Aberystwyth Boom & Bust

Boomtown Aber'

Ceredigion is in an 'Objective One' area (ie the local economy is performing at less the 75% of the EU average) and the tourist industry has been in decline for many decades, however, Aberystwyth is going through a mini boom, with:

• Large Tesco / M&S supermarket
• Rebuilt Fire Station
• Refurbished Train Station
• Refurbished Bus Station
• Large, glass fronted, Welsh Assembly, office block in Llanbadarn
• Arts Centre Creative Business Units
• New retail 'park'(sic) opposite the bus depot
• Substantial footbridge over railway line
• New university department buildings on Penglais Campus
• Islands - for decades there was only one. As if making up for lost time, traffic planers have added half a dozen of these in the past few years.
• New suspension foot bridge
• Major re-route of the town's one-way traffic
• New Rheidol cycle track starting at the main bridge in Aberystwyth and going past Cwm Rheidol and on to Devil's Bridge
• Extensions to Coleg Ceredigion local FE college
• Extension to the Hospital
• Development of the flood plane between Aber' and Llanbadarn
• The renovated SPAR shop in the centre of town is open 24 hours a day.
• Another extension added to the National Library
• Major additions to the University's Llanbadarn campus
• Large extension to the Arts Centre
• Pedestrianising the area around the market hall
• New town clock
• New cafés & restaurants
• Redevelopment of old Railway Station
• Redevelopment of many of the towns pubs
• New retail 'park'(sic) by the railway station
• Out of town shopping development
• A student village with 1,000 places
• Another student village with 1,000 places
• The university doubling its intake in the late 90's.
• New Marina
• New Police compound
• Redevelopment of promenade

Negatives

There are probably lots more, but here's a few to start/put you off:

Town Centre

• GP waiting times - 3 weeks is not unusual
• In a survey of 30 British towns Aberystwyth's workers were the most unhappy about their jobs
• Traffic
• Parking
• Early morning grid-lock, backing-up through Penparcau, Southgate, Rhydyfelin into Llanfarian and out the other side
• Streets garnished with litter, cigarette butts & chewing gum
• Drunks
• Side-stepping puke
• Evenings too 'rough' for many older people to come into town centre any more
• Any recessed doorway liable to be used as impromptu urinal
• Few weekends pass without a shop window being broken
• High Crime Area. See also street level crimes figures
• The Welsh Index of Multiple Deprivation 2014 ranks the 1,909 wards in Wales. 'Aberystwyth Central' comes in 21st worst for Housing and 100th worst for Community Safety (You'd have to travel 128km to find a ward less safe)
• High rates of fuel poverty
• Child Poverty
• Alcoholic Aunt
• Drugs and violence fears in town NEW
• Chavs
• Post Office Collection Office is 4km out of town

This whole area

• Sundays
• Weeks of endless rain and grey skies
• Changing clothes 3 times a day because every time you're popped out you got soaked.
• Film of salt covering everything after every storm especially windows and cars
• Off the beaten track - takes 2 hours to get to the closest city
• Finding accommodation
• Least affordable accommodation in Wales (house prices divided by income)
• Almost permanent roadworks
• Long standing recipient of EU Convergence Objective grants (formerly 'Objective One') because the local economy is performing at less the 75% of the EU average.
• Limited choice of careers
• After relocating to Aber' for a job, finding your partner a career
• .....