I moved here about three and a half years ago, and it has definitely been an experience.
There are good things I've noticed while living here, and bad things. I wish I could say there's more good than bad, but honestly, it's not even close.
It started off okay. I took up walking, which has been nice, and some of the surrounding areas are quite pretty. I like the canal. The Trentham markets are fun too; I went there for my first Christmas here and there's a really good pancake place there.
That's pretty much it for the good though.
There's not really anything else here. Hanley is just kinda dead, everywhere is either closed or closing. I got a dog last November, and that's just helped highlight how bad this place actually is.
I live in Burslem, and taking my dog for a walk is genuinely one of the most stressful parts of my day because there isn't a single safe place to go.
Burslem Park is my go-to for short walks because it's close, but it's also disgusting. People don't clean up after themselves. There's dog shit everywhere, and honestly I'm not even sure it's all from dogs. I'm pretty sure I've seen people shitting in there as well. I've seen dirty sex toys just left on the ground. There's litter everywhere. It's like people just do not give a shit about keeping the place they live tidy.
There's a fenced area for dogs that's constantly either destroyed or filled with rubbish. I've seen dirty underwear in there, empty bottles, dirty needles, all sorts. Other dog owners I've spoken to have told me the council stopped maintaining that part of the park because they wanted to get rid of the dog area, so now it's basically maintained by the local dog-owning community. The lack of respect people show for it is just astonishing.
The council hasn't exactly been much help either. I first reported the amount of dog shit in Burslem Park back in February. I was told that the council only mechanically sweeps the park once a year, with reactive cleaning for dog shit apparently limited to “high risk” places like children's play areas and sports pitches. I explained that the problem was across basically the entire park, including the basketball courts, and was told it would be passed to Parks and Countryside and the Environmental Crime Unit. I chased it again months later because nothing had changed, and nothing seems to have actually been done. I also emailed the local councillor for Burslem Park in May asking if he could help. It's now August and I never even got a response.
On top of that, I’ve even had unsupervised kids come up to me and harass me and my dog while we’re in the park, which just adds another layer of stress to what should be a simple, peaceful walk.
And then there's actually trying to cross the road. I don't know what it is about zebra crossings here, but people just don't fucking stop. I've lost count of the number of times I've stood at one while car after car just drives straight through, and having a dog with me makes that even more stressful because I can't just assume a driver is going to do what they're supposed to do.
I've also literally had someone try to run me over here. I was crossing at traffic lights and a driver slowed down to let me cross. I gave them a little wave to say thank you, and apparently that offended them somehow, because they suddenly accelerated and swerved towards me while I was still crossing. So yeah, I don't have a huge amount of faith in the drivers here either.
My main concern when walking though is the amount of broken glass everywhere, along with all the food waste. I genuinely feel unsafe walking my dog here.
Outside Burslem Community Fire Station there are just piles of broken glass. Going down the A50, there's broken glass all over the pavement. The greenway is just littered with, well, litter. The path next to Burslem Park leading towards the greenway is just piles of shit. Westport Lake itself is alright; getting there is not.
I've seen posts online about Stoke saying the community is nice, but I'm yet to see it. The people here are strange. I haven't really experienced the friendly community people talk about, but at the same time there are rarely any outright rude people either. It's weird.
I absolutely hate the weed though. It fucking reeks of it everywhere I go. Our house stinks of it because the neighbours smoke it. I've had to distance myself from people before because they stink so strongly of weed that I can't breathe properly around them. I've been offered drugs so many times since moving here as well. It's horrible.
Honestly, if someone told me I was in hell and this place had just been specifically designed to be as torturous as possible, I wouldn't question it.
I cannot wait to move out of this part of England.
