How One Place Can Differ From Another In Just A Few Miles
By Janey1966
@Janey1966 (24170)
Carlisle, England
April 11, 2010 6:50pm CST
Hi Gang! Glad to see me back? Boy, I do hope so!
During the week I have stayed at Mum's and the longer the week went on the better the weather became. It is now much warmer than the first day I stayed. Off came the scarf which I was sick of wearing to be honest!
Anyway, where did I go? Did I just go into Blackpool Town Centre or go elsewhere? Well, actually, I went to both Fleetwood Freeport (lots of shops there) and Lytham. Blackpool is right in the centre. Fleetwood is the most northerly town along the Fylde Coast and Lytham is the most southerly.
Whilst visiting those places it struck me how both were so different. Fleetwood used to be a thriving fishing port but now the shops replace the docks to a certain extent and the fishing industry is miniscule compared to say, 30 years ago. There is to be a Redrow Homes Development overlooking the Freeport but what the locals think of this I do not know but I bet none of them will be able to afford the new properties once they are built.
As for Lytham, well that is entirely different. There are many rich retirees living there as the houses are more expensive (but bigger) than elsewhere along the Fylde Coast. I suspect that a lot of people moving there were not from Lytham originally but the opposite will be true of Fleetwood.
The contrast of the two is quite striking but at least people are friendly wherever one travels along the Fylde Coast, which is good to know!
Do you live near places that are different to one another? Rich at one end, poor at the other, that type of thing? Have there been changes where you live, for example a fishing village becoming a tourist destination?
Do tell! 
3 people like this
5 responses
@scarlet_woman (23463)
• United States
17 Apr 10
yea,my town is known for it's victorian mansions (whoopdedo
)
and in between us and the next town,there..well,it's poverty central so to speak.
the people can't help it,but neither town wants to claim it.
you'll see it listed under both towns as being theirs (it's right on the line).
i just find it shameful they try to sweep a whole area of people under the rug like that.
)
and in between us and the next town,there..well,it's poverty central so to speak.
the people can't help it,but neither town wants to claim it.
you'll see it listed under both towns as being theirs (it's right on the line).
i just find it shameful they try to sweep a whole area of people under the rug like that.@Janey1966 (24170)
• Carlisle, England
17 Apr 10
Yes, I know what you mean. I hate to say this but if New Orleans had been full of white, middle-class people Bush wouldn't have just flown over in a helicopter, he'd be in there helping them out during the floods!
@dawnald (85137)
• Shingle Springs, California
12 Apr 10
Welcome back!
I grew up in the San Fernando Valley area of Los Angeles. It was a suburb, land was cheap, house were cheap and it was a nice area. Now it's expensive and there are nice areas mostly up in the hills, and crummy, graffiti filled areas down on the valley floor. Not the same place as when I was little, that's for sure...
@Janey1966 (24170)
• Carlisle, England
13 Apr 10
Hiya Dawn, nice to see you again! It's a shame that where you grew up isn't the same anymore. Where I come from it's actually not too bad but there has been a spate of house building going on wherever there is spare land..that I used to play on. There is also a dispute at a place called Marton Moss where developers want to build hundreds of houses. Residents that have been there for years are objecting as it's the only bit of green belt land in the area. It will be interesting to see how that develops.
I'm glad the 3rd runway doesn't look like is being built at Heathrow Airport..well, for now at least. Definitely a victory for Greenpeace (makes a change) lol.
@RawBill1 (8531)
• Gold Coast, Australia
12 Apr 10
Welcome back Jane. I was wondering what you were up to as I had not seen you here for a while.
My whole city is a tourist destination which used to be sleepy fishing villages and swampland. Not much of it is cheap housing these days though, just a few of inland suburbs are cheaper than the coastal ones which is normal for anywhere really. They are still not all that cheap these days as housing is so expensive here in Australia compared to the wages. 
My whole city is a tourist destination which used to be sleepy fishing villages and swampland. Not much of it is cheap housing these days though, just a few of inland suburbs are cheaper than the coastal ones which is normal for anywhere really. They are still not all that cheap these days as housing is so expensive here in Australia compared to the wages.
@Janey1966 (24170)
• Carlisle, England
12 Apr 10
Hello there! Aww it's nice that I was missed, thanks. It seems to be a worldwide phenomenon doesn't it? Once a place changes from - say, a fishing village to a touristy destination the rich move in at the expense of the poor. I know a lady who lived in a village within Lancashire and she told me that she will probably be "driven out of the village she was born in" because she can't afford a house there...and her wages, like you said, wouldn't be able to afford a mortgage. I've not seen her for a long time but I hope she has managed to stay in the village she grew up in.
