\n Spot the pattern? The places singled out are overwhelmingly working class communities and have long been neglected or side-lined in national investment priorities.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n
\n READ MORE:\u00a0Gregg Wallace launches legal action against BBC following MasterChef sacking<\/a><\/strong>\n<\/p>\n \n Of course, it is right to point out we shouldn\u2019t have to live in neglected environments, and we must demand better. But selling it as a competition for the \u2018ugliest\u2019 place in Scotland\u00a0opens\u00a0the floor to make jokes and is more mean-spirited than constructive.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n \n I live in Port Glasgow and I\u2019m proud to tell you it\u2019s really not that bad! In fact, it\u2019s actually an unexpected but wonderful place to call home.\n<\/p>\n \n My partner and I first moved here because I needed a more affordable Glasgow address for work (it\u2019s just 27 minutes on the fast train into town) and we wanted more space than the city can provide.\u00a0But five years later we’re still here!\u00a0\n<\/p>\n \n Like anywhere else in Scotland, the Port has its challenges but it also has\u00a0its strengths. It\u2019s an incredibly welcoming town, there’s a bunch of open space which nature thrives in and our community boards are packed full of local events to enjoy together. The 250th celebrations were enjoyed at the packed events I went to.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n \n There\u2019s a reason Coronation Park is the spot for wedding pictures in the area. The view over the Clyde can take your breath away. Nobody complains about Falkirk<\/a>\u2019s Kelpies (or their spend) so why take aim at the \u2018Skelpies\u2019? It’s a quirky landmark that gives people a reason to stop. And sure, there\u2019s a motorway behind it, but that was never really an Inverclyde<\/a> council\u00a0decision was it?\n<\/p>\n \n \n And let\u2019s be honest: do councils really care about High Streets? No, they’re invested in retail parks.\u00a0 The difference here is that, unlike most places, Port Glasgow\u2019s is integrated into the town, not marooned on the outskirts and dependent on car access.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n \n Then there\u2019s the Clune Park Estate. The Carbuncles called the demolition of the B-listed school and churn an \u201cegregious loss\u201d. But anyone who lives here knows the reality, some structures cannot and should not be preserved simply for the sake of appearances.\n<\/p>\n \n The church shut in 1997, the school in 2008, and residents drifted away from a neighbourhood built for shipyard workers once the work was gone. That\u2019s the real issue.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n \n And don\u2019t even start me on Urban Realm editor John Glenday declaring: \u201cPort Glasgow is a town of squandered potential\u201d in a press release. That sensational statement gets attention but it\u00a0hurts!\u00a0\n<\/p>\n \n What gets missed in awards like this is the lived experience. Reducing towns to punchlines does little to inspire improvement. Instead of ridiculing, we should be asking: what resources and investment could actually support places like Port Glasgow, Linwood or Glenrothes?\u00a0\n<\/p>\n \n I\u2019m not the person to ask, but I am the person who lives here. And what I can tell you is that Port Glasgow is more than its stereotypes.\n<\/p>\n \n Mocking communities doesn\u2019t build them up. Real investment and respect do. The Carbuncle Awards might hand out shame, but those of us who actually call these towns home know there\u2019s nothing shameful about them.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n \n So the next time someone decides to run a competition to crown Scotland\u2019s ‘worst’, maybe they should spend a little more time in the places they\u2019re ridiculing. They might just find out what I did in Port Glasgow.\u00a0It’s not\u00a0a carbuncle, but an affordable, well-connected place to live with space, community\u00a0pride and a view over The Clyde worth celebrating.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Carbuncle Awards, run by Urban Realm, Scotland\u2019s oldest architectural magazine, once again crowned a \u2018winner\u2019 for the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":415933,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7826],"tags":[748,918,4884,712,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-415932","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-glasgow","8":"tag-britain","9":"tag-glasgow","10":"tag-great-britain","11":"tag-scotland","12":"tag-uk","13":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115185997865913497","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/415932","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=415932"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/415932\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/415933"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=415932"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=415932"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=415932"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}(Image: George Munro)
Urban Realm claims the retail park is \u201csucking life from the town centre\u201d, but it\u2019s only 0.2 miles from the High Street. It\u2019s accessible for pedestrians, full of useful shops, and gives our aging residents\u00a0independence, with a regular bus service serving both the park, the town and retail park.\n<\/p>\n