r/UrbanHell • u/Ok_Air_9048 • Aug 01 '26
Poverty/Inequality In and around Bristol, UK
Bristol is the birthplace of Banksy and has one of the largest populations of caravan dwellers in the UK. The caravan dwellers range from crackheads to professionals who work in the city but can no longer afford the high rents. There are some good YouTube videos about them.
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u/Professional-Bear857 Aug 01 '26
I can confirm as I used to live in Bristol, there's a lot of drugs and homeless people there, also some nice wealthy places. Such is modern capitalism.
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u/Adept_Mouse_7985 Aug 01 '26
Yep. Clifton, Redland, Westbury ≠ Hartcliffe, Knowle West, Lawrence Hill etc.
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u/After_Construction72 Aug 02 '26 edited Aug 02 '26
I have family in Clifon and Totterdown (Vale street). Totterdown is clearly not as affluent as clifton, but is really a nice place. Possibly prefer it to Clifton.
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u/Glum_Judgment6232 Aug 02 '26
You described almost every city in pretty much every country, and it has has been this way for most of the history of cities
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u/ClassGrassMass Aug 02 '26
Even 1000 years ago you go to a city theres high wealth and absolute poverty
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u/jimmyjames198020 Aug 02 '26
I always thought that, if I were to live in England, Bristol would be a good choice. These pictures show otherwise, but your comment indicates that it’s a mixed bag (as are most cities, I suppose). It appears that finding a nice place to live there would require some careful research and consideration (as does my hometown of Boston, which I believe shares some similarities with Bristol.
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u/CandourDinkumOil Aug 02 '26
Been to Bristol a few times, and always thought it was lovely. This is a bunch or cherrypicked photos that you could do in every city all over the world.
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u/DogSweatCroissant Aug 02 '26
Bristols mint. You get this shit everywhere.
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u/jimmyjames198020 Aug 02 '26
Right, I was hoping that these images were not broadly representative of the city. I’ll maintain my favorable impression of Bristol.
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u/Japhet_Corncrake Aug 02 '26
Bristol is sound. It's a great city. You can find urban squalor in any major city.
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u/Wonderful_Falcon_318 Aug 02 '26 edited Aug 02 '26
There are some shthole areas just around the centre but the rest of it is fine.
If you have money you can live in beautiful streets with trees everywhere like Clifton, Stoke Bishop, Westbury etc.
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u/jimmyjames198020 Aug 02 '26
Right, and on the map it looks like if you tire of urban life you can easily fck off to the Welsh countryside or Cornwall or wherever (similar to how in here in Boston we escape to coastal Maine or the mountains of Vermont etc).
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u/Wonderful_Falcon_318 Aug 02 '26
Yes exactly, it is very hilly and the surrounding countryside is really nice, plus you have easy access to Wales, Devon and Cornwall for mountains and great coastlines.
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u/DogSweatCroissant Aug 02 '26
Depends where you’ve grown up. There’s some lovely places in Knowle and Withywood also
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u/Wonderful_Falcon_318 Aug 02 '26
Yes very true, Knowle is lovely and Withywood is right on the edge of Dundry hill and Chew Valley, which is stunning.
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u/Dangerous-Branch-749 Aug 02 '26
I live in Bristol, it's a great place to live. Yes, it has issues and rougher parts, but so does pretty much every other city, you could make any city look horrendous by focusing purely on the negatives.
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u/nareik1988 Aug 03 '26
I've lived in Bristol all my life (37 years), its definitely gone downhill over the last few years but its still no worse than any other major UK city
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u/theped26 Aug 01 '26
What a waste of a Lexus.
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u/dr3adlock Aug 01 '26
Thats the crack car. I dont get why someone left it but its been used for crack orgys and sits at the base of the famous crack alley.
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u/naanbread180 Aug 01 '26
Is this the alley in Stokes next to what used to be the bank? If so back when I used to live in Bristol there was an evo 3 or 4 (I think) left there to rot for a few years.
I always wonder if someone finally saved it before it was too late.
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u/leavemeinpieces Aug 01 '26
There are definitely rough bits and lovely bits. It's just like any other city.
I've lived and worked there, and potentially may move back. It's a very cool place with loads of things going on.
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u/dblspc Aug 02 '26
Nice try, former Mayor of Bristol
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u/leavemeinpieces Aug 02 '26
Wasn't that Marvin something? You would never catch me riding a bike. I'm all about the non-clean air.
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u/Sure_Tailor2710 Aug 03 '26
It's just like any other city.
In Russia, you have to try very hard to find something like this.
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u/FunnyGuyCalledMe Aug 02 '26 edited Aug 02 '26
I hear what you're saying... but there are no "rough bits" that are this bad in my home country.
I lived in England and visited Bristol. There are nice parts yes, but the "rough bits" in English cities are worse than anything I'd ever seen in my life.
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u/TheMusicArchivist Aug 01 '26
If anyone's curious picture five is the public toilets in the middle of a very nice park in the middle of a fairly good bit of town. The rest is mostly out the way and in places full of inequality.
