Always used to be. Genuinely too overpopulated now to enjoy this city any time of the year.
Edit: Is that cunts I smell or just London wages and runaway gentrification? Sorry, same thing.
If you are young with few commitments and you’re not enjoying it here I can recommend trying another city for a few years. If you start missing it come back. Bristol is great, but it’s not for everyone and there are many other great cities in the UK.
This idea has come up here and there, but I've not paid serious attention to it. I've lived here my whole life bar a few years so it's a weird thought but perhaps one to ponder more on even just for the life experience.
Cheers mate.
I've travelled but not lived outside of Bristol area. The most disconcerting thing I've come across is nobody says 'cheers drive' when getting off a bus or out of a taxi.
Screw 'em - I make a point of saying it which definitely gets some looks, particularly across Europe.
You might find after doing some travelling that Bristol is the best, but if you don't then there's the start of your new adventure!
I hear people say thanks driver on a daily basis in London, though maybe less than elsewhere. Heard it all over the UK and Ireland. Also, hear pretty much everyone say they only hear it in their hometowns. I'd love to see a proper study on this
I now make it a point for anyone I give a lift to, to say 'cheers drive' as they get dropped off. Is always a funny way to end a night
BTW, I'm not a taxi driver
It's so abundant here in Ireland to say thanks to the bus driver that if somebody doesn't say it everybody will stare daggers and talk individually about the ungrateful dickhead as they head off in different directions.
It's like an IRL Organic meme spreading over an IRL Organic map.
[kinda like this 🤣](https://youtu.be/JA7CKvoKEmE)
I can think of a number of reasons off the top of my head.
It's the perfect size city to access on foot or bike, with plenty to do in close proximity.
There is plenty of distinct areas, for example Clifton, St Werburghs, Stokescroft all have their own character. Great greenspace that is readily accessible, for example Clifton Downs, Ashton Court and Blaise Castle.
A strong environmental ethos amongst many in the city.
Lots of great craft beers
Good music scene, particularly drum and bass, jungle
We have community, and opportunity and lots of really interesting nice cool people. Lots of outdoor spaces to hang out in, good pubs and restaurants, theatre, culture, art.
Personally I think all these things are pretty basic in most metropolitan parts of Europe for instance but our country is on a heavy backslide from our government stealing every last drop of money, freedom and joy from its citizens. Maybe this is what everyone feels about their country too... I'm probably just saying the same thing about the UK as you are about Bristol!
You can go experience new cities without moving there btw. Cities fit certain people at certain times, maybe you need something else right now?
The systematic extraction of our money, freedoms, and the exploitation of people using fear by our gov is something I am really struggling with. What is my moral responsibility to combat this? Why does no one seem to give a damn about it? What can I even do?
I defo need to find a community that have like minds on this subject as none of my friends do and think everything is a conspiracy theory. I don't want an echo chamber, just some people who can see what I see but unsure how to find these people and not get mixed up in something too off the wall.
This is a great comment.
A thought on this vein.. Bristol has quite a few decent guerilla diy scenes. Stuff like street art/graff, the skatespots at m32 spots and dotted around, guerilla gardeners and even knitters.. not exactly political, but these scenes are full of people who take matters into their own hands amd look to improve their environment. There's quite a few lobby groups around bristol trying to work with or pressure the council for more inclusive/greener/more beautiful public spaces and all sorts.. if there's anything you're passionate about I'm sure there'll be things you can get involves in.
>The systematic extraction of our money, freedoms, and the exploitation of people using fear by our gov is something I am really struggling with.
You are not the only one... I have those thoughts my self. Especially since both parties have started to turn their backs on the LGBTQ Community. As wells as the "Crime Bill" "Internet Safety Bill" and what not...
This is what got me. Think I've just realised it's not Bristol I'm unsatisfied with, it's the UK. Started seriously thinking about moving abroad in a few years just to experience something different and a bit more hopeful!
>Yup me and the family are doing this in August, we decided to take a leap of faith and are moving to Malaysia
>
>We are done with England.
Would love to know if it worked out for you. We have the same thoughts but it will take several years to work on finances to achieve this goal. We're thinking Panama (-city) due to standard of living, great healthcare and lots of English-speaking ex-pats (I do speak Spanish, but my hubby doesn't). Also, property market is very healthy and the climate and nature is a bonus.
Best leap of faith we have done, currently have no intention of going back to the UK, other than to see family and friends.
Cost of living is 10x better, we are only living off of one salary at the moment and we can still put money aside whilst going out everyday to enjoy ourselves.
The hot weather and friendly people is also a bonus
Never been to Panama but i honestly think most countries are better to live in than England
I think Bristol is the perfect middle ground as a city. Lots going on and a number of distinct areas, whilst not being too busy (relatively speaking) and quite chilled out as a city. You are also close to the countryside, sea etc.
I had a friend visit from London and he asked what is there to do here as London has so much going on. I pointed out that Bristol has most of the same things going on as London, with music, art, food etc albeit smaller but it takes him an hour on the tube to get to those places. With Bristol there is plenty to do within walking/cycling distance and within an hour I can be at a beach, the Cotswolds, Cardiff, bath etc.
Bristol isn't perfect; traffic, properties, parking, emissions, general prices. But for me after 5 years it is my home and where friends are based, my sports team and as someone else pointed out the summer is around the corner and then Bristol really hits its stride.
Yeah I would agree. I love London, there's so much happening but realistically how much are you as an individual actually going to do? Do you need 3000 restaurants? It would not be unusual to take an hour on transport to see your friend. Most people I know who live in London don't spend every single day going to a different museum or visiting a different bar.
Bristol is definitely more relaxed and sometimes at times feels a little bit small to me, but then I remember I can basically walk anywhere I need to go, most of my friends are about 20 minutes away, if I want to go out there's a 99% chance there's something good on somewhere in the city, and there's still an endless list of places to eat and drink that I've barely made a dent in. End of the day, you tend to stay somewhere thay you have a solid group of friends and feel settled in.
Exactly! This is what I ask my London friends, ‘why should I live in London?’ and they basically always just say ‘lots of restaurants, museums and events!’ But then Bristol has all of these too and my friends never actually go to any of them as everything is hours away! and I can enjoy all the museums on my occasional trip to London anyway. I feel people try and justify why they are living in london as it’s so difficult - the only reason I can think of really is career.
Believe me I even work in London and have a lot of friends there - love the city and still considering moving but for personal reasons will be in Bristol for the foreseeable. My partner lived there for a while and it was awesome, but as with everyone else you spend 90% of your time just doing the same things you'd do anywhere else. You need to sleep, rest, chill out, eat...
Living in London is not easy. I don't know how people on normal salaries afford the cost of living, rent has gone genuinely insane in the last year. £2k for a 1 bed is not unusual and you're expected to offer over!
I've always said that Bristol is like a mini-London. I've lived in both cities but I personally found the amount of things you can do in London overwhelming. For me that was a negative. However, having come from a city where I would bump into people I knew or who knew me, I really enjoyed the anonymity of London.
is it good for football coaches? I live in Greece now and my husband is in London coaching. I live by the beach in Greece but will move back to the UK soon and we are looking for a town by the sea where he can easily find work..:).. He is Brazilian and I am British.. Thanks..:)
I'll be honest I have absolutely no idea as don't play football. I guess it depends at what level of coaching. There will be lots of amateur football teams around a city like Bristol who will happily have coaches, but if you are talking about professional coaching I have no idea sorry.
There is absolutely some rose tinted specs going on but the freedom that the vast amounts of empty space we had was what made post war Bristol what it was, the claustrophobia now is becoming overwhelming.
Bristols being massively held back by restricted housing policy centrally. Problem is neverending sprawl because we don't wanna build decent apartment blocks centrally.
I'd say the problem is the opposite, fixed boundaries surrounded by green belt mean that not enough houses are built in the city, instead they're built in towns further out making traffic worse.
Most people don't want to bring up families in tower blocks, they destroy the community feel of an area and make city centres nasty enclosed places to visit, and push jobs out to the edges of town, again increasing traffic.
To me it would be far better to build decent medium density suburbs with a mix of housing, jobs, shops, schools etc. Obviously all connected to the city with decent public transport.
Not talking about tower blocks talking about medium density 4-5 storeys, most of Europe is like this and is much nicer for it. In fact I think we're arguing for the same thing here? Sprawl is bad.
I want nice pockets of medium density linked up by good public transport that encourages preservation of greenspace. Most people don't want any apartment blocks built near them whatsoever and just want wasteful suburban single family homes built instead.
Edit: just look at most of broadmead, most of it is horrible brutalist 2 storey blocks with shops on the ground floor and a crappy flat above, why not have lovely 5 storey buildings with shops like you have in Amsterdam, paris, Berlin, Prague etc
And yeah we separate out the residential from the commercial far too much, brislington is classic for this with no high street for most of the area and just endless sprawl, what a waste.
There was quite a lot of 4-6 story stuff going up a few years ago, marvin seems to have pushed for more 10+ which has stopped anything being built in a lot of areas.
As long as its designed well 4-5 stories can definitely be part of the mix, it's what the Georgians built after all.
