NEW TOWNS! Are they really that bad?

carguy143

Hi all.
I'm relatively new here and one thing I would really like to know is people's opinions on new towns along with an answer to a question: Are they really as bad as people say? I'm not talking about massive new housing developments here, I m talking about the places that sprung up after WWII. Places like Skelmersdale, Milton Keynes, Warrington, Newtown, Cumbernauld etc.

Now here's a little background around me. I am from a town called Leyland, Lancashire where you'd be lucky to get a 2 bedroom terraced house with on road parking for £100000. Having seen the lack of decent houses in my area for an affordable price, I made the choice to look at Skelmersdale, much to many people's surprise.

I have Aspergers and don't like being surrounded by people and noise. I'm 28 but even find people around my own age are too loud, disrespectful and just plain in your face.

People say new towns are horrible maze like places with lots of cul-de-sacs, pedestrian walkways and roundabouts. Some people even talk about them as being quiet with hardly anyone around. Swathes of concrete. And then people who aren't from these areas have a lot of nasty things to say about the people there, the crime, the arson etc.

I personally have a different view of these places. I think the layouts are logical. Roundabouts keep the traffic moving. I can get from Preston to my house in Skem down the M6 in the same time it would take me to get from Preston to my parent's in Leyland despite the trip to Skem being double the distance.
Separate walkways keep traffic and pedestrians apart which mean (in theory) safer roads for all. cul-de-sacs mean people don't have to worry about traffic speeding past their house in the middle of the night. Yes, concrete houses can be an issue if not maintained, However not all houses in these places are concrete. I've seen lots of large, brick built houses with lots of extra touches like walk in wardrobes, downstairs toilets, large gardens and lots of parking. In fact, I just bought a 3 bedroom house with all of these features for just £81000 with decent decor and invoices for the rewiring and new boiler which have all been fitted in the last 8 years.

As for the people, you get good and bad everywhere and for the most part, what I've seen of new towns seems to show the places are full of lots of house proud people who keep their places looking spotless.

When looking for my first house I had a good drive around various areas at different times of the day (and night) on different days of the week. Even on the traditional, troublesome nights, a lot of the estates I visited were quiet with maybe the odd dog walker, nothing at all like the horror stories from people who wouldn't dare venture in for themselves. Perfect for me and my condition. Crime reports show that reported crimes in some of these areas is actually very similar to where I live now.

What are other people's thoughts? I personally feel new towns have a particularly bad reputation and it's about time it changed!:beer:

eddddy

I guess most of the people who've chosen to buy houses in the new towns must like them.

I'd be very surprised if they all hated the towns they live in, and were only living there because they can't find/afford anywhere else.

TBeckett100

The problem with new towns is they can defy our logic. Typically a town has a centre with some old buildings dotted around and then newer build estates. The town has a sense of history and people are bonded to that history.

Taking Milton Keynes as an example, I struggle to find anything positive to say. It's a boring drive round and people must live the life of Sim City.

And don't get me started on the roundabouts.

Milton Keynes does have a grid USA system but quite frankly it's a soulless hole of a place and sadly the people I see wandering about look like the type to plod along

clint_S

New towns like Warrington???? You mean the Warrington, founded by the Romans (or Stockton Heath was) and became a town in the 8th century, on the M6? Location is what drives the price of a property up, you'll get a lot more for your money in Leyland than Warrington since it's between Liverpool and Manchester with M6, M62, and M56, Burnley has some of the cheapest houses in the country.

ellie27

Cumbernauld is horrible!

I work there and the drive around it, the houses, the roads, the look of the town, everything is horrible!

elsien

I've only visited Milton Keynes for business. Got thoroughly lost at regular intervals. Hated it.
People who live there told me that driving round the endless roundabouts give completely the wrong impression, and you don't see the good bits when you're just driving through. Most people never get that far, so don't get to see the positives.

carguy143

clint_S wrote: »

New towns like Warrington???? You mean the Warrington, founded by the Romans (or Stockton Heath was) and became a town in the 8th century, on the M6? Location is what drives the price of a property up, you'll get a lot more for your money in Leyland than Warrington since it's between Liverpool and Manchester with M6, M62, and M56, Burnley has some of the cheapest houses in the country.

Yes the very same. Lots of these places were existing towns and were simply re designated as "New Towns" in the 50s and 60s.

Another reason we like Skem is the fact my wife is American and the layout of Skem reminds her of home. A town with lots of small shopping areas but no real centre. Houses are in one part of town, industry in another and there's no houses on main roads, either.

The announcement of a new town centre development with a train station should surely help values in this are so I'm hoping we bought at the right time.

torbrex

The only bad thing about new towns is the width of the roads.
The planners had no idea the car was going to take over the world and did not make the roads wide enough or allow for 2 cars (+) at each house.

Other than that there is little difference between a new town and a large housing scheme.

vivatifosi

I grew up in a new town. There are some really nice areas in the ones that I know, which are in Herts. It's just a matter of knowing where the good areas are and the bad ones.

I don't know the northern new towns, but a lot of them were built around an established town or large village and have some very nice areas.

Hemel Hempstead is the new town that I know best, I wouldn't hesitate to recommend Boxmoor, the Old Town or Leverstock Green as nice areas to live, plus Longdean Park or Felden for anyone who is already a millionaire. Even the big estates have nice streets in, it's just a matter of knowing which to look at and which to avoid.

globalds

I moved to Telford about 10 years ago.

Before that I lived in Wolverhampton with a few years spent in Japan.

Overall I like Telford and I think the idea of a managed town is much more logical than an organically grown town.

The reality , a bit like a new housing development but on a much bigger scale, is the lag between what the designers see and what gets put in place due to economics ..a local primary school is not going to be built until the pupils arrive ..or a Hospital .library cinema etc.This can leave an imbalance.People go out of town to do stuff.

I think I got here at a good time ..Telford is now a unitary authority and makes better decisions for itself than stuffy Shropshire council did.
There is real growth here ..The population has doubled since I arrived.

Some of the old ideas on how new towns should develop have changed and some more sensible choices for example ,about housing near entertainment areas are now being implemented.

One thing I commented on the other day ..about parks ..I was thinking of Wolverhampton ..It has a very typical Victorian park called west park ..That I reckon cost a huge amount to maintain and really is not what lots of modern park users want.

Because we have very little " History " Telford has a park in the middle of the town which is really modern and pretty fun ..mostly free and my kids have had many days of fun on the rope swings , water parks, cycle paths. This is probably not cheap to maintain ..But I know we ..the users get a far better return on our tax.

I like that ..That our roads work and that we don't pay for too much that isn't pragmatic ..I do know I have to go to Shrewsbury for aesthetics..But also know I won't park for hours and will then walk a mile to get to the shops.

TLDR
You get more for your money in a new town

ethank

I live in Milton Keynes and I love it!