Author Topic: Born or brought up in Birmingham. Would you?  (Read 114478 times)

brumdave

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Re: Born or brought up in Birmingham. Would you?
« Reply #308 on: August 24, 2016, 08:45:54 AM »
Sorry for the unexpected delay in posting,   I was not comparing Brum to any other city near or far but simply telling it as it really is in these parts,  thank you all who supported my opinions/views (you know who you are, to many to list) it beats me how ANYONE can disagree if you do not live in this area, never mind the past and the history of our once great city, ITS GONE, ITS OVER, the "good old days" are just that, IN THE PAST,   those who only visit Brum only see the nice new builds with their brightly coloured paint and fancy brickwork but what about the suburbs, unless you are a fool, anyone can see where the money is being spent, IN THE CITY CENTRE, that's all very nice for the tourists, but their spending doesn't end up in OUR pockets, but in the fat cats wallet, and what's the betting they don't even live in Brum.

I am not looking for my utopia, just somewhere to live in relative safety and yes, away from the rat race,


Of course you are 100% correct TPT50, I live 21km from the centre of Brisbane Australia and there is no way I would take my dog for a walk after dark, true the past has gone and its no good romancing about it they are just fond memories,I agree the cold hard facts are a lot different, my Wife and I get away in our caravan to places that are much safer where people still respect each other, its good to get away from the rat race, the population of Brisbane is 2.3 Million and sometimes you could be forgiven for thinking you are living in a foreign country.

     

JudithM

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Re: Born or brought up in Birmingham. Would you?
« Reply #309 on: August 24, 2016, 12:52:53 PM »
It is interesting to read about the 'New' Longbridge shopping facility but I understand that things are not going so well my Grand Son Worked for M&S at Longbridge for a short while and I understand from him that M&S are less than satisfied with the takings of the Longbridge store and a number of people are being made redundant.

That's interesting to know.  I have used the M&S on several occasions & it's always been busy when I have gone.  Everybody I know who has used it has really good things to say and I know a few that even make special trips to Longbridge just to go there as they don't live in the area.  It is a HUGE store, so I guess the takings would have to be rather high to pay for the upkeep and salaries. 

Maybe one of the issues is that the development itself is still incomplete and they need more stores to open to draw in more people.  At the moments there's a Sainsbury's, a big Boots, Mountain Warehouse, Holland & Barrett & Poundland, as well as a Greggs (which I suspect does rather well due to the students at Bourneville College  ;D ) a phone shop & a charity store (Barnardos I think).  There are 4 full sized empty units - that could conceivably house 2 stores each, and one empty half unit.  The new pub (The Cambridge) is great & popular & there's a Beefeater too (that I haven't tried, but one of my friends has).

There is a new retirement apartment complex being built on the site too, and building work going on across the road, so I suppose some of it does still resemble a building site & may not look too attractive to the passer by.
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brumdave

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Re: Born or brought up in Birmingham. Would you?
« Reply #310 on: August 24, 2016, 10:04:51 PM »
I remember that if you wanted to go shopping in Longbridge years ago that you had a choice of a few corner shops, the CoOp where my Mum used to work, take the bus into Northfield or catch a Midland Red 145 into town, I think it would have been nicer than the massive impersonal shopping centre's we have these days.

planetmalc

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Re: Born or brought up in Birmingham. Would you?
« Reply #311 on: August 26, 2016, 02:37:03 PM »
I remember that if you wanted to go shopping in Longbridge years ago that you had a choice of a few corner shops, the CoOp where my Mum used to work, take the bus into Northfield or catch a Midland Red 145 into town, I think it would have been nicer than the massive impersonal shopping centre's we have these days.
 