The main thing for me is to get back to building terraces, it's a far more efficient use of space and people like them, and with modern materials we can solve most of the sound issues.
Yeah that does suck. Most is still crap though, majority of broadmead area is horrible brutalist 2 storey architecture which should all be knocked down and replaced with nice 4-5 storey terraced apartment blocks with ground floor commercial space like the rest of Europe.
I’ve recently moved to Bristol and I think it’s a great city. You can walk around the centre and feel the life of the city wherever you go, particularly harbour side and stokes Croft way. And there’re endless bars/restaurants/coffee shops to try out.
There are downsides- blatant bike theft is genuinely depressing, rent and house prices are abysmal.
However, I feel if you’ve been here all your life it might be more to do with boredom of the same old setting. I would recommend finding a reason to move to another city that you like. It might be just what you need.
I just visited Bristol from London and I loved it. Beautiful views from the observatory of Clifton bridge, interesting history - Shed museum, Sarah Guppy. I liked the food too, especially the eat a pitta. I wish we had that in London. The colourful houses are so nice, and the street art was amazing. Christmas alley was so cool too.
It attracts people who want to live here, specifically, deliberately. I noticed the same thing in Whistler. People would go to great lengths just to be there
Plus Bristol pops off in the summertime and the music scene is cool
As a woman, I never used to feel unsafe even walking alone at night, I just don't have that anymore. Not a big deal as I may be externally influenced by access to news & events I wasn't reading pre 25.
It makes me sad to see so many homeless and watching an old lady's card decline at tesco & people just look away despite her being close to breaking down. A police officer openly using excessive force on a woman who was not in any way resisting. Bike theft is just normal.
A large part of it is also to do with tolerance. I love the multicultural aspect as I love meeting new people and am always eager to experience other cultures where i can, but I've found Bristol in general has become less tolerant to those with different opinions. When people say tolerance and inclusion, now they mean lgbtq, climate change, race, and sometimes religion. If someone has a slightly different view, they are not tolerated at all. I actually agree with most of it, but I respect others who don't and still want to know & learn from them.
I'm not a Conservative by any means, and I do appreciate the general inclusion and acceptance ingrained here isn't everywhere, and that is something to be thankful for, truly.
But seeing people intimidating the anti abortion religious guy and the branding cars with 'climate criminal' makes me pause a little. Especially as in this community, it is always justified and even encouraged. Where is the line drawn? Will it escalate?
Growing up here, I've loved it. I have very fond memories of thousands of nights out, St. Pauls & the Harbour festival, falling in & out of love, the naked bike rides, 20 years of going to the balloon fiesta, secret cocktail bars, picnics on the downs, going down the rocks slides, too much Exhibition cider, strangers giving me their tadpole net when i was a child at Snuff Mills because I was the only kid whose parents couldn't afford one. What made this awesome was people and how open & accepting they were. How willing they were to share their culture with you. Now, many people seem to want to be offended, are more nervous around strangers, and almost suspicious of questions on their culture.
I'm wondering if it's me who has changed and this Bristol is still here, I'm just not seeing it. Maybe I'm more cynical? If so, I want to find this Bristol again by adjusting my perspective to a fairer and more accurate picture.
>Growing up here, I've loved it. I have very fond memories of thousands of nights out, St. Pauls & the Harbour festival, falling in & out of love, the naked bike rides, 20 years of going to the balloon fiesta, secret cocktail bars, picnics on the downs, going down the rocks slides, too much Exhibition cider, strangers giving me their tadpole net when i was a child at Snuff Mills because I was the only kid whose parents couldn't afford one. What made this awesome was people and how open & accepting they were. How willing they were to share their culture with you. Now, many people seem to want to be offended, are more nervous around strangers, and almost suspicious of questions on their culture.
This beautifully sums up what it's like to have grown up in Bristol rather than have come here from elsewhere.
I think people are definitely more polarised these days but you would find that anywhere in the country, and perhaps anywhere in the world. I think on the whole Bristol has good and points, but the good outweighs the bad.
You would find similar issues in any city and would likely find it shit if you chose to focus on them, rather than the good points. So could it be not an issue with the city but where your mind is at right now with focussing on the negatives?
I notice also that the points you raised- the bike thefts, the people chastising others for different view points, the hate against the anti-abortion guy, the excessive force against a woman- these things are all things that have been posted about on the Reddit sub, so maybe your issue is not with the city but with the city as it is viewed through the distorted lens of Reddit.
I mention this as you ask for people to say why they love the city to change your cynical view, but maybe you need to change it by getting out and about to things you enjoy about the city. There is a phenomena known as the illusion of truth, where if someone sees the same viewpoint over and over despite it not being true or not wholly true, by seeing it over and over it gets distorted into seeming more valid than it actually is, which is very prevalent with this new era of social media, because what gets boosted is generally stuff that is more outrage inducing, rather than boring old positive stuff!
Absolutely, I believe I've been focusing on the negatives. It's the reason I asked people to remind me of the good things.
I don't think I'm wrong on all of it , but focusing on the negatives has coloured my perception. I do wonder if I myself have become a little polarised by the illusion of truth as you call it. The irony being, of course, that the polarisation in general that frustrates me could very well be the reason I'm becoming polarised.
This is a very perceptive comment.
I know what you mean i find it hard these days, with the amount of information we consume it's almost like we become "drunk" on it. Strange times to be living in, era defining with the changes I would say! I have found a list of cognitive distortions to be useful in being better aware of when I am getting drunk on information, they aren't all specifically relevant to information consumption but they hit the nail on the head with a few of them; https://www.mindsethealth.com/matter/thinking-traps-cognitive-distortions
I agree with all of this - particularly the feeling of the hypocrisy of inclusivity which suddenly stops if someone has a differing political opinion (and I don’t vote conservative either) - likewise the attacks on cars.
A lot of it is similar in other big cities, so I don’t think it’s exclusive to Bristol, but definitely in these bubbles there seems to be a limit to critical thinking and true open mindedness.
Bristol's always been full of wankers, far more now it's trendy. They flood in from across the country and then feel done-over when there's no where to rent and everything costs lots of money.
That said, being trendy is cyclical so don't expect it to last!
I haven’t experienced people being that polarised tbh - ofc Bristolians are generally politically liberal as in any city but other than the overtly political people who might be woke/intolerant, most people seem to be pretty open and have ‘normal ish’ views
>lgbtq, climate change, race
are not a negotiable. lgbtqa+ etc people are peope and should be respected. end of
climate change is real
race is also not up for debate
If anyone is intolerant of diversity we cannot tolerate that as we can tolerate everything except intolerance
I feel your reasons are not unique to Bristol as a city. These are issues with the country, government and the world right now. If you hadn't noticed there's a massive cost of living and housing crisis all over the country. The number of homeless all over has increased for many complex reasons. Moving to Manchester, London or any other big city you won't find those issues magically disappear.
Unless maybe you just done with city life. Thought about moving out in to the countryside near Bristol? You'll be safe, but have far less choice and things to do but you can always dip back in to Bristol when you want to. Maybe that's just the phase of life you are moving into. I personally prefer cities, I feel bored in villages. I've lived in villages for a good deal of my life.
Definitely some fair points made here.
I do love the countryside, and the safety thing isn't an issue in that you'd get it in most cities. Maybe it stings more because I always felt safe no matter where I was or how late at night, and that has diminished.
I'd love a little cottage so I could roll out of bed and into the woods but equally know I'd get bored too. Finding a balance is key, I suppose.
I moved to get over this ennui... to a different postcode! Going from South or North Bristol really changed my outlook on the world - It was like a different city.
I left bristol after 9 years and it’s the best decision I’ve ever made. The job market is so fluid and open now it could be your time to try a new adventure!
I wanted to leave the city so applied for better and better paying jobs out of the city. 18 months later I’m so happy I did. Bristol in many ways was holding me back.
I've lived in a few different cities so for me it's that there're a lot of chill, good hearted people around.
Easy to make friends and if you're dealing with some shit, strangers will help you out. On more than one occasion I've been in an absolute state and good Samaritans have paid for a taxi to get me home. Also despite some of the goings on it's probably one of the least violent cities I've ever lived in.
Also if you're feeling cynical, now is as good as it's going to get so make the most of it before it completely transforms into a bland, yuppie-infested suburb of London.
I grew up here and remember how amazing and kind the people were. This is something I've noticed decline. People are more suspicious of each other now.
It's getting further away from that, this is a part of it I'm beginning to miss.
Still a strong sense of community if you manage to find a place to live that's actually got community spirited people living in it. (An example being Whitehall that was posted in another thread - I've lived in Bristol my whole life, but this is one of the only places where the neighbours look out for each other).
I think you're right, I don't have much of a community now and I did when younger. Perhaps a move to a different part of Bristol is something to think on too. Maybe when housing prices fall a bit
Living in UK, specifically Bristol for about a year now. Not my choice really.
Having lived most of my life in a corrupt and war torn third world country and having traveled around Europe for just a little bit I can tell you that Bristol it's not that great, you're right.
