Is the City of Leicester a dump?

[Pliskin]

It’s a shit hole. 

[everton carr]

11 hours ago, Langston said:

 

Tbh I don't think he got the rage bait he wanted and I thought it was great.. the city was quiet, there are a few empty units and a couple of addicts but it was so so tame and he even went on to compliment St Martins and Greyfriars.. he must have been fuming, arsehole..

They are normally a lot more beggars around the clock tower .You can't usually go 5 minutes inside MCDonald's without somebody asking you for money

[everton carr]

10 hours ago, Pliskin said:

It’s a shit hole. 

Sadly so

[Tommy G]

Princess of Wales visiting today, Belgrave gate, wonder what she thought of it? Maybe she'll post a comment later in the thread. 

[orangecity23]

59 minutes ago, Tommy G said:

Princess of Wales visiting today, Belgrave gate, wonder what she thought of it? Maybe she'll post a comment later in the thread. 

Went Heron foods, bought some eggs and bacon. V cheap. Recommended 

 

Kate (Princess of Wales)

 

[Stuntman_Mike]

I'm usually the first to slag the place off and get frustrated with the missed potential of it, but I've had a great day out in the city today going down the Tigers game. Town just felt better for some reason.

[worthosoriginals]

On 03/03/2026 at 09:10, everton carr said:

They are normally a lot more beggars around the clock tower .You can't usually go 5 minutes inside MCDonald's without somebody asking you for money

They're called the staff

[topguest321]

I'm so used to the city centre it's just the norm for me. It isn't till we stop at nice little market towns on away days (Bury St Edmonds the latest one Saturday) that I realise just how bad Leicester is these days. It doesn't help you never see police walking the beat now round town. When I was a kid in the 80s you'd see loads of cops walking round the town, now yougot shoplifters hanging around outside various pubs all day openly selling their wares. Makes me so sad.

[danny.]

1 hour ago, topguest321 said:

I'm so used to the city centre it's just the norm for me. It isn't till we stop at nice little market towns on away days (Bury St Edmonds the latest one Saturday) that I realise just how bad Leicester is these days. It doesn't help you never see police walking the beat now round town. When I was a kid in the 80s you'd see loads of cops walking round the town, now yougot shoplifters hanging around outside various pubs all day openly selling their wares. Makes me so sad.

Go to Market Harborough and you'd never believe it was the same shire!

[davieG]

33 minutes ago, danny. said:

Go to Market Harborough and you'd never believe it was the same shire!

Even that's not as nice as it used to be.

[danny.]

3 minutes ago, davieG said:

Even that's not as nice as it used to be.

Agreed, but the whole country is in a managed decline, it's still far nicer to visit than the city centre and feels like it's a completely different place.

[topguest321]

Just now, danny. said:

Go to Market Harborough and you'd never believe it was the same shire!

Yes, quiet. Me and my missus go to the dentist there and I always have a walk round the town and a couple of pints in spoons afterwards. It's always busy, as is the spoons 

[CrazyKopCorner]

I remember Forest singing 'You're going back to a shit hole' to us when they hammered us the other year. 

 

Actually thought it was quite funny for them and I agree. 

 

Leicestershire is pretty nice though. 

[danny.]

1 hour ago, topguest321 said:

Yes, quiet. Me and my missus go to the dentist there and I always have a walk round the town and a couple of pints in spoons afterwards. It's always busy, as is the spoons 

Yea it's got a nice buzz to the place

[Livid]

I went into the city centre for the first time in ages at lunchtime today. There seemed to be a few more empty units in the Haymarket and Highcross since I last went in. 

 

I don’t know what the answer is. 
 

 

[Free Falling Foxes]

11 minutes ago, Livid said:

I went into the city centre for the first time in ages at lunchtime today. There seemed to be a few more empty units in the Haymarket and Highcross since I last went in. 

 

I don’t know what the answer is. 
 

 

I guess the explanation and any solution is in your post.

I'm not being critical, indeed I'm the same, I hardly visit the centre. Indeed most folk I know rarely venture there.

I think we may have just moved on, evolved if you like with so many options available out of town and on the Internet.

I think city centres need to move more into 'city living'. There would be lots of potential brown field sites to develop and existing buildings to convert into homes/flats.

I would add one caveat though, no more student accommodation nor places of worship, its places to live we need.

Edited 9 March by Free Falling Foxes

[davieG]

54 minutes ago, Free Falling Foxes said:

its places to live we need.

Places where people can socialise, other than coffee shops places to be entertained or to take part social activities. 

 

Bowling Alleys, Snooker halls, small theatre/cabaret venues,  even bingo halls. but not massive places smaller or medium size snug and secure.

 

The structure of the city means most people find it easier to get into the city centre by public transport than across or around the outer areas.

 

It's a real shame the original plan to take the London Road + Waterloo Way to St Georges Way around the back of the station along Conduit St enabling a straight forward pedestrian only link from the station to Granby St and hence the City centre, it could have been a traffic free walk from the station to the Highcross.

[Paninistickers]

3 hours ago, CrazyKopCorner said:

I remember Forest singing 'You're going back to a shit hole' to us when they hammered us the other year. 

 

Actually thought it was quite funny for them and I agree. 

 

Leicestershire is pretty nice though. 

West Bridgford apart, Nottingham's suburbs are woeful. To the benefit of the city centre. 

