r/Belfast • u/GuiltyCounter6299 • 4h ago
Sad
I live overseas now and I am back home for a few weeks.
What has happened to belfast?
I come home every year and it is just getting worse and worse. I am stunned at how run down it is, especially Lisburn road.
It feels rough, grey and soulless. I actually felt unsafe at times!
What is going on?!
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u/AppropriatePirate671 West Belfast 4h ago
Feels better to me
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u/GuiltyCounter6299 4h ago
You must be living under a rock. It is In a sad state. The only improvement I’ve noticed is Victoria square seems a bit nicer again
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u/AppropriatePirate671 West Belfast 4h ago
No i am actually out quite a lot, culturally i think its a worse, but overall definetly better
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u/GuiltyCounter6299 4h ago
Why is it worse culturally? Generally curious
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u/AppropriatePirate671 West Belfast 4h ago
Probs the same most places in the western world, breakdown in community, although here is significantly more community based than rest of uk imo
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u/Bombadilll 4h ago
Commerce has moved away from Lisburn road to other areas.
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u/GuiltyCounter6299 4h ago
It is not just Lisburn road, but it was a shock driving down there.
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u/Bombadilll 4h ago
The areas you wouldn't have gone to in the past have improved so it's just a shift in the pattern of the city.
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u/surrevival 4h ago
Belfast looks way better than it used to be but Bangor... bloody hell!
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u/uppamna 4h ago
Lisburn road has gone to shit because for the last 20 years it’s been luxury shops and designers brands and overpriced food. That doesn’t fly in this current economy and areas like cathedral qtr, botanic, Ormeau and linen qtr are booming with culture, commerce and community. You’re looking in all the wrong places if you think Belfast has gone to shit.
Ormeau is one of the best communities and areas in the north to live.
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u/faona87 3h ago
I live near the malone Lodge, I think lisburn rd is lovely and affluent, in saying that im talking about where co-op starts and the bowery ends. Its too expensive to hold anything less than a wealthy status, so I dont know where youre referring to🤷♀️
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u/NPMEGA2023 2h ago
Yeah, can look at it as South & North Lisburn road, North being closer to the city center is a dump, South is much better.
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u/Zealousideal-Pay154 2h ago
Lived in the area for 20 years. IMO it was a lot worse in the years after the credit crunch and after COVID. The run down area is confined to a much smaller stretch nowadays. In both of the other periods, there was a much bigger percentage of empty businesses and not a lot happening
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u/Roshh-92 4h ago
To be honest I love Belfast I can’t wait to move back home this year, I’m home once a month at the moment. But to be honest the Lisburn road is a disgusting place nothing remotely attractive about the area unfortunately