Thamesmead SE London
Original Idea: Thamesmead was originally built for "slum relocation" during the 60s and was designed as a futuristic solution to budget housing. Think Jetsons with views of the Thames.

What actually happened: Concrete rabbit-warren perfect for discrete drug-dealing and jam-packed with neds and inbreeds. You may have seen it in "A clockwork orange" or "Beautiful Things". The addition of Belmarsh Prison to the area was I think in part justified on the fuel-saving for the police transporting prisoners from this urban-shit-tip a few hundred yards down the road.

It has got so bad that most estate agents have come up with trendy/ (oxy)moronic names to avoid them trying to sell a house in "Thamesmead". One of these is "Gallions Reach Urban Village". Gallions Reach town is actually the other side of the river ???

Oh and it has one of the highest rates of credit-card fraud in the UK.
(skintagain, Tue 3 Nov 2009, 11:54, 5 replies)

I grew up there
We were one of the earlier families to move there - 1971.

Far from being 'slum relocation', initially it attracted a lot of young, professional or skilled worker families. It was only later, when it still had units to let, that Bexley Council asked other London Boroughs to send anyone on their waiting lists (meaning we got all the problem families). Fantastic time and place to be a kid, and I wouldn't have swapped it for the world.

By the time we left there in 1983 though, with the promised tube link never having materialised, problems evident in some of the earlier housing stock and new people moving in, things really were stating to change for the worse. Went back a few years ago... seemed another world from the one I lived in when I was there.

Oh and given Gallions Reach is just the name of that bend of the Thames, I can understand why there are places on both sides of the river named after it.
(Capo, Tue 3 Nov 2009, 12:20, closed)

RE: I grew up there
I was born down the road in Erith and that has certainly changed alot since I was a kid. As with you I wouldn't change it for the world and had a fantastic time growing up. Town planners have a lot to answer for :)

And Gallion's Reach makes more sense now. An "urban-village" is a bit of an oxymoron in my book :)
(skintagain, Tue 3 Nov 2009, 12:46, closed)

Plumstead
I lived in Plumstead for a while and I always refused to believe that Thamesmead could be worse.

Then I went there... Jesus Titty Fucking Christ, it made Plumstead seem like a really nice place (OK, still a very grotty, smelly, run down and generally unpleasant version of a really nice place).
( Moey, Tue 3 Nov 2009, 17:11, closed)

I went to Thamesmead once
and once was enough. It was a day trip; we'd been everywhere else you could get to on a bus from Peckham, so Thamesmead was our only choice.

My God.

Literally the ONLY thing there was to look at was the inside of a Morrisons. Truly, hilariously awful, but it was the only place in the world I've ever found Mathers black beer for sale, so that was a bit of a bonus.

Hooray!
(nd1001 slamdunked my funk, Tue 3 Nov 2009, 19:55, closed)

On the credit card thing, there was a radio four programme recently on the area that suggested that the concierges at the tower blocks will no longer accept parcels for people who are 'out'as they are almost all the produce of card fraud and they are jus not that keen on facilitating reset.
(Benzyl, Wed 4 Nov 2009, 22:48, closed)