![\"Sidney](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/1_ent-estate-by-Baltic-Triangle-Liverpool-pic-3-Sidney-Chapman.jpg\")
Sidney Chapman has lived in the area for all of his life(Image: Liverpool Echo)<\/p>\nMany have lived on the street for all of their life<\/p>\n
20:28, 18 Oct 2025Updated 20:31, 18 Oct 2025<\/p>\n
Sidney Chapman has lived in the area for all of his life(Image: Liverpool Echo)<\/p>\n
It is only yards away from a city centre area full of brand new apartment blocks and trendy bars, but the houses on Grafton Crescent hav remained largely unchanged<\/a> in the last 40 years.<\/p>\n The Baltic Triangle<\/a> was once characterised as struggling, with empty warehouses, lack of investment and crime<\/a> and it was rumoured that the Baltic could be designated as a legal red light district. But things have turned out very differently, with creatives making use of cheap rents to pack the area with unique bars<\/a> and cultural venues over the last ten to 15 years..<\/p>\n Now, new apartment blocks, where it can cost around \u00a31,000 a month to rent a flat, dominate the skyline. But many on Grafton Crescent and the surrounding streets<\/a> have lived there all of their life.<\/p>\n Victorian-era tenements used to be here before they were pulled down in the late 1970s and replaced with a sea of low-rise housing, with a lot of residents moving from the tenements to the houses.<\/p>\n Some feel that they have been upsides and downsides to the regeneration that has taken place since. Daniel Eagan, 30, moved to the estate in 1997 when he was a child.<\/p>\n He said: \u201cIt\u2019s gentrification. It was rough and ready, there were shootings and crime. There\u2019s far less of that now.<\/p>\n \u201cBut there\u2019s no way we can live in those flats. They are for people not from Liverpool. They\u2019re for people who believe paying \u00a31,000 to \u00a32,000 a month for a flat is a good deal.<\/p>\n \u201cParking is also an issue. I\u2019m here with my parents and sometimes I can\u2019t park my car here because other people are here. Sometimes they park on the pedestrianised bit and people can\u2019t get past.\u201d<\/p>\n Some residents have taken to placing cones on Grafton Street to deter parking from non-residents.<\/p>\n Jan Walsh, 71, who also lives on the estate, enjoys living there but feels very distant from the raft of new apartment blocks and bars opening on her doorstep. She said: “It\u2019s nice around here. But it has changed a lot. It feels separate. There are more strangers.\u201d<\/p>\n But Daniel, Jan and others we spoke to agreed they still liked living in the area. Many feel having the Baltic on the doorstep is a good thing, even if they don\u2019t go there that often.<\/p>\n Mary Edie, 89, said: \u201cIt\u2019s lovely around here. It\u2019s quiet. The neighbours are nice. We used to be in tenements and when they were getting knocked down, we formed a co-operative.<\/p>\n “The Baltic Triangle doesn\u2019t bother me. It\u2019s for the young ones. I wish I could go out there myself. The parking does get me down when I look at it. But it\u2019s great here.\u201d<\/p>\n A housing co-op is a group of people who collectively manage and control their own housing. Members democratically decide on matters like rent, repairs, and who joins the co-op, often leading to more affordable and community-oriented housing. There are around 600 to 900 housing co-op\u2019s in the UK, depending on which sources you look at.<\/p>\n A plaque on one of the houses marks the co-op\u2019s founding members from 1980 to 1984. Then Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher<\/a> visited the estate in 1984, on what was her first trip to the city since the Toxteth<\/a> Riots three years previously.<\/p>\n The ECHO reported at the time: \u201cResidents, rehoused in February from Caryl Street tenements to the scheme they pioneered themselves, knew a VIP was coming but were not told it would be Mrs Thatcher until early today.<\/p>\n \u201cMrs. Patty Pritchard said: \u2018She thought the houses were lovely, and complimented us on their design and condition.<\/p>\n \u201cMrs. May Foster (71), was anxious to show the Prime Minister around her home. \u2018I don’t bother much with politics in fact I don’t vote at all, but it was nice to see her here and I’m very pleased she came to look at my home. She was very polite and I was impressed by her,\u201d said Mrs. Foster.<\/p>\n \u201cMrs Thatcher’s verdict on the house: ‘It just shows what can be done with a certain amount of money.’\u201d<\/p>\n Back in the present, Carol Cassidy, 63, is a big fan of how the houses are run and the street generally. She said: \u201cIt\u2019s lovely. It\u2019s great having the Baltic on your doorstep.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re actually run by a co-operative. It means we don’t own the houses, but every year we get new things – new doors, new windows, things like that.\u201d<\/p>\n Sidney Chapman, 68, doesn\u2019t visit the Baltic Triangle often but has no plans to leave anytime soon. When asked if he liked living here, he said: \u201cI\u2019m 68 – that tells you everything you need to know.<\/p>\n \u201cIt is a shame about the tower blocks. When I was on my way to school as a kid, you used to be able to see if you were on time or not by looking at the clock on Liver Buildings.<\/p>\n \u201cYou can’t do that now as the tower blocks have blocked the view. But it\u2019s quiet around here. I like it.\u201d<\/p>\n![\"New](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/0_New-apartment-blocks-tower-over-houses-on-Carmarthen-Crescent-in-Toxteth-Liverpool.jpg\")
New apartment blocks tower over houses on the low-rise housing estate(Image: Liverpool Echo)<\/p>\n![\"Carol](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/0_cent-estate-by-Baltic-Triangle-Liverpool-pic-2-Carol-Cassidy.jpg\")
Carol Cassidy says it’s great to have “the Baltic on your doorstep”(Image: Liverpool Echo)<\/p>\n![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/0_Grafton-Crescent-estate-by-Baltic-Triangle-Liverpool-pic-1.jpg\")
A plaque on a house in Grafton Crescent marking the founding of the housing co-operative(Image: Liverpool Echo)<\/p>\n![\"Parking](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/0_Grafton-Crescent-estate-by-Baltic-Triangle-Liverpool-pic-5.jpg\")
Parking by non-residents on the estate was raised as an issue(Image: Liverpool Echo)<\/p>\n