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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http://forum.charltonlife.com/discussion/36586/charlton-life-s-ultimate-crap-towns-list#latest
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.
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.
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?
if it was named 'happy happy cool town' or something like that then it would get the respect and love that it deserves.
http://forum.charltonlife.com/discussion/47994/property-in-gravesend-for-sale#latest
Lot of snobbery going on , on CL.
PolishAlbanianKosovaneastern 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.............
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.
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!
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.
Used to be two cracking pubs on Windmill Hill..
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.