Do You Live In A Deprived Area? We Do!
By Janey1966
@Janey1966 (24170)
Carlisle, England
February 29, 2012 8:33am CST
I'm not ashamed in admitting this. It's to be expected. If you look at all the shabby terraced houses round here (including ours) you just KNOW we're in a deprived area. I actually found out - indirectly, by reading the Offsted report on a school nearby. In it it said that the school was in a "deprived area" which is nice to know for anyone who wants to send their kids to it (1 in 4 children there are of Eastern European descent) and end up bilingual once they leave the school. They also teach their parents English when they get home which I think is brilliant!
So, yes, living round here does have its positive points. Some houses are rented out by students as there is a College nearby. I've lost count of how many people have lived in a house opposite (bit further down) as they all leave once they've finished studying at the College. There are also people (like John) who have been down this street for a long time because they work and can just about afford a mortgage.
Next door, of course, we have the Impact Housing property. I've contacted them and told them I'll be onto the local rag if we don't get anybody decent in there next time (they had bad publicity recently over a tenant elsewhere who raped a teenage girl in sheltered housing..he wasn't vetted properly). I also told them that if people round here KNEW an Impact Housing property was in their midst they would NOT be happy, hence it being empty at the moment.
RESULT!
So, yes, living round here does have its positive points. Some houses are rented out by students as there is a College nearby. I've lost count of how many people have lived in a house opposite (bit further down) as they all leave once they've finished studying at the College. There are also people (like John) who have been down this street for a long time because they work and can just about afford a mortgage.
Next door, of course, we have the Impact Housing property. I've contacted them and told them I'll be onto the local rag if we don't get anybody decent in there next time (they had bad publicity recently over a tenant elsewhere who raped a teenage girl in sheltered housing..he wasn't vetted properly). I also told them that if people round here KNEW an Impact Housing property was in their midst they would NOT be happy, hence it being empty at the moment.
RESULT!4 people like this
11 responses
@SomeCowgirl (32190)
• United States
29 Feb 12
I am not sure what Impact Housing is, is that a government entity around to resolve disputes about the housing?
I don't live in a deprived area, but I have lived in section 8, which you can consider to be "deprived" housing as it's low income housing. I've also lived in a trailer park, and while I don't believe that trailer parks are "deprived" the neighborhood was not the best to say the least because of the happenings going on.
1 person likes this
@Janey1966 (24170)
• Carlisle, England
1 Mar 12
Impact Housing is a Housing Association, one of about 3 in the city. They have popped up over the years because Councils no longer build their own houses..or very little compared to years ago. The reason next door belongs to Impact is due to the fact John's first neighbour sold the house to them! Outwardly, no-one would know but people round here WILL know if we get divvies in next time because I've had enough. Fortunately, no-one is living there at the moment.
Section 8, how interesting. Never heard of that before. Thanks for responding.
@asyria51 (2861)
• United States
1 Mar 12
The town as a whole is not well off financially, but there are pockets of wealth. i live in one of the better areas of town. For many years there were no real zoning regulations so there are areas where you have a nice house next to a falling down trailer. We also have a lot of section 8 (government subsidized) housing. The school district is currently at 68% free and reduced lunch.
@Janey1966 (24170)
• Carlisle, England
1 Mar 12
That's the second time someone has mentioned Section 8 and I'm learning about this more and more..so thank you.
Where my Mum used to work (in a school kitchen) all the kids have free meals at lunch-time so that means she was working in a deprived area. I should imagine the school near me is the same. Mind you, it's better than not having any food at all, so I'm all for free school meals.
@asyria51 (2861)
• United States
1 Mar 12
I am all for feeding the kids who really need it. It helps them learn. We also have a program for the poorest of the poor in our schools that sends food home for the kids on the weekend. It is not the most nutritious of stuff, mostly pre packaged, just put in the microwave stuff, but it is something.
@LittleMel (8742)
• Canada
8 Mar 12
I do right now although I have to move out
as I'm moving back into matrimonial home
low income or not, they are nice people also I stay out of trouble
@p1kef1sh (45681)
•
29 Feb 12
I am not sure what a deprived area is really. I suspect that the definition is low income. I cannot truthfully say that where I live is remotely deprived. Those young (or old) enough to work have jobs, all the houses are privately owned or private lets. No Council housing in this road and no immigrants other than Doctors or other professionals. No empty or abandoned houses or cars! I think that a neighbourhood is what the residents put into it. If there is no sense of civic pride then you get dilapidation. People's attitudes are important and if I don't care then why should my neighbour. We end up with the street that we deserve that way.
