Squirrel

I think it's a little unrealistic to talk about the city centre at night time as most older people (ie not 16 to 21 year olds) would live in the 'burbs and only go there occasionally on Saturdays/Sundays shopping. My sister has lived in Nottingham for many years and never been a victim of crime. She has always lived in the 'burbs and there are many nice ones, property prices are reasonable.

My Mum lives in Grantham and we have been to Nottingham several times. I thought there was a lot to do in terms of the castle (yeah not the original castle), Tales of Robin Hood, caves, good shopping etc. I also thought the town square was very nice, all purple flowers, a lot more care than many town centres.
Plus it's very easy to get to a lot of the UK from Nottingham by train eg Birmingham, London, and we found the people friendly, one man walked right out of his way to show us where to go.

steandleigh

Thers certainly some interesting replies here as to what nottingham is really like.........

i'm a nottingham girl, born and bred.

have just recieved the good news of our pr visas being granted tonight and personally, we can't wait to get away.

Yes, notts has a great shopping centre - full of great shops, cosmopolitan stylie bars and restaurants, historical stuff abound ie woolly park, castle, newstead abbey etc.

I have not been into notts city centre to shop or play for over 2 yrs, can't stand the feeling that i have to keep a firm hold of my handbag while im shopping around town, i woulden't dream of going into notts for an evenings entertainment for fear of getting my head kicked in.....

Nottingham has lots to offer to the hapless tourist, but those of us who have lived here forever know the reality..... that is not to say that it is no better elsewhere, but im willing to give it a go.

I was born in radford ( inner city notts...now a bit of a no go area ), at the time ( 30 yrs ago ) it was as good an area as anywhere else, now, if you're sensible, you woulden't go walking around there in the daytime, let alone at night.

We now live 8 miles out of notts and over the past 5 yrs have seen a steady stream of notts city dwellers ( to be polite ), moving out of the city and getting closer to us in the 'burbs, bringing with them, their drug addiction and the paraphenalia associated with it, the crime, and not just petty theft, but rape, muggings, burglary etc.

Maybe its just a sign of the times and the society we live in, maybe its not notts in particular, but the uk as a whole, maybe its not that much better else where, but i certainly woulden't reccommend notts as a place to raise a family.

seamonsta

Yes, I remember Radford & Hyson Green. Simply horrid. Very seedy areas full of smack-heads, crack-heads and sh*t-heads. The nightlife in Nottingham is notoriously rough. As you say, OK for a day trip to wander around the shops & go for a meal in one of the restaurants. But after dark the place is pandemonium. Nott's folk who rant and rave about the place need to get a reality check.

RChappo

It's not ranting and raving it's just stating opinions. I could just as well accuse you of ranting and raving.
As for getting a reality check I'm well aware that Nottingham isn't the best place in the world to live but it's far from being the worst. And you always have the option of moving away if you don't like the place. I personally didn't move to get away from Nottingham I moved for a different reason.

ffleate

Thank you to everyone who took the time to post a few thoughts about Nottingham. I have also been exploring a few websites and have a better picture of it now. However, tourist websites never give the vantage point you get from hearing the different viewpoints of people who have lived or visited there.

Dreamaway 10

Couldn't agree with you more.I also live 8 miles from Notts in quite a good area,must admitt do like to go shopping as the shops are good in Nottingham but thats about it as far as I am concerned.When I was younger I did all the bars and clubs had a good time but would be terrified to think that my Daughter and Son will do the same when they are older as it is just not the same place anymore. Definatley do not want to bring up my family around here or in the UK for that matter.Is it just cos I am getting older although my own parents agree with me and say they do not blame us for wanting to get out of the UK.Hope I have not offended anyone who loves Nottingham.
Oz may not be as good as I think once we are out there but I am going to give it a good try.If things do not work out I would not come back to Nottingham as Its definatley getting worse.

zads

i can't quite put my finger on it, but the atmosphere in the city has definiately altered for the worse. I used to spend every saturday night in the centre without a worry, maybe its me getting older i'm not sure but its early doors only nowadays. All i can say is that its not the place it was, "When i were a lad.." and it isn't that long ago. As for the inner city regeneration, not sure i would pay 150k for a box with a great view of the hookers on the street corner. A workmate has just come back from a weekend in New York and said he felt safer there than in town at night, but like someone earlier said, if you know where not to go, then like anywhere, its ok. Not great.

janeyray

Could I just say to all those 'still' living in Nottingham who seem to hate it so much (or those who have visited and hate it) that it only seems a hateful place when you're dying to leave the UK for the floral paastures of pure heaven in Australia.

"I to was one of those" (HONEST!), I couldn't think of a worse place to live than.....

