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Gravesend is ‘sixth worst’ place to live in country

Anyone live there?
GRAVESEND has been ranked among the top 10 worst places to live in the country.

The north Kent town came sixth in the 2013 list by website chavtowns.co.uk.

Hull came top of the pile based on the number comments posted on the site.

One user, who goes by the name of bigupboi, posted: “Gravesend is populated by the most grotesque, loathsome, vile and vulgar sub-human vermin that one could ever have the misfortune to come across.

“The vast majority of its inhabitants (chavs and pikies) are foul, hateful, and degraded beings who, in evolutionary terms, have not evolved much from the amoeba.

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Comments

  • No Gillingham? Or Strood?
  • Can see where they are coming from. Didn't think Hull was all that bad though.
  • Yep I live here but to b honest I've been to alot worse but the influx of all theese immigrants isn't helping the town
  • Blame Gravesham council! The street where my place is (Peacock Street) and the surrounding 4 to 5 streets are about 60% Eastern European gypsies which means I struggle to rent my place out, let along sell it. It virtually happened over night and has had a massive negative effect on the local community!
  • ....I remember seeing something in the news when I lived in Gravesend about 5-6 years back that the town, and a couple of other Kent towns, had agreed to each take in a large amount of these gypsies (Something to do with the EU). And for some reason, Gravesham Council then decided to house them in just 2-3 areas of the town creating ghetto like communitieS, my street being one of them
  • Can see where they are coming from. Didn't think Hull was all that bad though.

    Yeah, Hull gets a bad rap. The town centre is decent, I'd even say nicer than most these days. The suburbs could well be rough but at least they don't go around snorting bin fumes like in Barnsley.

  • I lived just outside for a few years and I actually think it's a pretty okay place. The town is alright, although could be better but hard with Bluewater on the doorstep.
  • Having lived in Hull & Bexley I'd much rather have a wonder around Bransholme than I would Thamesmead, but each to there own I suppose. The council is about to buy an aircraft carrier to turn into a maritime museum and they'd be far better off spending the money on some road-sweepers, washing some of the grotty buildings and tearing down the derelict ones.
  • Lived in Gravesend from 85-88 was OK then.
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  • Only 6th?

  • Blame US style shopping malls like Lakeside and Bluewater for sucking the life out of towns with pride and heritage like Gravesend.

    Overseas property consortiums make another squillion while we sit in a six hour traffic jam on the M25 and our local town turns into another English sh*thole.
  • ^^^ I'm all for large outta town or centralized 'shopping areas' IF city/town centres were allowed to become pedestrianized, shop free areas for social use .. this of course is never going to happen so long as landlords and commercial landowners want their rents paid. Hence we have an over supply of betting shops, pawn brokers, money lenders and charity shops in what were once thriving town centres.

    If land can be compulsorily purchased to enable the building of roads and railways, there is a case for the compulsory purchasing and subsequent gentrifying of potentially crumbling and festering town centres which have been overtaken by the changes in shopping and recreational habits. Either that or pull them down and grass them over.
  • Gravesend town centre isn't too bad, still fairly vibrant. Compare it to Dartford, which is like a ghost town by comparison.

    Not sure how they work out 6th worst town. I live in Gravesend, have done for 7 years now. Before that I lived in Greenwich, and before the Bexleyheath.

    Saw far more violence in Bexleyheath, for more drug use in the streets in Greenwich, yet apparently Gravesend is a terrible place to live?
  • I think it gets a bad rep because of it's name.
    if it was named 'happy happy cool town' or something like that then it would get the respect and love that it deserves.
  • The architecture for me is pretty nice, if commuters would just show some interest!


    http://forum.charltonlife.com/discussion/47994/property-in-gravesend-for-sale#latest
  • You'd think the commuters would lap it up, < 25 mins to St Pancras on the high speed
  • Bit Gravesendish?

    Lot of snobbery going on , on CL.
  • Born & bred in Gravesend. Have lived here all of my 46 yrs excluding time in the army & 6 yrs in Bishop Auckland (now that's a dump). Love the place on the whole, but agree with others that the main problem is the huge influx of PolishAlbanianKosovan eastern europeans now living here. It seems that when walking round the town, I feel like I'm the foreigner as nobody seems to speak english. Certain areas have become a no-go zone in the evenings (the promenade being a prime example).