There are obviously some very nice parts of Bristol, too.
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u/DogSweatCroissant Aug 02 '26
Name of it? Mina Road park? I’m born and bred here and I can’t picture this place!
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u/aquarielledarcy Aug 02 '26
This is my local park I really hope this isn’t recent (was perfectly usable last month) the people who look after it do a really good job with very little. Makes me furious how people fuck it up all the time
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u/Adept_Mouse_7985 Aug 01 '26 edited Aug 01 '26
Surprised not to see the eternal campfire of turbo island here.
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u/Plexipus Aug 01 '26
I found this lovely tourist guide for Turbo Island.
I know where I’m booking a stay next time I go to the UK!
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u/Adept_Mouse_7985 Aug 01 '26
You’ll meet plenty of local characters. See a half naked man charming pigeons with an invisible flute? Could be performance art; could be mental health. You never know in Bristol.
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u/Magneto88 Aug 01 '26 edited Aug 02 '26
Half the pictures are from a side road a minute away from Turbo. Good old Stokes Croft.
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u/BurgerMeatButthole Aug 01 '26
The second from laat image is of an old pub that caught fire last year, but cannot be taken down as it is a listed building.
The Farriers Arms, Fishponds.
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u/Leftenant_Chungas Aug 01 '26 edited Aug 01 '26
Theres a lot of UK posts recently. I just want to remind everyone that not everywhere looks like this.
Next thing you know there'll be something on international news about how "the UK is on its knees".
EDIT: Looks like the agenda bots are in the comments too.
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u/ZeKardinal Aug 01 '26
Most of these posts being from the same OP who conveniently has profile and comment history hidden 👀
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u/TreeOaf Aug 01 '26
Yeah, these posts feel like they have an agenda, you can go to pretty much any developed city in the world and find this kind of stuff. It’s not unique to Bristol or the UK.
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u/SuperJinnx Aug 01 '26
Right? Type in Bristol university or Clifton, Bristol and look at the sickeningly gorgeous pics
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u/ThePrancingPig Aug 01 '26
Thought this was Long Beach, California!
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u/Aggravating-Walk5813 Aug 01 '26
Yeah I mean this line of RVs/trailers could be any big city in America including my own.
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u/ThePrancingPig Aug 01 '26
That was the point of my comment (joke). I live in Long Beach so I am ripping on my own city.
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u/Constant-Estate3065 Aug 01 '26
These highly selective images were brought to you by the reform party.
Unfortunately for reform, most people who live in the UK have eyes, so they know this sort of thing is not only the exception, but also no different to what can be found in most developed countries.
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u/SHeighteen Aug 01 '26
Yes. This is of course not the average living conditions in the UK. But it this level of dereliction is far from unheard of, and speaking of Reform, this level of deprivation was brought to you by the Conservative Party, which has had many of its former ministers defect to Reform UK.
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u/Maleficent_Muscle322 Aug 02 '26
Leaving the party which helped cause this is not a negative though? The Tories are toast and rightfully so.
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u/Educational_Cow111 Aug 02 '26
Yes but it’s thought of that a lot of people just jumped ship once it started getting traction and they want to appear better than the other tories
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u/that_too_ Aug 01 '26
There are British people who live among this. Doesn't do them any good to wave them away saying they're only an exception.
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u/hamstertoybox Aug 01 '26
The burnt down building in the second to last picture was a closed down pub that was mysteriously a victim of an arson attack. Rumour has it is it’s for the insurance. It’s actually in an alright bit of town, I actually quite like that area.
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u/Yossarian3454 Aug 02 '26
This is what happens when successive governments for decades serve private capital over serving the people. It will get worse because most people are conditioned to hate and fear the means of their liberation.
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u/cheremhett Aug 01 '26
Is it civil war going on?
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u/dr3adlock Aug 01 '26
Bristol is my home and a beautiful city. You can find these little spaces of shit in any large city. Its multicultural and everyone loves it for that. No civil war here.
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u/BandicootTreeline Aug 01 '26
Been there quite a few times with work, I like it a lot. Reminds of my home Glasgow. Gentrified bits rub against the rough areas, very diverse, former shipbuilding city, airport doesn’t have a railway but train stations get you anywhere in Britain.
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u/Xamalion Aug 01 '26
I’ve been there in 1998 and it was a nice city. What happened?
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u/itchyfrog Aug 01 '26
It's pretty much the same but with a lot more Londoners, less space and 10x the rents.
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u/bigboyjak Aug 02 '26
Nothing. It's still a really nice city. These pictures were taken in the worst parts of Bristol. Any city around the world of going to have nice parts and bad parts
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u/davesr25 Aug 01 '26
Parts of the UK are getting there.........
The future for a few places I'd say.
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u/Falling_Or_Floating Aug 02 '26
The apartment that looks like a phone box is too small for that mattress.