@yanzalong (18987)
• Indonesia
1 Mar 12
I wish you'd told us exactly where the location was. As far as i know there are no deprived areas in Europe. Aren't all countries in there rich and their citizens live up to the minimum standard of living?
@yanzalong (18987)
• Indonesia
1 Mar 12
Yes, now I've seen it.is far from Bath? I went to Bath 1994 and during that year I stayed in London Zone 1. I thought everyone lived quite comfortably there. Where about is Carlisle, is it somewhere in zone 6?
@Janey1966 (24170)
• Carlisle, England
1 Mar 12
If you take a look at my profile it says I live in Carlisle, UK..England, to be precise. Yes, there are affluent areas within Carlisle but we don't live in one of them. Officially, me and my husband are living below the poverty line and that's purely based on income coming in in relation to outgoings such as bills. I earn nothing and cannot claim benefits. My husband works but doesn't earn enough to cover the bills, hence he lives on his massive overdraft which (granted) isn't as big as some but big enough.
I suppose deprived can mean different things depending on which part of the world you live in, I accept that.
@changjiangzhibin89 (16881)
• China
1 Mar 12
Anyway,rich men are minority as a whole.Sounds it is great there,there are elementary school and college nearby.The place I live, not to say deprived area, is filled with old-fashioned houses built by our factory many years ago.
@Janey1966 (24170)
• Carlisle, England
1 Mar 12
Yes, the homes round here were built to house workers who toiled at the cranemakers factory (where ASDA, etc, are now) and the pub they used to go in is still there..ironically called The Cranemakers!
@cher913 (25781)
• Canada
29 Feb 12
we live in an area that is filled with city housing condos and so naturally, most of these people are relatively poor or new comers to Canada but the complex that we live in isnt too bad. my hubby is the president of the board so we can really have our say to how it looks, etc.
@GemmaR (8517)
•
29 Feb 12
I wouldn't say that I lived in a deprived area, however I do know that the area in which I live might not be the nicest that there is around the place where I live. I do know that I am lucky to be in a place of relative richness though, as there are nice things to do around our area and there is plenty for our children to do while they're off school on holiday or something like that. There are a lot of things to do like the cinema, bowling, swimming pools and sports centres in our area, so I don't suppose that we really have anything to complain about.
@Janey1966 (24170)
• Carlisle, England
1 Mar 12
We have parks too so if I had children that's where I'd take them so they can run around and have fun. The yards here are too small for that..but at least we have them so I can sit outside once the weather improves and imagine I'm somewhere exotic!
@prinzcy (32303)
• Malaysia
29 Feb 12
I don't live in deprived area. It's a village so there's no bungalow, condos or sky rocket apartment. The highest would probably be double storey, though it wouldn't be as large as the ones in the town. But it's peaceful here, something that I don't get while living in the city.
@Dominique25 (9464)
• United States
29 Feb 12
Fortunately we don't live a deprived area. There are though so many deprived areas. It is sad to see so many areas like this. Especially when the government isn't doing anything to fix these types of problems. I'm glad though that you are able to find positives in the area you live.Being positive about many things in life is very helpful.
@Janey1966 (24170)
• Carlisle, England
1 Mar 12
Yes, staying positive is the only way. Oh, and Carlisle is supposed to be the "happiest place in Britain" lol.
@francesca5 (1344)
•
29 Feb 12
interesting.
have you ever thought of a career in politics, janey, as you are very well informed, and have a good understanding of people, and you may well enjoy it.
i used to be involved in politics, but there isn't a party i could be a member of now, but you might well enjoy it, and its a good way of getting involved in your community, and if you became a councillor you would get expenses, and its not that hard to become a local councillor, if you join the right political party, (probably the tories where you live wouldn't be a good idea!), as political parties always need people who are willing to do it.
though such things should not be a primary motivation, but if you enjoy doing it then why not.
@Janey1966 (24170)
• Carlisle, England
1 Mar 12
Politics, eh? Mmm, it's not something I'd ever thought of but I'm always emailing my local MP, he's probably sick of me lol. Especially over animal welfare. I once said that he should take it more seriously and he'll get more votes (the Tories are into bringing back fox hunting..not a good idea) and the public are much more aware of these issues, therefore pressure from people like me might actually help in changing this guy's opinion on foxes and the like.
Face to face though..now I'd be no good at that.