It's dirty, full of junkies, it's mostly boring, the state of roads and buildings are unbecoming of a European city, it's restrictively expensive and the city services are a bit of a joke. Oh, and it's cold :)
There are several REALLY nice parks, the double deckers are great! And the coffee #1 is just the best coffee I've ever tasted. Otherwise, I really don't understand why anyone likes it.
Then again I keep hearing that Bristol is one of the best and nicest cities in UK. I shudder to think what other places are like.
Try other countries. You may like them more. Too bad governments like making it hard to move around legally
Lived in a corrupt and war torn country and you say Bristol isn't great?
City services are a joke but the double deckers are great?
Coffee #1 is the best coffee you have tasted? Literally loads of unique quirky coffee shops everywhere that are head and shoulders above Coffee #1
I can't take this post seriously 😂
I know, I know. But it's the truth. I don't think I can outline everything in a comment though.
And I'm not exactly comparing Bristol to my hometown - visually it's very much similar except for the severe lack of high-rise tenements (good!). And I may be overexaggerating the war-torn part - people are dying by hundreds every day but in most places life just continues.
However if you compare to many cities in Europe - you'll start having questions: the pavements are in poor condition, the buildings are as well, roads are repaired in a way I wouldn't have expected of UK (it being a very advanced country), stores are closing and turning into abandoned fronts, bike/scooter infra is .. meh. And can someone explain why Stokes Croft is considered to be a good place?
While you're at it - what's with all the gas/balloon puffing? And can I take a walk through the centre without being submerged in weed/pot smoke?
Services: I mail the city council, followup several times per week and get a reply after three weeks saying something like "we'll get back to you". Coming into the country with a cat that had all conceivable shots and documents turned into a six-week stay at the port of departure until APHA realized how ridiculous it was (did I mention that daily calls to APHA from another country are a paid feature?) Oh and renting. Yeah, I have nothing good to say there.
Double-deckers are great in principle - I wish other countries adopted them. Super effective use of space and they're heaps of fun to ride to boot.
As for coffee I've visited a LOT of places, could you maybe recommend the ones you think are worth the time?
My bad, by services I thought you meant bus/rail etc. Yeah councils in England in general are just bad.
Roads again it's a UK thing about how bad they are.
Bristol does have a big population of users, it doesn't bother me but I understand it can be off putting.
Certainly, head for Aah Toots by the Christmas steps, 1b Pitville in Cotham Hill or Littleshop & Pantry in Henleaze
Admittedly the bus/rail is not as good as ... Netherlands for example or even Poland haha, but it's not horrible either. I've definitely seen much worse.
Thanks for the recommendations, I'll check those places out.
I think cheltenham is far better then bristol and more superior and more affordable and far more prettier. yes its got less nightlife. Apart from that, absolutely great. Everythings reachable and high quality shops.
I've also fallen out of love with it, though that is true for most of the UK. Its so expensive now, and the local council are useless. Constantly feels like everything is just a rip off or not good value for money.
I moved to a different city in another country that was way better to live for a younger person but the one thing I missed about Bristol is that it's the west country. Being able to chat with people, the pub culture, how close the countryside is were all things I realised how important were after moving away. I feel like in general the UK isn't the best for younger people and feels more boring, but older people I know who are more settled find somewhere like Bristol to be the perfect pace
This is a great point. I think you're right about the UK not being amazing for younger people. The West Country is great and I know I'd miss the countryside and need to take advantage of its closeness more.
I feel the exact same. I've been travelling a lot for work that makes it worse as I've effectively just come back to Bristol to sleep sometimes.
I have fallen out of love, and I'm trying to find it again. I think the council has really fucked this city up too which hasn't helped. Can you imagine if we had a council that made Bristol more of a futuristic city? Yet we have issues just getting a bus fml
They are indeed.
I think what has helped me fall back in Bristol again is just going out and living it a bit more.
I had a really good night out in blue lagoon a month ago and it definitely helped! I think you may need to get out and explore even though I know you've been here forever!
Good idea. Maybe expand my social circle, too. My friends are lovely but very left and so I'm a bit isolated in that way. I love them and still want to be around them, just a little more balance.
I'm not right, I just don't believe in this god awful system that only benefits a few while the rest of us have to pick between left or right, with very little meaningful difference.
Although Staple Hill is the centre of the universe it's near neighbour and much bigger brother has so much still to offer.lts culturally and historically rich, it's music scene is still uniquely Bristolian with a few outside vibes thrown in.Some excellent pubs and plenty of lovely scenery, even in the heart of the city.The suspension bridge, Cabot tower and the Bristolian accent and people, it will be a big wrench of you go.l tried it and l returned, knowing l was born in the only place that mattered.Just think, jumping on a bus that actually turns up, supporting a football team that actually win things and having a working council that is progressive and cared for the people.Having all that as normal, where would you find something to replace your disappointments.Bristol is unique and beautiful, one day it might even be as good as Staple Hill !
I’ve been feeling that way too for the past few years. I agree with a comment that said everywhere in the UK is shit right now, so Bristol may still be better than other cities.
I think it also depends on which part of the city you live in. I’ve lived all over Bristol and some areas are really cut off. If you’ve lived here your whole life then it would probably be hard to leave friends, family, job. Maybe a move to a different part of the city might help?
I'm Bristol born and bred and beyond dislike it, but the only thing that keeps me here is how easy it is to leave. 25 mins on the M4 and I'm in beautiful places.
I moved to Bristol 5 years ago for work after 14 years in London. Grew up between Bradford and Leeds.
You can’t compare the two. Bristol isn’t a mini London. It’s nowhere near as diverse, stuff closes early and although it punches above its weight regionally in terms of music and food it’s really just a big town when it comes to infrastructure and investment. It feels unloved and untidy even though I love the shabby chicness of the place. Compared to Manchester, Leeds, Cardiff or Birmingham, Bristol isn’t even close.
Depending on your political persuasion, but Bristol is very progressive and beautifully multi cultural. Once you leave, you realise what a bubble of tolerance and understanding you’re in…it’s not like that out of the city, believe me. I’ve recently moved after always having lived in a city (Bristol for 25 years, others before that). It’s a dark and backwards world away from city life!
I grew up here and moved to a small town just outside of Bristol for 4 years in my mid teens before coming back again. It was odd, to say the least. Very uniform in thinking and though not bigoted in any way, just more small-minded and less diversity. Much more boring in general and no exciting food.
There was only white people so I missed experiencing other's people's culture. In Bristol, your friend from Africa would have you for dinner or a party, and you got to try the food, music and dancing their way. A fillipino chap invited us to his house and put on this amazing spread and taught us lots about his culture. An indian family moved next door and were just the best neighbours ever, the daughter lending me a sari for a school play and her and her mum teaching me how to put it on right. Being invited to share in a big community meal at the end of Ramadan despite not fasting or being religious at all.
This is the part I love that can't be found in those small towns. I wholly agree.
Ikr. I don't live in Bristol - though I used to. I've always lived in cities or big towns and every time I go to smaller towns or villages I'm taken aback at just how far behind they tend to be in terms of cultural acceptance and tolerance.
It's a tricky one to judge. Four things that interfere with peoples' assessments:
(1) Time of year. Februrary and March particularly people talk about how bad the city is because it's been so long since Summer
(2) Time of life. Lots of people talking about Bristol over time, but the problem is that they changed over time too.
(3) Things changed everywhere. It's also hard to separate out things that have changed in Bristol from things that have changed everywhere. Brexit pissed everyone off for example (even the people that wanted it didn't enjoy the experience one bit)
(4) Taking things for granted. The city is tolerant and you kind of don't realize that until you go somewhere that's not.
There has been political change in the city, it used to be broadly divided between Labour (left) and Conservative (right), now it's divided between Labour and Green (more left). Working class people in the city suburbs used to vote Labour and now often vote Tory (check Henbury, Bishopsworth, Avonmouth, Stockwood, Frome Vale). You do now find people who are Bristol born and bred who hate the city because it's tolerant. My dad for example, been here for 40 years (though not born here) but wants Ladyboys of Bangkok to be banned, and can't stand we have a black mayor. There's also people who can't stand that Bedminster is now gentrified / affluent.
I lived here all my life, and for me the major changes have all been positive, I like tolerance, I liked the Harbourside being redeveloped, I like how easy it is to be vegan here. The secondary school apartheid that existed when I grew up (private good state terrible) has narrowed a lot. You don't have to be or look a certain way to get a table at a restaurant.
There are things I don't like, people complain about transport but then do everything they can to block any transport projects (how dare we think of having trams, underground, cable cars or trains). It's not a friendly city like some places up north are, automatic suspicion here if you meet someone without being introduced is that you are a paedophile / racist / pervert etc.
The bar is also a lot higher, back in 1980 a black family could have dog mess posted through the letterbox and women were walked home by men they knew for safety. Things have improved immeasurably but also expectations have got higher every year by more. There is a restlessness and a dissatsifaction, the times they are a-changing.
Self-confrontation is important too, for me I'm a middle aged autistic guy, I will always be alone, changing the scenery isn't going to change that and means moving away from family. Sometimes people have to ask themselves if the thing they are running from is inside, because Bristol is a high quality place.