The over populated,

stinking, grimey, drug taking, scumbag living, filthy, flea ridden, rats in the restaurants, wouldn't bring my children up here, education sucks, money goes nowhere,

good for nothing United Kingdom

but all that changes when you live here in OZ, you see the delights of the past as the rose scented garden of paradise, a bit like you all coming over see Australia, yadda yadda yadda

miss brodie

I am Notts born and bred too, although haven't lived there for a long time now. Nottingham has always been a violent city and growing up there made me extremely streetwise. i remeber riot police in Market Square at 2 am on Sunday mornings and jumping over pools of blood on the way to the taxi rank. I can also remember when some scumbag stabbed an old begger and his dog on a Saturday afternoon outside M and S.

HOWEVER there have been vast improvements to the city in recent years and there are some nice places to live in the burbs - leafy Victorian streets and if you are willing to travel a bit further, some nice villages and market towns. Also some good restaurants and shopping in the city and loads of things to do. If i were choosing however, i would live about an hour out of the city in Rutland or Stamford and drive into nottingham for anything you need, although Peterborough is closer.

DaisyNZ

I grew up in Nottingham, then married a kiwi and moved to NZ (12 years ago). We'd like to do a working holiday back in the UK in the next few years but I won't go back to Nottingham. After living the easy, laid back life of Hawkes Bay for as long as I have, there's no way I could contemplate that life again. I'd enjoy a visit though to see the old haunts, and I do remember the shopping being good.

And whoever said about there being more women to men in Nottm - why d'you think the kiwi boys ended up there. And why d'you think I grabbed one of them!!!

Scoops

Used to visit Notts for nights out as Leicester used to be crap and very violent.

Never experienced trouble in Notts though.

Been back recently and it has changed places in my opinion. Leicester is now safer and you have less chance of getting a kicking and much less chance of being shot.

beggars everywhere day and night and aggressive with it. prostitution is everywhere in the City and fights around the bars were breaking out at random.

Daily shootings help to fill out the East Mids news as well.

Never been to Perth but it must be one hell of a big shithole if its worse than Notts.

melurist

Wow. I'm amazed by the low opinion of Nottingham.

Firstly, to respond to some specific points. The Maid Marian way is being redeveloped at the cost of several millions by the council, the subways have all been filled in and new paving laid.

Begging has reduced substantially recently as a result of a fairly aggressive anti-begging policy. A recent study found that it had fallen by 85% in the last few months.

The city is one of the most popular shopping centres outside London. It has some very attractive inner city areas in the Lace Market and Hockley, further out the Park and Wollaton are very pleasant, as well as West Bridgford (I don't know the other suburbs so well). Some of the surrounding countryside is very nice, and it is only a short drive away from the Peak District.

Nottingham University is one of the countries top universities after Oxbridge and London, and consistently attracts more applicants than any other university in the country. Nottingham Trent University is one of the most popular (and attractive) of the new universities, and has forged a strong reputation in several less traditional subjects.

The city has a large number of pubs and clubs, including some of the oldest pubs in the country, such as Ye Olde Trip to Jerusalem sited in the walls under the castle. The city has an increasingly lively arts scene, with several art galleries, a number of theatres, and the excellent Broadway cinema. The city has more sports sports facilities per head of population than anywhere else in the country, including a couple of football grounds where it is still possible to afford to see a game, a cricket pavilion, the national watersports centre and ice skating at the national ice arena.

The city has funky new trams.

In recent years it has been the fast growing city in the UK for job creation, and there has been extensive new building work in recent years, much of it quite attractive. The dockside area in particular has been attractively regenerated and the main city square is shortly to be redeveloped. The Broadmarsh centre is also due to be redeveloped.

It is a big city but still retains a small town feel. Traffic is less bad than other comparable British cities. Houses are still fairly affordable.

That said - it does have a problem with crime - although it should not be overstated, I frequently went into town when I lived there for nights out, and never had any problems, nor really did I witness much obvious violence. There are significant problems with drugs related crime in some of the suburbs, but this is largely localised and rarely effects those outside these communities.

Nottingham is far from perfect, but it is an attractive, lively, and forward looking city, and far from a bad place to live - even if the weather is pretty appalling.

janeyray

Well said.

janeyray

Not sure if anyone said that Perth was worse than Notts


Home is where tha heart is, and my heart is where my family and friends are and that just happens to be Nottingham.

I don't live in the Centre or Victoria Flats,
I don't live in Radford, or where there are hundreds of ferral cats,

I don't live near the prostitutes, the robbers or the muggers,
I try and stay away from the likes of silly buggers,

I don't go into tacky bars, so never see the fighting,
the punch ups, the glassing and the biting,

I lived in a nice part, away from all of that,
but if I thought that Notts was paradise I'd be a silly pratt.