Aylesbury, England

[Trilby]

The difference between where you live and where I live is that YOUR town has a sense of itself as a community and looks like it was charmingly planned. MY suburb is a post-WW II sprawling utilitarian zombie town, utterly devoid of any charm, community, history or pride. Everything that is here was built in the 1950's and is gross. My house is one of about only five different styles in the neighborhood and while there is an arts center and a lovely park (with made-made lake they had to drain once a little girl went permanently missing) at one end of my street (Rosewood Park) there is a low ceiling'd 1960's-style bowling alley round the corner of the other end of my street. It's a schizophrenic kind of place.

[DanaC]

Originally Posted by Brianna

The difference between where you live and where I live is that YOUR town has a sense of itself as a community and looks like it was charmingly planned. MY suburb is a post-WW II sprawling utilitarian zombie town, utterly devoid of any charm, community, history or pride. Everything that is here was built in the 1950's and is gross. .

You live in Coventry?

[limey]

Slough
by John Betjeman

Come friendly bombs and fall on Slough!
It isn't fit for humans now,
There isn't grass to graze a cow.
Swarm over, Death!

Come, bombs and blow to smithereens
Those air -conditioned, bright canteens,
Tinned fruit, tinned meat, tinned milk, tinned beans,
Tinned minds, tinned breath.

Mess up the mess they call a town-
A house for ninety-seven down
And once a week a half a crown
For twenty years.

And get that man with double chin
Who'll always cheat and always win,
Who washes his repulsive skin
In women's tears:

And smash his desk of polished oak
And smash his hands so used to stroke
And stop his boring dirty joke
And make him yell.

But spare the bald young clerks who add
The profits of the stinking cad;
It's not their fault that they are mad,
They've tasted Hell.

It's not their fault they do not know
The birdsong from the radio,
It's not their fault they often go
To Maidenhead

And talk of sport and makes of cars
In various bogus-Tudor bars
And daren't look up and see the stars
But belch instead.

In labour-saving homes, with care
Their wives frizz out peroxide hair
And dry it in synthetic air
And paint their nails.

Come, friendly bombs and fall on Slough
To get it ready for the plough.
The cabbages are coming now;
The earth exhales.

Not being rude about Aylesbury here, just Bri's comments made me think of this poem.

[Sundae]

Originally Posted by Brianna

The difference between where you live and where I live is that YOUR town has a sense of itself as a community and looks like it was charmingly planned.

The responses of two other Brits speak volumes. Aylesbury is nasty, nasty, nasty. If you grew up here and therefore have no choice but to love it, you'd find flattering angles too. Visitors generally focus on the nasty though.

Picture Aylesbury as a country virgin. Pretty, unworldly, charming and innocent. Then picture the town planners as evil, spiteful, malicious rapists. There you go, that's pretty much the 60s situation. Okay, not really fair, but those of us living with the consequences would love to smack them upside the head.

Until now I've taken pics of Olde Aylesbury because I'm trying to show you what you don't have at home. And because I do love my home, despite everything. I'll take some Nasty pics though. Just to show how badly those that call themselves Town Planners can plan. And it is bad. From the 60s onwards.

[limey]

Originally Posted by Sundae Girl

The responses of two other Brits speak volumes. Aylesbury is nasty, nasty, nasty. If you grew up here and therefore have no choice but to love it, you'd find flattering angles too. Visitors generally focus on the nasty though.

Picture Aylesbury as a country virgin. Pretty, unworldly, charming and innocent. Then picture the town planners as evil, spiteful, malicious rapists. There you go, that's pretty much the 60s situation. Okay, not really fair, but those of us living with the consequences would love to smack them upside the head.

Until now I've taken pics of Olde Aylesbury because I'm trying to show you what you don't have at home. And because I do love my home, despite everything. I'll take some Nasty pics though. Just to show how badly those that call themselves Town Planners can plan. And it is bad. From the 60s onwards.

Ahem ... "Not being rude about Aylesbury here," ...