NEW TOWNS! Are they really that bad?

missbiggles1

globalds wrote: »

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

Or Ironbridge.:)

Anatidaephobia

The new town near me is really nice (not one of the ones you've mentioned though - I don't know what most of them are like). It has lots of amenities - lots of shops, almost all of the big supermarkets, pubs, bars, restaurants, cinema, hospital, doctors, good schools, etc. Good transport links and easy to get around. Lots of parks and green space. A complete range of housing from budget to expensive. Good community feel.

We can't judge all new towns based on Cumbernauld

bap98189

TBeckett100 wrote: »

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.

What you are describing is typical of many towns in the UK, which were built hundreds of years ago when people's lives were very different. But such a layout is not conducive to modern life.

People nowadays live different lives. Rather than everyone all head into a packed town centre, with narrow streets, poor parking and businesses all crammed into one area, modern towns such as Milton Keynes were designed differently. People nowadays drive everywhere and expect to be able to park when they get there. They shop in malls rather than high-streets. They expect to be able to quickly access entertainment and services such as restaurants and trains without worrying about parking.

TBeckett100 wrote: »

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

That may be your opinion, but Milton Keynes was recently ranked one of the most desirable places to live in the UK. It was designed with functionality in mind, rather than what you call "soul". It's not the place for you, but an awful lot of people do seem to like living in these towns so the designers can't have got it all wrong.

helibob

I'm also from Leyland (well, grew up there, but left 17 years ago), and certainly then Skelmersdale didn't have the greatest of names.

From my understanding, MK was built as a new town that was commutable to London, whereas Skem was a village where they moved a lot of people who had been housed in Liverpool council houses, but didn't worry so much about putting in proper infrastructure and that.

I could be wrong on any of these counts, and have possibly been misinformed by snobbery, so it's worth looking into further, but I just wouldn't assume that MK and Skem are directly comparable.

clint_S

carguy143 wrote: »

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.

You are correct, Leyland is also listed as a "New Town".


My wife is also American, but comes from a Midwest town, or small city as they call them, the place she come from is centred on the old high street with the main shops located there. This is different to a lot of the smaller cities/towns like Warrington which have grown from villages and have numerous shopping centres. Skelms isn't bad, I used to have clients in the area and it's near enough Liverpool, southport and Blackpool for employment. plus the local footy teams looks like it's going places.

Gers

I spent some time at school in East Kilbride - 'Scotland's oldest new town', or Polo Mint City - so called because of the numerous roundabouts.

When I was there it was fairly quiet and we had a huge swathe of plantation in two places close to the house. One swathe went right down a long wide slope to a main road. On a visit back the other year that is now a huge housing estate.

Our family was grateful for the new house and we enjoyed living there. Luckily our house was only in a row of three and we faced a green space. No car parking at all in front of the house.

I'm not going back there to live. The town has changed hugely, the outdoor shopping area in the centre became indoor a number of years ago and is now a mall.

Each to their own though.

LandyAndy

I lived in Warrington for 16 years until about ten years ago, in one of the 'new' areas. I liked it.

carguy143

Well it's nice to see a lot of positive reviews about these places. I have to say I'm looking forward to moving in and getting used to the place.

People think I'm nuts for moving to Skem. However, these people have never been and experienced the place for themselves.

Rik.

lincroft1710

Wasn't Skelmersdale the model for "Newtown" in BBC TV's"Z-Cars" some 50 years ago.

the_hobbits_leaf

Hi, I've grew up and spent virtually all my life in a "Newtown", Skelmersdale to be precise.

Skem, is fine albeit it's transport links are dire; no train station, bad bus services, I would say you really need a car if your place of work is outside of the town.

However it is ideally situated between Liverpool and Manchester and has excellent motorway links, and isnt too far from the rail network, with stations in Up Holland, Parbold and Ormskirk not far away

The main shopping centre the concourse is pretty grim, but there is an Asda in the town, and as previously mention is close to all the amenities that the larger surrounding towns and cities offer

I like Skem, I'm obviously biased, but it doesn't deserve the rep it gets from some of the folk in surrounding areas, which I can tell is just snobbery and formed from an ingrained dislike of folk with a Liverpool accent.

Skelmersdale is surrounded by lovely countryside and quaint little villages; you dont have to go far to see some lovely views of the west lancashire plain and the coastline.

Don't get me wrong the council estates have there fair share of problem families and have become a run down in the last 20 years or so, but there are plenty of nice quiet areas in Ashurst, and parts of the old town.

I've recently bought a 1930's semi with large gardens front and back, a garage for 100k in the old town and I really like the area. Its quiet i've had no mither from anyone.

Skelmersdales a nice enough place, not a pretty market town in the cotswolds, but its far from the worst place to live and far quieter and safer than the big cities close by.