Residents in the 'worst place to live in Leeds' are baffled and have hit out at the “nonsense” ranking, calling it a “load of rubbish”.
Garforth was ranked the worst place to live in the city, according to Garrington Property Finders , based on natural beauty, quality of life, architectural beauty, green ranking and price band. The town located in the east of the city came in the bottom 65 out of all the places in the country, coming 1,307 out of 1,372.
It ranked low on natural beauty, architectural beauty and quality of life. Married couple Liz and Paul Coombs who were basking in the sun at the cocktail and wine bar Jigger & Jar on Main Street, called the ranking “nonsense and appalling”.
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Liz, 53, said: “It’s absolute nonsense, Garforth is a great place to live, we’ve got loads of green space around here and it’s a fantastic community. We’ve got great road networks, local bars, great schools.”
The grandmother, who works as an admissions coordinator at Garforth Academy, added the school has a waiting list which is “a mile long” there is such a clamour from parents to school their kids in the area.
“I think the ranking itself is appalling. It’s just not true,” said Paul. They went on to add the crime rate was much lower in the town than in other parts of Leeds.
Baffled
Married couple Richard Clarkson, 58, and Marcela Garro, 41, who were sharing an ice cream in the sun on a bench in front of the parade of shops on Main Street, guffawed at the notion Garforth had a low quality of life and were “very surprised” by the ranking.
Richard, who works as a pharmaceutical consultant, said: “I don’t understand that, I guess it depends what measures are they using to base quality of life?”
Richard gestured at his ice cream, the sunshine and the bustling shops around him. "This is the quality of life, what a fantastic ice cream,” he said. Pointing at the shop ‘Refill and go’ behind him, where he purchased the large ice-cream cone, he added people should go there to improve their quality of life.
On Garforth's low ranking, he said: “There are all sorts of places that are a lot worse than this but I think part of the fact is that there’s not much to do for young people. There aren’t very many facilities like boys' clubs for example.
“We don’t have a swimming pool, we have a gym that’s just been improved but there’s not much else to do.”
“There are very few open spaces in Garforth, it’s one of the worst. Also, the average house prices in Garforth are higher than the average in Leeds, as it’s set outside the city, it’s got greener areas around it and good schools, and the train station.”
Marcela pointed out how convenient the transport links were with the local train station offering links to Leeds, York and Manchester Airport. The town is also conveniently placed to drive to the M1 and the M62.
Ken Todd, 81, who’s lived in Garforth for most of his life said the ranking was “upsetting” but admitted that the traffic could be “murder” through the town.
Ken said: “It’s totally wrong. It’s upsetting. I haven’t had the inclination to speak to anyone else about it. I can’t understand what they're saying that the natural beauty has gone down, it’s well looked after.”
Ken gestured at the flower pots arranged in the busy Main Street as proof there is natural beauty in Garforth. "They’re not just here, they’re all over the place,” he added. “I think they’re talking a load of rubbish!”
