingham and on a par with Nottingham. It’s really not that bad. 

Totally disagree, majority of my family live in Leicester, they much chose to come wine, dine, and enjoy in Notts.  

 

I was in Leicester over Xmas, during the period it was relatively dead at night.  So we all caught a train and went there instead.  Notts has so many layers, it's got WB, Beeston, Ruddington, Sneinton all easily to get to by tram or walking etc

[tinpot_fox]

7 minutes ago, Dr The Singh said:

Totally disagree, majority of my family live in Leicester, they much chose to come wine, dine, and enjoy in Notts.  

 

I was in Leicester over Xmas, during the period it was relatively dead at night.  So we all caught a train and went there instead.  Notts has so many layers, it's got WB, Beeston, Ruddington, Sneinton all easily to get to by tram or walking etc

If camping/Motorhome and cycling is your thing, then the Holme Pierpont camp site has a pretty good protected cycleway to Nottingham city centre.

[Dr The Singh]

18 minutes ago, tinpot_fox said:

If camping/Motorhome and cycling is your thing, then the Holme Pierpont camp site has a pretty good protected cycleway to Nottingham city centre.

Been down there a few times for canoeing etc, close enough to WB for beers after

[Dr The Singh]

47 minutes ago, tinpot_fox said:

If camping/Motorhome and cycling is your thing, then the Holme Pierpont camp site has a pretty good protected cycleway to Nottingham city centre.

Also near Nottingham airport where I'm learning to fly.  Cracking place

[Spudulike]

I thought that Leicester looked good in the fog on Saturday. 

[Wymsey]

Always felt that Belgrave Gate and Melton Road has looked quite run down in many places, when travelling through them to get to the city in the past, away from the annual period of Diwali celebrations with the colourful lights on period.

[Lako42]

Nearly every UK city is a shithole and it's only going to get worse. 

 

 

Take Bristol, used to be a great city with quite a cultural feel to it. It's a drug infested shithole with garbage everywhere these days. 

 

 

UK sadly has zero standards and property owners / renters have very little pride in where they live. 

[davieG]

44 minutes ago, Lako42 said:

Nearly every UK city is a shithole and it's only going to get worse. 

That's not a valid reason for ours to be a shithole.

 

I don't think the number of pubs, entertainment or decent shops makes a city a shithole, more interesting and worth visiting sure it's more to do with the general tidiness and scrappy facades. Of course the general public doesn't help dropping litter and chewing gum anywhere but in the nearest bin or take it home with them. Owners of closed shops should be compelled by the Council to at least make them tidy. As a lot of the 'at risks' buildings are owned by the Council I wont hold my breath on that.

[Tommy G]

13 hours ago, Dr The Singh said:

Also near Nottingham airport where I'm learning to fly.  Cracking place

Warn us all beforehand which airline you end up flying with 

[Lako42]

1 minute ago, davieG said:

That's not a valid reason for ours to be a shithole.

 

I don't think the number of pubs, entertainment or decent shops makes a city a shithole, more interesting and worth visiting sure it's more to do with the general tidiness and scrappy facades. Of course the general public doesn't help dropping litter and chewing gum anywhere but in the nearest bin or take it home with them. Owners of closed shops should be compelled by the Council to at least make them tidy. As a lot of the 'at risks' buildings are owned by the Council I wont hold my breath on that.

Never said it was. 

 

It's not just cities, it's the country as a whole. 

 

People used to have pride in their houses. People just dump all of their unwanted shit outside the front now and expect some other person to deal with it. If it's not taken in a few weeks it will still be there. 

 

 

[Tommy G]

I went to Foleshill road to get some indian food, not ''eat in'' just to collect - it is Coventry not Leicester but that road in particular is an absolute dive, it's like you are walking down the street in a 3rd world poverty stricken country. 

[bovril]

1 hour ago, Tommy G said:

I went to Foleshill road to get some indian food, not ''eat in'' just to collect - it is Coventry not Leicester but that road in particular is an absolute dive, it's like you are walking down the street in a 3rd world poverty stricken country. 

It's quite interesting / depressing to go on google street view on pretty much any major thoroughfare in any large town or city in the midlands or northern England, and click back to previous years' views. The decline even from about 7-8 years ago is quite visible, as you say to almost third world levels. 

[brookfox]

Wouldn't say it's a dump, but we have recently been twinned with LA.