Why do the buildings in the UK look so old and rundown?

[raden888]

Uh oh , I should have had that sentence in a new paragraph. My bad

My English teacher would shriek if she was reading this now.She was one stern lady.

"Mind you, on the odd occasion when I could persuade him to deal with it, watching my 185cm (6ft and a bit) husband racing away from one made for some amusement " . Voila

I have a very good memory, sometimes,I amaze myself with the stuff I can recall.

[BigSis]

Ah well, I see what you mean now. But yes, elsewhere from London is usually better (and a bit cleaner..........apart from Liverpool, although last visit there, they did seem to be trying harder).

[geerang]

LOL, you've got to have been living in a bubble on Orchard Road most of your life if you think that. Try walking along one of the rivers (or stinky canals as my kids call them). The Geylang one is a good one to start with - it's like cr@p city along there, especially after a bit of rain. Maybe that's why the gov blocked it off from the sea - not to make it a leisure waterpark as they claimed - it's to stop other countries having to suffer the tons of plastic bags and junk that float off into the sea from these shores every year.

Oh here we go. Another gathering of drug damaged, tattooed, low class, vulgar, classless, violent peices of trash.

Ah yes, the old 'big nose' cliché. When people with limited intelligence and individuality try and insult someone they grasp desperately at the most prominent thing about them and dig away...........into a nice, big hole.

And why would you feel the need I wonder. Was it because I touched a nerve with my comment about Singapore not being as clean as people think? I'm sorry that the truth hurts but it IS the truth - the city isn't cleaner than anywhere else because of people somehow being bred cleaner - they're not, they simply have an army of cleaners following them around picking up the pieces. Like it or not, that's why this city is clean.

But at the end of the day, Singapore is clean, the UK is not.

The wages in Singapore are also higher than those in the UK if you factor in UK tax and higher cost of living. Houses in London are so unaffordable that even a middle class work paying 40% tax is not able to afford the downpayment for a house in London. And to make matters worse, most British jobs are located in London.

Yes there are many dilapidated buildings in the UK. And the streets are not safe at night as well.

[BigSis]

At the end of the day Singapore might be clean but it doesn't start out like that at the beginning of it! Thank you army of low paid cleaners from other countries.

[geerang]

At the end of the day Singapore might be clean but it doesn't start out like that at the beginning of it! Thank you army of low paid cleaners from other countries.

Yes the foreign workers, people like you, help keep Singapore clean. So what? We thank them for their work and most Singaporeans do not litter or spit anyway. Can't say the same for some other countries.

[BigSis]

and most Singaporeans do not litter or spit anyway

ha ha, you've got a great sense of humour you know

[nakatago]

and most Singaporeans do not litter or spit anyway

ha ha, you've got a great sense of humour you know

[BigSis]

Thank you Nakatago. He will no doubt try and tell us that's really London

[geerang]

and most Singaporeans do not litter or spit anyway

ha ha, you've got a great sense of humour you know

I am happy to admit that is Singapore. You can argue that Singapore uses an army of expatriates to sweep their floors but you have to admit the streets of Singapore are a lot cleaner than those in London.

[BigSis]

probably, but believe it or not there are other places to go in the UK than London. You should try going into the countryside sometime - yes, that's right, the UK isn't just a big city surrounded by sea.

[JR8]

I grew up in a fantastic old house in England, that had been built in 1526 as a coaching inn.

Last year the condo management here chopped down scores of trees (a whole range, from maybe 5-50 years old) on the estate. When I asked why, they replied that they were 'old'.

Go figure the need for everything to be new here. The apparent need to jet-wash every bit of paving or footpath every two weeks, and the need to demolish and rebuild everything every 15 years...

Then pls let me know, as I still don't get it...

[Asian_Geekette]

I don't think OP is whining, he sounds liike he is just disgusted. Anyone who has been to the UK would be disgusted as well. The country is rundown, no doubt about it.

Excuse me...... I live here and while the UK certainly has its problems it doesn't look rundown, a good many places look quite the opposite. Yes there are what some might call rough and unfriendly neighbourhoods but nothing defined as slum that I am aware of.

It doesn't mean that if a country has a lot of old buildings, it's rundown. Some old buildings provide a place with a sense of history. Especially those solidly built castles. I sort of imagine whether the castle had withstood a siege centuries ago and what sorts of people have lived within it.

In some countries, older buildings are preserved for their historical or cultural value. And not just converted into a commercial place (methinks of the CHIJMES).

[JR8]

Well said AG
Me thinks of the Capital Building opp. Raffles City. It was one of the earliest cinemas... now it is going to be converted into <drum>, a shopping mall


p.s. Me also thinks of Clarke Quay when it was being constructed. They pulled down a huge area of original historic buildings, and then sort of recreated a new Disneyfied pastiche of what they had just destroyed, in it's place

[ozchick]

Haven't read all this but just would like to say that we in Oz would kill for some old buildings! Imagine if you will, visitors to Oz and us taking them to sight-see. Yeah sure, great beaches, amazing animals (if you can find them) but "historic" buildings....nah nah, nowt to be seen, maybe of 200 year old at the most. Plenty of parched land and gum trees though. That's usually an eye-opener for visitors. "Oh but everything looks so DRY". Yep...and so it does. Ruined castles? We'd LOVE one!

[morenangpinay]

yeah why did they convert the CHIJMES to a commercial place? And then maintaining the religious decorations, walls, stained glass..