Lanark wrote:Paultry wrote:It is true, Bath has many pleasant qualities, but commuter traffic is now becoming overwhelming.
I live in Bath and I do feel it has 'jumped the shark' as a place to live, parking issues, overcrowding in the centre, litter, poor water quality, poor air quality and a surprising amount of noise pollution: ambulance sirens and out of tune church bells during the day, general traffic noise, and then drunk people shouting at night.
I've lived around Bath for nearly forty years now, but living in the city centre would drive me crazy. Noise, traffic, parking.
Fortunately we live in one of the pleasant outlying villages, which means that you get the best of most worlds as long as you don't need a mobile phone signal that works. (We can't even get 2G on a reliable basis.) And they tell me that parts of Bath itself can't get DAB radio because the famous seven hills block the line-of-sight reception.....
The surrounding hills are also part of the traffic problem. In a sane world, they'd have built a bypass round Bath fifty years ago, but because of the hills they don't have anywhere to run the roads. So you get massive lorries mixing it in town with the tourist traffic, and the overloaded roads just can't cope. This morning I had to drive six miles from the Wiltshire fringes to Weston in the west. Took me an hour and a half.
And they keep on planning to put an (essential) park and ride on the east of the city, but the eco-nimbys keep on killing the idea. Grrrr.
OTOH, Bath itself is still a delightful place. Wander down Southgate or Milsom Street, and there are thousands of people out there having a nice time. And the bars and restaurants and arts are excellent. I can't ever remember anywhere else that's come anywhere close.
BJ