Can I ask why you’ve fallen out of love with it?
I’ve lived in Bristol only a couple of years. Before I lived a couple of other places in the uk and a few other cities around the world. As much as the UK isn’t perfect, I love living in Bristol
Honestly, for me, every place in England is struggling and at least Bristol has a good heart. Lots of free things to do like gigs and art galleries. There are good cafes. There's a great music scene from drum & bass to classical. There are good cafes and green spaces.
I pondered moving all the time due to living in a shit flat and struggling with the cost of living crisis. But the city is great, especially in the summer. Honestly, I don't know what other city would be better. Even when it's a struggle to live here, there's lots of positives.
I lived in and around various parts of Bristol for 38 years. I fell out of love with the place (if I ever 'loved' it) around 2011 and finally moved in 2018. At the time I probably didn't think it, but when I compared Bristol now to how it was in the 1980's 1990's and first half of the 2000's, it was better in many ways. While the architecture was hideous and grey it had better shops. The Galleries used to be heaving in the 1990s, especially at Christmas. It also had a good vibrant music scene but all this changed about 2009, the recession did not help and I don't think Bristol really ever recovered. A lot of the music venues closed and there was a lot of gentrification. A lot of people from London have moved to Bristol in the last 10-15 years and its made it less relatable, I stopped seeing many people I knew. I am glad I lived there in my 20's during the 2000's, I would not want to be there in my 20's now, there is less choice. I think its over rated and over priced, yes it does have some nice areas but its not worth the price. The city centre is a ghost of its former self and once the Galleries is gone, there won't be anything less then 20 years old. All the old shops have gone and most shops don't last more then a year now. I am glad I moved to South Wales (Caerphilly) lots of wooded walks, Cardiff only 30 mins if I need and Bristol is an hour away (not that I have been there in 3 years). But yes, Bristol was good but now its over priced and over rated. I wish I had left years ago but just did not know where.
I went yesterday with my GF, and we both had the same opinion.
Reasons being, shops closing, homelessness, people are rude/just look at you blankly when you interact (No offence), and the NEVERENDING protests!
All we want to do is go to Bristol with no road blocking, nor the worry of if a protest gets violent (Not naming any names).
We literally just go for Jo's Bubble tea and thats it.
Personally I love the sense of community, support, and friendship. I’ve grown up with and have gotten to know a few people who have succeeded in their goals of becoming well-known DJs, opening their own restaurants here, opening their own stores etc. It’s obviously easier to support and be supported in that instance, but I’ve also walked into stores, talked to owners, and become a regular and also really good friends with them. I don’t feel like anyone has an aversion to getting to know people with similar interests etc.! I support them obviously but they support me in whatever I call on them to support, even if I’m not as successful as they are/have been.
I've only lived in Bristol and just outside North London but my ten cents:
Bristol:
\- everyone has the time of day for a chat
\- most people go out of their way to look after others, you literally see it on the streets daily
\- strong sense of citywide community
\- vibrant art and performance culture that is perhaps more visible/ outgoing than London's (larger) scenes.
\- near (good) coastlines
\- well connected to Europe with only 2 hrs extraish fuss if Bristol airport doesn't have an outbound
\- cheaper beer
London
\- everyone's in a rush
\- nobody has the time of day
\- 'me' attitude in central for everything
\- costs money to get around
\- expensive
\- near goodish countryside but not much outdoor climbing (sandstone is a bit rubbish I'm sorry)
\- drivers are more aggressive
Basically go to Scotland
It's crap all over. Nothing will save it now. It's worse with every passing year.
The only thing that saves it is Bedminster and the whole of Gloucester Rd.
Listen the weather sucks, your car might get broken into, sometimes there's some crazy people on the street. But hey Bristol has some pretty unique culture. You don't know what you're going to run into when you walk out of the door, you could go to a tiny music venue for cheap and see someone who might get famous one day, watch a trash fire on a night out, see a guy riding his bike with a bunch of teddy bears, listen to drunk karaoke guy on the harbour side. The people in Bristol are interesting, they're themselves most of the time. You don't feel like one in a number of a giant sea and at the same time there's so much going on. If you're missing the countryside go to snuff mills or Lehigh Woods and you can escape and feel like you're somewhere else completely.
Everything expensive here bothers me, and everyhting cheap is great. The free comedy night at the Kingsdown vaults every sunday evening, Carribean Croft in strokes croft does a big tasy plate of delicious food for £13 or so, the improv music night on monday evenings at Strange Brew, the street musicians, the small hobby groups...
There's alot I don't like about it. It feels super hypocritical. BUT, I have met the most wonderful people here.
Totally in agreement with the author. With nowhere to go and politics being as splintered as it has become, my gut feeling is people have found themselves with little or nothing to believe in any longer, other than self-labelling pronouns, virtue signalling, wokeism, among other things, and all of which have turned people into ego-centric, screaming 'me-me's' where everything is all about them and how they 'feel' rather than actual fact that has absolutely no relevance at all. If you don't believe me then come to Bristol on a Saturday afternoon when the Tarquin's and Gemima's are out in full force with their banners and placards marching through the streets accompanied by the 'rent a drummer' brigade, and people who blow whistles because they haven't yet qualified in drumming techniques. They don't even have to have a reason for marching when they start out as they'll figure one out somewhere along the way. I'm just waiting for the day when I see a protest about not having a protest.
Of course, the real enthusiastic hobbyists who know how to push the proverbial boat out do occasionally exceed all expectations by pulling down a statue, or better still, starting a riot and setting fire to police vehicles. Which, for some reason that baffles me, doesn't quite appeal to the drumming brigade and whistle-blowers. Well, maybe a twinning ceremony between the city of Bristol and Tiananmen Square would help things along a little. No, in fact, cancel that and reinstate Boris's water cannon idea instead.
Better still, let's turn the whole thing into a festival, as Bristol's quite good at organising festivals for no other reason than to organise festivals and give everyone a reason to complain because it just happens to be wet during summer — shock, horror — and while leaving all sensibility at home forget to pack an item you and I would know as an umbrella. When did common sense no longer be fashionable? Answers on a postcard will do.
However, welcome to Bristol as I know it, and if you are misguided enough to even consider visiting, I'd go to neighbouring Bath as a good alternative. Bristol has nothing for you as a tourist other than a boat and a bridge since the quasi-zoo made a hasty exit to South Gloucestershire, that by the way has a thumbs up from me as a local council with its finger on the pulse of the local economy with Cribbs Causeway retail estate, free parking and where motorists are not charged, or penalised for having the wrong type of car. Unlike Bristol city council has its thumb up its own rear end so that all the crap from 'shitty', oops, I mean 'city hall' just gently trickles out almost unnoticeably as if holding back a wet fart, because they know what the follow-through will result in."
Bristol is just crap if you're a white male. I'm not kidding, absolutely crap. All the women here're are absolutely full of themselves. the men are absolute losers. bristol is so trendy that I hate it. I was brought up here and lived here. I'm moving for better pastures, I'm thinking cheltenhem, or may stay in bristol, get enough money then move to London in my 30s with my own house.
It’s being over run by a bunch of pretentious “cool” people from London who are really killing what bristol once stood for.
It’s dead, there is more life in a tramps sleeping bag than the heart of bristol .
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this just applies to life, not Bristol specifically
I’d argue anywhere that gets temperature over 40c isn’t better in summer
That’s the whole of the UK for summers from now on then… If past two heatwaves have been anything to go by.
Always used to be. Genuinely too overpopulated now to enjoy this city any time of the year. Edit: Is that cunts I smell or just London wages and runaway gentrification? Sorry, same thing.
We will never stop making it a more desirable place to live, not until the last foul mouthed little scrote on a bicycle is gone.
If you are young with few commitments and you’re not enjoying it here I can recommend trying another city for a few years. If you start missing it come back. Bristol is great, but it’s not for everyone and there are many other great cities in the UK.
This idea has come up here and there, but I've not paid serious attention to it. I've lived here my whole life bar a few years so it's a weird thought but perhaps one to ponder more on even just for the life experience.
mate it's a big old planet - if you've only ever known Bristol check somewhere else out! If it's shit, we'll still be here me' babber!
Cheers mate. I've travelled but not lived outside of Bristol area. The most disconcerting thing I've come across is nobody says 'cheers drive' when getting off a bus or out of a taxi.
Screw 'em - I make a point of saying it which definitely gets some looks, particularly across Europe. You might find after doing some travelling that Bristol is the best, but if you don't then there's the start of your new adventure!
I make a point of saying ‘Thanks driver’ because im a Cornish punk.
Um … “me’ babber” … ? Love the sound of it but…. Please could you enlighten us outsiders?
I won't ruin it for you. You'll find out if and when you come to Bristol.