 

We're the opposite. Every suburb in greater Leicester is pretty much OK for normal suburban people to socialise in. Birstall, Thurmaston, Syston, Oadby, Wigston, Blaby, Aylestone, Ratby, Groby, Glenfield, Anstey....not even including that next layer of towns such as Rothley, Kirby, Kibworth, Desford, Barrow, Sileby. Pretty much every single one I've mentioned has at least one, if not more, stylish place to eat and drink. 

 

Even Anstey now has a comedy festival, as seen on another thread..

[MaidstoneFox]

19 minutes ago, Paninistickers said:

West Bridgford apart, Nottingham's suburbs are woeful. To the benefit of the city centre. 

 

We're the opposite. Every suburb in greater Leicester is pretty much OK for normal suburban people to socialise in. Birstall, Thurmaston, Syston, Oadby, Wigston, Blaby, Aylestone, Ratby, Groby, Glenfield, Anstey....not even including that next layer of towns such as Rothley, Kirby, Kibworth, Desford, Barrow, Sileby. Pretty much every single one I've mentioned has at least one, if not more, stylish place to eat and drink. 

 

Even Anstey now has a comedy festival, as seen on another thread..

I lived in Beeston for a few years and loved it - great location for lots of reasons. Sherwood also quite pleasant, but yes, lots of other areas I'd pass through very quickly.

[topguest321]

12 hours ago, davieG said:

 

It's a real shame the original plan to take the London Road + Waterloo Way to St Georges Way around the back of the station along Conduit St enabling a straight forward pedestrian only link from the station to Granby St and hence the City centre, it could have been a traffic free walk from the station to the Highcross.

That's one of my pet hates about getting the train in. Get off the train and then 9 times out of 10 have to wait at the traffic lights surrounded by crack heads and spice heads just to get to Granby street

[davieG]

Where did it all go wrong?

 

 

Joanne Vigor-Mungovin - Author Hidden Leicester ·

Follow

 

In an article published on March 10, 1936, the Daily Telegraph referred to Leicester as "a progressive city," and cited statistics from the League of Nations Bureau of Statistics, which ranked it as the second most prosperous city in the world.

So how did it earn this accolade?

According to the United Nations, Leicester was praised for its positive employment prospects, quality education, modern facilities, beautiful surroundings, and the progressive mindset of its residents as the factors that contributed to its favourable evaluation.

It is estimated that approximately 1,000 unique trades were operating in the bustling city of Leicester during this time period. Notably, the production of knitwear and shoes, which were among the leading industries responsible for maintaining low unemployment rates within the city.

Additionally, it is worth noting that Leicester had a pioneering record of promoting positive industrial relations, setting an example for other cities to follow.

These industries also restricted unpleasant emissions by increasing the use of gas in manufacturing, making Leicester ‘a healthy place to live and do business’.

Leicester was one of the healthiest cities due to new housing and slum clearance, and the mortality rate of 12.4 per 1,000 and 64 per 1,000 for infants was well below the national UK average of 13.1 and 77 respectively.

It was also a ‘clean, bright city’, with pleasant residential areas.

Its streets were free of litter, neat, well lit and provided ample transport, seven secondary schools, colleges of art and technology, a university college and a police headquarters that was ‘believed to be the most up to date in the country' – all paid for by some of the lowest rates in the country.

Below is an advert from Leicester Chronicle - Saturday 16 December 1933 advertising local businesses....

 

[Sampson]

7 minutes ago, davieG said:

Where did it all go wrong?

 

I would imagine the biggest conflict in human history in which every city had to transform into a military-industrial complex breaking out 3 years later and and which completely bankrupted the country probably had a lot to do with it 

[davieG]

1 hour ago, Sampson said:

I would imagine the biggest conflict in human history in which every city had to transform into a military-industrial complex breaking out 3 years later and and which completely bankrupted the country probably had a lot to do with it 

I'm sure but even in the 50s that ranking was still being banded about.

 

It was the loss of all the industry in the 60s/70s,  which was quite varied and world renowned that had a devastating affect.

[Sampson]

33 minutes ago, davieG said:

I'm sure but even in the 50s that ranking was still being banded about.

 

It was the loss of all the industry in the 60s/70s,  which was quite varied and world renowned that had a devastating affect.

That’s fair I was being overly sarcastic I apologise. I think it’s the same all round the world though tbh in secondary cities, the economy of most countries even those that didn’t deindustrialise has sort of congregated towards the 2 or 3 big cities of a country and these mid size cities have been left behind a bit 

 

Lived in Portsmouth for a long while and they managed to survive by turning into a student city in the 00s and early 10s, but that’s all falling apart now as less people are going to uni and visa restrictions are even making it harder to get the international students to cover the costs. They’ve tried revitalising a few parts of the city and the seafront which looks nice but it’s hard to know where they city is going to go next, there’s still the old arcades on the seafront from the 60s where it used to be a south coast holiday town that look very out of date now.

Edited 10 March by Sampson

[everton carr]

23 hours ago, MaidstoneFox said:

I lived in Beeston for a few years and loved it - great location for lots of reasons. Sherwood also quite pleasant, but yes, lots of other areas I'd pass through very quickly.

I live in Wigston deteriorated badly in the last few years .It's getting like the Town centre sadly with a number of homeless people sleeping in shop doorways