Have those on NSC who think Croydon is a dump had a good look at parts of Brighton?

[Horton hears a few]

The members of Purley Downs Golf Club would roar with laughter at being called a fringe area of Croydon[/

Not sure why as Purley is in the London Borough of Croydon as are many other sought after places to live.

It's a large borough, it isn't just the walk from Norwood Junction to Selhurst Park.

 

[glasfryn]

Croydon does not have a shore front
enough said
close thread

 

[TWOCHOICEStom]

croydon is a ****ing dump....the tram system gave the chance for ****ing morons to enter a shithole......not normal morons either.......top of the range ****ing idiots........croydon is a special place for special people..........Croydon Is Stonehenge For W#nkers

I get the feeling you're holding back a bit. What do you REALLY think?

 

[seagull_in_malaysia]

croydon is a ****ing dump....the tram system gave the chance for ****ing morons to enter a shithole......not normal morons either.......top of the range ****ing idiots........croydon is a special place for special people..........Croydon Is Stonehenge For W#nkers

It does make me laugh whenever I get the tram and a ticket inspector comes on, half the tram suddenly tries to exit via the far door

 

[Hamilton]

[MENTION=144]goldstone[/MENTION] change your password. I think your account has been hacked.

 

[MissGull]

Croydon has no sea.

 

[Westdene Seagull]

The Greens have done more for regeneration of this city than any other council in living memory - the level, the i360, lewes road gyratory, hove station, brighton hippodrome, circus street, open market, etc, etc - all of which either have or are due to be invested in, at least partly thanks to them.

Look at the rest of England outside of the major cities, it's falling into disrepair... Brighton really ain't that bad, and that's partly thanks to our fantastic council

Really ?

The Level - yep that's a good redevelopment.

i360 - pushed through after a last minute unspecified deal with the Tories ( most of whom don't actually support it ) and putting the local taxpayer at risk for millions of pounds of loan repayments. The money has been loaned to a company already heavily in debt. There is a reason this project was unable to raise private enterprise funds and yet the council decide the tax payer should pick up the risk.

Lewes Road Gyatroy - I'll reserve judgement until it's finished but if it's anything like the Lewes Road 'improvements' then it's likely to cause traffic congestion, rat runs on local roads and be an utter waste of money.

Hove Station - unless you're talking about the few bits of perfectly good tarmac that were ripped up and replaced with highly expensive block paving with no benefit to pedestrians, cyclists or drivers, I'm really not sure what you're referring to ?

Brighton Hippodrome - a privately run and funded project, nothing to do with the council.

Circus Street - yes, if they pull that one off it will re-generate a run down area.

Open Market - a project that overran considerably, went over budget and delivered a pretty poor end result. Especially when compared to the Open Market of years gone by when it was a buzzing hub of London Road. It's now dark, dingy, half empty and underused.

Let's add in the Greens constant political grandstanding when it comes to council tax - constantly wanting well above inflation rises when they know they have zero chance of getting is past the other two parties letalone winning an expensive referendum - and you can see a party short on practical ideas, little understanding of the financial strains their taxpayers are already under and full of tw@ts like Duncan, Kitcat and Hawtree.

That said Brighton will beat Croydon hands down at any time.

 

[glasfryn]

Croydon should be in the sea.

changed to be correct+ I already said this in post 23

 

[Simster]

Brighton's problem isn't and never has been it's council. It's the fact that a handful of people in some ridiculous self interest groups hold sway when it comes to preventing redevelopment.

Or which council do we blame for the stagnation of the west pier, the appalling Brighton centre and that eyesore, King Alfred's? Why does a city the size of Brighton and Hove not have an equivalent of the Guildford Spectrum or the Crawley K2? Those are questions that I'd be asking if I lived in B&H.

 

[dingodan]

Some of Brighton's very worst streets which are the equal or anything Croydon can throw at you:

I give you West Street. What a bloody disgrace for one of the main streets in our city ... and the one visitors walk down to the seafront when arriving by train. Crappy buildings, awful shops, tatty amusement arcades. Road signs almost obliterated by stickers advertising various events. I'm embarrassed every time I walk down there.

I give you the Brighton Centre and the Odeon. What a disaster these two buildings are on our seafront. Who slipped the council planners a lot of money to get approval to build these two monstrosities? Ugly as hell and not even maintained to a good standard.

I give you Middle Street. An unpleasant ugly little street without one single redeeming feature leading right off our seafront.

I give you North Street which now has more closed shops than open ones.


I am no fan of the dump which is Croydon, but I had a good look at Brighton the other day and I'm embarrassed to say there's an awful lot not to be proud of. And unfortunately it doesn't appear to be getting any better.

I bet you're from Hove.

 

[goldstone]

Is the OP the secret palace fan account on here - I forget?!

Actually, no.

Brighton's a nice town. Croydon is not. But I was just attempting to highlight some of the worst parts of Brighton ... something which tends to get overlooked by those looking through rose-tinted spectacles. And the problem is that nothing ever seems to be done to address these carbuncles.

All the Greens seem to have done is waste taxpayers' money on schemes designed to create the greatest amount of traffic congestion. And of course the i360 thing .... what a white elephant that will be. Is there time to put a stop to it?

 

[loz]

I hate to be pedantic, but Crystal Palace FC is in South Norwood ( From Wiki, Crystal Palace Football Club is an English professional football club based in South Norwood, London. ) It does not have a Croydon address or post code, Croydon post codes are CR---- Crystal Palace football club address is SE25.

Anyway going to take some train numbers down now.