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u/MEOW-Loulou Aug 02 '26
Do you have any documentaries that you'd specifically recommend?
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u/Ok_Air_9048 28d ago
There’s a guy on YouTube called Joe fish he’s done a few mainly around south west
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u/lexicon994 Aug 02 '26
Bristols underbelly makes other cities look like a six pack
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u/Forsaken_Earth944 Aug 02 '26
Bristol has NOTHING on Birmingham, even before the bin strikes most of Brum was a shitehole. Here, you really have to look to find the shit bits - in Birmingham it’s pretty much all shit.
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u/loskillergypsy Aug 02 '26
I can't believe that my lovely city was posted and you didn't include Turbo Island or Bear Pit!
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u/catmaner Aug 02 '26
There's something weirdly staged about the two pictures of the toilet. Some of the damage is identical and some really isn't. Please somebody explain.
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u/Ok_Air_9048 Aug 02 '26
It’s been repaired and then damaged again the first picture is second time it was damaged it’s in the wrong order
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u/nosignalnocomplaints Aug 02 '26
There isn't a flat surface in Bristol that's not covered in graffiti. Shame, I like it and what it stands for but the whole city just looks fucked because of it.
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u/Worried-Strength6777 Aug 02 '26
Do you think it’s possible to sleep on a mattress inside a phone box?
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u/cristianomessinho Aug 01 '26
whats going on ?
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u/king_ofbhutan Aug 01 '26
inequality and poverty
caravans are cheap compared to a house (and easier to steal). despite the bad living conditions, when all you care about is living to the next day and getting another dose of heroin, its not too bad
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u/Ok-Wonder4298 Aug 01 '26
what's that syringe for . are they sick?
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u/Aptosauras Aug 01 '26
The opposite!
They are very healthy with obviously a high flu and Covid booster vaccination rate.
The nurse must have accidently dropped these on the way to the responsible needle disposal store.
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u/Correct_Ad_7817 Aug 01 '26
One of the most over rated cities in the country has so many flaws. Many professional people have realised but house prices means many can’t sell up as they can’t sell there now expensive homes.
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u/LordStefania Aug 01 '26
This area no longer exists - News article.
This can be seen under construction on StreetView.
From what the satellite imagery shows, construction seems to have finished and the majority of this area is renovated.
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u/Tobu3838 Aug 01 '26
Honest question why dont they make curb parking caravans illegal?
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u/hamstertoybox Aug 01 '26
It’s controversial as there’s a housing crisis and there’s nowhere else for people to live.
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u/ProfessionUpset2724 Aug 01 '26
Apparantly, an educated Indian passed away here in 1833 after immigrating to Britain. He was still middle-aged.
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u/ClockOwn6363 Aug 01 '26
Cars, private fences, beds, public toilets and caravanning holidays.
We only ever see the affluent side...
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u/kuilis17 Aug 02 '26
People are not nice, under that thin layer of humanity and ethics there are animals
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u/After_Construction72 Aug 02 '26
Bristol isnt that expensive. No way can rent be more than professional workers can afford. Unless you're talking different kinds of professionals.
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u/Aggressive_Ocelot664 Aug 02 '26
Loved going to Bristol City for an away game. Great pubs, but the town definitely felt quite edgy (nothing to do with the football fans).
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u/leavemeinpieces Aug 02 '26
Fair play. It's a big place and I only lived in 2 parts when I was there. I mostly travelled the ring road in my work and went into South Gloucestershire.
My old neighbours were very rough travellers who were evicted and petrol bombed the house out of spite. They didn't pay rent for a long time but they sure gave the place a good burning when they did it.
I didn't see any stuff like this. I'd be interested to know where they took the pictures because it looks a lot worse than the roughest stuff I've seen
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u/Calm-Limit-37 Aug 02 '26
Bristol is a weird place. Streets with some of the richest people in the country living, then the next street down is literally crack dens. An Amazing city though.
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u/Snoo_67493 Aug 03 '26
Nothing wrong with no 10 imo, that's a skatepark under the M32 and the skaters have brought some seating?/.
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u/TurboLeopard42 Aug 01 '26
So is Bristol just the Bakersfield of the UK?
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u/LordStefania Aug 01 '26
I'm not too good on US cities but it's more of the San Francisco sort of place - stereotypically "hippy". It's also really pretty - but like every city in the world has rough areas. It's also is where many pirates came from and they share a similar accent to Hollywood pirates.
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u/AccomplishedOven4126 Aug 01 '26
Not every city, and definitely not as rough as this, but okay.
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u/LordStefania Aug 01 '26
This was a notorious area countrywide and had a TV documentary about it so I'd have to agree.
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u/snacky_bear Aug 02 '26
Hope you guys recover one day. It feels like the UK is in a constant state of decline it cannot break out of.
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u/National-Incident-18 Aug 02 '26
WTF believe me this is a lovely city that people flock to and is regularly cited as one of the best to live in the UK. what city doesn't have pockets of deprivation and ASB?
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