The other day I was watching a show called "A Place in the Sun" and it showed these Brits looking at houses in Perth. Now, it was filmed about 2002 so I don't know what the state of play is now...but then the prices were cheap compared with ours in the UK. You could get a huge house with a pool for something so much smaller over here. I hope it's not us Brits that are prizing the lovely Aussies out of property, that would be so unfair.
It seems to be a worldwide phenomenon doesn't it? Once a place changes from - say, a fishing village to a touristy destination the rich move in at the expense of the poor. I know a lady who lived in a village within Lancashire and she told me that she will probably be "driven out of the village she was born in" because she can't afford a house there...and her wages, like you said, wouldn't be able to afford a mortgage. I've not seen her for a long time but I hope she has managed to stay in the village she grew up in.
The other day I was watching a show called "A Place in the Sun" and it showed these Brits looking at houses in Perth. Now, it was filmed about 2002 so I don't know what the state of play is now...but then the prices were cheap compared with ours in the UK. You could get a huge house with a pool for something so much smaller over here. I hope it's not us Brits that are prizing the lovely Aussies out of property, that would be so unfair.
@pandaeyes (2065)
•
12 Apr 10
when we moved here 20 years ago,there was a farmers field beyond the garden, a man lived there in an old trailer to keep the local youths from ruining the farmers crop and to stop gypsies from using it as a rubbish dump.
About 10 years ago,the farmer sold it to developers and so now there is a housing estate there instead.
It is quite close to a river .
I suppose everywhere has a rich and poor area,even villages do. we used to live in a village before we moved here and one end had big houses and the rich people lived there, the other end was a council area with poor people and broken cars on the verge,we lived right in the middle .
@Janey1966 (24170)
• Carlisle, England
12 Apr 10
That reminds me of an expression, "the doughnut effect" whereby developers will build houses on the outskirts of a village for the rich to move in..but they are so anti-social that they can't bring themselves to live deep in the village itself, so all sense of community is lost. This is such a shame, in my view.
It also annoys me that there is hardly any housebuilding going on down south where it is needed the most. I have seen many "Escape to the Country" programmes on the telly and, due to lots of land being protected no building goes on at all. I do agree with protecting land to a certain extent but nothing is being done about the explosion in population so I don't really know what the answer is to be honest. High-rise buildings aren't built anymore but something needs to happen..and soon.
@hofferp (4734)
• United States
12 Apr 10
I live in Las Cruces, NM, on the southern end of the state. The capitol, Sante Fe, is on the central-northern side of the state. Santa Fe has become a rich place to live, too rich for even the people who work there. I know of some people who work for the state that share homes, because it's so expensive to live. A lot of celebrities (from Hollywood) own homes in Sante Fe. It didn't always be a home of the rich; it was a typical little town, turned tourist/artistic. Las Cruces on the other hand is holding its own. It's growing with retirees and the influx from across the Mexican border. (The Mexican border is only 40 miles away). Over time, the city, unlike Santa Fe, has again held its own, but property values have declined, whereas in Santa Fe they have continued to rise. The two cities are worlds apart in many respects. I hope this is what you were thinking about in your discussion, and welcome back.
@Janey1966 (24170)
• Carlisle, England
12 Apr 10
Yes it was exactly what I was thinking about my friend..how one place can differ from another in so many ways but be so close as regards distance. When we went to London recently we spoke to some guys who live in Kendal which is in the heart of the Lake District. They were born there but cannot afford to buy houses so have to pay rent instead. You get people who visit Kendal (usually from down south were the money is) as tourists then buy the houses up as "second homes." They will live in them for 2 weeks tops per year and - possibly rent them out to other tourists. Tony Blair was going to stop all that but of course it was yet another promise he didn't keep...and he's the worsed culprit of all. He is now a multi-millionaire with homes all over the world..a far cry from the Labour party he was supposed to represent.
Thanks for welcoming me back; it's great to be back although I've decided to get out and about more when the weather is nice...like today. It's gorgeous and cheers me up no end when the sun is shining.
Thanks for welcoming me back; it's great to be back although I've decided to get out and about more when the weather is nice...like today. It's gorgeous and cheers me up no end when the sun is shining.