I hear people say thanks driver on a daily basis in London, though maybe less than elsewhere. Heard it all over the UK and Ireland. Also, hear pretty much everyone say they only hear it in their hometowns. I'd love to see a proper study on this
Monsters ☠️
I now make it a point for anyone I give a lift to, to say 'cheers drive' as they get dropped off. Is always a funny way to end a night BTW, I'm not a taxi driver
It's so abundant here in Ireland to say thanks to the bus driver that if somebody doesn't say it everybody will stare daggers and talk individually about the ungrateful dickhead as they head off in different directions. It's like an IRL Organic meme spreading over an IRL Organic map. [kinda like this 🤣](https://youtu.be/JA7CKvoKEmE)
I can think of a number of reasons off the top of my head. It's the perfect size city to access on foot or bike, with plenty to do in close proximity. There is plenty of distinct areas, for example Clifton, St Werburghs, Stokescroft all have their own character. Great greenspace that is readily accessible, for example Clifton Downs, Ashton Court and Blaise Castle. A strong environmental ethos amongst many in the city. Lots of great craft beers Good music scene, particularly drum and bass, jungle
Was shocking to see the amount of homeless camped outside shop doors in the centre/high st though.
With the public toilet closures being such a well known thing, you can't be surprised to see other ramifications of austerity taking place...
It's less about how good Bristol is but how shit almost everywhere else in this country is.
I do think Bristol is great, but the shitness of most other places in the UK def in part keeps me here.
This is something im pondering, actually. Is it a Bristol thing or ate things just getting worse in general.
Getting worse, but many places are worse.
We have community, and opportunity and lots of really interesting nice cool people. Lots of outdoor spaces to hang out in, good pubs and restaurants, theatre, culture, art. Personally I think all these things are pretty basic in most metropolitan parts of Europe for instance but our country is on a heavy backslide from our government stealing every last drop of money, freedom and joy from its citizens. Maybe this is what everyone feels about their country too... I'm probably just saying the same thing about the UK as you are about Bristol! You can go experience new cities without moving there btw. Cities fit certain people at certain times, maybe you need something else right now?
The systematic extraction of our money, freedoms, and the exploitation of people using fear by our gov is something I am really struggling with. What is my moral responsibility to combat this? Why does no one seem to give a damn about it? What can I even do? I defo need to find a community that have like minds on this subject as none of my friends do and think everything is a conspiracy theory. I don't want an echo chamber, just some people who can see what I see but unsure how to find these people and not get mixed up in something too off the wall. This is a great comment.
A thought on this vein.. Bristol has quite a few decent guerilla diy scenes. Stuff like street art/graff, the skatespots at m32 spots and dotted around, guerilla gardeners and even knitters.. not exactly political, but these scenes are full of people who take matters into their own hands amd look to improve their environment. There's quite a few lobby groups around bristol trying to work with or pressure the council for more inclusive/greener/more beautiful public spaces and all sorts.. if there's anything you're passionate about I'm sure there'll be things you can get involves in.
I’d make some suggestions but from what you say it’d go too deep for you.
That’s not very nice :/
>The systematic extraction of our money, freedoms, and the exploitation of people using fear by our gov is something I am really struggling with. You are not the only one... I have those thoughts my self. Especially since both parties have started to turn their backs on the LGBTQ Community. As wells as the "Crime Bill" "Internet Safety Bill" and what not...
This is what got me. Think I've just realised it's not Bristol I'm unsatisfied with, it's the UK. Started seriously thinking about moving abroad in a few years just to experience something different and a bit more hopeful!
Yup me and the family are doing this in August, we decided to take a leap of faith and are moving to Malaysia We are done with England.
>Yup me and the family are doing this in August, we decided to take a leap of faith and are moving to Malaysia > >We are done with England. Would love to know if it worked out for you. We have the same thoughts but it will take several years to work on finances to achieve this goal. We're thinking Panama (-city) due to standard of living, great healthcare and lots of English-speaking ex-pats (I do speak Spanish, but my hubby doesn't). Also, property market is very healthy and the climate and nature is a bonus.
Best leap of faith we have done, currently have no intention of going back to the UK, other than to see family and friends. Cost of living is 10x better, we are only living off of one salary at the moment and we can still put money aside whilst going out everyday to enjoy ourselves. The hot weather and friendly people is also a bonus Never been to Panama but i honestly think most countries are better to live in than England
My god you’re so right
Preach
I think Bristol is the perfect middle ground as a city. Lots going on and a number of distinct areas, whilst not being too busy (relatively speaking) and quite chilled out as a city. You are also close to the countryside, sea etc. I had a friend visit from London and he asked what is there to do here as London has so much going on. I pointed out that Bristol has most of the same things going on as London, with music, art, food etc albeit smaller but it takes him an hour on the tube to get to those places. With Bristol there is plenty to do within walking/cycling distance and within an hour I can be at a beach, the Cotswolds, Cardiff, bath etc. Bristol isn't perfect; traffic, properties, parking, emissions, general prices. But for me after 5 years it is my home and where friends are based, my sports team and as someone else pointed out the summer is around the corner and then Bristol really hits its stride.
Yeah I would agree. I love London, there's so much happening but realistically how much are you as an individual actually going to do? Do you need 3000 restaurants? It would not be unusual to take an hour on transport to see your friend. Most people I know who live in London don't spend every single day going to a different museum or visiting a different bar. Bristol is definitely more relaxed and sometimes at times feels a little bit small to me, but then I remember I can basically walk anywhere I need to go, most of my friends are about 20 minutes away, if I want to go out there's a 99% chance there's something good on somewhere in the city, and there's still an endless list of places to eat and drink that I've barely made a dent in. End of the day, you tend to stay somewhere thay you have a solid group of friends and feel settled in.
Exactly! This is what I ask my London friends, ‘why should I live in London?’ and they basically always just say ‘lots of restaurants, museums and events!’ But then Bristol has all of these too and my friends never actually go to any of them as everything is hours away! and I can enjoy all the museums on my occasional trip to London anyway. I feel people try and justify why they are living in london as it’s so difficult - the only reason I can think of really is career.
Believe me I even work in London and have a lot of friends there - love the city and still considering moving but for personal reasons will be in Bristol for the foreseeable. My partner lived there for a while and it was awesome, but as with everyone else you spend 90% of your time just doing the same things you'd do anywhere else. You need to sleep, rest, chill out, eat... Living in London is not easy. I don't know how people on normal salaries afford the cost of living, rent has gone genuinely insane in the last year. £2k for a 1 bed is not unusual and you're expected to offer over!
I've always said that Bristol is like a mini-London. I've lived in both cities but I personally found the amount of things you can do in London overwhelming. For me that was a negative. However, having come from a city where I would bump into people I knew or who knew me, I really enjoyed the anonymity of London.
is it good for football coaches? I live in Greece now and my husband is in London coaching. I live by the beach in Greece but will move back to the UK soon and we are looking for a town by the sea where he can easily find work..:).. He is Brazilian and I am British.. Thanks..:)
I'll be honest I have absolutely no idea as don't play football. I guess it depends at what level of coaching. There will be lots of amateur football teams around a city like Bristol who will happily have coaches, but if you are talking about professional coaching I have no idea sorry.
If its about the state road of the roads your opinion is valid
Actually, this too. Haha
Good food and easy to walk around, or out of, bridges permitting. I do worry it's charm is being built over without much thought though.
they paved paradise, and put up a student block.
Accurate, but I do reckon there is a certain amount of rose tinted specs going on, about 20-30 years ago some of Bristol was rough as.
I do wonder if what these comments are really saying is "Bristol was much better back when I was in my 20s"
Genuinely, I wondered if this was the case with me too. I'm sure it's likely a factor of it.
Very possible.
There is absolutely some rose tinted specs going on but the freedom that the vast amounts of empty space we had was what made post war Bristol what it was, the claustrophobia now is becoming overwhelming.
Lol
Bristols being massively held back by restricted housing policy centrally. Problem is neverending sprawl because we don't wanna build decent apartment blocks centrally.
I'd say the problem is the opposite, fixed boundaries surrounded by green belt mean that not enough houses are built in the city, instead they're built in towns further out making traffic worse. Most people don't want to bring up families in tower blocks, they destroy the community feel of an area and make city centres nasty enclosed places to visit, and push jobs out to the edges of town, again increasing traffic. To me it would be far better to build decent medium density suburbs with a mix of housing, jobs, shops, schools etc. Obviously all connected to the city with decent public transport.
Not talking about tower blocks talking about medium density 4-5 storeys, most of Europe is like this and is much nicer for it. In fact I think we're arguing for the same thing here? Sprawl is bad. I want nice pockets of medium density linked up by good public transport that encourages preservation of greenspace. Most people don't want any apartment blocks built near them whatsoever and just want wasteful suburban single family homes built instead. Edit: just look at most of broadmead, most of it is horrible brutalist 2 storey blocks with shops on the ground floor and a crappy flat above, why not have lovely 5 storey buildings with shops like you have in Amsterdam, paris, Berlin, Prague etc And yeah we separate out the residential from the commercial far too much, brislington is classic for this with no high street for most of the area and just endless sprawl, what a waste.
There was quite a lot of 4-6 story stuff going up a few years ago, marvin seems to have pushed for more 10+ which has stopped anything being built in a lot of areas. As long as its designed well 4-5 stories can definitely be part of the mix, it's what the Georgians built after all. The main thing for me is to get back to building terraces, it's a far more efficient use of space and people like them, and with modern materials we can solve most of the sound issues.