    On the plus side, there are plenty of lovely buildings in and around the town, close to london and plenty of lovely countryside on our doorstep.............
  • Gravesend is the jewel in the crown of North Kent and the Medway Towns...
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  • edited August 2013
    HIgh speed costs c£400 per month which is an issue for many and more than the cost of a small mortgage or close to rental costs for some.

    Always had a soft spot for Gravesend. Used to be a resort for londoners pre-1920s. Rosherville Gardens was the equivalent of a modern day disneyworld. Other aspects of its history are breathtaking- The ordnance for one thing and those big guns still in place. Still has the regency style grandeur in some parts.

    What's really let it down in my view are certain absentee landlords and freeholders. I present to you this property in Burch road. One of these flats has been for sale so i did some investigations. In a row of 8 dwellings there are now 32 flats. The one in the picture is the worst, granted, but look at the trees growing out of the brickwork.

    image


    The freeholder is a southend based company. The only tenants i saw on a visit were foreign (only able to afford the cheaper rents presumably) and the managing agent for the particular property is a local estate agent.

    None of these parties evidently care too much about their investment. They care less about the affect on the area. They're all getting paid and the tenants are no doubt paying a lot more than they ought to thanks to 'market forces'. Short-termism prevails and the result is blight. Clearly none of the tenants in there either have thought to simply pull up a tree. The leaseholders haven't got together and done anything about the fact the paintwork is peeling and some re-rendering is needed. Each of the leaseholders has held a lease for over 10 years. An internet search on the freeholoder reveals they are notoriously difficult to deal with. They'll make their money on lease renewals and have spent nothing on the external appearance or gutters or roof.

    Who to blame? I wonder how it is that Gravesham council don't or can't get involved. Local streets are littered. There's a settee not too far away waiting to be collected. The area feels poor but in fact income is being extracted from tenants by leaseholders, who pay the agents, and by the freeholder from the leaseholders. So some parties are benefitting

    Round the corner in Pier Road is a nice property for sale, but look at next door in the photos.
    http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-42664178.html
    Similar state, and for me now defines that locality.

    A crying shame. The Gravesend dream is on hold for now!
  • BDLBDL
    edited August 2013
    Been in Gravesend for 20 years now, and yes it's changed. But to tar the whole town with the same brush is wrong. Some really nice parts and some real grotholes.

    With all the investment due in the area it's probably a good time to move here before prices shoot up. You can get a decent 3 bed semi on Riverview Park for under £225k.

    http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-39145927.html

    Highspeed is the best train service to London, but as @Swords_Alive points out it is bloody expensive. More trains from Ebbsfleet, but it's not cheap to park there, though you could park up in Swanscombe and walk down.

    The new bridge will almost certainly go up to the east of Gravesend, so traffic links will be much improved.

  • Is The Slammer still open?

  • Used to be two cracking pubs on Windmill Hill..
  • Still there, if you're referring to the Windmill Tavern (fantastic pub) and Millers Cottage (not as good, but not terrible)
  • ^^^ If land can be compulsorily purchased to enable the building of roads and railways, there is a case for the compulsory purchasing and subsequent gentrifying of potentially crumbling and festering town centres which have been overtaken by the changes in shopping and recreational habits. Either that or pull them down and grass them over.

    There's been loads (as in hundreds) of town centre compulsory purchase orders. Dartford is one (disastrous) example.


  • Used to be two cracking pubs on Windmill Hill..

    One of me best pals run The Millers
  • Can't believe there's 5 worse places to live
  • I present to you this property in Burch road. One of these flats has been for sale so i did some investigations. In a row of 8 dwellings there are now 32 flats. The one in the picture is the worst, granted, but look at the trees growing out of the brickwork.

    I was born in Burch rd. :-)
  • edited August 2013
    I used to visit Gravesend "High Street" monthly, about 6/7 years ago for business meetings.

    I parked in a multi storey car park, went to the meetings & sometimes a few drinks after.

    It didn't have a great reputation then & there were a lot of signs in what I think was Asian, which I couldn't understand, as I never saw that many Asians about (compared to SE London), to justify the need.

    Apparently, there was a high level Asian population, but I never saw it, over a period of about 5 years.

    Anyway, my point is, that the little I saw of Gravesend, driving in & out & walking the High Street, was that it was absolutely fine & better or as good as the majority of SE London/ North Kent.



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