I lives just down the road from Asdawls, near that pub that all the plumbers drink in. Ange, who had all that trouble with her bloke a while ago, y'know, the one with the Alsations? Her youngest had a little 'un recently, gorgeous little thing she is... anyway, Ange lives next door to me.

Aah, I wouldn't know that. It was a brief visit: I was just getting the ferry to Dublin.

well its not as bad as the south wales valleys (in particular Mountain Ash - the name says it all)

I live in a town called Gardanne, in the South-East France, near Marseille. There are around 20 000 people living there. Well, this town is more or less famous because it was painted many times by painter Paul Cezanne:



Actually it changed a bit because now there is aluminium industry there and a thermic central (I don't know if it's the right word)





Okay well, time is often sunny, there are nice places to walk (we're near the Sainte-Victoire Mountain) but no gigs and no disc stores around there...

My soon-to-be-wife is from Carmarthen. Out of interest, we've been looking at house prices in the area, and you can buy a mansion for the same price we're buying ours for here in Hampshire.

Carmarthen is not to bad actually (birth place of John Cale lol). But yeah the house prices are extremely low. Its mainly because living in some areas of the valleys is like living in a Harmony Korine film.

Sparta, New Jersey. It's not as bad as the rest of new jersey or the stereotypical new jersey with strip malls and convienence stores on every block. It's basically all private businesses and mom and pop shops. There's a big lake in the center of town that's basically the focus of half the real estate, with houses surrounding it on all sides. A pretty little boardwalk but now infested with disgusting little kids talking about mtv reality shows. Which brings me to the point that the people are absolutely unbearable, a bunch of George Bush lovers who breed their kids to be just like them so everyone I talk to have no actual opinions of their own. Every new house built has to be a little bit bigger than the last one and parents send their gay children to therapy to "fix 'em". Terrible, terrible, terrible.

haha

And some how a guy from Mountain Ash managed to become a main player in the Wales Green Party, as well as going to Cardiff university in the 60s.
And I'm not sure why you think Fishguard is so bad. Of course it's child abuse to bring someone up there because there is literally nothing there. Its very peaceful when you want a holiday though.

Omaha, Nerbaska.



A mix of different people, with vastly different views of what Omaha is to them. But it can't go without saying it's a bright spot in this region. Its home, and if I'm gone for an extended amount of time, I find myself missing it. People are friendly, which makes it very tolerable, and they're interested in what other people think of Omaha when they visit. When someone has an unfavorable opinion of Omaha, or says something stereotypical about Nebraskans, the city, or corn, people become irate.

you mean they poll strangers before they attack them?

interesting...

Sort of...

Its this whole routine I've noticed.

Say you're at bar downtown, where most visitors tend to stay. And you happen to meet someone from California (I'm using Californians because they seem to be the most trifling). You have small talk with this individual or individuals and they tell you they're from Sacramento. The conversation switches to why they are in Omaha, and what their thoughts about the city, and state are. They respond with something ignorant like, "we figured there would be people with pitchforks in a large cornfield, but amazingly you guys have black people AND Starbucks!".

Some people take deep offense to that.

ha ha ha.
i can imagine the signs on the highway

WELCOME TO NEBRASKA
you'd better like it, or else...!

We should use your suggestion though!

Famous residents

The late photographer Terence Donovan and actor Terence Stamp hail from Stepney.

You know you’re a local when...

You’ve joined the fight to keep Stepney night club from being demolished by developers – Pulp’s Common People video was filmed at the retro hangout.

Transport

Whitechapel and Stepney Green Tube stations are on the District, and Hammersmith and City lines. Limehouse DLR runs to Bank and there are many good bus links from both Mile End and Commercial Road.

Crime

Stepney Green is remarkably safe, with burglary, robbery, theft and violence all below the London average.

Schools

At primary level, Marion ­Richardson and Smithy Street schools perform well. Tower Hamlets struggles for good ­secondary schools, but Morpeth ­Secondary achieved 49 per cent A-C grades at GCSE and is one of the most ­improved schools in the UK.

WHAT IT COSTS

House price average

1-bed flat – £190,000

4-bed house - £485,000

Rental average (monthly)

1-bed flat - £950

4-bed house - £2,000

Average Council Tax

1-bed flat - £845 (Band B)

4-bed house - £1,327 (Band E)

Cost of a cab from Oxford Circus £26

That surprises me. I thought it was getting really bad in parts of Stepney/Whitechapel.