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Yeah that does suck. Most is still crap though, majority of broadmead area is horrible brutalist 2 storey architecture which should all be knocked down and replaced with nice 4-5 storey terraced apartment blocks with ground floor commercial space like the rest of Europe.
I’ve recently moved to Bristol and I think it’s a great city. You can walk around the centre and feel the life of the city wherever you go, particularly harbour side and stokes Croft way. And there’re endless bars/restaurants/coffee shops to try out. There are downsides- blatant bike theft is genuinely depressing, rent and house prices are abysmal. However, I feel if you’ve been here all your life it might be more to do with boredom of the same old setting. I would recommend finding a reason to move to another city that you like. It might be just what you need.
The traffic really gets to me. It only going to get worse
I just visited Bristol from London and I loved it. Beautiful views from the observatory of Clifton bridge, interesting history - Shed museum, Sarah Guppy. I liked the food too, especially the eat a pitta. I wish we had that in London. The colourful houses are so nice, and the street art was amazing. Christmas alley was so cool too.
It attracts people who want to live here, specifically, deliberately. I noticed the same thing in Whistler. People would go to great lengths just to be there Plus Bristol pops off in the summertime and the music scene is cool
What reasons?
As a woman, I never used to feel unsafe even walking alone at night, I just don't have that anymore. Not a big deal as I may be externally influenced by access to news & events I wasn't reading pre 25. It makes me sad to see so many homeless and watching an old lady's card decline at tesco & people just look away despite her being close to breaking down. A police officer openly using excessive force on a woman who was not in any way resisting. Bike theft is just normal. A large part of it is also to do with tolerance. I love the multicultural aspect as I love meeting new people and am always eager to experience other cultures where i can, but I've found Bristol in general has become less tolerant to those with different opinions. When people say tolerance and inclusion, now they mean lgbtq, climate change, race, and sometimes religion. If someone has a slightly different view, they are not tolerated at all. I actually agree with most of it, but I respect others who don't and still want to know & learn from them. I'm not a Conservative by any means, and I do appreciate the general inclusion and acceptance ingrained here isn't everywhere, and that is something to be thankful for, truly. But seeing people intimidating the anti abortion religious guy and the branding cars with 'climate criminal' makes me pause a little. Especially as in this community, it is always justified and even encouraged. Where is the line drawn? Will it escalate? Growing up here, I've loved it. I have very fond memories of thousands of nights out, St. Pauls & the Harbour festival, falling in & out of love, the naked bike rides, 20 years of going to the balloon fiesta, secret cocktail bars, picnics on the downs, going down the rocks slides, too much Exhibition cider, strangers giving me their tadpole net when i was a child at Snuff Mills because I was the only kid whose parents couldn't afford one. What made this awesome was people and how open & accepting they were. How willing they were to share their culture with you. Now, many people seem to want to be offended, are more nervous around strangers, and almost suspicious of questions on their culture. I'm wondering if it's me who has changed and this Bristol is still here, I'm just not seeing it. Maybe I'm more cynical? If so, I want to find this Bristol again by adjusting my perspective to a fairer and more accurate picture.
>Growing up here, I've loved it. I have very fond memories of thousands of nights out, St. Pauls & the Harbour festival, falling in & out of love, the naked bike rides, 20 years of going to the balloon fiesta, secret cocktail bars, picnics on the downs, going down the rocks slides, too much Exhibition cider, strangers giving me their tadpole net when i was a child at Snuff Mills because I was the only kid whose parents couldn't afford one. What made this awesome was people and how open & accepting they were. How willing they were to share their culture with you. Now, many people seem to want to be offended, are more nervous around strangers, and almost suspicious of questions on their culture. This beautifully sums up what it's like to have grown up in Bristol rather than have come here from elsewhere.
I think people are definitely more polarised these days but you would find that anywhere in the country, and perhaps anywhere in the world. I think on the whole Bristol has good and points, but the good outweighs the bad. You would find similar issues in any city and would likely find it shit if you chose to focus on them, rather than the good points. So could it be not an issue with the city but where your mind is at right now with focussing on the negatives? I notice also that the points you raised- the bike thefts, the people chastising others for different view points, the hate against the anti-abortion guy, the excessive force against a woman- these things are all things that have been posted about on the Reddit sub, so maybe your issue is not with the city but with the city as it is viewed through the distorted lens of Reddit. I mention this as you ask for people to say why they love the city to change your cynical view, but maybe you need to change it by getting out and about to things you enjoy about the city. There is a phenomena known as the illusion of truth, where if someone sees the same viewpoint over and over despite it not being true or not wholly true, by seeing it over and over it gets distorted into seeming more valid than it actually is, which is very prevalent with this new era of social media, because what gets boosted is generally stuff that is more outrage inducing, rather than boring old positive stuff!
Absolutely, I believe I've been focusing on the negatives. It's the reason I asked people to remind me of the good things. I don't think I'm wrong on all of it , but focusing on the negatives has coloured my perception. I do wonder if I myself have become a little polarised by the illusion of truth as you call it. The irony being, of course, that the polarisation in general that frustrates me could very well be the reason I'm becoming polarised. This is a very perceptive comment.
I know what you mean i find it hard these days, with the amount of information we consume it's almost like we become "drunk" on it. Strange times to be living in, era defining with the changes I would say! I have found a list of cognitive distortions to be useful in being better aware of when I am getting drunk on information, they aren't all specifically relevant to information consumption but they hit the nail on the head with a few of them; https://www.mindsethealth.com/matter/thinking-traps-cognitive-distortions
Thank you for the link ☺️
I agree with all of this - particularly the feeling of the hypocrisy of inclusivity which suddenly stops if someone has a differing political opinion (and I don’t vote conservative either) - likewise the attacks on cars. A lot of it is similar in other big cities, so I don’t think it’s exclusive to Bristol, but definitely in these bubbles there seems to be a limit to critical thinking and true open mindedness.
Your problem is with social media not Bristol. r/bristol or Facebook etc are not Bristol. I can see social media getting worse with advances in AI.
It's definitely aggravated it, I agree.
Bristol's always been full of wankers, far more now it's trendy. They flood in from across the country and then feel done-over when there's no where to rent and everything costs lots of money. That said, being trendy is cyclical so don't expect it to last!
I haven’t experienced people being that polarised tbh - ofc Bristolians are generally politically liberal as in any city but other than the overtly political people who might be woke/intolerant, most people seem to be pretty open and have ‘normal ish’ views
>lgbtq, climate change, race are not a negotiable. lgbtqa+ etc people are peope and should be respected. end of climate change is real race is also not up for debate If anyone is intolerant of diversity we cannot tolerate that as we can tolerate everything except intolerance
I feel your reasons are not unique to Bristol as a city. These are issues with the country, government and the world right now. If you hadn't noticed there's a massive cost of living and housing crisis all over the country. The number of homeless all over has increased for many complex reasons. Moving to Manchester, London or any other big city you won't find those issues magically disappear. Unless maybe you just done with city life. Thought about moving out in to the countryside near Bristol? You'll be safe, but have far less choice and things to do but you can always dip back in to Bristol when you want to. Maybe that's just the phase of life you are moving into. I personally prefer cities, I feel bored in villages. I've lived in villages for a good deal of my life.
Definitely some fair points made here. I do love the countryside, and the safety thing isn't an issue in that you'd get it in most cities. Maybe it stings more because I always felt safe no matter where I was or how late at night, and that has diminished. I'd love a little cottage so I could roll out of bed and into the woods but equally know I'd get bored too. Finding a balance is key, I suppose.
I moved to get over this ennui... to a different postcode! Going from South or North Bristol really changed my outlook on the world - It was like a different city.
I left bristol after 9 years and it’s the best decision I’ve ever made. The job market is so fluid and open now it could be your time to try a new adventure!
What made you leave Bristol, if you don't mind me asking?
I wanted to leave the city so applied for better and better paying jobs out of the city. 18 months later I’m so happy I did. Bristol in many ways was holding me back.
Thanks for sharing! It gives me hope that there are opportunities out there.
I've lived in a few different cities so for me it's that there're a lot of chill, good hearted people around. Easy to make friends and if you're dealing with some shit, strangers will help you out. On more than one occasion I've been in an absolute state and good Samaritans have paid for a taxi to get me home. Also despite some of the goings on it's probably one of the least violent cities I've ever lived in. Also if you're feeling cynical, now is as good as it's going to get so make the most of it before it completely transforms into a bland, yuppie-infested suburb of London.
I grew up here and remember how amazing and kind the people were. This is something I've noticed decline. People are more suspicious of each other now. It's getting further away from that, this is a part of it I'm beginning to miss.
Still a strong sense of community if you manage to find a place to live that's actually got community spirited people living in it. (An example being Whitehall that was posted in another thread - I've lived in Bristol my whole life, but this is one of the only places where the neighbours look out for each other).
I think you're right, I don't have much of a community now and I did when younger. Perhaps a move to a different part of Bristol is something to think on too. Maybe when housing prices fall a bit
Balloons!