Northfield still has a thriving shopping centre.
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townie

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Re: Born or brought up in Birmingham. Would you?
« Reply #312 on: August 26, 2016, 08:28:20 PM »

Thanks for the backup Phil, yes things are pretty much equal in both countries, I said in one of my first posts on this subject that returning to Brum would be like home away from home, thanks for the link regarding crime in British cities, I think that considering Birmingham is the 2nd biggest city in the UK it faired pretty well, I would say there are more miserable ex Brummys living out of the city than there are people living in it, after reading most of the threads attached to this subject people that still live there seem quite happy but people that no longer live there seem miserable, maybe they really do miss the place ;)

Brumdave The one thing I do not rely is back up. You call some of us who don't live in Birmingham anymore miserable. No I don't miss the place and I think a lot of people who have moved away don't miss it either and I think they are not miserable as you put it. We are on this thread as we were born or brought up in Birmingham, and have good memorises as it was. You say you haven't been near the place for 57 years you are in for a shock. When you do arrive let me be the first to take you round the arears you remember. I have offered this service to others but had no takes so you can become the first.   
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JudithM

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Re: Born or brought up in Birmingham. Would you?
« Reply #313 on: August 28, 2016, 11:47:50 AM »
 
Northfield still has a thriving shopping centre.

Yeah, I use it quite a lot. 
"I know tomorrow's gonna taste like cake"

tiltonroader

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Re: Born or brought up in Birmingham. Would you?
« Reply #314 on: September 01, 2016, 04:57:10 PM »
First time poster.




I am 30 years old, I live in Birmingham, and I absolutely love it. The biggest thing that lets down Birmingham are people talking the place down.


Of course there are big problems that need to be solved, but it is a big city - all big cities have problems. I have lived in London, Newcastle and Liverpool - Birmingham really isn't that bad!


I get the sense that most the people on this forum are pensioners. I think, personally, that's why there is generally such a lot of negativity. Birmingham has obviously changed beyond recognition and I am sure that the old Birmingham seems so much better.


However, Birmingham is a city on the up. It has improved a lot in the last 5-10 years. The people are great, integration is improving and some big businesses are buying a lot of office space in the city which will help bring jobs and prosperity (e.g. PWC, HSBC).


I know people have just moved to Birmingham, and they absolutely love it...

roy one

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Re: Born or brought up in Birmingham. Would you?
« Reply #315 on: September 01, 2016, 05:03:55 PM »
hi tiltonroader
                             welcome to the forum make your self at home and enjoy roy
each day is a blessing and I bless each day when it comes

tiltonroader

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Re: Born or brought up in Birmingham. Would you?
« Reply #316 on: September 01, 2016, 05:04:46 PM »
Cheers Roy!

TPT.50

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Re: Born or brought up in Birmingham. Would you?
« Reply #317 on: September 02, 2016, 08:28:48 AM »
tiltonroader,   You must appreciate that there has been many changes over the last few years, and not all good, having posted and read these posts several times it is becoming obvious that the main gripe is the overcrowding situation here in Brum, we have been bombarded by "non British subjects"  (I'm being polite here) causing a massive problem especially for the younger generation in setting up home in their own city, due to the fact that the city council's lack of building social housing and the fact that any empty properties are being given to none locals, the other obvious fact is that money is being spent on "tarting up" the city centre to attract tourism but very little spent on some of the residents homes,  Brum IS a wonderful city from a business/investment/nightlife point of view but what about the very people who helped build this city in the first place, it is, and has been for many years in some cases, our home, but it would appear that we are being brushed aside in the name of progress, causing many problems  in the suburbs unseen by many, as you state most large cities have similar problems but our interests are with Brum as this forum suggests, our only hope is that now we are OUT of the EU, things may well finally improve.

frederick

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Re: Born or brought up in Birmingham. Would you?
« Reply #318 on: September 02, 2016, 09:47:57 AM »
Also when it started in the early days late 70s we had to do a post code move because, the schools that were in the post code where we lived "Sheldon" was filling up with kids that could not speak English. And after paying for our two children to have private education which was becoming expensive so we were going to turn to the local schools for us that was not on so we moved to white area and it worked for our main responsibility they were educated without suffering being neglected by the teachers who would be teaching kids how to speak English.     >:(      :o
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