They might even have been English

Sorry PB got to take you to task there, unfortunately a lot of people seem to get pleasure in talking Wakefield down but I'm not one of them, take away the Newmarket debacle and this is how I see it.
Yes the precinct up to the cathedral is a pig to look at, but.
We have the east Wakefield relief road.
We have the award winning Hepworth.
The Ings road out of town shops have had a great facelift.
Kirkgate station is a hundred times better than it was five years since.
The eyesores on the Kirkgate roundabout are being demolished.
The roundabout itself is getting filled in and the road layout changed hopefully for the better.
There are plans in the near future for phase three I believe it's called for the area from the roundabout on Kirkgate up to close to the Weatherspoons to be flattened and redeveloped.
The Ridings is getting a facelift on the bottom and top floors.
The Bull ring area like it or not looks miles better with the buildings getting spruced up and the fountains.
The awful carbuncle that is the market is going to be replaced by a cinema and food outlets.
We have the Trinity shopping centre which always seems full..
The bars/ restaurants in the town centre just go from strength to strength, there are now four or five bars that do a fair quality cocktail.
If you stand in he middle of the Unity car park you don't have to walk more than 30m to get to 8 quality bars.
Eating out is getting much better in the city centre, long gone are the days of kebabs/curries as the main dish.
My daughter used to live in Leeds, she's been back in Normy for three or four years and loves Wakey as a good cheap alternative to Leeds, not instead of but as well as. A few weeks since a dozen or so of her mixed group Leeds friends came into Wakey with my daughter, just for a change, they loved every minute of it, no trouble, not full of 16yr olds getting smashed and wanting to scrap, just a damn good night. One of the group mentioned to my daughter that they couldn't believe Wakey had such a nice vibe and far more upmarket bars than they expected.
Wakey isn't a third world country, OK it's not perfect but which city, large town is. It just needs people to see that the Wakey glass is half full and not half empty.
End of rant!

Most towns of our size are going through the same problems. Shopping habits are changing with the growth in online shopping. Less and less people are going into a town for their main shopping and this has made many smaller businesses unviable. No council has found a magic solution. Cafes, bars and restaurants do seem to survive as towns become more of a social centre rather than a shopping centre. Wakefield's doing a little better than average but, sure, could do more. There are plans but money is often the problem.

Well said Jinjer. Visit Canterbury regularly, and even there one comes across drunks etc. Wakefield nowhere near as bad as many towns and cities. I am 66 and agree restaurant and bar scene has improved enormously.

Having read some of the posts on here, I do agree on some of the points raised by Prince Buster, but also agree on some of the points raised by Jinger, regarding re generation of the city centre.

There is a lot of empty and to let signs around that do nothing for the profile, but at the same time, some of the places to eat and drink are going more upmarket.

If we could clean some of those areas up that are mentioned, plus look at litter, could look a much better place.

Someone else also mentioned moving to sunnier and warmer climates. We lived in Malta for just short of 4 years, and it was a great lifestyle, and anyone wishing to do that, I would highly recommend it. Sitting in the local square on Christmas Eve, in shorts and tshirt, having a beer, or walking out of your office overlooking the Med or Valetta skyline was a great feeling.

Bins emptied every day and no council tax fees. When needed the healthcare was also first class.

Parents thought we were totally mad in coming back, but we did. Only really missed family and the North Stand