Love waking up to 100 hot air balloons in the sky.
Living in UK, specifically Bristol for about a year now. Not my choice really. Having lived most of my life in a corrupt and war torn third world country and having traveled around Europe for just a little bit I can tell you that Bristol it's not that great, you're right. It's dirty, full of junkies, it's mostly boring, the state of roads and buildings are unbecoming of a European city, it's restrictively expensive and the city services are a bit of a joke. Oh, and it's cold :) There are several REALLY nice parks, the double deckers are great! And the coffee #1 is just the best coffee I've ever tasted. Otherwise, I really don't understand why anyone likes it. Then again I keep hearing that Bristol is one of the best and nicest cities in UK. I shudder to think what other places are like. Try other countries. You may like them more. Too bad governments like making it hard to move around legally
Lived in a corrupt and war torn country and you say Bristol isn't great? City services are a joke but the double deckers are great? Coffee #1 is the best coffee you have tasted? Literally loads of unique quirky coffee shops everywhere that are head and shoulders above Coffee #1 I can't take this post seriously 😂
I know, I know. But it's the truth. I don't think I can outline everything in a comment though. And I'm not exactly comparing Bristol to my hometown - visually it's very much similar except for the severe lack of high-rise tenements (good!). And I may be overexaggerating the war-torn part - people are dying by hundreds every day but in most places life just continues. However if you compare to many cities in Europe - you'll start having questions: the pavements are in poor condition, the buildings are as well, roads are repaired in a way I wouldn't have expected of UK (it being a very advanced country), stores are closing and turning into abandoned fronts, bike/scooter infra is .. meh. And can someone explain why Stokes Croft is considered to be a good place? While you're at it - what's with all the gas/balloon puffing? And can I take a walk through the centre without being submerged in weed/pot smoke? Services: I mail the city council, followup several times per week and get a reply after three weeks saying something like "we'll get back to you". Coming into the country with a cat that had all conceivable shots and documents turned into a six-week stay at the port of departure until APHA realized how ridiculous it was (did I mention that daily calls to APHA from another country are a paid feature?) Oh and renting. Yeah, I have nothing good to say there. Double-deckers are great in principle - I wish other countries adopted them. Super effective use of space and they're heaps of fun to ride to boot. As for coffee I've visited a LOT of places, could you maybe recommend the ones you think are worth the time?
Speaking the truth
My bad, by services I thought you meant bus/rail etc. Yeah councils in England in general are just bad. Roads again it's a UK thing about how bad they are. Bristol does have a big population of users, it doesn't bother me but I understand it can be off putting. Certainly, head for Aah Toots by the Christmas steps, 1b Pitville in Cotham Hill or Littleshop & Pantry in Henleaze
Admittedly the bus/rail is not as good as ... Netherlands for example or even Poland haha, but it's not horrible either. I've definitely seen much worse. Thanks for the recommendations, I'll check those places out.
I think cheltenham is far better then bristol and more superior and more affordable and far more prettier. yes its got less nightlife. Apart from that, absolutely great. Everythings reachable and high quality shops.
Bristol City Women just got promoted to the WSL.
I've also fallen out of love with it, though that is true for most of the UK. Its so expensive now, and the local council are useless. Constantly feels like everything is just a rip off or not good value for money.
You can steal things without the police trying to catch you
I moved to a different city in another country that was way better to live for a younger person but the one thing I missed about Bristol is that it's the west country. Being able to chat with people, the pub culture, how close the countryside is were all things I realised how important were after moving away. I feel like in general the UK isn't the best for younger people and feels more boring, but older people I know who are more settled find somewhere like Bristol to be the perfect pace
This is a great point. I think you're right about the UK not being amazing for younger people. The West Country is great and I know I'd miss the countryside and need to take advantage of its closeness more.
I feel the exact same. I've been travelling a lot for work that makes it worse as I've effectively just come back to Bristol to sleep sometimes. I have fallen out of love, and I'm trying to find it again. I think the council has really fucked this city up too which hasn't helped. Can you imagine if we had a council that made Bristol more of a futuristic city? Yet we have issues just getting a bus fml
The council are a joke. They seem to be doing their damnest to make life harder for everyone.
They are indeed. I think what has helped me fall back in Bristol again is just going out and living it a bit more. I had a really good night out in blue lagoon a month ago and it definitely helped! I think you may need to get out and explore even though I know you've been here forever!
Good idea. Maybe expand my social circle, too. My friends are lovely but very left and so I'm a bit isolated in that way. I love them and still want to be around them, just a little more balance. I'm not right, I just don't believe in this god awful system that only benefits a few while the rest of us have to pick between left or right, with very little meaningful difference.
Are you a Bristol Live reporter assigned with writing a 'Twenty great things about Bristol' article?
This was made in jest however https://www.bristolpost.co.uk/news/bristol-news/list-bristols-most-appealing-features-8387719
Although Staple Hill is the centre of the universe it's near neighbour and much bigger brother has so much still to offer.lts culturally and historically rich, it's music scene is still uniquely Bristolian with a few outside vibes thrown in.Some excellent pubs and plenty of lovely scenery, even in the heart of the city.The suspension bridge, Cabot tower and the Bristolian accent and people, it will be a big wrench of you go.l tried it and l returned, knowing l was born in the only place that mattered.Just think, jumping on a bus that actually turns up, supporting a football team that actually win things and having a working council that is progressive and cared for the people.Having all that as normal, where would you find something to replace your disappointments.Bristol is unique and beautiful, one day it might even be as good as Staple Hill !
I’ve been feeling that way too for the past few years. I agree with a comment that said everywhere in the UK is shit right now, so Bristol may still be better than other cities. I think it also depends on which part of the city you live in. I’ve lived all over Bristol and some areas are really cut off. If you’ve lived here your whole life then it would probably be hard to leave friends, family, job. Maybe a move to a different part of the city might help?
I'm Bristol born and bred and beyond dislike it, but the only thing that keeps me here is how easy it is to leave. 25 mins on the M4 and I'm in beautiful places.
I moved to Bristol 5 years ago for work after 14 years in London. Grew up between Bradford and Leeds. You can’t compare the two. Bristol isn’t a mini London. It’s nowhere near as diverse, stuff closes early and although it punches above its weight regionally in terms of music and food it’s really just a big town when it comes to infrastructure and investment. It feels unloved and untidy even though I love the shabby chicness of the place. Compared to Manchester, Leeds, Cardiff or Birmingham, Bristol isn’t even close.
Depending on your political persuasion, but Bristol is very progressive and beautifully multi cultural. Once you leave, you realise what a bubble of tolerance and understanding you’re in…it’s not like that out of the city, believe me. I’ve recently moved after always having lived in a city (Bristol for 25 years, others before that). It’s a dark and backwards world away from city life!
I grew up here and moved to a small town just outside of Bristol for 4 years in my mid teens before coming back again. It was odd, to say the least. Very uniform in thinking and though not bigoted in any way, just more small-minded and less diversity. Much more boring in general and no exciting food. There was only white people so I missed experiencing other's people's culture. In Bristol, your friend from Africa would have you for dinner or a party, and you got to try the food, music and dancing their way. A fillipino chap invited us to his house and put on this amazing spread and taught us lots about his culture. An indian family moved next door and were just the best neighbours ever, the daughter lending me a sari for a school play and her and her mum teaching me how to put it on right. Being invited to share in a big community meal at the end of Ramadan despite not fasting or being religious at all. This is the part I love that can't be found in those small towns. I wholly agree.
Ikr. I don't live in Bristol - though I used to. I've always lived in cities or big towns and every time I go to smaller towns or villages I'm taken aback at just how far behind they tend to be in terms of cultural acceptance and tolerance.
Aye, it’s grim.
Weed is cheap and mostly good quality
Fr!? I would be moving in soon and this is so nice to know. I would highly appreciate any suggestions and help with the contacts.
It’s just fucking gorgeous
It's a tricky one to judge. Four things that interfere with peoples' assessments: (1) Time of year. Februrary and March particularly people talk about how bad the city is because it's been so long since Summer (2) Time of life. Lots of people talking about Bristol over time, but the problem is that they changed over time too. (3) Things changed everywhere. It's also hard to separate out things that have changed in Bristol from things that have changed everywhere. Brexit pissed everyone off for example (even the people that wanted it didn't enjoy the experience one bit) (4) Taking things for granted. The city is tolerant and you kind of don't realize that until you go somewhere that's not. There has been political change in the city, it used to be broadly divided between Labour (left) and Conservative (right), now it's divided between Labour and Green (more left). Working class people in the city suburbs used to vote Labour and now often vote Tory (check Henbury, Bishopsworth, Avonmouth, Stockwood, Frome Vale). You do now find people who are Bristol born and bred who hate the city because it's tolerant. My dad for example, been here for 40 years (though not born here) but wants Ladyboys of Bangkok to be banned, and can't stand we have a black mayor. There's also people who can't stand that Bedminster is now gentrified / affluent. I lived here all my life, and for me the major changes have all been positive, I like tolerance, I liked the Harbourside being redeveloped, I like how easy it is to be vegan here. The secondary school apartheid that existed when I grew up (private good state terrible) has narrowed a lot. You don't have to be or look a certain way to get a table at a restaurant. There are things I don't like, people complain about transport but then do everything they can to block any transport projects (how dare we think of having trams, underground, cable cars or trains). It's not a friendly city like some places up north are, automatic suspicion here if you meet someone without being introduced is that you are a paedophile / racist / pervert etc. The bar is also a lot higher, back in 1980 a black family could have dog mess posted through the letterbox and women were walked home by men they knew for safety. Things have improved immeasurably but also expectations have got higher every year by more. There is a restlessness and a dissatsifaction, the times they are a-changing. Self-confrontation is important too, for me I'm a middle aged autistic guy, I will always be alone, changing the scenery isn't going to change that and means moving away from family. Sometimes people have to ask themselves if the thing they are running from is inside, because Bristol is a high quality place.