 

[Gwylan]

Really ?
Open Market - a project that overran considerably, went over budget and delivered a pretty poor end result. Especially when compared to the Open Market of years gone by when it was a buzzing hub of London Road. It's now dark, dingy, half empty and underused.

I'm not going to stick up for the council, which seems to be full of equal measures of poseurs, maniacs and dickheads; but the Open Market development is a pretty good one. I was there on Saturday afternoon and it was packed. I don't know where you get this bollocks about it being half-empty from - I didn't see a single empty stall. Indeed, there are tables set up in the middle of the main concourse. It's not quite back to the bustle of the 60s but I imagine that when the student accommodation opens, it will be even busier.

And you mention the Lewes Rd development - which, as has been pointed out many times on NSC, is nothing to do with the Green-run council. It was proposed by Labour, it was the Tories who got the funding for it and pushed the plans, which were then over-seen by the Greens. It's a development supported by all three parties and the bulk of the funding came from central government.

Brighton's problem isn't and never has been it's council. It's the fact that a handful of people in some ridiculous self interest groups hold sway when it comes to preventing redevelopment.

Or which council do we blame for the stagnation of the west pier, the appalling Brighton centre and that eyesore, King Alfred's? Why does a city the size of Brighton and Hove not have an equivalent of the Guildford Spectrum or the Crawley K2? Those are questions that I'd be asking if I lived in B&H.

Absolutely this. The Tory-run councils of the 60s and 70s should shoulder some of the blame for these - the inaction over the West Pier and the Brighton Centre for example - but the main villains in Brighton are the likes of Selma Mountford, Valerie Paynter and the assorted other NIMBYs and BANANAs who block any sort of initiative that would make the place a better place to live

 

[MissGull]

Does Brighton have the infrastructure or the space for a K2 or a Spectrum?

Unfortunately because we have the sea, the direction of travel is limited somewhat. Also unlike Portsmouth and Southampton, who have the sea....we aren't served by a motorway or an appropriately positioned train station.

 

[Monkey Man]

Does Brighton have the infrastructure or the space for a K2 or a Spectrum?

Unfortunately because we have the sea, the direction of travel is limited somewhat. Also unlike Portsmouth and Southampton, who have the sea....we aren't served by a motorway or an appropriately positioned train station.

The urban area is so hemmed in by the sea and the A27/Downs that this kind of development is amazingly difficult in Brighton. But I wish someone would at least have a try. Brighton's a well-appointed area in so many ways but the lack of a proper swimming pool and leisure centre is a major omission.

 

[The Large One]

All the Greens seem to have done is waste taxpayers' money on schemes designed to create the greatest amount of traffic congestion.

Really? Which ones can the Greens can be held solely responsible for?

And of course the i360 thing .... what a white elephant that will be. Is there time to put a stop to it?

You think voting Tory will change that? They voted it through.

 

[The Large One]

Let's add in the Greens constant political grandstanding when it comes to council tax - constantly wanting well above inflation rises when they know they have zero chance of getting is past the other two parties letalone winning an expensive referendum - and you can see a party short on practical ideas, little understanding of the financial strains their taxpayers are already under and full of tw@ts like Duncan, Kitcat and Hawtree.

Your penchant for attempting to find misery in positive things across the city (of which there have been many) is well noted. Your comment on the Open Market is a case in point.

I've been speaking to councillors and prospective councillors of all parties lately, and you do know that the other two parties are prepared to see above-inflation council tax price rises, but won't vote it through for political, rather than practical reasons? The Tories, believe it or not, are more open to the idea; Labour oppose it because they want to make the Greens look the villains of the piece - as led by 'Councillor No', as Warren Morgan is known. But whoever leads the council next time will be looking to push through a larger-than-allowed council tax rise, principally because the cuts in the settlements from the government is not sustainable.

Meanwhile, the city has done well over the past five years - greater visitor numbers, fewer road deaths, fewer road accidents, lesser pollution, more projects to make the city more people-friendly coming through the pipeline. We know that these facts appall you, and you'll look to find a reason as to not credit the city with these positives, but that would be churlish...

 

[Del Fenner]

Croydon is an urban sprawl but immediately around it are some very pleasant and expensive areas. Addiscombe, Shirley, Sanderstead, Whitgift. Purley, Woodcote etc. Croydon central is not very desirable. Some of the fringe areas are.

Park Hill / Watertower Hill is a little gem right in the centre of Croydon.

 

[Westdene Seagull]

I'm not going to stick up for the council, which seems to be full of equal measures of poseurs, maniacs and dickheads; but the Open Market development is a pretty good one. I was there on Saturday afternoon and it was packed. I don't know where you get this bollocks about it being half-empty from - I didn't see a single empty stall. Indeed, there are tables set up in the middle of the main concourse. It's not quite back to the bustle of the 60s but I imagine that when the student accommodation opens, it will be even busier.

I use the open market every week and it's often dead. The empty stalls are on the upper level although during the week there are a number of outlets closed on the lower level. It's a shame - so much could have been made of the area but it looks like they've squeezed the market into the smallest possible space to maximise the housing.

 

[Nibble]

The OP is missing the point. Croydon, while most certainly a shit hole physically, it is a shit hole because it has no soul, the residents are low rent and it is surrounded by crappy little Surrey towns. The place had no character and anything that was ever good about the place is either long gone or decrepit. It's a god awful place.Brighton has it's divey areas but many redeeming features. Croydon has none. They can pump as much cash as they like into it, they can't build style, character and legacy into a place.