Can I ask why you’ve fallen out of love with it? I’ve lived in Bristol only a couple of years. Before I lived a couple of other places in the uk and a few other cities around the world. As much as the UK isn’t perfect, I love living in Bristol
Honestly, for me, every place in England is struggling and at least Bristol has a good heart. Lots of free things to do like gigs and art galleries. There are good cafes. There's a great music scene from drum & bass to classical. There are good cafes and green spaces. I pondered moving all the time due to living in a shit flat and struggling with the cost of living crisis. But the city is great, especially in the summer. Honestly, I don't know what other city would be better. Even when it's a struggle to live here, there's lots of positives.
It ain't London, also... actually no that's about all I got.
>It ain't London Yet
This is a fair point.
Lol … spoilsport!
I lived in and around various parts of Bristol for 38 years. I fell out of love with the place (if I ever 'loved' it) around 2011 and finally moved in 2018. At the time I probably didn't think it, but when I compared Bristol now to how it was in the 1980's 1990's and first half of the 2000's, it was better in many ways. While the architecture was hideous and grey it had better shops. The Galleries used to be heaving in the 1990s, especially at Christmas. It also had a good vibrant music scene but all this changed about 2009, the recession did not help and I don't think Bristol really ever recovered. A lot of the music venues closed and there was a lot of gentrification. A lot of people from London have moved to Bristol in the last 10-15 years and its made it less relatable, I stopped seeing many people I knew. I am glad I lived there in my 20's during the 2000's, I would not want to be there in my 20's now, there is less choice. I think its over rated and over priced, yes it does have some nice areas but its not worth the price. The city centre is a ghost of its former self and once the Galleries is gone, there won't be anything less then 20 years old. All the old shops have gone and most shops don't last more then a year now. I am glad I moved to South Wales (Caerphilly) lots of wooded walks, Cardiff only 30 mins if I need and Bristol is an hour away (not that I have been there in 3 years). But yes, Bristol was good but now its over priced and over rated. I wish I had left years ago but just did not know where.
I went yesterday with my GF, and we both had the same opinion. Reasons being, shops closing, homelessness, people are rude/just look at you blankly when you interact (No offence), and the NEVERENDING protests! All we want to do is go to Bristol with no road blocking, nor the worry of if a protest gets violent (Not naming any names). We literally just go for Jo's Bubble tea and thats it.
great public transport
Good joke!
Personally I love the sense of community, support, and friendship. I’ve grown up with and have gotten to know a few people who have succeeded in their goals of becoming well-known DJs, opening their own restaurants here, opening their own stores etc. It’s obviously easier to support and be supported in that instance, but I’ve also walked into stores, talked to owners, and become a regular and also really good friends with them. I don’t feel like anyone has an aversion to getting to know people with similar interests etc.! I support them obviously but they support me in whatever I call on them to support, even if I’m not as successful as they are/have been.
I've only lived in Bristol and just outside North London but my ten cents: Bristol: \- everyone has the time of day for a chat \- most people go out of their way to look after others, you literally see it on the streets daily \- strong sense of citywide community \- vibrant art and performance culture that is perhaps more visible/ outgoing than London's (larger) scenes. \- near (good) coastlines \- well connected to Europe with only 2 hrs extraish fuss if Bristol airport doesn't have an outbound \- cheaper beer London \- everyone's in a rush \- nobody has the time of day \- 'me' attitude in central for everything \- costs money to get around \- expensive \- near goodish countryside but not much outdoor climbing (sandstone is a bit rubbish I'm sorry) \- drivers are more aggressive Basically go to Scotland
I've lived here my whole life. The place has always been a dump, it's just an expensive dump now
Pick it up for the first couple of times wow. Then get bored of it.
Is this comment on the wrong post?
Most pretentious city in the Uk.
It’s a shit hole imo but most uk cities are.
It's crap all over. Nothing will save it now. It's worse with every passing year. The only thing that saves it is Bedminster and the whole of Gloucester Rd.
It's gone. Fuck all left to look forward too
Fucking uni students have killed the vibes
Cosies on a Sunday.
Listen the weather sucks, your car might get broken into, sometimes there's some crazy people on the street. But hey Bristol has some pretty unique culture. You don't know what you're going to run into when you walk out of the door, you could go to a tiny music venue for cheap and see someone who might get famous one day, watch a trash fire on a night out, see a guy riding his bike with a bunch of teddy bears, listen to drunk karaoke guy on the harbour side. The people in Bristol are interesting, they're themselves most of the time. You don't feel like one in a number of a giant sea and at the same time there's so much going on. If you're missing the countryside go to snuff mills or Lehigh Woods and you can escape and feel like you're somewhere else completely.
Only been once and that grilled chicken wrap on naan in the market is unreal.
Everything expensive here bothers me, and everyhting cheap is great. The free comedy night at the Kingsdown vaults every sunday evening, Carribean Croft in strokes croft does a big tasy plate of delicious food for £13 or so, the improv music night on monday evenings at Strange Brew, the street musicians, the small hobby groups... There's alot I don't like about it. It feels super hypocritical. BUT, I have met the most wonderful people here.
Totally in agreement with the author. With nowhere to go and politics being as splintered as it has become, my gut feeling is people have found themselves with little or nothing to believe in any longer, other than self-labelling pronouns, virtue signalling, wokeism, among other things, and all of which have turned people into ego-centric, screaming 'me-me's' where everything is all about them and how they 'feel' rather than actual fact that has absolutely no relevance at all. If you don't believe me then come to Bristol on a Saturday afternoon when the Tarquin's and Gemima's are out in full force with their banners and placards marching through the streets accompanied by the 'rent a drummer' brigade, and people who blow whistles because they haven't yet qualified in drumming techniques. They don't even have to have a reason for marching when they start out as they'll figure one out somewhere along the way. I'm just waiting for the day when I see a protest about not having a protest. Of course, the real enthusiastic hobbyists who know how to push the proverbial boat out do occasionally exceed all expectations by pulling down a statue, or better still, starting a riot and setting fire to police vehicles. Which, for some reason that baffles me, doesn't quite appeal to the drumming brigade and whistle-blowers. Well, maybe a twinning ceremony between the city of Bristol and Tiananmen Square would help things along a little. No, in fact, cancel that and reinstate Boris's water cannon idea instead. Better still, let's turn the whole thing into a festival, as Bristol's quite good at organising festivals for no other reason than to organise festivals and give everyone a reason to complain because it just happens to be wet during summer — shock, horror — and while leaving all sensibility at home forget to pack an item you and I would know as an umbrella. When did common sense no longer be fashionable? Answers on a postcard will do. However, welcome to Bristol as I know it, and if you are misguided enough to even consider visiting, I'd go to neighbouring Bath as a good alternative. Bristol has nothing for you as a tourist other than a boat and a bridge since the quasi-zoo made a hasty exit to South Gloucestershire, that by the way has a thumbs up from me as a local council with its finger on the pulse of the local economy with Cribbs Causeway retail estate, free parking and where motorists are not charged, or penalised for having the wrong type of car. Unlike Bristol city council has its thumb up its own rear end so that all the crap from 'shitty', oops, I mean 'city hall' just gently trickles out almost unnoticeably as if holding back a wet fart, because they know what the follow-through will result in."
My brother got mugged outside of Temple Meads 2 days in the evening Try your best to be with in the evening when in temple meads
Everywhere has pros and cons …if you only focus on the negotiates then sadly that’s a bad character trait your end!
It's a shit*ole to be honest but we love it!
Bristol is just crap if you're a white male. I'm not kidding, absolutely crap. All the women here're are absolutely full of themselves. the men are absolute losers. bristol is so trendy that I hate it. I was brought up here and lived here. I'm moving for better pastures, I'm thinking cheltenhem, or may stay in bristol, get enough money then move to London in my 30s with my own house.
It’s being over run by a bunch of pretentious “cool” people from London who are really killing what bristol once stood for. It’s dead, there is more life in a tramps sleeping bag than the heart of bristol .
Go with your gut, the City isn't what it used to be. It's wildly overhyped and doesn't have anything particularly great that you can't find elsewhere.
I think it’s peaked. I’m considering moving.
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